Cut flower gardens can include perennials that return year after year as well as annuals grown from seeds or starts. Both options provide an assortment of blooms for creating stunning bouquets.
Be mindful that certain plants may need support from you to prevent them from flopping over as they grow. Group flowers according to their growing conditions and flowering times for maximum impact in providing what each needs.
Choose Your Plants
Consider both color, shape, and size when choosing flowers for growing, as well as vase life. Long stemmed perennials like peonies, oriental lilies, Volcano(r) phlox can make excellent focal pieces in tall vases; shorter-stemmed daisies, snapdragons, and cosmos make an attractive display in shorter jars or teapots.
Fill your cutting garden with flowers all season long by planting both perennials and annuals in equal proportions. Dahlias and delphiniums offer long-term returns while annual varieties such as zinnias give you the freedom to experiment with new colors each year.
Be sure to carefully read seed packets or plant labels to fully comprehend each variety’s requirements for success in your climate, before planning your garden with cultural requirements in mind – grouping perennials with similar growing conditions together and isolating those which require staking, such as dahlias and delphiniums, from those which benefit from fences or grow-through netting (sweet peas and nasturtiums), so as to have an easier gardening experience once your flowers are ready for harvesting! This will make gardening simpler overall!
Lay Out Your Beds
Make sure that your beds are easily accessible for watering, weeding and harvesting purposes. Achieve this with wide rows that make reaching individual plants without stepping on others or knocking over blooms that have yet to open easier. In addition, having access between rows may provide support to taller plants which need additional support or can make cutting flowers under dense foliage easier.
Dependent upon the species of flowers you select, each may require specific cultural conditions in terms of sun/shade exposure, soil depth and drainage ability. Grouping them according to these requirements can ensure you provide each plant with optimal conditions so it has every chance at flourishing.
Mix your selection with perennials that will come back year after year as well as annuals that you can grow from seeds or plants, providing a range of colors, heights and textures for indoor arrangements. This allows you to create beautiful indoor spaces.
Prepare the Soil
Step one in successfully cutting flowers is preparing the soil. Cut flower plants need rich, well-draining soil. Incorporating some organic matter like compost or leaf mold will increase water retention while providing additional fertility.
Full sunlight conditions are best for most cut flower cultivation, although many annuals and perennials that grow in shade also make outstanding cut blooms. Seed packets or plant labels will provide you with all of their optimal growing conditions for each variety.
Consider grouping flowers by their cultural requirements and arranging them in rows that allow easy access for weeding, staking or picking. This will prevent accidentally overwatering plants with different needs that are nearby.
Be sure to include foliage plants such as ferns or palm fronds that will support long-stemmed flowers, or act as green backdrop in bouquets – this will create a more visually balanced garden and extend your cut flower season.
Plant Your Flowers
As you start planting your cut flower garden, it is essential that you group flowers by their growing requirements. Doing this will allow you to provide each variety with proper attention and prevent over or under-watering them accidentally; additionally it protects shorter plants from being eclipsed by taller ones.
Once you have an approximate layout of your cut flower patch, planting can begin! Be sure to design long, linear beds – at least one metre wide is ideal – which will provide easy access for planting, weeding and picking purposes.
Add fragrant blooms and fillers like baby’s breath to your garden, along with flowers that dry well for beautiful arrangements throughout winter. It may also help if you grow flowers at different times during summer and fall so that there are always fresh flowers ready for arranging; this is particularly important if selling flowers – customers will want a wide range of colors, shapes and sizes to select from!