Blooms, Biennials and the brand-new Load of Rubbish Bed!

The team have been out getting next year's biennials started, and top of the list this week is Lunaria annua 'Chedglow' - known as 'Honesty' to most of us! We love this plant for being two completely different things in one year. In spring, it's the deep purple foliage and little purple-pink flowers that do the work, but right now, it's all about those iridescent seed heads. Hold one up to the sun and the papery outer casing turns into a silvery, glowing moon. I never get tired of that trick!

Foxgloves, teasels and hollyhocks have also been sown, as the existing ones are already earning their keep in the gravel garden and the meadow by the yurt. All are magnets for pollinators, and the teasel seed heads will do double duty later on by feeding the birds. We always try to leave the seed heads standing through autumn and winter if we can, they are great shelter for insects and look beautiful when frosty!

A Bunch of Blooms from Lynsey

If you've had lunch at Yeo Valley recently, there's a good chance the flowers on your table came straight from Lynsey's green fingers. Every Monday, she refreshes the blooms at the Yeo Valley HQ Canteen, and she's also the one keeping the brand team supplied whenever they need flowers for a shoot or event, and the tea-room here at the Garden is always stocked with stems whenever we are open. The cut flower garden is a proper full-time job on top of her full-time job! She never turns up empty-handed, and there’s always something creative and full of colour.

A few plants are doing most of the heavy lifting in the cut flower garden right now. Hesperis matronalis or Sweet Rocket, is still going strong but the real stars of the summer have been the Zinnias and Panicum “Frosted Explosion” which is the gift that keeps on giving. All are coping brilliantly with the hot, dry summer and we love how these delicate-looking flowers are so resilient and simply get on with it no matter what the weather throws at them.

By the time the Festival arrives in September, the cut flower patch will be bursting with dahlias, a glorious final splash of colour before autumn sets in. If you’d like to learn more about growing cut flowers and creating beautiful colour combinations, Georgie Newbery will be joining us at the Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival to talk about all things cut flowers. You can book your tickets here.

Notes from Head Gardener Nathan

In the veg garden, we sowed a Tübingen green manure mix this spring, and the Malva within it, has been an absolute star. The bees and hoverflies won't leave it alone, its roots go down deep to break up the heavier soil for everything else, and the taller stems give the smaller crops a bit of shelter too. It’s good-looking and hard-working! Win Win!

The Load of Rubbish Bed continues to amaze me. We planted tiny 9cm plugs into around a foot of gravel and reclaimed rubble, with the garden’s original soil beneath, and despite everything this drought has thrown at them, they are thriving! We suspect their roots are heading straight down through the rubble to reach the soil below. It’s fascinating to watch and has turned the LORB into a brilliant experiment.

Join us at the Festival.

Learn more from Georgie Newbury on sustainable flower cuts on Friday 18th September, see the Load of Rubbish Bed, and meet the garden team throughout the festival. From Thursday 17th - Saturday 19th September.