Calendula ‘Coffee Cream’

When I think of calendulas, I think of hot zingy yellows and oranges.

My interest was piqued when I caught a glimpse of a picture of Calendula ‘Coffee Cream’.  It sounds delicious, dark on the underside (the coffee) and lighter on the top (the cream). It reminds me of a friend who decadently puts cream in his coffee on a regular basis not just as a treat.  He also serves his fresh coffee in one of my favourite things, a gorgeous retro orange flask.  

Calendula ‘Coffee Cream’ has therefore featured as one of my ‘new things to grow’ for 2012 (this list gets longer each year).  They have been as easy to grow as Calendula Officinalis , directly sown into the ground this spring. But I have also found them to be as prone to powdery mildew as Calendula Officinalis.  Ironically, I have recently read in an organic flower growers book, that milk can be used to reduce mildew and with a name like ‘Coffee Cream’ surely it has to work!  I have given it a trial this week so the ‘dairy jury’ is still out as to its success. 

Here they are shown in the garden and at home.  Apologies from the gardener (me) for not having time to deadhead before the pics were taken.

Oxburgh Hall

My flower growing season is in ‘full throttle’ mode during May-October and this is also the main season for garden shows and visiting gardens across the country.  Consequently, I have to make myself have a day off from gardening, markets and weddings to visit at least one or two venues during the summer.

A local garden that has been on my radar for a little while is Oxburgh Hall, near Swaffham in Norfolk.  I wanted to get to see the glasshouse which was rebuilt by volunteers and completed in 2010.  I love visiting kitchen gardens as well as more formal gardens and Oxburgh has a particularly quaint kitchen garden.  It was very hot and sticky weather when I visited and here are a few pictures to share with you.

A charming kitchen garden with a view of the Hall beyond

The Hall with it's surrounding moat.

Oxburgh has the most amazing examples of Tudor chimneys.

The formal gardens, herbaceous border and orchard can be seen in the distance

The beautiful herbaceous border is reached via the orchard and was a special feature for, "ladies of the house to enjoy".  I love expressions like this, almost as good as, "Taking a turn about the room"!

Zinnia to Aster

Now, where was I ... oh yes, on to zinnias today. 

I first started growing cut flowers for myself over a decade ago and my passion just grew and grew.  My collection of vases also grew year on year without me even noticing, I would just find more space in my dining room cupboard to squeeze them in.  When my sister came to visit from Australia and gained access to this cupboard (us sisters have to have a nose in each others cupboards, drawers and handbags, it’s a given) she commented, “Does anyone need that many vases?!” Up until then, I think I had tried to rationalise that everyone had that many vases in their possession, apparently, according my sister, I couldn't have been more wrong.  It was at that moment that I suddenly realised I needed to channel this passion for flowers into a business.  Anyway, in the early years of growing annuals, zinnias really didn’t appeal to me, I found them a little artificial looking and they lacked the movement of other cottage flowers in the garden.  However, one year I thought I would give them a go as I had read an article about how reliable they were. Well, now I’m hooked!

Zinnias are half hardy annuals and do not like being moved so are perfect for direct sowing into my seasonal cut flower garden in Suffolk.  All zinnias I have grown in the past have never let me down.  My favourites of the moment are, (1) 'Queen Red Lime' for their breathtaking exquisite antique colouring, (2) 'Envy' just because they’re green and (3) 'Art Deco' for their elegant height and range of pinks.


'Queen Red Lime'

Each bloom is quite different and this one is slightly distorted but all the more beautiful for it.  Pictured here with 'Pygmy Torch' Amaranthus

'Envy'

Envy with aster 'collars', Ammi Visnaga and nigella seedpods

The arrangement with a lovely art deco tin I found at the Denton May Day Street Fair several years ago.

'Art Deco'

'Art Deco' zinnia with 'Dreamland Pink' zinnia, larkspur and 'Frosted Explosion' Grass

I have also grown a new variety this year called, 'Giant Wine Bouquet' they are gorgeous but more pink than the burgundy I was expecting.

A little Verbena Bonariensis added just to keep those 'colour wheel' colours close together.

I will most definitely continue to add to the range of zinnias I grow in my Suffolk seasonal cut flower garden.

Aster to Zinnia

In this highly exceptional year of wet weather, my two stars of the moment are asters and zinnias. Both have germinated well and are now flowering their socks off and look very healthy. Last year I lost my asters to aster yellows disease.  This is a disease that strikes fear into my heart as a cut flower grower.  Very little can be done about it except dispose of the plants before the disease escalates. It is transmitted by aster leafhoppers, a bit like a grasshopper only tiny, measuring about 4mm in length. Thankfully I have not had the same problem with my asters this year but I have had my suspicions that it might have affected my Ammi Visnaga.  One short row grew to a superb height then some just yellowed and/or became stunted.  Ammi Visnaga, is a member of the carrot family and carrots are known to be susceptible to aster yellows disease.  However, I have planted some at the opposite side of the garden and they are healthy.  Aster yellows disease can be a difficult disease to identify as it causes different symptoms on different plants including yellowing, distortion, stunted growth and lack of flowers.

Anyway, back to some positivity, the asters are growing well and I have some good Ammi Visnaga!  Here are some pictures taken today to prove their health.

In this row are Lady Coral Dark Blue and Candyfloss.

I love their ‘collars’ supporting the flowers as they develop in size and colour.  The anaemic looking young flowers remind me of the villi type formation inside a fig.

A scrumptious ball of Lady Coral Dark Blue beautiful in its simplicity displayed all alone.

The two past casualties of aster yellows both shouting in Gloria Gaynor style, “I will survive ...”

And just because I can’t always abide by the rules of ‘less is more’ I’ve added another beauty, thalictrum ... when will I ever learn!

Clarkia ‘Apple Blossom’

I have been growing this hardy annual for several years now and I wouldn’t be without it in the cutting garden.  I always sow it directly into the ground in spring with several repeat sowings throughout the season. The germination can be a bit hit and miss and consequently I end up with strange gaps in the rows, but once established, it becomes a beautiful free flowering plant.

It is definitely worth growing as a cut flower with it’s pink powder puff quality and the individual blooms evenly spaced along a tall stem.  Each bloom can be a sumptuous 3cm in diameter and the plant stems grow to over a metre in height.

When cutting for the vase, I make sure most of the flower heads along the stem are blossoming, any sooner and the tips will droop in the vase.  The flowers open at the base first and the top last.  You need to strip back the lower stem which includes stripping back both leaves and the flowers as they bloom almost to the base (save the discarded flowers for drying).

Drying
I take the individual flower heads and lay them on a tray then place them in the airing cupboard.  They have a gorgeous fluffy quality to them when they fill a tray.  The size reduces greatly after just a few days but more exquisitely, the colour intensifies resulting in an almost Barbie pink. A few of the flowers will go a little brown and I’m guessing this is some of the blooms revealing their true age at the time of picking.  So the fresher the flower the truer the colour after drying.

Before

After

They are perfect for confetti and also threaded on a piece of cotton,  a little fiddly but great to use for decoration.

Clarkia ‘Apple Blossom’ will ALWAYS be on my list of desirable annuals in the cutting garden!