Let the beds bloom!

In the old French kitchen gardens, it was common to alternate rows between flowers and vegetables.

It was a way to make the vegetable garden more beautiful and less aesthetically vulnerable at harvest; it didn't matter that a row of beets was suddenly uprooted because the row next to it was blooming like never before. Those tricks – filling in the vegetables with color and fluff – are worth adopting in the greenhouse as well.

You're probably used to potted flowers, but when it comes to sprinkling flowers in the beds, annual summer flowers are a welcome addition. Let them peek out here and there, throw themselves over the edge of the wall or mingle with the tomatoes along the climbing wire. They bloom earlier than in the garden, but many flowers will rebloom if you just pick off the wilted ones.

But even the one-time bloomers – like sunflowers – are fun additions to the greenery. And if, like many others, you share your garden with deer, flowers in the greenhouse have an extra dimension – you can leave them alone!

• Sow in small pots or in plugs, it is easy to place them among the vegetables later. In the spring you can sometimes find small plants of these plants in the garden center, but it is safest to sow yourself, then there are also many more varieties to choose from.
• Be sure to see what height the flowers will be and place the taller ones further back and the lower ones further forward in the bed.
• Choose robust varieties that like sun and heat – shade lovers will be sad in the greenhouse.
• Half-hardy flowers can provide a really long, lovely autumn bloom in the greenhouse.
• Fertilize regularly with nutrient water throughout the season.
  
  

Some favorites: Snapdragon 'Costa Apricot' Pionaster 'Peony Chamois' Zinnia 'Queeny Lime Red' Summer Rudbeckia 'Sahara'

Snapdragon – a semi-hardy, vibrant and lovely flower that can last well into December in greenhouses. Excellent for picking as a cut flower and putting in a vase.

Nice varieties: 'Twinny Peach', 'Black Prince', 'Costa Apricota' and 'Snowflake'.

Pionaster – the large fluffy aster offers a lot of beauty and thrives well under glass where the rain can't ruin the flowers. Grows around 70 cm tall so fits well further into the bed and may sometimes need a little support.

Nice varieties: 'King Size Apricot', 'Bright Rose Peony', 'Violet', 'Peony Chamois'.

Zinnia – the pralines of flowers. Available in so many colors and heights. Can handle the high summer heat in the greenhouse without any problems and blooms well into the fall.

Nice varieties: 'Queeny Lime Red', 'Dahl Flow Polar Bear', 'Zinderella Lilac' and the golden zinnia 'Soleado'.

Summer Rudbeckia – half-hardy, a faithful servant for autumn days. A strong and reliable flower that is wonderful in the greenhouse bed when autumn is approaching. It can withstand both warm and cooler days.

Nice varieties: 'Sahara', 'Toto Gold', 'Rustic Dwarf' and 'Goldilocks'.

Fertilizer tips!

In greenhouses, it is easiest to fertilize with manure water. The best manure water is made yourself in the spring and early summer when the nettles are full of nutrients:

1 kg fresh nettles, preferably chopped

10 liters of water

Mix everything in a bucket, place a stone on the plants so they stay under water and put a lid on, let it steep for five days, strain.

Mix in 1 tablespoon EM© (effective microorganisms, available in bottles)

Dilute 1:2 with water when fertilizing

Can be stored for a couple of weeks in a cool place.

(Later in the season, you can make the same fertilizer solution but add 2 dl of pelleted chicken manure, to get more nitrogen out because the nettles contain less readily available nitrogen then)