How to grow your own cut flower garden

By Georgia

Have you ever thought about creating a garden which enables you to showcase your

own blooms in your home? Having a cut-flower garden will allow you to do so! In this

section, I will be exploring the benefits of having a cut flower garden, top tips to get

started, my favourite flowers to grow, and how to make the most of your homegrown

blooms!

So, what is a cut flower garden? A cut flower garden is a space in your garden

dedicated to growing a variety of different flowers and foliage which have long,

sturdy stems and are perfect for cutting and arranging. These can be a mixture of

annuals, perennials and bulbs for a great variety of shape, colour and texture. I like

to switch up the annuals I plant from seed each year for variation – it is fun to

experiment with different colour harmonies and combinations! If you’re planting

young perennials, you may need to wait two full seasons for the plant to fully

establish and start producing a better yield of flowers. Personally, I love wild

arrangements created with a mixture of seasonal cottage garden style flowers, so I

try to plant a variety of these each year!

When choosing flowers suitable for cutting, choose varieties with long, strong stems,

and the ability to flower again after they’ve been cut – this will really make a

difference! It is a great idea to choose a combination of flowers with different sized

and shaped blooms: some focal, some fillers and a bit of foliage! This way you will

be able to create depth and interest to your home arrangements! Here are some that

I love!

Annuals

•  Zinnia – lots of varieties and colours to choose from! These continually flower

all through summer and are easy to care for – just take care when

transplanting young seedlings as they don’t like their roots being messed with.

•  Cosmos – easily grown from seed and beginner friendly. These love full sun

and have tall stems with beautiful flowers and foliage. Cutting these stimulates

new growth for them to continue producing flowers.

•  Ammi majus – adds a soft, delicate texture and can be used as a filler flower

in large arrangements or on its own for a dainty effect. Can be planted in

autumn to produce bigger plants that flower earlier than if they were planted in

spring.

•  Antirrhinum (Snapdragons) – these flower over a long stretch of time and

cutting them encourages the production of more blooms!

•  Cornflower – easy to grow and maintain and adds colour to your

arrangements.

Perennials

• Astilbe – adds beautiful feathery texture and shape to arrangements. These

love damp soil and partial shade, and flower from summer into autumn. Cut

these when all the buds are opening.

• Achillea – easy to grow and great as a filler flower with lots of colours to

choose from!

• Peony – produces magnificent blooms during May/June. Cut these when the

buds feel soft to touch but aren’t yet fully open to prolong vase life.

Peonies produce more flowers year after year as the plant grows

more established.

• Delphinium – comes in a range of beautiful blues and purples and

are great for attracting pollinators to the garden! Very tall flowers

offering a range of possibilities for arrangements.

• Rudbeckia – a bold variety of yellow and orange flowers to

brighten up any arrangement!

Bulbs + Corms

• Gladioli – vibrant, striking blooms which are very tall,

adding height and drama to arrangements. They are

planted from corms and are easy to care for and

maintain.

• Dahlia – endless varieties to choose from, from big blousy blooms

to smaller pompom varieties! Prolong their vase life by maintaining

them properly once cut, which I discuss in more detail below.

• Allium – beautiful shape and texture. Most commonly purple or

white.

Foliage

• Eucalyptus – a very popular foliage to use in floral arrangements. Eucalyptus

trees can be planted in large containers until they outgrow them. My favourite

variety is gunnii, however cinerea is a classic!

• Lemon Balm – I love growing and using herbs in floral arrangements as they

add a lovely scent and are easy to grow! Lemon balm has vibrant green

foliage and a strong lemon scent.

• Rosemary – adds a different texture and has a slightly woody stem so will last

longer in a vase.

When starting your cut flower garden, be sure to choose a sunny spot as most of

these flowering plants love plenty of sunlight. Prepare the beds with fresh compost to

enrich the soil and help produce healthy plants. Be sure to check your seed packet

or plant label on its requirements! One thing I love to do is succession planting,

which is where you stagger planting times by a couple of weeks to get continuous

blooms through the season. It is always a good idea to plant in rows or sections to

make it easier to harvest the flowers when they’re ready. Also, lots of plants benefit

from having the growing tip pinched out. This encourages the plant to branch out and

produce more stems, which then means more flower production.

When it is time to harvest your flowers, make sure to cut them either in the morning

or evening as this is when they are most hydrated, so less likely to wilt. Cut the

stems as long as possible and just above a node, if there are any, as this will then

encourage the plant to keep growing. Fill a bucket with cold water and remove any

lower leaves from the stem – this makes sure no leaves will sit in the water and grow

bacteria. Place the bucket of flowers in a cool location to hydrate, with no direct

sunlight, and then it’s time to arrange! When it comes to arranging, you can be as

creative as you like - that is the great thing about having plenty of blooms in your

back garden! To get the most out of your floral arrangement, provide fresh water

every couple of days and recut the stems at a 45-degree angle, which will maximise

the surface area for water uptake and reduce likelihood of the stem collecting

bacteria from being in contact with the bottom of the vase.

Growing cut flowers in your back garden and being able to showcase them in your

home is very rewarding, especially since you get to choose the exact varieties and

colours of your blooms! I also love being able to gift some homegrown flowers too

and enjoy the creativity in arranging them! So, if you’re thinking about starting your

own cut flower garden, give it a try!

Happy gardening!

Georgia is a qualified florist, excellent gardener here at BtG and all round superstar!