Garden pedantry | Don't call me 'Petal'

Ever said, ‘Hello, Petal’ to a bunch of dahlias? You’d have been incorrect!

We featured this fabulously blousy bunch of dahlias in our September issue and were inspired to find out a bit more about dahlias. As well as learning that the Aztecs grew dahlia tubers as a food crop, we were most fascinated to learn that each ‘petal’ is actually called a ‘floret’ (yes, like broccoli) and is a flower in its own right.

So all those colourful petals are not petals at all but individual flowers. Suddenly that bunch of dahlias seems even more like excellent value for money!

Read more about Dahlias in our September issue, on sale now.

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Folklore | foxgloves

Why foxgloves are called foxgloves

The tall, colourful spires that tower over cottage garden borders in June have a wealth of stories behind them. And no wonder really. They are fascinatingly paradoxical - digitalis is a deadly poison but is used in life-saving heart medicine; beautiful - the pretty, bell-shaped flowers, are dappled with spots inside… All in all, they are simply crying out for a fairytale backstory, and folklore has provided generously.

Some stories have told that the word ‘foxglove’ is merely a misrepresentation of ‘folk’s glove’, ie gloves little people might wear.

Another says that the gloves do indeed belong to foxes and that fairies gave them to the foxes to put on their paws to enable them to sneak silently into the hen house without being heard.This story is echoed in the belief that the mottled spots inside the flowers are actually fairy handprints. DNA evidence will always catch you out in the end, fairies.

What fairies have against hens we aren’t sure, but perhaps it was more to do with being fans of foxes than enemies of friends. Because another tale goes that the bell-shaped flowers would make a magical noise when rung and the fairies taught foxes to ring the bells of foxgloves to warn other foxes when a fox hunt was nearby.

The botanist RCA Prior thought that the name came from foxes-glew, meaning ‘folks’ music’, supporting the ‘bell’ theory, but this idea has been debunked by etymologists [https://blog.oup.com/2010/11/foxglove/].

Indeed, the argument becomes more complex when you take into account that the foxglove is known by several different names, including todtail (fox tail)’, dead men’s bells, ladies’ fingers, bunny rabbits, floppy dock and dragon’s mouth.

So who knows where the name originated. But if the glove fits...

In our June issue, we have a feature on Anne-Marie Curtin’s cut flower garden, where the beautiful foxgloves above were grown (foragefor.co.uk).

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More on cutting flowers…

Growing | My year-round cut flower guide

It's not difficult to fill your house with something flowery all year long. It just takes a little planning and imagination.

On page 106 of May's The Simple Things, Francine Raymond shares her productive small garden in Kent, including this guide to a year-round cut flower guide.

January 
Indoor bulbs planted in October come into their own. This is the time to enjoy narcissi, hyacinths, cymbidium orchids and amaryllis. 
February 
Flowering cherries, sweet box, daphne, helebores and mahonia are fragrant additions to the home. Pussy willow, hazel and birch twigs add interesting structure to any vase. 
March 
I snip branches of pear before the buds burst: the warmth of the house brings them into leaf and bud. 
April
Time for tulips. I like to display them in a row of little glass bottles or bunched together in a crate.
May 
One of my favourite plants, auriculas, flower now. They can be brought indoors and displayed on a windowsill out of direct sunlight. 
June 
Sweetpeas flower in abundance this month. I keep picking to ensure there are plenty of blooms.
July 
Lavender is at its headiest now. Once bees have finished with the flowers, I clip off the stems and put them in a big basket.
August 
Succulents are at their best in August. I put pots of sempervivums and sedums on the kitchen table. 
September 
Now is the time to forage hedgerows for berries to display. A few sloe branches and some rosehips add extra colour.
October 
I grow pumpkins for decoration, then pile them high in the porch and festoon them with Virginia creeper.
November 
I press the heart-shaped leaves of cercis between sheets of paper; and dry seedheads and flowers for festive decorations. 
December 
I take cardoon heads and little pumpkins and turn them into nightlight holders.

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How to grow cut flowers

Here's an idea: turn a tired area of your garden into a cutting-flower patch and you'll be picking blooms all summer

If you don’t have green fingers, start with long-lasting perennials and shrubs from your local nursery or garden centre. A trio of scented ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ roses underplanted with pincushions of astrantia, daisy-like echinacea, and the foliage of bronze fennel all make good picking and will supply dozens of fragrant bunches. While autumn is the time for planting daffs and tulips, spring is good for getting gladioli and allium bulbs in the ground, as well as dahlias, with their stunning cactus and anemone shapes. 

For everyday bunches of loveliness, sow sweet peas. They’re easy to grow, and so benevolent with their blooms, you can pick every day of summer. There’s a wide range of colour, too. Build a hazel or bamboo wigwam for them to twine around and plant at the base of each strut. As seedlings appear, encourage them to clamber onto the frame with twine. Tender seedlings are a gift to molluscs, so sprinkle some wildlife-friendly slug pellets, too.

Turn to page 118 for more cutting patch advice, including how to do the groundwork, growing from seed and how to arrange your blooms.

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