Plant your cut flower garden in rows or plots for ease of watering, weeding and harvesting. Consider your USDA growing zone when selecting plants that will do best in your location.
Choose long stemmed flowers like peonies, lupines and Volcano phlox with long vase life; fragrant annuals and perennials which dry quickly are also great choices; also consider including some filler plants such as caladiums or euphorbia for color and texture in bouquets.
Sunflowers
Sunflowers are an integral component of many cut flower gardens, as they bloom all summer and early autumn and mix beautifully with other blooms such as black-eyed Susans and ornamental grasses. To maximize bloom production and prolong vase life without using flower preservatives, deadheading your sunflowers on a regular basis is key – pinch off finished blooms just below where they attach to their stem. Doing this will promote more flowers to bloom more abundantly as well as ensure an extended vase life.
Opting for single-stem varieties over branching varieties is ideal, as these make cutting simpler without producing pollen which could irritate allergies. After cutting, place sunflowers out of direct sunlight for best longevity – instead place in indirect lighting instead.
Choose raised beds for your cut garden to maintain the quality and health of the soil, then work slow-release organic compost into it to retain water and nutrients in your soil.
Zinnias
Zinnias are excellent flowers to grow in a cut flower garden because they produce blooms throughout most of the season and harvesting is relatively straightforward. Furthermore, Zinnias require minimal maintenance as they tolerate drought and weeds well.
Dead blooms should be pruned as soon as they fade, to allow your plants to devote all their energy towards producing new ones. When picking blooms with stiff stems and between two sets of leaves, be sure to harvest and cut deeply between leaves so you don’t harm any floppy buds at the top of the plant.
Make sure your cutting garden features fillers like globe amaranth and cosmos to extend the longevity of bouquets. When planting tall plants, consider supporting them using wire concrete remesh in order to prevent them from flopping over as they grow.
Achillea
Achillea (commonly referred to as yarrow or sneezewort) is an easy perennial with long-blooming flowers and ferny foliage, perfect for cutting. Additionally, dried arrangements featuring its vibrantly colored blooms look stunning!
An ideal cut flower garden should include both tall and short blooms with differing stem lengths for ease of arrangement into different containers. By doing this, a variety of arrangements can be created that fit within various compartments.
Planning the layout of your cutting flower garden to enable easy access for watering, weeding and harvesting is important for success. Plant your beds in wide rows with garden paths between each row so you can reach all blooms without accidentally stepping on another plant’s leaves or stems and damaging its blooms.
Sweet Peas
Sweet peas are essential cut flower gardens, providing long stems of fragrant blooms on long stalks. Though easy to grow, sweet peas require strong support for their long vines – typically trellises but more visually attractive options could include bamboo teepees, willow obelisks or split rail fences can serve this purpose nicely too. Bird netting strung between stakes or twine or string hanging from a top rail fence are other great methods that can assist them as climbers too.
To maximize your cutting garden, it is best to group together plants requiring support (dahlias, delphiniums and snapdragons) with those not needing it (cosmos, rudbeckias and hydrangeas), so as to spend less time tending to higher maintenance plants while more time tending to flowers that will last in vases.
Sweet William
Biennial sweet william is an iconic cottage garden flower, known for its vibrant mix of pinks and reds that deer won’t touch, attracting butterflies with ease. Ideal as border flowers or in cutting gardens; its foliage also makes an eye-catching salad green or herb garnish!
Choose a sunny location with easy access for watering and trimming flowers, keeping rows three feet apart to reach each plant without stepping on others.
If you plan to grow cut flowers from seed, start them indoors 6-8 weeks prior to the last frost date and nurture until sprouted. When ready, keep them warm and moist until transplanted outdoors. For sweet william cuttings dipped in powdered rooting hormone, stick into four to six-inch pots with moistened soil that has four inches between rows, before taking cuttings outside for transplanting.