Make a cut flower garden one of your gardens for your yard. Place a cheery bouquet from the garden on the kitchen counter and watch how it changes the mood of the room.
Peonies
What could be better than a constant stream of colorful fresh cut flowers, adding a bit of color and texture, throughout your house? That’s a luxury that could get a bit expensive, though, if we would have to figure the cost into the household budget. But those lovely bouquets could come right from your own yard. With a little thought, and work, you could create an old-fashioned cut flower garden in your own yard to provide fresh flowers throughout the growing season, at a fraction of the cost of store bought bouquets.
You may not think of yourself as an avid gardener, or a person who inherited their grandmother’s green thumb, but give it a try. Who knows, you may find you have a real knack for it. Have fun with it and don’t take it too seriously. After all, it should be enjoyable!
Start by thinking about what your favorite color is, or your favorite color combinations. Another thing to consider is what colors would best complement the interior decor of your house. You may decide that your garden must have an abundance of cream and lavender colored flowers. Or, oranges and soft yellows may be your cup of tea, so to speak. Whatever color theme you fancy, begin to focus on collecting plants, whether annuals or perennials, that will deliver your favorite hues. It may help to use a color wheel to find the complementary (contrasting, opposite colors on the wheel), or analogous (similar, adjacent colors on the wheel) color combinations that you like best.
Include flower arrangements as part of your porch decor
If you don’t have a lot of money to spend on mature potted plants, start your garden from seed packets (for both annuals and perennials). It will take longer, but we know that many things we are involved in, in life, are a work in progress. Another economical way to add to the variety (and this is true for other areas of the yard) is to share plants with friends. Perennials, every so often, become overgrown and need to be divided, so ask friends for a divided section of a plant that you like, and give them a section from your plants.
A cut flower garden may be an actual viewing garden or it may be thought of simply as a utility garden. If you want it to serve the combined purpose of being a viewing garden as well as a cutting garden, be sure to have an abundance of blooms at the ready to choose from, or you may end up with a meager view. If you are thinking along the lines of it being only a utility garden, with the single purpose of providing flowers for cutting, it may be a good idea to locate this type of garden in a less traveled section of your yard, or include it in your vegetable garden, if possible. That way you don’t have to be too concerned about its day to day appearance.
Either way, the garden beds still need to be kept tidy for the best success. After all, you do want as many blooms as possible. All the practical experience that we have gained along the way from working in our own yards, has taught us a thing or two. We know that all plants do much better when given adequate room. They always seem to do poorly when they are in crowded conditions competing with hovering nearby plants, or a barrage of weeds.
Along with all that hands-on experience, read garden books and magazines for helpful advice, and visit other gardens. The resources available to us to learn and become knowledgeable are many.
Blooms that will be borne on long stems seem to have the potential of being the most versatile, for they will handedly work for a large bouquet, but could also be cut down for a small arrangement (depending on the bloom size). For accent, use the beautiful and diverse foliage of ferns, ornamental grasses, the blade-like leaves of daylilies, and some favorite kitchen herbs, like dill and rosemary.
In today’s world we are conditioned to getting or expecting results instantaneously. Just know that your cut flower garden will take time to cultivate. So enjoy the entire journey, not just the results!
The following plants will help get any cut flower garden started. Remember to check the sun/shade requirements for the plants you choose when determining the location of your garden.
Annuals:
Asters, Bachelor Button, Baby’s Breath, Coleus, Dahlia, Daisy, Geranium, Gerber Daisy, Marigold, Nemesia, Salvia, Sunflower, Verbena, Zinnia
Perennials:
Alstroemeria, Aster, Black-Eyed Susan, Carnation, Coneflower, Chrysanthemum, Coreopsis, Dahlia, Foxglove, Geranium, Lavender, Lupine, Peonies, Poppy, Shasta Daisy
Bulbs:
Daffodil, Daylily, Iris, Narcissus, Tulips
Herbs/Greenery:
Dill, Fern, Ornamental Grasses, Rosemary, Sage, Ivy
