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CUT FLOWER

Postage : Seeds only $4 / Plants $20

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  • Centaurea
    • cineraria   CAG00715

      (Dusty miller)
      Height1.2mWidth1mFlowering SeasonSp - SuWaterLLightFull Sun
      Centaurea cineraria
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      A too rarely encountered perennial from coastal Italian cliffs, often confused with the yellow flowered Jacobaea maritima or other species, and still one of the best plants I have ever had the privilege to grow and one whose more common use can only benefit our gardens.

      Tufts of softly pinnate leaves cut from white suede form a shrubby mound, bearing fine, branching, white stems of lilac coloured, thistle like flowers. A florists dream. Used to great effect in mass planting or as common foil for formal or informal gardens, beside driveways or in moon gardens as reflective lighting, or just as an exceptional component amongst other well defined mediterranean type plants.

      If its leggy, flops in the heat or is short lived then conditions are too soft, it has no adaptations to shade. At its best in exposed sites with freely draining, lean, alkaline soil, gardeners on the coastal plain should have no difficulty. Summer irrigation is mostly detrimental. A good test, quick and easy to grow but the standard and longevity of this plant will directly reflect your understanding of gardening for a mediterannean climate.

      A good annual or biannual cut back, when and where strong new shoots are seen, will keep it looking tip top for many years. Don't cut it down to bare stems, without leaves it may starve to death before it can regenerate.

    • cyanus Mixed   CAG02480

      (Cornflower, Bachelors button)
      Height60cmWidth15cmFlowering SeasonSpringWaterLLightFull Sun
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE
      SEEDS

      The humble Cornflower, an annual so named for it's propensity for growing amongst field crops across Europe.

      Each cluster of darker hued tiny flowers is surrounded by a ruff of much larger and lighter coloured florets in pink, white, purple or traditional blue and is held on a long slender stem, ideal for picking, and is clad towards the base with silvery green, lance shaped leaves.

      Truly happy in exposed, sunny, well drained soil.

      The flowers make a colourful garnish or addition to salads.

      Scratch seeds into bare, sunny, well drained soil in autumn or early winter.

      Each pack contains surfeit of 50+ seeds.

  • Consolida
  • Cosmos
    • bipinnatus ‘Sensation’   CAG02454
      Height1.2mWidth50cmFlowering SeasonSu - AuWaterMLightSun
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE
      SEEDS

      An outstanding summer annual from Mexico to South America, bearing large, saucer shaped, daisy flowers in shades of pink and white atop sturdy, feathery leaved, many branched stems, which pick beautifully.

      Classic cottage garden, the perfect cure for bedding plant fatigue. Big, blowzy and show stopping.

      Scratch seeds into bare sunny soil any time once it has warmed in spring. Early sowings will be the most robust but a late summer sowing will continue flowering well into autumn.

      Each pack contains a minimum of 50+ seeds.

  • Dianthus

    (Pink, Sweet william, Carnation)
    Caryophyllaceae

    The commonly encountered garden varieties are European plants of garden antiquity grown for their attractive, often perfumed, flowers which pick well. They are on the whole easily grown but demand excellent drainage and plenty of sun and are ideally suited to poor, dryer, well drained, alkaline soils. They are often encountered overgrown and root bound, tucked away in the shade, to which they are intolerant, and once purchased are good naturedly smothered with too much "good" garden practice.


    Pinks are known to all by name, which they lent to the colour, if not in person. Classic perennials of English cottage gardens. They have extensive root systems and most varieties offered are quite hardy in Perth with a good drink once a week over summer. They invariably have narrow, glaucous foliage resistant to dry air and high light intensity.

    Sweet williams (Dianthus barbatus) are biennials that will often persist for several years and typically have tall stems bearing clusters of small fringed flowers. They have broader leaves and require a bit softer conditions than the Pinks. The Nigrescens group seem the hardiest of the bunch and can become quite shrubby, potted colour varieties, often sold by the punnet, are worth growing but usually amount to little more than tender annuals.

    Carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus). Those developed for the cut flower market are mostly ugly plants needing support and are best left to the dedicated enthusiast or florist. Better garden plants are the seldom seen border carnations, they have the same beautiful flowers of the florist types but are less gawky, don't need staking, are often perfumed and are almost as hardy as the pinks.
    • ‘Jennie’   CAG01498

      (Sweet william)
      Height40cmWidth20cmFlowering SeasonSp - AuWaterM - LLightSun
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      Clusters of saturated (camera defying), darkest magenta, finely pinked, lightly perfumed flowers on tall, slender stems, dark and red tinted as are the neatly clumping, quadrangular rosettes of semi-gloss, lance shaped leaves.

      Remarked on by all and an excellent cut flower of D. barbatus Nigrescens Group heritage, more exceptional and persistent than most.

      Easily grown in light, well drained, sunny soil.

  • Erigeron
  • Gaillardia
    • x grandiflora ‘Matthew Dyson’   CAG01443
      Height30cmWidth1.5mFlowering SeasonSp - AuWaterM - LLightFull Sun
      Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Matthew Dyson’
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      A glorious perennial cultivar found by us many moons ago amongst a batch of seedlings.
      The marmalade blooms, daisy-like with pinked petals (technically ray florets), vary in their shade of citrus through the year, from glowing tangerine in spring and autumn, fading to buff lemon over summer and always paling toward the rim. Abundant in bloom like all Gaillardia, and just as tolerant of heat and drought, the flowers hover over a weed suppressing blanket of silvery green leaves.

      Self seeds gently, mostly coming true with a few of the typical red and yellow.

      Cut back to the new basal growth as it emerges in winter or spring to maintain a semblance of tidiness.

      Best in well drained soils or sand, Gaillardia struggle in compacted, damp clay.

  • Lathyrus
    • odoratus ‘High Scent’   CAG02804

      (Sweet pea)
      Height2mWidth1mFlowering SeasonSpringWaterLLightSun
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE
      SEEDS

      A modern Sweet pea considered to be one of the most strongly scented. The vigorous plants bear an abundance of large creamy flowers edged in lavender throughout spring and well into summer if given the chance. Remove the spent plants once the seeds have scattered or been harvested.

      Self seeds reliably and performs brilliantly without irrigation although a few drinks late in the season will greatly extend flowering. Happy in any soil from sand to clay that is preferably alkaline (pH > 7).

      Scatter a few seeds around, preferably near something for them climb on or else they make a lovely weed suppressing ground cover, for an instant cottage garden.

      Each packet contains 20+ seeds, enough to cover the average suburban fence.

  • Lavandula
  • Leucanthemum
    • vulgare   CAG00459

      (Ox-eye daisy)
      Height1mWidth50cmFlowering SeasonSp - SuWaterMLightSun
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      A charming plant long associated with cottage gardens and found wild in moist meadows throughout Europe. The quintessential daisy, pure white flowers, 6cm across, with a golden centre are held on long slender stems, ideal for picking, above dense clumps of dark green, ruffled, spoon shaped leaves.

      Self seeds in irrigated areas and quite at home in the vegetable garden where it makes a lovely companion plant to attract and feed hover flies, the larva of which feed on aphids, mealy bugs and other soft bodied pests.

      Easily grown in any soil with adequate moisture.

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