Bloom It Yourself - Grow Your Own Cut Flowers

By Walt Matzke, Lawn Central
Photographs courtesy of Lawn Central

While going to the market for fresh produce and a bouquet on the weekend is doable, think of what you could do with a cutting garden right outside your door. With a little planning and daydreaming, your home will be filled with fresh seasonal arrangements before you know it.

First things first, you’ve got to make a plan. Chose a location for your flowers based on their needs (light, water, soil) and what you have available. Use containers, a backyard garden plot or incorporate your new plants into existing flower beds. Purchase seeds or starts based on their growing requirements and flowering time but also keep your décor in mind. Pick a color palette that will complement your home and/or others if you plan on sharing. Take time to select varieties that will give you color throughout the seasons, ensuring that you will have a wide range to choose from starting in spring through fall. Include annuals, perennials, and herbs for assorted colors, textures, and fragrances.

Once your plan is laid out, it is time to act! Plant according to the directions on the seed pack or plant label. Give your plants plenty of room not only to grow throughout the season but so that you can get in and move about freely. Removing spent blooms will encourage plants to make more as you’re cutting flowers for bouquets. Keep the area well-watered, mulched, and weed free for best results. Lastly, make sure to note your favorites and what worked and what didn’t for next year.

Cut Flower List by Season

Spring

• Bulbs (daffodils, tulips, hyacinth)
• Lilac
• Peony
• Forsythia branches
• Sweet pea
• Iris

Summer

• Zinnia
• Rose
• Ranunculus
• Cosmos
• Sunflower
• Lavender (great for drying too!)
• Basil
• Mint
• Hosta
• Baby’s breath
• Coneflower

Fall/Winter

• Ornamental kale and cabbage
• Ornamental grass and plumes
• Aster
• Mums
• Dusty miller
• Tricolor sage
• Coleus
• Red-twigged dogwood branches
• Evergreen branches
• Holly

For more inspiration and tips visit LawnCentral.com.

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