There's a special kind of satisfaction in walking to your own garden with a pair of snips and returning with an armful of flowers for the house. A cutting garden is a dedicated space for growing flowers specifically to harvest.
Designing Your Cutting Garden
Unlike a show garden, a cutting garden doesn't need to look perfect. Think of it as a productive flower farm in miniature. Efficient rows or wide beds work better than intricate designs. Aim for beds about 3-4 feet wide.
The Seasonal Cutting Calendar
Spring: Tulips, daffodils, ranunculus, anemones, lilacs, flowering branches
Early Summer: Peonies, roses, alliums, irises, lupines, foxgloves, snapdragons
Midsummer: Zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, dahlias, sweet peas, yarrow
Late Summer/Fall: Dahlias (peak), chrysanthemums, asters, celosia, amaranth, grasses
Essential Cutting Garden Plants
- Zinnias: The backbone of the summer cutting garden. Easy from seed, prolific.
- Cosmos: Airy, graceful, and endlessly productive. Deadhead and they'll bloom until frost.
- Dahlias: The queen of the autumn vase. One plant can produce dozens of cut flowers.
- Sweet Peas: Intoxicating fragrance. The more you cut, the more they bloom.
- Sunflowers: Bold, cheerful, and available in many colors.
Succession Planting
Sow quick-growing flowers like zinnias and cosmos in two or three waves, 2-3 weeks apart. This extends your harvest season by weeks.
The Harvest Rule
Cut flowers in the early morning when stems are fully hydrated. Use clean, sharp snips and place stems immediately in a bucket of warm water. Remove all foliage below the waterline. Change vase water every two days.
"To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat."
- Beverly Nichols
