The Cut Flower Podcast

Exploring Hardy Annuals: Seasonal Flower Growing Tips with Roz Chandler

• Roz Chandler • Season 1 • Episode 38

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Text Agony Aunt Roz with your Cutflower Questions.

Welcome to The Cutflower Podcast, In this solo session with Roz Chandler, we're diving into the world of hardy annuals. Roz explains the distinction between hardy and half-hardy annuals – hardy ones can endure winter frost, while half-hardy varieties need protection from the cold. She suggests focusing on mid to late August for half-hardy annuals. At Field Gate Flowers, they begin by sowing these in a tunnel and then transplant outside in September, allowing roots to establish before winter.

Covering different flower options, Roz shares her favourites: **Ammi Visnaga**, a hardy filler with lovely seed heads; **Calendulas** like Indian Prince, Snow Princess, and Pink Surprise; the striking **Cornflowers** including Centaurea cyanus (blackball) and Blue Diadem; the intriguing **Daucus carota** which is hardy biennial; and the elegant white lace **Orlaya grandiflora**. Some delicate hardy annuals like **Larkspur**, **Cerinthe**, **Antirrhinum** and **Californian Poppies** are best grown under cover for the winter.

Sweet peas also make an appearance! Roz advises starting them in November or December under cover or doing a spring sowing. Sweet peas might seem delicate, but they're actually hardy and can tolerate temperatures down to minus five. They can be sown in autumn, strengthened in spring, and sown again. Don't miss the episode where Roz chats with sweet pea expert Roger Parsons for more insights.

Roz emphasises the importance of planning your flower year, considering when to sow and whether to sow directly, under cover, or for spring. She teases the upcoming release of the 2024 Cut Flower Planter on Amazon. Your feedback is appreciated, so make sure to rate and review the podcast. Until next time, happy gardening and flower growing!


Roz Chandler:

Hello there, and welcome to the cut flower podcast. So today we're having a solo session. So it's just me, which is very unusual because we're normally inviting guests. But today I wanted to talk to you about Hardy annuals, because it's that time of year. So what is a hardy annual and a half Hardy annual it all gets very confusing. The definition of a hardy annual is a plant that goes through its entire lifecycle in one season. But it's Hardy, so you have Hardy and you have half Hardy, and there is a definite difference. Hardy goes can go through the winter because it's a hardier plant, it doesn't mind a bit of frost, but a half Hardy can definitely not. So if you've got half Hardy seeds, just put them to one side until the spring and concentrate now on sort of mid to late August, on the half on Hardy annuals. So here at filth gate flowers, we start out of all in the tunnel in mid to late August. And then we plant outside in the last week in September. We do that because the soil is still quite warm, and then the root system can develop really when it's outside and start to grow. Before the winter comes in. Lowering temperatures, low lowering of daylight, think about growing them undercover in a cold frame or in a polytunnel or in if you've got a greenhouse and getting them to such a point that then you can put them outside in the last week in September so they have time they really have time to start get going. So and then come next spring you will get the eruption of flowers and they will come earlier. That's why you actually do autumn sowing. So let's talk about well what shall we so because not all Hardy annuals are really can take the frost so it's important that you choose very wisely. So let's think about the list. What does this list contain? I kick off with me visit Naga is the brig Ambrose they've got it looks like an umbrella as a as a filler flower and it then can form seed heads which are rather beautiful as well. So me visit Naga I would definitely add to the Hardy list and we use we grow varieties green mint, and Casablanca. They're the two that I would have as me visit Naga and it's really hardy. Now that is opposed to me majors because me majors is more delicate and we grow Graceland here. It's also called Queen Anne's lace and Hassan meant vase life but it's not so hardy. So we would not grow that as an autumn sown and ready to get out in the winter. So me vs Naga not me majors calendulas we grow three types of cleansers here but there are loads and loads of them so do have a look around calendulas can be directly sewn outside if you want to in August and September and then we'll flower the following spring. Indian prince is a really bright orange is Love it or hate it bright orange light orange, Indian prince snow Princess you get get the name snow so it's a winter performing calendula it's a pale yellow going towards white snow princess is a lovely one. And we also grow pink surprise, which isn't pink at all. It's apricot in colour going towards a white, definitely not pink. So pink surprise so Indian prince snow princess or pink surprise are the three calendulas that we grow here at fieldgate flowers. And like I say you can directly sow them in August or September or you can say them in undercover if you want to and then put the seedlings outside. It's not sort of decisions to be made aren't there about whether it's direct so whether you sew them undercover whether you have an autumn or spring and the best way is to have an absolute Excel spreadsheet and plan your year. Then looking at cornflowers, there are loads and loads of colours of coneflowers and we grow Centura sinus which is blackball a really deep maroon colour very tall can grow 1.2 metres with great corn flour. We also do the classic blue one, because there aren't many blue flowers in the spring. And that's called Blue deer them. So that bright blue sort of turquoise, just turquoisey blue and very bright. Everybody has seen those flowers. So with coneflowers you can make the decision to whether you direct sow them now, where do you sell them under cover and then get them out or you leave them to the spring but it is hard enough if you want to get ahead with cornflowers. So two more on one is actually not really I'm cheating a little not really a hardy annual is Dorcas Kurata part of the wild carrot family. It is actually a hardy biannual but it's dormancy is broke. can buy a period of cold so it needs to go out in the autumn, you can sell it directly, just leave it in that dormancy is, like I say, is broken by cold and will come next spring. And so lovely, lovely plant offers prorata. So I've called it a hardy, but it's actually a hardy biannual. So it's crept in there. One of my favourites is or land or layout grandeur, Flora, and I would grow as much of this as you possibly can. It's a white lace flower, you can never have too much. It is beautiful and a great filler and all bouquets, bridal bouquets, all arrangements, but it will lay a ground floor and for me, I prefer it over me. But we do grow both. But a lawyer or layer ground floor would definitely be on my list. And there are some that we're actually going to leave that we're actually going to grow under cover now. But we're going to leave under cover, we're not going to put them outside until the spring. And this is because although they're Hardy annuals, they're not really that Hardy. So think about things like larkspur and to Ryan Adams or snapdragons. Me may just I've already mentioned me majors, serenity, and then the wonderful Californian poppies, which we grew for the first time this year, and are still blooming now. So they come in lots of beautiful colours from white to pink to orange to yellow, normally by a mix, so you can't tell what the colour of them are. And then you can be surprised. But do bear in mind with California puppies, you need to pick them just as they're sitting at the top, not when they're open. So you won't know what the colour is when you go to pick it. And that is the surprise. But California and puppies definitely. So what do we larkspur we grow Limelight Carmine, which is a dark pink. We also do lime light pink, the lime light series, which is a light pink. And then we grow the white as well. So Larkspur, a great favourite here. And we would grow them undercover, keep them under cover for the winter, and then get them out next spring. With things like Nigella and scabious, we would leave until the spring. So that's your decision really, you need to sort of decide you have a look at all your Hardy annuals or your half Hardy annuals decide what you're actually going to grow under cover or direct now and decide what you're going to grow next spring. We're actually updating our cut flower planter for 2024. So that will be available on Amazon very soon. But that sort of thing where you plan your whole year is really important. And then lastly, we haven't mentioned sweet peas, and sweet peas, you can now grow under cover probably November, December as late as November December undercover. And then you can get them out next spring. Or you can do spring sowing of sweet peas too. And you can do successional sowing of sweet peas, but that's another topic succession or sowing. But we buy our sweet peas from Roger Parsons, there is actually a podcast available where I have chatted with Roger Parson, and it's really worthwhile listening to I learned so much myself. Because sweet peas can take a temperature of up to minus five, which is why they're great undercover in the winter. You can even get them outside if the temperatures aren't going under minus five. And they are really really hardy and you kind of think of sweet peas being all really delicate and very small. And therefore not something that go through the winter. But sweet peas definitely if you can autumn so them, get them really strong. Get them out in the spring, and then do another sowing in the spring and then get those ones out. So sweet peas are one of those things that you can play with and a well known as an autumn sowing. So we've talked all about Hardy annuals, and I've given you my recommendations. So let me know what you're growing. We hope that you will review this podcast rate and review this podcast in your podcast app. And I look forward to chatting to y'all again soon.