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Everyone has fond memories that include flowers. I used to make perfume from foraged petals as a kid, my daughter picks dandelions for me on walks, and don’t get me started on my wedding flowers! But flowers are expensive to buy, often imported and sprayed with masses of chemicals, and may not be in colours you love. So why not find a little space to grow your own cut flowers?
Growing a cut flower garden is magic. Nothing beats watching seeds smaller than a grain of sand produce colourful blooms. But it can be overwhelming seeing how many types and varieties you can choose from. If you want to fill your house with flowers, this handy post will help you choose and plan the perfect cut flower varieties for your garden.
How will you use your flowers?
Why do you want to grow your own cut flowers? Is the main purpose for arrangements in vases, or do you want to preserve them by drying and pressing for crafts? Perhaps you have a special event scheduled that you want them flowering for? The purpose of your cut flower garden will help you decide on and build your plant list.
What colours do you love?
Thinking about your palette before you start looking into varieties will help ensure all your flowers work nicely together. This is especially important when growing in a smaller space where you can’t grow everything (though if you are anything like me you will try!). I like to use Pinterest as a starting point for bouquet inspiration. Whether is soft pastels, vibrant and bold, or all white, decide on a colour palette for your flowers that make you giddy and brings you joy.
Have these main colours in mind when choosing varieties. I like to keep a document (mine is in excel) where I paste photos of the flowers in to see how everything works together. It’s a great tool for planning bouquets as well.
Understand your climate
When it comes to growing your own flowers for cutting it is important you understand your growing climate and which varieties thrive there. You will be surprised how different the growing season can be depending on your location within the UK!
When is your last and first frost, and subsequent dates of your main growing season? Many flowers thrive in temperate climates like the UK with warm and cool weather, but some can handle frosts and heatwaves. Be sure to consider your local weather and temperatures across the year, and which flowers grow and bloom in each season.
Learn about seed types
When growing your own flowers, you want to understand the different seed types and associated life cycles. Broadly, there are annual, biennial, and perennial seeds.
Annuals complete their life cycle in one year: germinating, growing, flowering, and seeding, with the next generation coming from the seeds that survive. Example annual cut flowers include cosmos, sunflowers and zinnias.
Biennials have a two-year life cycle. In the first year, they establish leaves, roots, and stems. In the second year, they produce flowers and seeds. Example biennial cut flowers include foxgloves, honesty and hollyhocks.
Finally, perennials will live for at least three years. In winter, the above-ground portion of the plant may die back, but it will regrow from dormant roots next season. Examples include Salvia, peonies, and hydrangea.
It’s January so we have missed the boat for biennials flowering this year. But it’s a great time to plan for annual flowers. Focussing on annuals for your first cut flower growing season is a great idea: they are quick and easy to grow from seed, cost effective and generally low maintenance. Plus having to sow annually means you get to choose new different cut flower varieties each year!
Look for the right qualities in your cut flowers
Long, strong stems
The ideal cut flower will have long strong stems for arranging. Choosing cut flowers with strong stems means they are less likely to wilt when cut for vases, and long stems offer more flexibility in arrangements.
Long vase life
You also want to choose flowers with a long vase life. Vase life can vary from 1 day to 3 weeks! Aim to choose varieties with a vase life minimum of 5 days.
Pollen
If you are anything like my husband, you may have to reach for the antihistamines in spring and summer. Well another quality you should consider is pollen count in the flowers you choose to grow. Choosing flowers with less pollen will mean they are less likely to cause allergies (with the added bonus of less mess in a vase!). If you want to choose low pollen varieties, look at snapdragons, zinnia and carnations, and avoid most sunflowers, amaranth and gypsophila.
Prolific flower producers
Look at ‘cut and come again’ varieties like sweet peas, cosmos, and zinnias. These plants just keep going, and regular cutting encourages more growth. They produce an abundance of flowers over a long period so make a great cutting patch flower. Plus, you won’t have to consider planning for succession sowing and filling gaps which can be overwhelming as a beginner.
Choose a mix of flower shapes, sizes and textures
Flowers don’t just come in different colours, but also a variety of forms and textures. When growing your own cut flowers, aiming for a range of shapes and sizes will help you produce balanced bouquets when it comes to picking flowers from your garden. Think about:
- Round blooms like dahlias and zinnias
- Tall spikes like snapdragons and larkspur
- Textural and airy flowers like gypsophila and amaranth
- Foliage and greenery
Know your seasons
Ideally you will have a selection of showstopping focal flowers and filler flowers, and foliage, every month of the main growing season. You don’t want all your flowers to be cooler season flowers and over in July do you? Look at seed packets, or the information provided online, to choose different flower types that bloom across spring, summer and autumn. Examples include:
- Spring/early summer – cornflowers, sweet peas
- Summer – ammi, phlox, zinnias
- Late summer autumn – cosmos, dahlias
By taking the time to plan and choose the right flowers, you can enjoy fresh blooms all season long when you grow your own cut flowers. Imagine walking into your garden, secateurs in hand, surrounded by flowers ready to brighten your home or someone’s day. Start small, experiment, and watch your garden thrive (or do what I do and bite off way more than you can chew and enjoy learning from the successes and failures!)
Happy planning,
Nat
