One of the main reasons that I grow flowers in my garden is for the fresh cut flowers. Blooms to bring in by the arm load and arrange in buckets and vases, is the reason that I slave hours in the garden.
Buying fresh cuts from a florist or grocery store isn’t the same as bringing in blooms that are decorating my garden with fragrance and color. Regretting removing those blooms from my garden isn’t an issue when I can enjoy it for many more hours up close and personal in the privacy of my home.
To get the best of both worlds – a beautiful garden along with beautifully arranged vases – I always designate a special area a ‘cutting garden’. Expanding year by year as I discover just another flower that is perfect for cutting, it has encroached on my vegetable garden. Less veggies-more flowers!
But what defines a good cut flower?- Simply put: long bloom times, tall sturdy stems, and ample vase life.
Growing specialty cut flowers for me ranges from crowd favorites like peonies and dahlias, to more obscure varieties rarely seen at a local florist, like ‘Love in the Mist’, is both a money saver and a little bit of luck. Starting many of these varieties from seed can be tricky, and some years I have a bumper crop, and other years, I bomb. Gardening is not an exact science and the more I experiment, I find that there is always more to discover.
Growing my own source of private bouquets is something I will be doing as long as I have a garden, as I crave fresh flowers in my house and I don’t want to rely on the florist. My vegetable garden is about 50% flowers now!
Not only do I use my fresh cuts for arranging, I also dry a bunch of them for use in the Fall and Winter. See Dried Flowers for ideas.
My Top Twelve List of Fresh Cuts
- Ageratum houstonianum ‘Blue Horizon’ or ‘Dondo Blue’
- Larkspur-comes in pink, blue and white and gives a great vertical accent to your arrangements
- Poppies-comes in a rainbow of colors and my bees like them; go to Poppy Love
- Zinnias-all kinds, but I especially love the cactus varieties
- Sunflowers-forget the mammoth ones (too large), but the different colored varieties with branching stems are my favorites like ‘Valentine’
- Dahlias-for late season interest, these are perfect! For my post on Dahlias, go to Dahlias – Divas of the Garden
- Lilies-Oriental and Asiatic, not daylilies as these only last a day
- Love in the Mist– not only beautiful flowers, but beautiful foliage and dried seed heads
- Peonies-a flash in the pan and they are gone, but I indulge in them when in season
- Tulips-forget these if you have deer; wonderful form and they grow in fantastic shapes in the vase
- Bishops Flower(Amni majus)-looks like a Queen Anne’s Lace on steroids
- Alliums-long lasting statements that make good focal flowers; go to my post on Alliums-All Season Long.
Out of Season
When summer is over that doesn’t mean I don’t have plant material in the house. Transitioning to colorful berries, leaves, and branches takes me into the holiday season. After that, I bring in evergreens, cones, and branches, until flowers appear again in the spring.
Placement
Deciding on a place for your cut flowers is a personal decision, but you have to have lots of sun. Growing flowers in my vegetable garden which gets the most amount of sun on my property makes sense for me. Most of my other beds are full of perennials and evergreens, and shrubs, so I usually don’t have room for them in my garden beds. I will plant early bloomers, like poppies, larkspur, and cornflowers in areas that will hold late appearing perennials, like hostas. By the time the hostas are up, the early bloomers are just about done and I can remove them.
Allow enough room to maneuver around the blocks or rows for watering, weeding, and picking. I plant in blocks about 3 feet wide for good access and air flow.
Starting some seeds inside and others like Zinnias outside, I start about two dozen varieties each year. Some years I have a bumper crop of something that has done especially well, I just can’t predict what will be blooming in my garden.
For cool season flowers like Larkspur, Bells of Ireland, Poppies, Love in the Mist, and Cornflower, go to Cool Flowers.
Bells of Ireland are a great cut flower
A feast for the eyes! I’m going out to check my cutting garden right now. Planted zinnias from seed and they’re coming up beautifully this year. Keep up the great work Claire!
Thanks Laurie!
How do you treat ants in the flowers before bringing them inside?
For peonies, I dip the heads in buckets of water and they usually come off
We need a tour of your lovely gardens!
Anytime,! You can come over anytime!
Wow, thanks for the information and inspiration. Love it