The Cutting Garden : July 2025

I’m really looking forward to getting back into the July Cutting Garden. June saw a flurry of weddings. As I was busy putting all the flowers that had been carefully nurtured to work. The garden moved swiftly on.

Flowers that were fresh a month ago, have done their thing and gone to seed. This is something to celebrate. The first job this month is to carefully collect those seeds for next years flowers. Cerinthe, calendula, nigella, cornflower and agrostemma are full of potential. They’ll be used in two ways, for saving and scattering. The first more measured approach, is to collect and store in brown envelopes, there is something very satisfying about this. I’ll save sowing until the end of next month with the intention of getting any seedings into the ground late autumn. The second way is to randomly chuck the seed around as see what happens. This guarantee’s a strong plant but not always where you want it!

Now the June wedding crop is done. The last summer blooms need to find their home. I have plenty of own seed dahlias. As well as sweet Annie (a must for wreath season), amaranth , sunflowers and zinnia ready to go. I’ve pushed their patience to the limit but hoping with some new compost in their beds and a few days of rain, I’ll be forgiven.

It’s also time to start drying flowers. Statice, strawflowers and nigella have LOVED the heat and blooms have been abundant. I’ll start cutting as drying as much as I can this month. I don’t want to think about the colder months but have too. What grows now will make its way into wreaths and other winter bounty. Cutting and preserving during the Summer helps me to survive the Winter.

To dry, cut everything as close to the ground as possible and clean away any leaves on the stems. Tie in bunches with string. Hang blooms downward somewhere cool and dry. A cool shed/garage would work, you want to avoid anywhere too damp. Then use as needed.

There’s still time to grow flowers for the year. I get daily sales with some amazing discounts for flowers that can still be planted. My recommendation would be for dahlia’s. Choose ‘good ones’ in flower and you can keep the tubers for years. Nasturtiums and calendula seeds have just found their way into a basket. As soon as I press publish, I’ll order!

I hope you’ve found this months update useful. I try to keep them informative but not overwhelming. My aim is to get spread the joy of growing flowers any time of the year. I want to encourage you to get outside and enjoy the benefits the garden brings! Have a super month, Lotts x

If you’d like to come and join me in the garden, my ‘Quickie’ workshops resume in September. I’ll be adding Friday’s to the mix as well. Keep an eye out here or over on my Instagram page.