The Cutting Garden : July 2026

For this months July Cutting Garden post, I started by looking back at last years post. My reason was to see the differences between the years. Weather, weddings and workshops all play their part in how the cutting garden looks in July.

As we head into July the flower beds are actually very quiet, signalling a busy few weeks. June flowers bloomed their socks off leaving the July beds a little rough around the edges. Over the last few weeks, I have created weddings, this Italian inspired set-up, was a JOY! Overfilled Best of the week bouquets and set the table for a gorgeous Quickie workshop.

Colours palettes have ranged from soft sweet pinks, dark and moody textured tables and jolly tutti fruity birthday vases. Growing and cutting flowers is such a pleasure. Now July is here, it’s time to get ready for the summer holidays. I have a wedding late August and a few weeks off beforehand so doing all I can to get prepared.

First up is re-filling the gaps in the beds. There has been a wonderful crop of poppies. Now finished I’m cutting and storing to use during the Autumn. I have been pulling them out of the beds over the last few weeks. The only downside, a little unwanted root disturbance to a few plants around them. In their place, Sweet Annie, Cosmos and Zinnia. All have been squeezed into any gap.

A question that has popped (sorry!) up; is how to store poppy seed heads. If you can, leave them in place until they start to fade from green to gold. Then cut, remove any leaves and hang upside down in a cool, dark and dry place. To collect the seeds tie a brown paper bag or envelope around the seed pods and you’ll have poppy seeds for next year. Sprinkle some in the Autumn and chuck the rest around liberally in the Spring.  If impatient, cut/pull them out when still green. Remove any leaves and trim the stems. This makes you feel like you have some control! Leave to dry somewhere cool, keep the pods upright. When they start to dry pop the heads into a brown envelope and collect the seeds. You might not get as many but there will be space in the flower beds once more.

 Now is the time to add plants to blank spaces. There are still a few trays of seedlings to add somewhere…

If inspiration is needed. Beth Chatto plants is my first port of call. You are able to choose plants on the growing conditions. Some of my best plants are from Beth Chatto. If you need a summer holiday day out, the gardens are wonderful to explore. We once went on a really hot August day. In contrast from the beach, the shade of the gardens felt like heaven. The cafe and shop are also very good.

Back in the garden, we have saved poppy seeds but there are plenty more seeds to save. Anything sown in the Autumn should be on the turn; this includes Agrostemma, Cornflowers, Nigella, Larkspur and Sweet Peas. They do make the beds feel a bit dusty and worn out but hold on. Saving the seed pods, again use brown envelopes to store when the seeds are dry enough, will give you a huge stock of seeds for next years flowers.

My final job before I go away will be to give everything especially Dahlia’s a really good feed. It’s one of the jobs I like least but I am going to give myself a week to water and beef everything up. There have been a few promising glimpses of dahlias so far and I’m determined to have a beautiful crop this year!

Right that’s enough for now, if you’d like a little more click on this JULY GARDEN INSPIRATION link and you’ll be taken to a lovely selection of posts.