Best Flowers for Cutting
The best flowers to grow for cutting will brighten up your living space, and knowing the right flowers to cut can make all the difference. Imagine having a constant supply of fresh, fragrant blooms right at your fingertips!
The best cut flowers bring the freshness, colour and scent of your garden into the home with foliage making an equally valuable contribution. With a little planning and know-how, you can double the pleasure that your garden gives you this year. Establishing a long succession of flowers for cutting is easy and not hugely costly. Perennials that self-seed, such as, the frothy yellow Alchemilla mollis or aquilegias are plants no flower arranger should be without but until they become established it’s simple to sow annuals for filling in gaps.
The Best Flowers to Grow for Cutting in Summer
The best flowers to grow for cutting in summer are sweet peas, marigolds and sunflowers which proliferate and give an abundance of flowers for gathering later in summer. Once you have planted your range of quick-to-grow flowers , for cutting, you can fine-tune with particular colours and extend the succession of blooms and foliage for a whole year of interest in the garden and home.
In early summer the dainty blooms of the Siberian iris are excellent for cutting with the long grassy leaves making an elegant combination. To follow on, if you have a sheltered spot to grow them, agapanthus makes an eye catching centre piece cut flower in combination with the foliage of eucalyptus and/or pittosporum, which both appreciate the same position in a garden to thrive.
If you prefer warmer colours, the Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria) is among the longest-lasting cut flowers, but for pure luxury, give peonies a go. The pale pink ‘Sarah Berhardt’ and the rosy ‘Bowl of Beauty,’ filled with golden stamens have the bonus of exquisite scent. To truly fill your house with the perfume of summer, many of the extensive varieties of roses are perfection. Whites are easiest to use in an arrangement, with Rosa Iceberg being a good all-round choice.
The Best Flowers to Grow for Cutting in Autumn
As summer fades dahlias become indispensable as cut flowers, those with bronze foliage, such as the eye-catching ‘Bishop of Llandaff,’ make superb hot colour arrangements when combined with the foliage of the easy-to-grow Cotinus ‘Royal Purple.’ Michaelmas daisies come in pinks, mauves and violets and can be contrasted with the flat heads of sedum; the most spectacular forms of which have purple leaves and pink flowers.
The Best Flowers to Grow for Cutting in Winter
If you’ve been given a pot of forced hyacinths or daffodils for Christmas, don’t waste them – plant outside for next year’s display of colour.
The best plants for cutting in winter can be Foliage and berries as they take pride of place in winter, but there are some flowers to add sparkle to even the gloomiest of days. Try planting some Christmas hellebores in a shady spot, to begin the new gardening and flower arranging year ahead.
The Best Flowers to Grow for Cutting in Spring
The best flowers to Grow for Spring can be Spring bulbs as they produce easy and attractive flowers for a vase. Start with the early snowdrops in January and finish with alliums and camassias in May for a long succession of attractive arrangements.
Remember, cultivating your own cutting garden is not just about harvesting flowers; it’s about a connection with nature, and bringing a piece of the outdoors into your daily life. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just getting started, the satisfaction of nurturing these blooms from seed to vase is a reward in itself.
