Autumn in the Cutting Garden

Autumn is a great point in the year to turn your attention to growing cut flowers. In our warm climate, it’s the perfect time to sow seed and put in new plants. Whether you’re growing in pots on a balcony or have a large garden, we’ll share our tips and tricks to ensure you’ll have plenty to choose from when cutting flowers for your home.

Part 1: Success with growing from Seed

Many of the best cut flowers can only be grown from seed, but gardeners in warm climates often struggle - a tray of seedlings can be fried in an afternoon under a hot sun. Autumn sowing changes this dynamic. Success rates are higher, you get a head-start on Spring and can even have lots of cut flowers throughout Winter, a time of slim pickings in the cutting garden. You’ll learn about:

-       cold hardy annuals and biennials and why they’re so valuable.

-       the ‘soil blocking’ technique. A plastic free way of growing, much loved by US flower farmers.

-       how to grow different varieties from seed, and their particular requirements.

-       how to harden-off, plant out and protect baby plants once they’re in the ground.

We’ll share with you packs of seed for Autumn sowing in your garden together with a planting plan for different sized spaces.

Part 2: Autumn Tasks

Next, we’ll pull on our coats for a garden or flower farm tour. We’ll demonstrate some of the major jobs in the cutting garden in Autumn and early Winter:

-                digging and dividing dahlia tubers

-                lifting and dividing perennials

-                pruning roses for cut flowers

-                saving seed for next year’s flowers

-                maintaining a healthy ecosystem through ‘no-dig’ and mulching

There will be time to forage for foliage and pick extra stems for your arrangement.

Part 3: Amazing Autumn Flowers

Autumn is one of our favourite seasons in the cutting garden. Learn about:

- the best Autumn focal, filler flowers and foliage for cutting

- autumn flower recipes that you can replicate time after time at home – whether you’re using flowers from your cutting garden or those that you’ve bought in.

Then it’s time to get creative. You’ll make a big, beautiful Autumn bouquet from buckets of flowers freshly picked on the flower farm.  We’ll teach you the spiral technique, and how to wrap your bouquet in paper to protect it as you take it home.

What’s Included:

-                A welcome gift on arrival

-                An indulgent afternoon tea with sweet and savory treats.

-                Garden / Flower Farm tour, all course material, small group instruction.

-                Your big Autumn hand-tied bouquet of flowers.

-                Seeds to sow in Autumn, perennials for immediate planting.

The Locations:

We are running this class in two locations:

The Oaks is conveniently located in Blakiston in the beautiful Adelaide Hills. The workshop is held in the beautiful studio of the heritage home of acclaimed journalist and author, Christine McCabe. We will tour Christine’s incredible garden and visit her fenced, (rabbit proof) raised cutting garden.

The Flower Farm is located between Robe and Kingston SE. Only open to visitors attending our workshops, tour the working flower farm and learn how we grow thousands of flowers year-round. Workshops are held in our beautiful flower studio.

Notes:

Please wear closed toe shoes for the tour and bring sun protection with you. We are able to provide vegetarian options for the tea but sadly don’t have the resources to cater for other diets. If you have specific requirements, please bring your own refreshments.