Hanna Wendelbo’s top 5 tips for growing summer flowers
The best way to beat the gray days and chilly weather is to start dreaming about summer and all the wonderful bouquets that will be picked then. Every room should be filled with the joy of flowers, a big bunch in the middle of the kitchen table, something small and fragrant on the bedside table and a beautiful flower prima donna in a pretty vase by the mirror in the living room. If you dream about this like I do, I offer my five best tips below to make your dream come true!
1. so not too early!
I know you’re itching to get started, but if you sow frost-sensitive flowers too early, they’ll be lanky, pale, and there’s a good chance they’ll get aphids before they get to the ground.
2. Sow hardy annuals first!
Hardy annuals are summer flowers that can withstand cold temperatures and can therefore be planted out early in the season. For example, snapdragons, delphiniums, carrots, cornflowers and cornflowers are planted outdoors in early April, about 5-6 weeks before the last frost.
3. growing does not have to be a material sport!
If you follow professional growers on social media, you might think that you have to buy a lot of stuff to fill your garden with flowers. However, I would say that the best greenhouse for sowing summer flowers is that plastic bag that grapes are in. It has the right depth, drainage holes in the bottom and the lid makes it a perfect place for small seeds to start germinating.
If you get plant lights, you can sow a little earlier, as the plants need a lot of light to grow plump and healthy. But if you (or the rest of your family) can’t cope with the bright greenhouse light, wait to sow until you have about 10 hours of daylight. A nice bright window, preferably with a slightly cooler temperature will do the job!
4. Sow directly when the risk of frost is over!
Well, of course it’s possible with all the wonderful flowers that have a shorter development time. The best and most vigorous sunflowers and zinnias I get by direct seeding in mid-May. But, I have to be careful and watch out for killer slugs that love these little plants.
5. Do not sow the whole seed bag!
This advice is really aimed at me. I often obsessively sow all my seeds in a seed bag, I think I can just have them. But when I then stand there with 200 light blue delphiniums that need to be retrained for a larger pot, I curse myself. It would be ok if it was just delphiniums, but I can still stand with 20 tomato plants of the same variety. Or 30 white bell vine plants when I know very well that I only need four each season. I look at the misery and realize that with so many bell vines, they will take over my entire crop, get tangled up and drag everything down with them.
Can you relate to any of the above points? Or is it just me?
Sincerely, Your passionate flower grower Hanna Wendelbo
Want to learn more about growing and flowers? Hanna will be holding workshops on how to get started with dahlia cultivation and you can also listen to her on the Inspiration Stage – Thursday 27/3 at 11.00 and Saturday 29/3 at 11.00 12.30. And meet her at stand A06:12.