A beginner's guide to growing flowers to decorate your home

A beginner's guide to growing flowers to decorate your home Flowers can be a great way to bring more colour into your home, but store-bought varieties can also be expensive and have a big environmental footprint. Growing your own cut flowers (blooms bred for use in vases and arrangements) is a fun way around this, and while it might sound intimidating, incorporating blooms into your garden space or even pots can be simpler than you think. Royal Botanic Garden Sydney horticulturalist Madeline Ward grows flowers at work and at home, where she usually has something in bloom. "For beginners … if you start with one or two species [of flowers] and you really get to know them as friends … then you can expand from there," she says. Step one: Choosing the best spot To grow flowers, the first thing you need is sunshine. Madeline says ideally, you want an area with full sun that's close to a tap or hose for watering and in a spot with easy access so you can actually enjoy the garden once it gets going. Bec Shelley owns a family-run seed company outside Hobart/Nipaluna and also grows her own flowers. She says you don't need to make a formal garden bed. "I think you can incorporate little patches of cut flowers in between your landscaped bits … it can still be pretty," Bec says. Step two: Prep your soil Once you've chosen your spot, you want the soil to be loose and free of weeds, Madeline says. She recommends getting into the soil and weeding by hand to make it easy for your seedlings to send down roots. "Once you've cleared the bed … and you've turned it over a little bit, you want to give it a nice healthy dose of compost over the top," she says. Madeline says store-bought compost is good for beginners, and homemade compost is also fine, as long as it's "well rotted and well turned". But she says don't worry about manure, as this can over-complicate things. Madeline also recommends making sure your bed is free of big rocks and debris, which can obstruct root growth, and using a rake to create a smooth surface to sow into. Sign up to the ABC Lifestyle newsletter Step three: Choosing and planting your flower seeds With so many beautiful cut flower varieties available, choosing which to grow first can feel overwhelming. But there are a few easy-to-grow exotic and native varieties that are ideal for beginners, depending on your climate zone. As many cut flower varieties, including the ones mentioned in this article, are hardy and don't need a lot of care, they can become weeds if they spread outside of gardens. So, before you get started, it's important to check with your local council whether that is the case in your area. Click into the cards below to explore the flower types Bec and Madeline suggest, and growing tips for each. Zinnas Read moreZinnias are exotic annuals (plants that flower then die), mostly native to North and South America, with the kind of round flower heads you see in children's drawings. Species bred for cutting can grow almost a metre tall and come in a huge array of colours. "They'll come up pretty quickly and they're easy to look after," Madeline says. Zinnia seeds are best planted in the warmer months (see climate zone map for your area) in moist, well-drained soil, and the plants don't like frost. While not illegal to grow, Zinnia peruviana is considered a weed in parts of Australia, including Queensland and northern NSW. If they are in your location, try growing the equally gorgeous Zinnia elegens. | Climate zone | When to sow | |---|---| | Tropical | April to July | | Subtropical | February to December | | Temperate | August to December | | Cool | September to December | | Arid | January, August to December | Cosmos Read moreComos is an exotic annual with classic round flower heads and soft petals, primarily in white, pinks and purples, originating in North and South America. Cosmos varieties bred for cutting can grow up to 2 metres tall, with flower stems of up to 60 centimetres. Bec says cosmos seeds germinate quickly and the plants are "quite low maintenance". Plant them in a protected sunny position with moist, well-drained soil, and sow the seeds about 6 millimetres deep. Cosmos bipinnatus and Cosmos sulphureus are considered emerging weeds in some states. If they are where you live, try the more subdued chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus), with blooms that smell like their namesake. | Climate zone | When to sow | |---|---| | Tropical | April to October | | Subtropical | All year | | Temperate | August to December | | Cool | September to December | | Arid | August to December | Billy buttons Read moreBilly buttons are wildflowers native to inland and eastern Australia, with a striking yellow, spherical flower head. The most common species grown in gardens is the perennial Pycnosorus globosus. "It's an Australian native and so it's super hardy … a little bit trickier to start from seed but once that gets going you don't have to do a lot," Bec says. They're best grown in full sun or part shade and are drought and frost-tolerant once established. Shallow sow with just a millimetre of soil on top, as they need sunlight to germinate, and be sure to keep the soil moist. | Climate zone | When to sow | |---|---| | Tropical | April to September | | Subtropical | February to May, August to November | | Temperate | January to April, September to December | | Cool | January to May, September to December | | Arid | January to April, August to December | Sweet peas Read moreSweet peas are another classic exotic that are easy to grow. They come in a range of colours, have soft, frilly petals and are native to Sicily, southern Italy, and the Aegean Islands. "I would really recommend people look at the heirloom varieties and the ones that have a strong scent. The most beautiful thing about sweet peas is how gorgeous they smell," Madeline says. They are best grown in full sun and well-drained soil, and will climb on a trellis. Check your seed packet for sowing depth, as this can vary. Lathyrus latifolius sweet peas are considered an environmental weed in parts of Australia (including Victoria and Lord Howe Island) and is an emerging weed in other states. If they are considered weeds in your area, the less aggressive Lathyrus odoratus may be an option. | Climate zone | When to sow | |---|---| | Tropical | February to May | | Subtropical | March to May | | Temperate | February to April, August to September | | Cool | January to April, September to October | | Arid | February to June | Paper daisies Read morePaper daisies (Xerochrysum bracteatum) are a perennial Australian native found in the wild in parts of every state and territory. They have round flower heads with papery, pointed petals and come in yellows, whites, reds, pinks and purples. "They're really great. Super easy for beginner growers," Madeline says. "They work really well as a dried flower, and they have a lot more longevity in a garden than some of our exotic species, so they'll last a lot longer … right through the summer." Paper daisies are best grown in full sun and need very well-drained soil. Sow seeds 1mm deep in moist soil. | Climate zone | When to sow | |---|---| | Tropical | Not appropriate for this climate | | Subtropical | April to July | | Temperate | February to March, September to December | | Cool | January to April, September to December | | Arid | February to April, August to October | A note on sowing seeds To keep things simple, Madeline recommends sowing seeds for the above flowers directly into the soil. While you're still getting a feel for flower growing, you can follow the depth and spacing instructions on your seed packets. But Madeline says you can also be a bit more relaxed. "I think it's so much fun to cast seed out into a garden and see what and where it pops up," she says. Distributing your seeds in a carrier mix of vermiculite or sand will help distribute them more evenly, she says. If you live somewhere chilly or are keen to observe the germination process close up, you can also sow your seeds in a punnet and spout them in a greenhouse or a sunny spot inside. For cosmos, zinnia and sweet pea planted in punnets, Bec recommends using good quality potting mix and then hardening the seedlings off so they don't suffer transplant shock. "You let them spend a few hours outside [each day], building up to a whole day over a week's time," she says. "Then plant the seedling into your garden at about six weeks of growth, which is generally when they have two sets of leaves." For both direct sowing and sprouting in punnets, watering every day is important. You want to keep the soil moist, but not wet enough to wash away or damage the seeds. If you live in an apartment or without a yard, Bec and Madeline say cut flowers can be sown and grown in pots, but get the largest ones you can find and water religiously, as soil in pots dries out rapidly. If growing from seed sounds too tricky, nurseries also sell seedlings for some of the species listed above. But be sure to check the label to make sure what you're buying produces flowers with stems long enough for cutting. Step four: Growing responsibly and harvesting Once your plants are established, give them a daily drink. Your seed packet should tell you roughly how long your flowers will take to bloom. "Once they're in the ground [and no longer in the seedling stage], they're pretty low maintenance … you'd want to mulch around the base of the plant and watch out for any pests and disease," Bec says. "But generally, [with] those easy-to-grow flowers, you can sort of let them go and they'll just keep growing." When your flowers arrive, cutting your blooms regularly to bring inside will ensure more grow in their place. But if you've got more than your vases can handle, deadheading (cutting the flower heads off once they droop) will do the same job. Deadheading before your flowers go to seed will help ensure they don't escape the garden and become a weed problem in your neighbourhood. Madeline says avoiding seed mixes that don't list the flowers included can also help stop the spread of weeds. Madeline's final advice for new flower growers is to have fun and "be prepared to fail". "Plants will die … do weird things … get disease," she says. "The best way to learn how to be a better gardener is … just get into it."