An indoor cut flower garden is a simple and effective way to bring fresh blooms indoors. By employing succession planting, and mixing annuals and perennials in succession planting, you can grow flowers all season long.
When cutting flowers, cut just above an individual leaf or node on their stem to promote regrowth and allow water to enter into the stem more efficiently. This will encourage regrowth while simultaneously aiding water absorption into its core.
Annuals
Growing annuals for cut flower gardens allows you to experiment with an abundance of colors, heights, and textures. While popular options such as sunflowers, zinnias, and cosmos make great focal flowers, don’t be intimidated to experiment with less common species such as vinca or exotic flowers that might be difficult to source from seed catalogs – look out for varieties known for having long stems that dry quickly for easy bouquet use!
Consider planting in a raised bed or garden area to ensure the highest-quality soil for your flowers. Most varieties require rich, deep, well-drained but moisture-retaining soil for optimal performance, with ample sunshine as they often do not thrive when placed under shade or areas with high wind speeds.
Start planting your cutting flower garden early spring once the ground can be worked, taking special care to harden off any vulnerable seedlings first.
Perennials
Annual and perennial flowers like cosmos and zinnias make gorgeous additions to a cut flower garden, but their bloom periods tend to be short. Instead, consider including perennials with multiple blossoming periods like yarrows, garden phlox and Japanese anemones for added blooms throughout their lives.
Plan ahead when planting perennials – they often take more time to establish themselves than annual plants do. Start them early spring two weeks prior to your last frost date for best results.
Group plants by their cultural needs, like sun and shade requirements. This will allow you to provide each variety with optimal growing conditions without over- or under-watering them. Furthermore, grouping by mature height ensures shorter plants receive enough sunlight without being covered up by taller ones; and can even attract beneficial insects that will ward off pests that threaten the beauty of your flowers! Moreover, make sure you include some plants which attract beneficial insects into the mix in order to protect your flowers against insects that might damage them!
Containers
Cutting Gardens come in all sizes and shapes. Most cutting gardens contain a combination of flowers and filler plants with various bloom times that can be harvested throughout the season to make bouquets or arrangements. Flowers should have long vase lives with robust stem lengths for optimum performance.
Many cut flowers require soil with ample drainage, such as rich, loose soil. Raised beds can help improve your planting area; otherwise, be sure to choose areas which receive full sunlight.
When planting, make sure you group flowers according to their cultural needs; for instance, zinnias should be spaced 9″ apart while snapdragons 18″. Pinching also helps stimulate branching and produce longer stems in plants like zinnias and celosia. Deadheading faded flowers is essential in keeping plants healthy while producing consistent blooms (harvest twice weekly). Don’t forget organic fertilizer! Also add one after planting as well as every two or three weeks throughout the growing season for best results.
Vertical Gardens
An ideal cutting garden doesn’t need to take up an enormous amount of space; with succession planting and selecting blooming varieties that produce abundance, even in small spaces can produce bouquet-worthy blooms.
Select an area that gets six or more hours of direct sunlight each day, preferably in the early morning hours, for optimal flower production and to ensure maximum light. Doing this will allow your plant to receive adequate exposure without afternoon heat thwarting its bloom.
Before planting anything in your raised beds or traditional garden beds, take time to assess and enrich the soil by adding compost or slow-release flower fertilizer as amendments. Raised beds help with drainage but they aren’t essential if planting regular garden beds is your goal.
Arrange your flowers so that tall ones, like sunflowers, are at the back, medium-sized blooms such as zinnias in the center, and short ones like sweet peas at the front. Add color with herbs or foliage to enhance your bouquets further.