I guessed reading How to Grow the Flowers would give me some must-grow varieties, hints on cultivation and tips for success. What I hadn’t expected was a possible use for my biggest gardening nightmare.
(I was given a copy of this book in return for a fair review.)
Large areas of my garden are infested with horsetail, or Equisetum arvensis, and I’ve often joked that if there was a commercial application for this weed that dates back to the dinosaurs, I’d be very rich. It turns out there is a use – as part of a disinfectant wash due to its anti-fungal properties.
Authors Marianne Mogendorff and Camila Romain use it in a spray for cleaning the glasshouse at their flower growing business in North London. They also suggest making a ‘horsetail tea’ to apply as a plant food although warn this tough weed has to be broken down completely: “It is such a prehistoric survivor we live in fear we’ll inadvertently spread it further round the plot!”
Accepting that you have to learn to live with horsetail is just part of their pragmatic approach to running Wolves Lane Flower Company. Summer, we’re told, is a time to “relinquish control” but it’s not a bad thing: “Rather than seeing this as a defeat it is perhaps more of a healthy reminder that we shouldn’t try to control and constrain too much.”
This working with rather than against Nature is a constant thread through the book, with seasonality and sustainability trumpeted on every page.
They hope How to Grow the Flowers will be a ‘manifesto for change in the floral industry’ and it’s as much about what you shouldn’t do – or buy – as it is advice on growing at home.
It’s also not simply a case of buying British: “British is not synonymous with organic, and flowers may still be grown with artificial heat, light or pumped with chemicals to reduce pest damage.”
What they hope to do is encourage anyone who buys flowers to question their production, to see them as “the product of a fragile and vital ecosystem”.
That said, there is plenty of advice with the seasonal chapters further divided into advice on soil, seed, tend, and harvest, ending with a flower project, such as a dahlia staircase or table runner. There are instructions on making a wormery, and drying flowers for winter use, along with tips on choosing seed and when to sow. Sprinkled through the book are quotes from their ‘floral hero’ Constance Spry.
It’s not always been an easy journey though and they are candid about failures: losing ammi to pests; weeds recolonising a newly dug bed.
But as they say: “Growing isn’t about getting it right, it’s about sticking close to the seasons and getting started.”
Beautifully illustrated with photos by Aloha Shaw, this is a great book for anyone who loves cut flowers, whether they grow them or not.
How to Grow the Flowers by Marianne Mogendorff and Camila Romain is published by Pavilion with an RRP of £20. You can buy it here for £15. (Price correct at time of publication. If you buy via this link, I receive a small commission. The price you pay is not affected.)
Top photo copyright Aloha Shaw.
You can read more of my gardening and garden-related book reviews here.
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