Grow Your Own Cut Flowers with Sarah Raven at Thyme

I love being able to pick armfuls of flowers for a good nine months of the year and in this day course we will teach you how, giving you hard facts on how to succeed with growing the very best and most productive plants. With my friend Arthur Parkinson, we will also give you practical advice on seed sowing and propagation, soil conditioning, mulching, staking and all the most important things we have found to help us succeed with nine month round flower production. Arthur will finish the day with an arranging demo with fresh, seasonal flowers bought by Sarah from Perch Hill.

I’ll explain how to prepare, plant, maintain and harvest buckets of flowers from your garden from March through to November. We'll cover hardy and half-hardy annuals, biennials and sweet peas as well as dahlias and other bulbs. You will also learn the best sowing and growing techniques so you can achieve easy yet brilliant results and plant rotation through the seasons to make the most of whatever space you have, little or large. We'll also cover flower conditioning techniques to make all your cut flowers last well in the vase.

This course is taught by Sarah with assistance from Arthur Parkinson and Caroline Nevile. It is a lecture with slides format, with some practical demos. You will also get a course hand-out covering all the information Sarah teaches on the day.

It is held at Thyme, Southrop Manor Estate, Gloucestershire, GL7 3PW. Nestled in the rolling Cotswold hills, Thyme is a 'Village within a Village'. The collection of restored historic buildings evoke a hamlet feel, enveloped by a series of classic country house gardens and orchards that supply flowers for the house, food for the kitchen, and herbs for the spa. At Thyme guests can stay in the botanically inspired bedrooms, dine in the restaurant situated in the old Ox Barn, or partake in classes and workshops from the Calendar of Happenings. Thyme is a place to slow down and reconnect with nature.

The day lasts from 9.30am until 3pm, including tea/coffee on arrival, (from 9.30am for a 10am prompt start) morning tea/coffee break and a 2 course garden menu lunch served in the Ox Barn at Thyme.

Itinerary

9.30am arrive for coffee/tea, and homemade biscuits

Session 1: 10am - 11am - Meet Sarah- Sarah will guide you through the principles of the cut flower cut-and-come-again philosophy — how to get a lot of produce from minimal space. At this time of year, we will concentrate on annuals and dahlias.

11am - 11.20am - tea/coffee break and homemade cake

Session 2: 11:20am - 12.20am - Sarah will then show you the best plants to be sown/planted now to give you almost year-round picking just outside the door and give you growing tips and advice, plus a guide to conditioning flowers to make them last as long as possible in a vase.

Lunch group 1: 12.20pm - 1pm : A 2 course garden lunch in the Ox Barn Restaurant. There will be time for shopping after lunch, we’ll have a good range of bulbs, seeds, floristry, and gardening kit

Lunch group 2: 12.40pm - 1.20pm : A 2 course garden lunch in the Ox Barn Restaurant. There will be time for shopping after lunch, we’ll have a good range of bulbs, seeds, floristry, and gardening kit

Session 3, demo: 1.45pm - 2.45pm - Sarah will leave at lunch time and Arthur will guide you through the afternoon session with a practical led session of creating natural plant supports and planting/sowing jobs. He'll end the day with a seasonal flower arrangement.

2.45pm - 3pm - The pop-up shop will be open for any last minute shopping.

Directions: Thyme ask that guests arrive via the Estate Drive. You can find directions here - Find Us (Link: https://www.thyme.co.uk/find-us)

Cancellations and refunds

If you are unable to attend a course/event you have booked and paid for:A friend or family member is welcome to attend in your place. You will need to provide us with their name, dietary requirements and contact email address/phone number as soon as possible prior to the course/event date.

If we receive 8 weeks notice or more:Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden Ltd will refund the full cost of your course/event.

If we receive more than 4 weeks notice:Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden Ltd will transfer you to another suitable course/event of the same value. In this instance this must be a straight swap onto another course we have availability on within the same season. I,e no more than 6 weeks from the original course date booked. Furthermore, we are unable to carry course credits over to the following calendar year. Please note, we cannot issue vouchers to spend on other products at sarahraven.com.

If we receive less than 4 weeks notice:We are unable to offer a refund or transfer as we have inadequate time to re-sell the place. A friend or family member is welcome to attend in your place. If you find you are unable to attend a Course with less than 4 weeks’ notice, please call us so we may advise further. A course/event place purchased as a gift carries the same cancellation policy. The course value cannot be transferred over to use on Sarah Raven products.

If we need to cancel a course/event:Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden Ltd may cancel any course/event due to illness or very low numbers, and you will then have the option of a transfer to another course/event of the same value or a full refund of your payment.

Contacting us

For all enquiries contact events_srcg@thecuttinggarden.com