Longfield Gardens Blog

If you want to add a big splash of color to your garden with a very small amount of effort, plant some cannas. Their bold foliage, impressive size and brilliant red, yellow and orange flowers always get noticed. Cannas look fantastic planted in perennial gardens and make a fabulous living hedge. They look equally amazing in containers. So if you’re ready to turn

Topics: Foliage Plants , Inspiration , Spring Planted Bulbs , Summer Bulbs

It’s always such a long wait for spring’s first flowers. When they finally burst on the scene, the bounty of blooms combined with months of pent up flower energy is almost too much to handle! My favorite way to cope with this delightful moment of excess is to cut lots of stems and make lots of bouquets. Week after week, every room in my

Topics: Cut Flowers , Daffodils , Fall Planted Bulbs , How-To , Spring Blooming Bulbs , Tulips

  The National Garden Bureau has put tulips in the spotlight this year, by declaring 2018 the Year of the Tulip. These cheery, easy-to-grow bulbs are already the world’s favorite spring flowers. Yet demand is still growing! According to Statistics Netherlands, commercial tulip bulb production reached an all-time high in 2017, with the number of tulips grown by Dutch farmers increasing by

Topics: Cut Flowers , Fall Planted Bulbs , Inspiration , Spring Blooming Bulbs , Tulips

Dahlias are impressive plants. The sheer volume of their flower production is remarkable. They also offer an incredible range of flower sizes, styles and colors — more than enough to hold your attention for a lifetime! Though every dahlia variety has its own special charm, the most extraordinary of all are dinnerplate dahlias. What Are Dinnerplate Dahlias? Dinnerplates are not part

Topics: Cut Flowers , Dahlias , Summer Bulbs

If you love making fresh flower arrangements, planting a cutting garden is the best way to ensure you will always have lots of beautiful, homegrown flowers, ready for the picking. The purpose of a cutting garden is different from a regular flower garden. You don’t need to worry about design basics like style, flow, scale and symmetry. In a cutting garden,

Topics: Cut Flowers , How-To

Clematis have an important role to play in any flower garden. As they scramble up trellises, climb over arbors and thread themselves through other plants, these perennial vines weave a rich tapestry of color and texture. Read on for six tips that will help you be successful growing the “queen of climbers.” Do Your Research There are many wonderful clematis varieties to choose from,

Topics: How-To , Perennials

Orange is a color that’s not always easy to love — especially in a flower garden. It has a big personality and doesn’t seem motivated to blend in. This makes orange challenging to use well, but very exciting when you get it right. Orange is a color that’s fun and playful, happy and outgoing. Words such as warm, vibrant, lively and energetic are used to describe the

Topics: How-To , Inspiration

After many years running a successful floral design studio, Alicia Schwede decided to take her business in a slightly different direction. She wanted to combine her work experience and creative talents, with her passion for teaching and flair for social media. Her website, FlirtyFleurs.com, is now a hub for other floral designers, specialty cut flower growers and anyone who loves cut flowers. When

Topics: Cut Flowers , Dahlias , Summer Bulbs

Gardeners often have a strong opinion about the color pink. In truth, it can be challenging to work with. Read on to learn why that’s true, and get some tips and techniques for using pink in your flower garden. Cultural biases are the first challenge to overcome. Pink is a color that’s often associated with sweets, babies, girls, cuteness, cotton candy and

Topics: Fall Planted Bulbs , How-To , Inspiration , Perennials , Spring Blooming Bulbs , Spring Planted Bulbs

I came to dahlias relatively late in life. Had I gotten an earlier start, by now I would have grown hundreds of different varieties. As it is, I’m playing catch up. There are still so many dahlias I have yet to grow — and I want try them all. As usual, this year’s list includes far more varieties than I

Topics: Cut Flowers , Dahlias