The Cut Flower Sourcebook: Exceptional Perennials and Woody Plants for Cutting

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A shelter belt of fast growing wood cuts is what many of us desire as well as need with flower farms that grow in less than perfect conditions, i.e. all of them. I was also pleased with the range of grasses Rachel introduces in the book as these are often valuable in arrangements and sometimes much overlooked. Siegfried soon made the decision to put the focus on resilient species, or what she calls ‘trusty performers with a relaxed attitude and natural style’

Rachel, from Green & Gorgeous is well known and respected in British cut flower growing circles and I had the pleasure of spending a day with many years ago at her flower farm in Oxfordshire. The talk will take place physically at the Garden Museum, London, however there will also be a livestream.This is a substantial book with four main sections: Garden-led philosophy; From Garden to Vase; Getting Started and Plant Directory. The Directory has an extensive range of bulbs, perennials and climbers as well as grasses and trees/shrubs.

What I can say is currently reading Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury’s book on designing with plants, I can see where Rachel has gleened her philosopy of naturalistic vase arrangements. There is no line to my mind between the garden and floral designs, both of whose “arrangements” are inspired by the natural world. Growing your own flowers for cutting brings the pleasure of the season indoors and cuts out the air miles associated with many shop-bought flowers. In ‘The Cut Flower Sourcebook – Exceptional perennials and woody plants for cutting’ Rachel Siegfried identifies the best perennials and woody plants to grow for cutting. The author makes a great case for seeing the cut flower potential of existing perennials and planting more perennials in beds as you would annuals. Annuals do use up way too many resources, including your time!, when there are so many longer lived alternatives. So I'm sold. Following that, there isn't a bevy of really unique information here. Beautiful photos though. Rachel has worked in horticulture for 25 years and so her experience is more than valuable. At her flower farm, she and her partner Ashley Pearson, grow hundreds of varieties, carefully selected for their cut-flower credentials.As for her list of resilient perennials, it’s a long one that includes many kinds of sanguisorba; the ornamental thistle known as Eryngium, “Blue Glitter”; the graceful and impressively drought-resistant Gaura lindheimeiri; greater masterwort or Astrantia major; varieties of toadflax or Linaria, different kinds of echinacea, including the oh-so-graceful Echinacea pallida; and the pretty goat’s rue or Galega officinalis. This book turns the spotlight on perennials and woody plants which return year after year with little effort or waste, offer valuable habitats to garden wildlife, and also bring a more natural quality to arrangements. Rachel has worked in horticulture for 25 years and has experience in design, landscaping, nursery work and productive horticulture. In 2008, she founded Green and Gorgeous, a flower farm and floral design studio near Wallingford, Oxfordshire.

The title of exceptional perennials and woody plants is a high bar to assert on the cover of any flower growing book particularly when using exclusively all British grown flowers and foliage. Like an effortless athlete though who has honed her both skill and craft, Rachel’s sourcebook more than meets the mark. I am essentially a plant addict looking for an excuse to buy more plants,” declares Rachel. The florist farmer of Green and Gorgeous is brutally honest and always supportive with her extensive lists and suggestions for “cultivating natural ease .” Rachel Siegfried, The Cut Flower Sourcebook

Copies of the book will be available to purchase at the event.

I can say that this book answers these questions authoritatively. There is practical wisdom is every sentence, experience and a genuine knowledgable enthusiasm for growing that Rachel is keen to pass on. Growing flowers for cutting brings the garden indoors and eliminates the air miles associated with shop-bought plants. For florists, the floral arrangements are a master class in textured combinations of colour and shape and scale. Excellent advice is given on the all important care required to achieve optimal conditioning. Ahead of her book launch on Tuesday 4 April, we are delighted to share this extract from flower grower Rachel Siegfried’s new book The Cut Flower Sourcebook:

Rachel is foremost a grower with formidable flair for colour, and gives great advice on choosing a muse from your garden for your floral designs. What every cut flower grower wants to know is the specific varieties to plant that give beautiful but useable stems in productive and coverable colours, oh and when to cut the flowers so they reach their peak – e.g. in the hand of a bride as she walks down the aisle or in the floral tribute for a departed loved one that comforts and consoles. A supremely practical, dirt-under-the-fingernails seasonal guide based on long years of experience, Siegfried’s new book does just this by highlighting 128 resilient, floriferous, long-lived species – hardy bulbs, perennials, climbers, grasses, and trees and shrubs – that can be counted on to perform well for a long time with only minimal intervention required on behalf of the gardener. The plant suggestions are arranged alphabetically in their relevant sections making them easy to find. In fact, the whole book is easy to navigate and beautifully illustrated by Eva Nemeth, who captures the seasonal diversity and natural ease that are the hallmark of this thoroughly contemporary approach to cut flowers. Growing flowers for cutting brings the pleasures of the season indoors and cuts out the air miles associated with many shop-bought blooms. This book turns the spotlight on the best perennials and woody plants which return year after year with little effort or waste, offer valuable habitats to garden wildlife and bring a natural quality to arrangements.

Directory of 128 tried and tested perennials and woody plants selected, based on years of experience, for their reliability and natural style. Chancing upon this quote by Constance Spry, I found it so relatable to my own experience. I too see myself primarily as a gardener with a love of plants and a deep connection to nature, so my floral style comes from that perspective. Working in the garden and walking my dogs in the surrounding countryside are my sources of inspiration and my design philosophy is simply about bringing some of the outside indoors.