Cut flower gardens can easily fit into any existing garden beds. Start with easy-to-grow annual and perennial varieties that produce blooms as you harvest them.
Plant your cutting flower garden in wide rows so you can easily reach all of the plants with a bucket of warm water and sharp gardening scissors. Arrange plants by their cultural needs – for instance those needing acidic or alkaline solutions in order to maintain clean water environments.
Sunflowers
Sunflowers come in all sizes, from giant Russian Mammoth varieties that reach 14 feet or more to dwarf varieties like Royal Beauty and Royal Mammoth varieties that stay smaller in stature. Sunflower flowers make excellent cut flowers, and the seeds saved can be planted next year. Sunflowers require at least six to eight hours of daily sun. When planting sunflowers either directly into the ground or raised garden beds will give optimal results.
When it comes to creating stunning flower arrangements, simplicity and ease of access are paramount. Make sure your sunflowers and other tall plants are planted in rows for ease of access to lukewarm water and sharp garden scissors, while regular pinching (cutting the top set of leaves below the second set) encourages branching and longer stems. Likewise, fertilizer should be added when planting and every two to three weeks throughout the growing season.
Sweet Peas
Sweet peas add a dash of Victorian elegance to any cut flower garden, filling vases with their delicate petals that exude both beauty and an irresistibly fragrant fragrance that calls to mind horse-drawn carriages and curtseying ladies.
Tall sweet peas require support in the form of a trellis or other structure for them to flourish and bloom successfully. As vining plants, sweet peas will form tendrils to wind around whatever structure is given them.
Plants between 6-8 inches should be pruned back by approximately an inch to encourage branching out and producing flowers with longer stems.
Consider starting your seeds indoors in January for early bloom, or outdoors on mild days in spring on mild days to acclimate the seedlings to lower temperatures and shorten the growing season. Varieties such as Sir Jimmy Shand and Daily Mail are known for producing large and fragrant blooms while Paradise flowers feature ruffled pink petals – two options you might want to keep an eye out for when starting seeds!
Zinnias
Zinnias are an invaluable addition to many cutting gardens. Easy to cultivate, they come in an array of vibrant hues that serve both as supporting flowers (such as fillers) or focal flowers ( such as begonias).
Plant the seeds 18″ apart so the plants have plenty of room to spread out. Since these flowers grow quickly and have very long stems, you should be prepared to clip them regularly for bouquet use or they could become unsightly and unattractive over time.
A simple way to determine when zinnia flowers are ready to harvest is the “wiggle test”. Simply grasp their stem 8″ below their flower and wiggle. If their petals flop around like puppets, harvesting is still not appropriate.
Plan your planting layout with easy access in mind – carrying buckets of water and baskets full of cut flowers requires easy access. Group plants according to their growing requirements for easier caretaking; divide by bloom sequence for consistent delivery of fresh blooms.
Roses
As many cut flower varieties travel considerable distances before arriving at stores, you can grow these types from seed in your own garden for maximum freshness and access to colors and forms not found elsewhere.
As a beginner in cutting gardening, consider starting with easy-to-grow annuals such as zinnias and sunflowers. Read through your seed packet descriptions to determine how much sunlight they need; tall vineing flowers like sweet peas and climbing nasturtiums may require support through netting or trellises.
Plan your beds according to cultural needs, grouping plants with similar water requirements together. This will prevent accidentally over- or under-watering your harvest – roses, tulips, daffodils and hydrangeas require acidic conditions while carnations, snapdragons dahlias sweet peas prefer alkaline conditions in their soil environment. It’s also wise to group plants by bloom times for maximum diversity throughout the season.