3 steps for creating a cut flower garden
Are you looking for a way to enjoy your garden, have plenty of flowers to share with friends and family, and earn a little spending money too? A cut flower garden is a great way to do all of that!
Your cut flower garden can be as large or small as your space and budget allows, and you can certainly start small and add to your selections as you go.
Ready to get started? All you need to do is follow these simple steps:
Step 1: Plan
When choosing plants for a cut flower garden think about the containers you’re going to put them in and how you’ll be using them. Tall flowers need tall vases but shorter-stemmed flowers can work well not only in vases but also in old teapots, Mason jars, crocks or other recycled containers. Cut flowers for farmers markets generally tend to be longer stemmed, but small bouquets are great for small restaurant tables, office building reception desks or simply as a hostess or get-well gift.
It’s also important to think of how and where the arrangements will be used. If you’re hoping to sell to restaurants or creating an arrangement for a dinner party, remember that lower arrangements work better than tall ones that make it hard for diners and guests to see one another. But, for instance, if you’re growing for your church altar, you’ll want long-stemmed flowers that can be seen from a distance.
Next, try to plan for a variety of colours, textures and shapes. Remember to think about larger “focal” plants (phlox, hydrangea and peonies for example) and smaller easy-to-grow “fillers” like Baby’s Breath (gypsophila), Flower Carpet roses, artemesia, Minoan Lace, yarrow, feverfew, Lady’s Mantel and salvia.
If you want fresh-cut flowers all season long, you’ll need spring, summer and autumn bloomers. In the long run, perennials are less expensive but initial investments can be a little challenging. Get the most for your dollar by using plants with season-long interest that last a long time after cutting. Full flower clusters of Volcano™ phlox (seen below), Flower Carpet roses, Tuxedo hydrangeas and dahlias are a few great choices. And best of all, they just bloom and bloom, so using them as cut flowers in no way stops the amount of blooming you have in the garden.
Annuals take a little longer to grow and so unless you live in a warm climate, you won’t be able to count on them for early season blooms. However, annuals are an inexpensive way to get started with your cut flower garden.
Another long-lasting cut flower is alstroemeria and if you’re lucky enough to live in zones 8 or warmer, you’ll find these long bloomers to be an excellent addition to your perennial bed or cut flower garden. Look for Alstroemeria Rock and Roll which has both stunning variegated foliage and bright red blossoms and is perfect on its own.
Fragrance is another thing to consider when planning your cut flower garden. If you want to create sweet-smelling bouquets, often it only takes one or two stalks of Oriental lilies or Volcano phlox, a few branches of Mock Orange blossoms, or a few stems of sweetly-scented stock, dianthus, eucalyptus, lavender or mint to add a lovely fragrance to your bouquet.
And don’t forget foliage! An arrangement of all foliage can be stunning as well. The leaves of Tropicanna® canna plus many varieties of hosta, caladiums, heuchera, lambs ears, and even sprays of ornamental grasses make great fillers and add plenty of interest to any cut-flower arrangement, or can stand on their own. Seed pods from Storm Agapanthus, feathery grasses, branches of crabapples, ninebark, caryopteris or other interesting trees and shrubs can also be used in cut flower arrangements.
Dried flowers make great cut flower options too: there are a number of perennials and annuals that are easy to dry and work nicely in dried-flower arrangements which are very popular at Autumn and early winter farmers markets. Drying flowers is easy once you get the hang of it, and they provide a good option for late-Autumn and early-winter flower arrangements and farmers’ markets. Look to your current garden for ideas. For instance, both Flower Carpet roses and a variety of hydrangeas make lovely dried flowers.
Step 2: Plant
Before you go ahead and start your cut flower garden, you need to decide the best place to put it. Generally, we think of sunny locations as being ideal for cut flower gardens, but if you don’t have the luxury of a full-sun garden, there are plenty of “cuttables” that grow in partial shade too. As an example, notice the hostas blooming under ninebark trees in the photo below. Both their leaves and blooms are great for cut-flower arrangements. Regardless of where you plant, the soil should be loose and friable. Adding compost to any soil will increase the strength of the plants too.
Some people prefer to mix their cut flower annuals in with their perennial beds, but new gardeners may choose to start with a bed specifically for cut-flowers. Other gardeners mix annuals in with their vegetables. This method gives your veggie garden some added beauty while attracting beneficial insects as well. Zinnias, borage, calendula, verbena, French marigolds, cornflowers, cosmos, snapdragons, tithonia and many other annuals attract butterflies and beneficial insects. Other vegetable garden staples that can be used in cut-flower arrangements include parsley, garlic chives, basil, dill, fennel and thyme.
Step 3: Harvest and Design
When you cut your flowers, do it in the coolness of the morning so your picks don’t wilt. Immediately “process” your plants after cutting, removing leaves from all but the last 6 to 8 inches at the top. Then get them immediately into a bucket of water.
Before you put your cuts in a container, make sure it’s not a material that will be damaged by water (i.e. silver, a tin can or crockery). If it is, try inserting a yogurt cup or cottage cheese container as protection.
When it comes to style, European designers often use as few as three – or just one – plant in an arrangement. And often, the container is just as important as the plant. Sometimes all it takes are a few stalks of one spectacular bloom in a vase, such as the sunburst-like spikes of Blue Storm Agapanthus.
Creating a design is really all about what makes you happy! And as with most things, the more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll be designing all sorts of arrangements.
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