Planting cut flowers yourself is an economical way to add natural charm and the outdoors indoors. Success lies in selecting appropriate plants and providing adequate care.
Begin by selecting a sunny location to plant. Flowering varieties usually require at least six hours of direct sunlight each day in order to produce optimally.
Choose Your Plants
Step one in designing a cut flower garden is selecting which varieties to plant. Select flowers that look attractive alongside other plants while offering long stems ideal for cutting. Consider growing perennial and annual varieties that produce beautiful foliage as well as being pollinator friendly. Ultimately, considering pollinators is also key when designing cut flower gardens.
Select a location for your flower garden that receives plenty of sunshine – early morning sunlight is best, as its cooler and less intense radiation helps flowers flourish more freely than afternoon sunrays. Demarcate an area using string or hose then watch as time progresses to see just how much light actually reaches that spot.
Read the seed packets carefully in order to establish specific requirements and planting times for your chosen flowers. Professional cut flower growers use succession planting, which involves staggered seed planting over several weeks so you’ll always have something blooming – even from one-and-done bloomers like zinnias!
Lay Out Your Beds
As your vegetable garden winds down in fall, dedicate some of its space to creating a cut flower bed. This can be either standalone patch or integrated into existing perennial gardens or perennial borders.
Before planting, draw out your beds on paper with all of the varieties and bloom times of flowers you intend to cultivate in mind. Grouping them according to their cultural requirements will enable you to give each species enough water and fertilizer with minimum effort on your part.
If you plan to add taller plants like sunflowers to your cut flower garden, be sure to deadhead them regularly. Doing this will promote more flowers and extend their vase life while making the plants easier to harvest without trampling over their blossoms when harvesting them – this practice is known as “heading”, and involves pinching directly above each set of leaves on their stem.
Start with Quality Seeds and Plant Starts
As the quality of your plants reflects in their final arrangements, ensure you purchase only high-grade seeds and plant starts. Some seeds such as dahlias and rudbeckias need to be started indoors so they’ll be ready when frost passes – this also gives you an opportunity to experiment with various cultivars!
If your flowers are annuals, consider stagger planting dates to ensure a constant supply throughout the season. Professional flower growers use this strategy and it’s an effective way to extend bloom periods in your garden.
Perennial plants that provide texture and vertical interest make excellent choices for perennial bouquets, such as Echinacea, Heucherella, Lilac, Sage or Snapdragons. If possible in your climate zone, also try including perennials with attractive seed heads to cut for bouquets; ornamental Kale (Brassica oleracea var. Acephala), Sedum or Scabiosa species such as Scabiosa can make beautiful additions.
Water and Fertilize
Once established, an easily managed cut flower garden can be simple to keep looking its best. Regular watering is necessary – particularly during periods of dry weather – while weekly applications of liquid seaweed or fish emulsion fertilizer will bring additional benefits. Deadheading also plays an essential part in encouraging flower blooming rather than seed production.
Sow a mix of perennial and annual flowers. Perennials will add continuity while annuals allow more room for experimentation with colors and heights.
Opt for varieties that complement one another – soft pink dahlias are the perfect companions to the tiny blooms of Gypsophila ‘Deep Carmine,’ while bright orangey-yellow Rudbeckias provide striking contrast against sweet peas and purple snapdragons. Also consider staggered planting times if planting short season varieties like Sweet Peas in spring; sowing seeds two weeks apart allows you to extend their bloom time while substituting them with warmer-season plants like Zinnias once their bloom begins fizzles during summer heatwave.