Cloudberry Flowers - Flower Farm and Garden
Cloudberry Flowers - Flower Farm and Garden
Hi, my name is Catherine and I am a flower grower based in the Scotland in the UK. I have been growing cut flowers on my flower farm in Scotland since 2015. We are in zone 8b and usually have our last frost at the end of May and our first frost mid October, although it can be as early as September or more unusually early November.
We are located in a small Scottish town, with 1 acre of land. Unusually for the size of garden we are just a few minutes walk from the high street. I started growing 8 years ago and provide flowers to local customers and florists. It's been an exciting self taught adventure with many a success and disaster! Flower growing and gardening will always be an opportunity for learning and through my videos I hope I can share with you some of my successes, failures and my love of flowers each week. I would love it if you wanted to follow along with my flower farming journey, Catherine x
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Hi Catherine, we are in Highland Perthshire at about 230m elevation. My husband is growing cosmos for our daughter's wedding on the 27th of this month. I have cut a few of the first flowers but I am anxious about cutting any more now incase there are no new flowers in time. There are a few buds just about opening. But there are other buds which are not open yet. Should I just leave everything on the plant now and hope that there are enough open flowers ready on Thursday 25th ( in just over 2 weeks time).
Hello and thanks so much for watching. I think I would leave them as I just don’t know this year there would be enough time for good regrowth in 2 weeks with new buds. Unless you have a large number of plants where you could leave some as they are and cut others. However this year the weather has been so poor and because of this flowers are slow to come and regrow after initial cuttings. The weather forecast is not looking much better for next 10 days either where we are and I think it will be similar for you. I hope that you are able to get some lovely cosmos for the 25th and your daughter has a sunny day for her wedding.
@@cloudberryflowers-flowerfarm thanks Catherine. This is the conclusion I have come to. Our cornflowers are doing well so I may pick a few of them today as they seem to be really prolific. Keeping my fingers crossed.
I’m wondering why you don’t plant lisianthus, zinnias and rudbeckia nice for cut flower.
Hi, thanks for watching. That’s a good question. Rudbeckia I do grow. I haven’t got it to overwinter here so treat it as an annual. For me I am still working on it as I find it extremely slow growing from seed and difficult to get established. But I do love it especially cherry brandy. Zinnias I try every year as I like them and get a few flowers but not successfully in any volume. It is just too cold with little sunshine to bring them on for me. Lisianthus is a flower I haven’t tried yet but I do like the look of them.
@@cloudberryflowers-flowerfarm you’re welcome. I love zinnias too but slugs love them too. I grow them before but slugs eats almost all my plants. While Lisianthus I will try it one day, they do look like roses.
Hi Catherine, thanks for the update. We get so much heat and humidity in NJ especially in July that cool and rain doesn't sound so bad. I'm sure your flowers will still flourish.
Hello, yes it is very different for all of us isn’t it and for many people like you in NJ rain would be wonderful in the heat of July. It must be really difficult to get the irrigation right for your plants or do you tend to go more towards growing ones that don’t need a lot of moisture?
@@cloudberryflowers-flowerfarm Hi, well we tend to get big thunderstorms at least twice a week in summer so I don't water. But I just joined a fenced-in community garden so I can grow more flowers and veggies without the worry of deer (here there are too many deer...they eat everything). In that garden space there is a water source right at my plot so I'm sure my plants there will get more water and will be happier.
Hello from Ireland 🇮🇪 Catherine. I just found this flower and I heard the woman saying it brings in some ‘particular beetle’ that keeps greenfly under control? Great to hear that it is hardy. Thanks for the video
Hello, thanks so much for watching my orlaya video. I didn’t realise that about the beetle being attracted to the orlaya helping greenfly control, that is always a help in the garden! It has been great finding out how hardy orlaya is and provided much bigger plants for me from autumn sown ones.
Just take that "tip" you cut off and stick it in the dirt and voila new plants from the clippings!
It’s great you can multiply your plants from the pinched out bits so easily. Thanks for watching 😊
Also been a wonderful year for my perennials here in Liverpool, but a disaster for the annuals so far! Ended up with lots of gaps where my Hardy annuals should be 😔 Can I plant out my biennial seedlings now as I've got space already, or do I have to wait until autumn still? x x x
Hello 😊 yes thank goodness for the perennials as I think they really saved the day! I am glad you had some good ones to rely on as well this May with the annuals coming on so slowly. Biennials wise they could go out now if they can keep well watered if the weather changes and does get drier. The only thing that would put me off would be the slug damage that could be possible so I may grow them on a bit more before putting them out as the slugs are so bad this year.
@@cloudberryflowers-flowerfarm thank you! I'll make sure they're nice and big to bounce back from any munching x
Same here in Ireland too, so much rain and cold as well 😢
Oh no, Ireland sounds like it has been just as bad weather as Scotland. I can’t believe in June we are still wearing wooly jumpers and winter jackets! I hope it gets better for you soon. We had one super lovely evening this week but back to rain today!
Terrible slug problem this year.
It really has been bad and things just not growing fast enough into robust plants outside to cope with slug damage. I am hoping we get a warmer period of time where things can get growing better and then can resist the slug damage more.
I’ve heard that the weather everywhere has been generally cool and wetter than normal this year. I’m in western Canada (Alberta) and I barely have blooms starting whereas last year I had full bouquets in May. I always enjoy your videos, you are so cheery and up beat. 😊
Hi and thanks for watching from Alberta. It sounds a similar weather pattern for you too. Last year I was the same lots of flowers for bouquets in May and June but this year just enough for a few florist buckets a week and not much more. I am looking forward to later in the summer and seeing if the flowers turn out much better at that time this year. Good luck with your flower growing and I hope the season gets better for you too.
Exactly the same results here in Southern Ireland. Also very poor germination taking several sowings to get started. Very small plants in the ground very slow to start. Zinnias suffering from slug damage as well as dahlias. Will have to be patient. Thanks so much for the update Now I know I’m not alone this season Cheers Sharon.
Hi Sharon, thanks so much for watching. Goodness we all are having some pretty cool wet weather. I am sorry it has been like that for you too. Yes the slugs do seem to like the zinnnias as well as the dahlias. They don’t seem to do as much damage on the statice or nigella though. I hope you get enough germinated and planted up for the flowers you would like this year. My ammi and orlaya have been the smallest plants I have had. I am looking forward to seeing what comes out better through the rest of the summer. Good luck and I hope the next few months you get some great flowers in the end.
Thank you very much for this video, very interesting to see how you are doing! Same here in the west-north part on Germany, windy, rainy, cold, hardly any sunshine and entire fleets of slugs! Let’s hope for a sunnier, warmer summer! 😁
Hello 😊 I think we all are having a wetter cooler spring across a lot of different countries this year. I hope it gets better for you soon. Hopefully a bit of drier sunnier weather will help things grow big enough to cope with the slugs and they will be a bit less active if it’s drier too.
It's been such a dreary Spring here in the PNW too. My warm weather annuals are teeny still!
Hello, oh no I am sorry you have had a bad spring weather wise too. It’s hard to see all seedlings so small still. Let’s hope for a bit of warmth, sunshine in the day and rain overnight to get them all growing away more!
Your garden looks beautiful. Hope you have more sunshine days soon 🌞🥰
Thank you, we finally have the mower fixed now too so the grass is finally cut and the garden is starting to look a lot better again! Today I cut the first overwintered snaps and it was lovely to have if a little slowly some of the annual flowers coming back now.
@@cloudberryflowers-flowerfarm so pleased you’re mower is fixed 😊
In the fall I remove all the debris from my garden. In the spring if any leaves have blown in I again remove all debris. I have no plastic in my garden as it is a place for slugs to hide during the day. If I see a plant has been nibbled on I place sluggo at the base of the plant in the evening when no birds are around and it is gone in the morning and does its job. Slugs are attracted to the yeast in beer and dies from the ethanol it produces. 1 tbsp yeast, 1 tsp sugar, 1 cup water does the same thing. 😊
Thanks so much for watching and some great tips. I think you are absolutely right about keeping the garden, beds clear of debris, leaves and plastic as much as we can to keep the slugs at bay. That is a great tip with the recipe of sugar, yeast and water too, thank you.
Ditto here in West Midlands, although we've had a few warm days, but little sunshine, cold nights and rain, rain, rain. Ranunculus and anemones were a big fat fail and I've hardly anything in flower at all. I'm hoping the larkspur, snaps, and dahlias make up for the huge disappointment so far and I'm thankful I grow for my pleasure and not to sell! Thanks so much for the update. Really good to see you and how it's going for you.
Hello, it sounds like the West Midlands has been just as bad for you! We had one lovely sunny evening this week after work and I totally overdid it in the garden taking advantage of the lovely weather! Now back to rain but it was so nice to have that one evening! I hope your snaps and dahlias give you some great late summer flowers. I am hoping for mine too, lots in the ground but still ever so small.
Really helpful vlog so thank you x
Thanks so much for watching, I am glad you enjoyed it 😊
I always enjoy the content of your videos :) Spring here in the southern most tip of Canada has a bit of a struggle also. Spring started off with unusual warm even hot temps then switching to less than average cooler temps for the past couple weeks. Now next week is forecast for a heatwave. Many local flower growers are struggling with cold hardy annuals blooming on short stems. Tulips, Daffs and Peony were all 2 weeks ahead of usual bloom time also. Which kept me busy when I should have been planting things out in my field. Rolling with the punches and looking forward to summer annuals. Peace & Love!
Hello and thanks so much for watching 😊 you have definitely had a very mixed few months of weather which must have been difficult to keep up with. Everything would have got growing quickly in your warmer early spring and then got a bit shocked when it got cooler again. I hope it does not get too hot for you and that you get a lovely summmer full of flowers, we are still raining but did have one very nice sunny day this week!
I do the beer traps for earwigs but don’t have slugs too badly. Pretty arid area. I have heard that you can bait them with bread dough or put a bit of bread dough in a watery bath to drown them. This was an Oregon State study. Sorry about your slow spring
Hello thanks for watching and also for the good ideas which I have not heard of before. I didn’t know bread dough could be used to bait slugs. I had heard oatmeal could be. Interesting too that beer traps work for earwigs as well, which can be a big problem with my dahlias!
Its been almost non stop rain since beginning of last July. Any days that were dry were often very overcast. Very few sunny days. What's going on?......I have some ideas. It making life very difficult for the farmers. Or maybe thats the plan. 😤 Hope things catch up soon with your beautiful flowers. 🙏
Hello thanks so much for watching. Yes it does seem like it has rained constantly and been overcast since last July! I am really conscious too that while that is really difficult for us to manage for growing flowers well other people are having the opposite problem with drought and heat in their gardens. Let’s hope for a better July and August this year and some better late season flowers. I still have high hopes for the dahlias!
I was so glad to see a new video from you! I’m glad you’ve still had a lot of flowers to get you through your cool and wet spring.
Hello 😊 it’s lovely to have you watching this week. It has been a challenging year so far! But the perennials really saved the day. I am really interested to see how the rest of the summer goes and if these slow growing annuals suddenly take off if the weather improves. How has the weather been for you? Have you had any favourite flowers blooming well so far?
It’s been dry, but we did get an inch of much needed rain on Sunday. There seems to be a little slow down in what’s blooming, but I still have had plenty to fill orders. Best wishes!
I’ve never seen such a bad year for slugs and slow growth than this year😢
Hello 😊 I know it has been really awful this year. I know every year the weather will challenge us with something but it does feel like all these plants you have been nurturing for months are just not doing anything. It may change though to better weather and then the plants may very quickly get away and become more robust against slug damage. Good luck, I hope later in the summer you get some lovely flowers.
@@cloudberryflowers-flowerfarm I honestly thought that it was something I was doing wrong or something that I hadn’t done even until I read others having the same problem. Fingers crossed that we all have some lovely flowers soon ❤️
We’ve had a cool wet summer here in the prairies in Canada. One of gardens is saturated. Did manage to work it but is a a mess. My poor sweet peas are out there so I hope they make it. Like you we need a good stretch of sunshine and dry weather.
Hello 😊 thanks so much for watching. Oh no it sounds like the weather for you in Canada is similar this season. I hope it drys out for you and you get some proper sunshine soon. Fingers crossed your sweet peas make it through 🤞 as you can’t beat them when they flower well. I have seen a few more proper buds coming on mine the last few days so hopefully the bud drop is ending and the night time temperatures are starting to improve which I think is what has caused it.
I want some Astrantia in my home garden yours looks so beautiful!!❤
Hello 😊 I would not be without astrantia. It’s so beautiful and so so reliable which is becoming more important with the weather each year being unpredictable for annuals.
It’s slow down here in Sussex too. The nights are too cool. Slugs and snails have eaten my 5 Orlaya plants, and the few Dara that I managed to germinate, as well as all but one of my white Cosmos. I feel like I’m serving meals for slugs. Astrantia is fantastic here too, and the snaps and sweet rocket are producing well. The weather makes everything a gamble.
Thanks so much for watching. Oh no slugs really have done some damage this year. I am glad your snaps are ok though and hope you have a few more annuals through they have not gone for. Hesperis is a good one to have growing and if cut back now after flowering will do a second flush later in the summmer. Having some plants like astrantia too that no matter what the weather always flower are so helpful, if cut back it may also do a second flush. Last night it stopped raining for a few hrs and I had a couple of lovely hours in the garden, I just hope that the weather turns soon for us all and our plants can catch up and put on a lovely show later in the summer.
Thank you so much for the early Summer update. Sorry to hear about your rainy, colder than usual weather. Living in zone 7b/8 in the foothills of Northern California makes for a sort of opposite experience in terms of what works well and what doesn't. Our heat is oppressresive in Summer and there is no rain from May until November. Needless to say, lupine and and all moisture loving plants simply don't work. Heat loving annuals are happy but sometimes they succome to too much sun and must be shaded. Slugs ate all the anemones and love most dahlias. Really enjoy your videos and especially enjoy the seed starting and potting on tutorials. Fingers crossed you have more sunshine cause your plants are off to a lovely start and I will be looking forward to more of your beautiful bouquets.
Thanks so much for watching. It’s really interesting to hear everyone’s stories of their own gardens and flower farms. You must have such a challenge keeping everything watered and shaded during the summer months. I have never been able to grow zinnias successfully although I keep trying! But flowers like that I imagine must be really successful for you? I hope you have some lovely flowers growing this year over in California.
Hello only heard of this plenty recently I usually throw lots of wildflower seeds especially borage for bee's... Can I direct sow this now I'm in Yorkshire.... Thank you for your help...
Hello, thanks so much for watching. Yes you can direct sow it just now as it is quick to germinate and it does have a shorter germination to flowering time than other seeds so will bloom well for you before the end of the growing season.
Awesome thank you ordered a pack it'll be here today.... I have various spaces where I am growing wildflowers... For the bee's... This will be a fantastic addition... Thank you for your help very much appreciated...
Very pretty 😀🌼
Thank you ☺️
You have beautiful arrangements, can you share your recipes for your bridal bouquet? Thanks
Thanks so much for watching. I am very bad at writing down the stems actually used in bouquets as I think it needs a bit more of this going along making it and I just add extras and forget to record it. But you have given me the idea to try and record bouquet recipes better so I can share them in future videos, so thank you so much for that ☺️
Great Video! I wish you also showed when/how to save the seeds.
Thanks for watching, I will have to do a short on that later in the year when they have bloomed. I do have a seed saving video but unfortunately didn’t have salvia as one of the ones I showed in that.
What type of aster is this called? Beautiful!
This aster is aster lady coral salmon.
Are these the earwigs that are indigenous in Western NY?
Thanks for watching. I am not sure if they are indigenous in western NY.
I also find peat free compost tricky stuff as it does dry out very quickly when using it in small pots and seed trays. When watering, the water just runs out at the bottom. Levington peat free compost is a no no for me. Even when using a saucer under a pot it makes no difference in keeping the compost moist. I seem to have to use more water which doesn’t seem to be environmentally friendly. In larger pots, I did the three centimetre test where you stick your finger into the soil at the top and the peat free compost seemed dry so I added some water. It was only when I tipped the compost out to reuse did I discover the compost at the bottom of the pot was soaking wet.
Thanks so much for watching. It is interesting hearing how everyone is getting on with peat free compost. I just want to find a brand that I am consistently happy with like you say that stays moist. I hope you find one too. This year has been a tough one all round for growing with the weather so having a good peat free compost would at least be giving the seedlings a good strong start before they have to contend with the conditions outside.
Where did you get your greenhouse? love it. Thanks for Mum propagation video
Hello, thanks so much for watching 😊 my greenhouse is from The Greenhouse People, I love it and it has made such a difference to have some undercover space to grow in.
Can i sow the seed during summer in india?
Hello, thanks so watching. Statice like a period of coolness to grow on after germination if they are going to produce flowers well so it is likely too hot to sow them over the summer in India. They like a temperature of 10c for a few weeks post germination.
This was the MOST helpful, thank you!!
Thanks so much for watching. I am glad you find it helpful, daucus is a great cut flower to grow.
I'm newly growing dahlias in my landscape. Do you have to keep them in the bags after they bloom? It kind of saddens me if I have to keep them in the bags and not enjoy their blooms in the landscape.
Hello, thanks for watching. Yes you are right it does mean that you don’t enjoy the blooms in their landscape if they are in the bags. If you are just growing to enjoy in your garden I would not use the bags and just enjoy the flowers with a few nibbled petals. I use the bags if I need perfect blooms for weddings or florists and then yes I have to keep the bags on once the flowers are fully out to protect the petals from being damaged.
accidentally germinated too many seeds for my available area and idk what to do with them helppp!! i think I have about 100 sprouts...
Hello, thanks for watching. I think I would do some thinning and take the weaker smaller ones out leaving space between the stronger ones to grow on. Hopefully you well get lots of lovely flowers in the summer.
I made the horrible mistake of touching mine and I got the worst rashes ever 😆
Oh no that’s unlucky. I’ve heard some people can react with a rash to some species of phacelia but have never had that happen myself. Sometimes wearing gloves when cutting flowers helps but it’s not always easy to remember to do that.
I have had great success just sticking mum cuttings directly into the garden outside in the late spring, once I had a mum break off a stem that fell behind my green giant arborvitae and it rooted itself and it became a full size yellow mum by fall.
Thanks so much for watching. Thats great you had the right conditions in the soil and weather to get chrysanthemum cuttings taking directly that way. Saves a lot of time!
Hey i am waiting for your new video!
Hello, hopefully get another one out soon. We have had such a torrential week of rain it has been flattening the flowers and I haven’t got out as much as I would have liked. When it’s a bit drier we will get a new video on the go!
Thank you so much. This beautiful flower showed up in my wildflower garden & I have fallen in love with it ❤️
Thanks so much for watching. I am glad you enjoyed it. Nigella is a beautiful flower 😊
You say planting in February etc you do not say what country your in for me to know what srason i should plant in central qld Australia
Hello and thanks so much for watching. I am in Scotland in zone 8b so start sowing my statice seeds towards the end of winter so maybe September time for you in Australia?
Hello and thanks so much for watching. I am in Scotland, zone 8b and as I don’t overwinter my statice I start them in late winter around February. Would that be around September for you in Australia?
My aster did not spread seed because my garden is heavy mulch but I’ve noticed that it spread a lot through rhizomes. They popping up about 5 feet away from the mother plant.
Thanks for watching. Yes you can gain quite a few new plants through it spreading that way and then you can relocate the new baby plants to other areas of the garden if you wish.
@@cloudberryflowers-flowerfarm yes I did as I love this plant. Thank you 🙏
Great info!
Thank you very much for watching. I am glad you enjoyed it.
That's a really comprehensive video! Thanks a lot. My Statice plants are still very small in size, about half the size of what you show here, but they already have flower stalks coming up. Will it help the plants grow a bit stronger if I carefully cut those early flower stalks?
Thanks so much for watching. I would cut those early flower stalks off to get more energy into the plant and promote a bit more growth first before flowering.
Hello! Thanks for great video. One follow up question about planting the leggy stems - if I transplant them in the starter cells, is it ok of the stem doubles over itself as the cell is short and the stems are longer. If so, any specific way to fit the while stem in? Should they be spiraled around?
Hello, thanks very much for watching. I am glad you enjoyed it. Ideally the stems would not double over as they are fragile at that stage but if they are placed in spiralled around and the stem is not broken as you do it then they will go in to grow away fine. I think my only worry would be that stem snapping.
My seedlings have become leggy but do not yet have their true leaves can i still transfer them?
Hello, thanks for watching. Yes you could transplant them if they have got really leggy. They should develop their true leaves still if you do that.
@cloudberryflowers-flowerfarm thank you so much!!!! I'm a new gardener and I still got so much to learn so I got scared when I saw that leggy seedlings meant I made a mistake.
Rabbits can't jump over 2 feet, I think you only need to make the chicken wire 2 feet tall to keep them out.
Stunning ❤. I watch quite a few flower channels, but I have to say your bouquets are always by far the next level. They are like artwork.. Thankyou for sharing 💐
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback 😊 I am glad you are enjoying the videos and my flowers.
Great instructions Amazing floral arrangements Trying it this year Fingers crossed. Cheers Catherine
Thanks so much, I hope you get some amazing statice flowers throughout the summer and it becomes one of your favourites for growing in future years. You will have to let us know how you get on with it.