There’s something deeply satisfying about stepping into your garden with a pair of scissors and coming out with an armful of fresh, beautiful flowers ready to be displayed indoors. Growing flowers specifically for cutting can bring vibrant color and fragrance into your home throughout the growing season. With a little planning, you can create a garden full of blooms that are perfect for cutting and arranging, adding a burst of life to any room. Whether you are looking to create lavish bouquets or simple arrangements, here’s how to get started.
Planning Your Cutting Garden
Before you plant, it’s essential to plan your cutting garden to ensure a continuous supply of flowers throughout the season. A well-planned cutting garden has different varieties of flowers that bloom in succession, providing you with an ongoing harvest of blooms. Select plants that bloom at different times—early, mid, and late season—to ensure that your garden always has something fresh to offer.
Think about the kinds of flowers you love to display. Do you prefer bold, dramatic arrangements or soft, romantic ones? By choosing plants that align with your personal aesthetic, you’ll get the most enjoyment out of your cutting garden. Also, consider the height, color, and texture of different flowers, as combining these elements helps create well-balanced, interesting arrangements.
Choosing the Right Flowers
Choosing flowers specifically for cutting means opting for blooms that are not only visually appealing but also long-lasting in a vase. Here are some popular options for a cutting garden:
- Sunflowers: Sunflowers make a statement in any bouquet. Choose branching varieties like ‘Soraya’ for multiple blooms per stem, ensuring a long-lasting display.
- Zinnias: Zinnias are easy to grow and come in a variety of bright colors. They’re perfect for adding vibrant hues to your arrangements, and they bloom profusely throughout the summer.
- Dahlias: Dahlias provide lush, dramatic flowers that are perfect for a cutting garden. With countless colors and forms to choose from, they add depth and elegance to any bouquet.
- Cosmos: These delicate, daisy-like flowers add lightness and movement to arrangements. They’re easy to grow and bloom continuously, making them a favorite for many gardeners.
- Roses: Roses are a classic choice for cutting gardens. Opt for varieties that are known for their long stems and repeat blooming, such as ‘Peace’ or ‘Queen Elizabeth’.
- Snapdragons: With their tall spikes and vibrant colors, snapdragons add height and visual interest to your bouquets.
- Lilies: Lilies add a touch of elegance to any arrangement. Oriental and Asiatic lilies are popular for cutting, as their large, fragrant flowers last well indoors.
When choosing flowers, also keep in mind foliage plants like eucalyptus or ferns, which help add texture and fill out arrangements. Herbs like mint or rosemary also make great additions to bouquets, adding not only greenery but also a delightful fragrance.
Preparing Your Soil
Healthy soil is the foundation of a thriving flower garden. Flowers grown for cutting need rich, well-draining soil to produce the best blooms. Before planting, work organic matter such as compost or well-rotted manure into your garden bed to provide essential nutrients. This will help your flowers grow tall and strong, with vibrant blooms that last well after cutting.
Consider creating raised beds for your cutting garden. Raised beds warm up faster in the spring, drain well, and allow you to have more control over the soil quality. They also make planting, weeding, and harvesting easier, which is especially helpful if you plan to grow a large number of flowers for cutting.
Planting and Caring for Your Flowers
Once your soil is prepared, it’s time to plant. Space your flowers carefully, giving each plant enough room to grow without overcrowding. Proper spacing allows for good airflow, which helps prevent diseases that can reduce the quality of your blooms.
Most flowers prefer full sun, so be sure to plant your cutting garden in a spot that receives at least six to eight hours of sunlight each day. Water regularly, especially during dry spells, to ensure your flowers stay healthy and produce the best blooms. Mulching around your plants can help retain moisture and keep weeds at bay.
Fertilizing your flowers is also important for maximizing bloom production. Use a balanced, slow-release fertilizer at planting time, and supplement with a liquid feed every few weeks during the growing season. Deadheading spent blooms will encourage your plants to produce more flowers, ensuring a steady supply for cutting.
Harvesting Flowers for Arrangements
Timing is crucial when it comes to harvesting flowers for arrangements. The best time to cut flowers is in the early morning or late evening, when temperatures are cooler. This helps ensure that the flowers are well-hydrated and less likely to wilt after being cut.
Use clean, sharp scissors or garden shears to make your cuts, and cut stems at an angle to maximize water uptake. For most flowers, it’s best to harvest them when they are just beginning to open, as they will continue to bloom after being cut. Immediately place the stems in a bucket of water to keep them fresh while you continue harvesting.
Remove any leaves that would fall below the waterline in your vase, as submerged foliage can rot and lead to bacterial growth, shortening the vase life of your flowers. Once indoors, trim the stems again under running water and place the flowers in a clean vase with fresh, cool water.
Arranging Your Flowers
Arranging flowers is both an art and a personal expression of creativity. Start by choosing a vase that suits the style of your flowers. Tall vases are ideal for long-stemmed flowers like sunflowers and lilies, while shorter vases work well for more compact blooms like zinnias and dahlias.
When arranging, begin by adding foliage to create a base and establish the shape of your bouquet. Next, add your focal flowers—these are the largest, most eye-catching blooms. Finally, add filler flowers to add volume and fill in any gaps. Don’t be afraid to play with height, texture, and color to create a dynamic and visually interesting arrangement.
For a more natural look, let some of the stems cross each other within the vase, creating a loose, relaxed arrangement. If you prefer a more formal style, try arranging the flowers in symmetrical groups or use floral foam to keep them perfectly in place.
Extending the Life of Your Arrangements
To enjoy your flowers for as long as possible, change the water in your vase every couple of days, and trim the stems slightly each time you do. This helps maintain water uptake and prevents bacterial buildup. Adding a floral preservative to the water can also help extend the life of your bouquet. Floral preservatives are available commercially, but you can make your own by mixing a small amount of sugar, lemon juice, and bleach into the water.
Keep your arrangements out of direct sunlight and away from fruit, as ripening fruit releases ethylene gas, which can cause flowers to age prematurely. By taking these simple steps, you can keep your flowers looking fresh and beautiful for as long as possible.
Creating a Cutting Garden Year-Round
To have flowers available for cutting throughout the year, consider planting a mix of annuals, perennials, and bulbs. Annuals like zinnias and cosmos will provide consistent blooms during the growing season, while perennials such as echinacea and black-eyed Susans will return year after year with minimal effort. Spring bulbs like tulips and daffodils are perfect for early-season arrangements, and late-season bloomers like chrysanthemums and asters can help extend your cutting garden well into fall.
For those who live in areas with cold winters, consider growing flowers in a greenhouse or cold frame to extend the season. Hardy varieties like snapdragons and pansies can often tolerate cooler temperatures and provide blooms even when the weather turns chilly. With careful planning, you can create a garden that provides beautiful flowers for cutting from spring through fall, and even into winter.
Growing a cutting garden is a wonderful way to bring the beauty of nature into your home, while also providing an opportunity to experiment with colors, textures, and arrangements. With thoughtful planning and care, you can enjoy fresh, vibrant bouquets all season long—straight from your own garden.
