The message
from JB contains these words:

My OH is pressing me to put some of my allotment space aside to grow
flowers to cut for the house.

Great idea

Which is fair enough but if I cut
flowers such as gladioli will they regrow next year from the same
bulbs or be too weakened to recover. Is there a trick to cutting
flowers in such a way that they can reliably grow from year to year?

Plant hardy perennial bulbs, flowers and shrubs. Gladioli are not
fully hardy so in
most areas of the UK, will need lifting, drying, storing, and
replanting every year. Or, just buy a dirt cheap bargain bag each year
and leave them in the ground to do or die the next year. You won't lose
much money.. B and Q etc sells bargain packs.

Other hardier bulbs like lilies, crocosmia, daffodils, snowdrops can
be planted and left untouched for years and are pretty cut flowers. I
used to grow a row of HT roses on my allotment, a graceless gawky bush
in the garden IMHO but wonderful flowers for cutting. They will last
many years and can be bought very cheaply.The old-fashioned herbaceous
double red paeony is another great cutting-flower which can be safely
ignored for the rest of the year.

Janet