Growing cutting gardens or a cutting flower patch is a wonderful and extremely rewarding experience. From sowing to harvesting, it's hard not to imagine vases filled with the fruit from the gardener's labor. They make beautiful accents and focal points for spaces in our homes.
Cut Flowers Seeds Sown In April:
April is that sweet spot where we begin to taste the beginnings of spring weather (after many of us experience the final freeze for the winter season). The ice-cream man has already been seen drifting by to the tune of Silent Night (verrry creepy), and the blooming of flowers are beginning to make the garden a bit more colorful.
I’ve always wanted a cut garden, but my family would pretty much insist that I’m trying to take over the entire yard with what I’ve already done (sigh). But that doesn’t keep me from cramming in as many of my favorite cutting flowers into my garden as I possibly can. They make a perfect pop of color during the warmer seasons and they make my home smell amazing!
If you’ve ever thought about adding just a few cutting flowers to your garden space, here are a few that you can easily add and the zones they grow best in. I've also added a few links in here from which I will receive a small amount of compensation. There is no cost to you when using these links.
'Double White Miss Jekyll Alba' Nigella damascena
Double White can be easily grown in zones 2-11, and they produce attractive ruffled white flowers that have touches of blue at their centres. It is also termed as “Love in a Mist”.
Nigella damascena flowers are followed by large, green seed pods. Nigella damascena ‘Double White’ makes for an excellent cut flower. The flowers along with the seed pods also dry well. Seeds can be found here.
Bunny Tails 'Lagurus ovatus'
Bunny Tails are super hardy annual to grow in zones 4 – 7 and a perennial in zones 8 - 10. They are the happiest when sown directly on to the sandy soil. This grass produces silky, soft panicles which at first are green but fade to a creamish color as they age. The pretty panicles resemble cute bunny tails which can be easily dried and can last indefinitely.
Lagurus ovatus makes it difficult for gardeners to resist touching the flower’s fluffy head, It is compact but showy. This ornamental grass can easily be grown in a border, can be used as a cut flower, or in a container. It is drought-tolerant once it has established a dwarf habit.
Covent Garden or Baby’s Breath 'Gypsophila Elegans'
Baby's Breath can favor slightly poorer soils. It is a single flowered Gypsophila that can be sown during the month of April and May in zones 3 - 10.
I was fascinated to see that baby's breath even comes in both red and pink.
So beautiful to add pink to a white bouquet to add a bit of soft and subtle
Sunflowers 'Helianthus Annuus'
Sunflowers are the pictorial representation of joy! They are available in wide ranges of colors and sizes, including dwarf sized that can be used for vases and containers. They have the tallest strains for world record attempts and are multi headed varieties for cut flowers. They can be sown every month and are best suited for zones 4 - 9. I grew Velvet Queen and the Mammoth last year in my garden and were quite pleased with how easy they were.
Choosing Cutting Garden Plants
I know you’ll agree with me when I say that choosing a cutting flower plant can be a bit overwhelming. There are literally so many options to choose from. So my suggestion, when choosing your flowers, is to collect the flowers you love most. Take a peek at a few seed catalogues and find flowers that best suit your growing zone and taste.
Suggestion: Pick flowers that start blooming at different times so that you always have some color in that garden of yours.
Perennials:
They bloom year after year and provide a strong foundation in your small world of cut flowers.
Some perennials for a flower include Peonies, Black-eyed Susan, Yarrow, Hollyhocks and Coneflowers. They all look great in vases.
Annuals:
They bloom for one season only. But the interesting thing about annuals flowers is that many of them will self-seed and pop out again next year.
Some favorite annual cut flowers include, Sweet peas, Zinnias, Globe Amaranth and Larkspur.
Bulbs
Bulbs also make a great addition to the cut flower families. The most common bulbs used are, Calla lilies, Dahlias and Gladiolus. Above are my tulips blooming from this year. While these are usually planted in fall, bulbs are pretty care free and add a nice pop of color at various times in the garden.
Reasons For Harvesting Cut Flowers:
Here are some reasons why people prefer cutting and harvesting their flowers in a vase.
- It guarantees that some of the flowers will be spared of the cruel fate of winds or heavy summer rains.
- Encourages more flowering on plants during summer and even sometimes to fall.
- Promotes more bloom by delaying the onset of fruits.
How To Harvest Cutting Flowers:
- The very first step in harvesting cut flowers from the gardens is the preparation of proper tools.
- People harvesting cut flowers should clean their garden shears and buckets which they'll use to store the cut flowers in.
- Doing this ensures that no bacteria gets into the plant stems and thus prolonging the vase life of these blooming flowers.
- You will probably have to fill the bucket with cold water when preparing for harvest. This depends upon plant to plant requirements.
- When harvesting cut flowers, it is important for you to be familiar with the optimal bloom stage of flowers.
- Some flowers can be picked early while others can perform to their fullest when they are allowed to mature and bloom fully in the garden.
- Knowing when to harvest depends greatly from plant to plant.
- If picked early or past their time can decrease the vase life and can even cause the whole stem to wilt.
- If you want to harvest cut flowers, it's recommended to do so during cold temperatures. This for most gardeners means early mornings.
- Doing this early in the mornings ensures that the stems of the flowers are properly hydrated when it is snipped from the plant.
- In order to cut the flower stem, make a 45° degree angle at your desired stem length.
- When you’re harvesting the cut flowers, remember to place the bottom of the cut flowers, and place the freshly bloomed directly into the water bucket after cutting.
- Remove all the leaves which are sitting below the water level of the bucket from the stem.
- After the harvesting process is completed, some farmers suggest that the stems be placed in another bucket of warm and clean water which contain floral preservatives.
- This aids the flowers as they continue to absorb water and rehydrate. After several hours, the flowers will be prepared to be used in the vases and bouquets.
Finally
Cut flower gardens are filled with cut flowers that can bring a pop of color to your indoor space. You don't have to be an expert to create a thriving cutting and attractive cut flower. There isn’t any huge plan needed to grow a cutting garden either. Planting in pots, along sides of your home, in a small patch or wherever you can will give you abundant flowers that will fill your space with beauty and aroma for seasons to come.