Planting Guides
Here is a guide to assist your cut flower journey
When your plants arrive
Allow them to recuperate from their journey and adjust to their new climate by giving them a weak seaweed solution watering and keeping them in a shady position for a couple of days. When they have perked up they are ready to be planted out or potted up.
While your plants are young be vigilant and ensure they are watered regularly, keep them moist and do not allow them to dry out. Ideally water them from overhead for a couple of weeks before switching to a drip line to water the roots keep foliage dry. Check your plants regularly to ensure soil has not dislodged after watering exposing roots, this can happen easily and have a detrimental effect to ongoing growth.
Ranunculus
Introducing the Elegance line of Ranunculus, Through years of dedicated research and interbreeding, Italian breeder Biancheri have bred flowers with many layers of large petals, in colours that are highly esteemed in the market. Each flower boasts early production, robust plants, long, straight stems, and exceptional quality, making them suitable for various climatic conditions and growing techniques. From the chill of Tasmania to the subtropical warmth of South East Queensland, our Ranunculus thrive, bringing beauty to flower journey.
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Plant your seedlings about 15 cm apart.
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Plant them in a sunny spot - 8 hours of sunlight will produce many blooms
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Plant deep. Don't be afraid to cover some of forming leaves to ensure the corm that is forming is well under the soil.
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Check them as they grow to ensure the soil hasn't dislodged exposing the corm.
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Fertilise regularly throughout the season
They don't mind a light frost as long as the roots do not freeze, mulching can assist to protect the roots.
Expect flowers at the end of Winter or early Spring, it is best to pick them after they have opened a few times, picking them early in the morning before they have opened and when they feel squishy like a marshmallow. Pick your flowers down to the base to encourage more flowers. They have superb vase life lasting up to 10-12 days
Plant will start to die off as day length increases and the days get warmer. Allow the plants to die fully back before lifting corms. Trial leaving some corms in the ground, as long as your soil drains well and doesn't get muddy over summer they will survive.
Happy Gardening - Grow It Australia
Anemone
From the same renowned Italian breeder Biancheri as the Ranunculus these Italian Anemones are bred to the highest standards, expect a high quality productive bloom bred for a cut flower.
They receives at least 6 hours of sun light per day, partial sun is ok too in warmer areas.
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Plant your seedlings about 15 cm apart.
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Plant them in a partly shady spot - 6 hours of sunlight will produce many blooms. In warmer climates protect them from the afternoon sun
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Plant deep. Don't be afraid to cover some of forming leaves to ensure the bulb/tuber that is forming is well under the soil.
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Check them as they grow to ensure the soil hasn't dislodged exposing the corm.
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Fertilise regularly throughout the season
They don't mind a frost as long as the roots do not freeze, mulching can assist to protect the roots from the cold in winter and the warmth as the days heat up.
Expect flowers at the end of Winter or Early Spring, it is best to pick them after they have opened a few times, picking them early in the morning before the leaves behind the flower has folded back. Pick your flowers down to the base to encourage more flowers. They have superb vase life lasting about 10 days.
Plant will start to die off as light increases and the days get warmer.
Lisianthus growing notes
We love this flower because it has a long vase life. It holds well out of water, making it a top choice for installations and corsages. The shape resembles a rose. In field you don't need to pick straight away making it easier to time harvesting and usage.
On the flip side she is hard to start from seed and doesn't like the heat in the first few weeks of planting.
Each variety has different groups I, II, III, IV with different heat and light requirements. Below provides a guideline only and your specific climate needs to be considered.
LIGHT LOW MODERATE HIGH MODERATE
WINTER SPRING SUMMER AUTUMN
GRP I GRP II GRP III GRP IV GRP III GRPII
Plant them high and try to avoid the first leaves touching the soil. Spacing for pinched plants = 15cm and if you are not pinching = 10cm. Overhead watering is recommended for the first few weeks after planting. Once established allow them to dry out before watering. Two layers of support netting is ideal.
Plants/plugs require 2-3 weeks of cool soil and shade at time of transplant to avoid rosetting (early flowering)
To pinch or not to pinch? Pinching will create a bushier plant with more lateral stems and more flowers however you will sacrifice the size of the flower and delay the flowering by a 2 - 3 weeks. Once flowers start to form, pinch out the first largest bud to save the plants resources for the rest of the flowers. Harvest when the second tier have opened and the third tier of buds are full.
Lisianthus is susceptible to fusarium, ensuring biodynamic soil can help combat these bad guys. Starting the plugs off with a soak in biofungicide can give them a good start while they are establishing.
They are super slow growing to start with however while you may not see a lot of height growth there will be a lot going on under the soil. Lissies grow deep roots.
Chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemums are another superb cut flower, they have the longest vase life and are still looking great after 10 days. The Mums I sell are specifically grown for cut flowers and typically grown as an annual plant. They have specific stopping (pinching) times to attempt to align flowering with Mothers Day. First stopping is Cup day, cut them back to a few inches leaving three sets of leaves. It may seem excessive but these plants love it. They are eager to grow and will bounce back. They will need another stopping late January, I stagger stopping across a few weeks to avoid having flowers all at the same time. Different cultivars can be early or late flowering too. You start to get to know the flowering times for your climate after growing them a couple of seasons. They will flower in April/May once the days start getting shorter. I grow mine in 28cm pots and also in the ground. Protect them from Aphids, slugs and snails. To keep the cycle going each year cuttings should be taken each year. There are lots of resources available from your state run Chrysanthemum society that can provide detailed information.