S1 Ep 37: Grow Your Own Cut Flower Garden with Sarah Grey
6/25/202654 min
Cut-flower farmer Sarah Gray of Bloom & Gray joins Martha and Jamie for a practical tour of the cut-flower calendar. From when to start hardy annuals and what to sow now, why flowers should be picked before pollination, which flowers earn their place in a productive cutting patch, and Sarah also breaks a bouquet into five useful elements and chooses her top five plants if you'd like to grow a small cut flower bouquet bed. They also discuss soil blocking for flower seeds without plastic pots, the growing British flower movement and Jeanne Baret, the pioneering botanist now recognised as the first woman known to travel around the world.
And If you would like to grow our seed of the week, or some of the other varieties we discussed, you can find the links below:
Zinnia Zinderella Peach:
https://shegrowsveg.com/product/zinnia-zinderella-peach/
We love hearing your questions and comments - so please do get in touch:
Presented by: Martha Swales and Jamie Walton
Video Editor and Socials: Thomas Griffin
Artwork: Rare Studio
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMartha Swales· Host0:00
I think lots of people's fantasy is to have a flower farm.
Sarah Gray· Guest0:03
It's, like, probably 10% that. [laughs] But most of it is just hard graft.
Jamie Walton· Host0:08
[laughs] Most overrated flower?
Sarah Gray· Guest0:10
Sunflowers.
Jamie Walton· Host0:11
Most underrated flower?
Sarah Gray· Guest0:13
For cut flowers, marigolds.
Jamie Walton· Host0:15
Okay.
Martha Swales· Host0:16
Ooh.
Sarah Gray· Guest0:17
The scent of flowers that you've grown yourself is just unreal. A lot of modern varieties kind of had the scent bred out of them- Mm-hmm ... in favor of longevity and transportability.
Martha Swales· Host0:26
A bunch of red roses for Valentine's Day flown in from Kenya covered in pesticides, maybe not so romantic- Mm ... as you think. This week, we're talking all about cut flowers.
Jamie Walton· Host0:36
With our special guest, Sarah Gray.
Martha Swales· Host0:38
We've got you covered for what to sow, grow, and pick throughout the whole floral year.
Jamie Walton· Host0:44
The five pillars of a perfect bouquet and how to grow them.
Martha Swales· Host0:47
And what the first woman to travel around the world has to do with bougainvillea.
Jamie Walton· Host0:51
[upbeat music] I'm Jamie Walton, otherwise known as Nettles and Petals.
Martha Swales· Host0:56
And I'm Martha Swales of Martha's Kitchen Garden.
Jamie Walton· Host0:58
Welcome to Home Grown, the plant podcast for those who want to know more and grow more.
Martha Swales· Host1:02
Your one-stop show for fascinating facts and practical advice about the incredible world of useful plants. Home Grown is brought to you by She Grows Veg, our go-to seed company, for their beautiful range of heirloom veg seeds.
Jamie Walton· Host1:13
And as well as supporting the podcast, they're also offering our listeners 20% off your first order with code HOMEGROWN.
Martha Swales· Host1:18
So head to shegrowsveg.com, and happy growing. [upbeat music] Hello, Jamie.
Jamie Walton· Host1:24
Hello, Martha.
Martha Swales· Host1:25
How you doing?
Jamie Walton· Host1:26
I'm good, 'cause we've got a great guest.
Martha Swales· Host1:28
We have indeed.