I love the fall in Houston for it’s plethora of new gardening ideas and challenges. Usually, I am zeroed in on planning the perfect pumpkin trellis, planting next years garlic and onions, littering brassicas everywhere, or begging my tomatoes to fruit before it gets too cold. But this year, I only have eyes for cut flower gardens and flower farm content (@BungalowBlooms is AMAZING!!). I already shared my weakness for frivilous flowers, but this year I’m going big!
As much as I know about gardening, I am a novice when it comes to geting Whenever I do anything in my garden, it starts with a survey and a sketch of my garden space. I wanted to grow hybrid roses, bulb annuals, bulb perennials, and seed annual flowers. Where, based on the sun, water, available irrigation, and access could I put a bed dedicated to cut flowers? The answer is…nowhere. Or at least no single place. This didn’t mean give up though. This just meant that my cut flowers would have to integrate into my existing garden spaces somehow. But no matter where I place everything, I only have 6 weeks to get this all installed. Let’s break this down.
Roses
My 2022 potted Eden Climber is beautiful but I’ll get a better set of blooms if I plant her in ground.
I’ve grown roses in pots with a fair amount of success but I feel like they can do better. Plus, the cut flower roses I want need to be in the ground to get the amount of production and size I am looking for. They need ~8 hours of direct sunlight, though they dont’ mind being protected by the worst at midday. They need to be well irrigated and planted high to ensure drainage. This was a job for the front garden bed. I’d left it woefully empty after the summer annuals faded in anticipation of the Fall Festival at the Antique Rose Emporium. My plan is to get 3-4 pairs of roses known for their Houston resilience and mix of colors. Since there are some red tip fotinia behind it, I can get away with bright reds and demure pinks against the foliage. I can also sneak in a few rose companion plants in between, like salvias, basil and garlic. I’ll plant right after the festival on Nov 8.
Ranunclus and Anemone
I’m a sucker for a bulb plant, particularly ranunculus, and anemones are one my “things to try” this fall. I have failed at growing both of these in ground TWICE! First time, I didn’t water them enough. Second time, squirrels dug them up. This time, I’m going to give it a go in pots. Not only does this allow me to move them around and settle them next to established beds, but I know it will drain and require rewatering daily. I bought the corms at the Houston Garden Club bulb mart, set up the drip line, soaked and planted on Oct 25. They say they take 10 days to emerge so I’m staring at the soil line daily, hoping for good things.
Amaryllis
I’ve collected a considerable collection of these over time but I haven’t really taken care to make them successful. This year, I put them in pots and am “forcing” them to bloom inside. They can rejoin the garden outside in the spring when I see the spacing available.
Daffies and Paperwhites
These incredible daffies came up even in my low water garden. I’m obsessed with their cheerful faces!
Yes, I call them Daffies because I feel like “daffodil” is their government name. I have grown these before and I can attest that daffies are worth the pre-chilling necessary to grow them. They are tough, they can make themselves comfortable when planted near large trees. I’ll want to expand the southwest side of the new bed under the front yard trees to make room for them… In the meantime, I store them in my bulb fridge in the garage so that they are ready to plant next month.
Annual Flowers and Green Material
My food forest is going to be the home of these annual flowers. With the regular irrigation and soil build, it’s the best place for them. I already have purple coneflower, snapdragons, and black eyed susans along one bed, but I think I can swap out my tired petunias for lisianthus, bachelor buttons and alyssum. I already have calendula growing in the raised and herb beds but they could each get a more deliberate planting of bouquet dill in between. And I think I’ll add yarrow and bluebonnets for nitrogen fixing in each of my fruit guilds! This month is the perfect time to transfer these as small plants from the greenhouse.
Stay tuned for more of this adventure in November as new shoots and plants find their way! I want to plug @bungalowblooms (www.bungalowblooms.com) one more time. I was so inspired and they really are trying to make us successful.