Starting a Cut Flower Garden

Starting a Cut Flower Garden

Starting a Cut Flower Garden

By Terry Neufeld

Author Terry Neufeld is a life-long flower enthusiast, Certified Prairie Horticulturalist, fascinated apiarist, and proud owner of Sweet Petals Farm. You can learn more at sweetpetalsfarm.ca.  

For those of you who love to enjoy a vase of freshly-picked flowers in your home, having access to your own cut-flower garden is a wonderful addition to your backyard. But where to get started? Here’s a quick guide of some things you might consider as you convert a space in your yard for this purpose, based on my experiences.

The garden plot

Getting started on your cut flower journey does not need to be difficult. Begin with whatever size of garden plot you have. It should receive six-to-eight hours of direct sunlight a day, be well-drained, and made up of a good mixture of compost/soil.  If you have access to drip irrigation or a soaker hose, this is preferred to over-head watering.

Seeding

If you are new to gardening, I would recommend starting with seeds that can be sown directly into the garden. Flowers such as zinnias, sunflowers (not the branching ones), amaranth, and cosmos are great choices.

You could purchase plants from a greenhouse, but in my experience, these don’t really bloom that much sooner than seeds sown at the proper time.

Also, I feel that greenhouses cater to the needs of homeowners who want a neat and compact yard. The flower varieties offered don’t always come with the stem length we are looking for in a cut flower and they certainly don’t offer the countless varieties you would find in a seed catalogue.

Starting seeds indoors

If you want to grow flowers whose seeds need to be started well in advance of Manitoba’s last frost date, you do not need to invest in a greenhouse! However, it is not enough to place theses trays of seedlings near a south-facing window. Seedlings need a guaranteed number of hours of light a day – no cloudy days for these babies! Anything less can result in weak and spindly plants. I start many, many trays of seedlings in my basement under grow lights. An automatic timer frees me from the chore of making sure the lights follow the schedule.

Good seeds to begin with on this journey include snap dragons, gomphrena, strawflowers, statice, and rudbeckia.

Flower spacing

Flowers for cutting can be planted much closer together than you would think. Closer spacing encourages longer stem length and allows me to plant more flowers in less space. In my garden, I usually plant two or three rows of one plant variety close together (maybe six inches between rows) and have a soaker hose running between the rows.

Plants spaced closely together, however, are a natural target for the growth of mildew and the spread of disease because of poorer air circulation between plants. As a preventative measure, it is best to avoid overhead watering and stick to drip irrigation or a soaker hose.  Another good option for avoiding overhead watering in a smaller space could be a watering wand.

Flower support

For long straight stems, it is helpful to support the stems with a framework made of netting. I use a netting (with 6”x6” grid) that is laid out horizontally over the row and then raised about 10 inches off the ground and held in place with stakes. This method is especially useful for flowers such as snapdragons which can easily topple over in a strong wind. Supporting stems with netting keeps them straight and usable in a bouquet.

Pinching

Also, at the beginning of the growing season, do not be afraid to cut back your plants. This is called pinching. By removing the tip of the new growth, you encourage the plant to send out side-shoots. Pinching may feel counterproductive, but it is the recommended thing to do. Pinching will produce more cut flowers. The main stem will be a more manageable thickness and the side shoots will be just as useable.

When to pick

It is important to know the proper time to harvest your flowers. Some can be picked at the crack of bud stage, while others need to have a certain percentage of their florets to already be open. If I am not sure when to pick, I “google” seed companies such as Johnny’s Seeds or Floret Farm to read what their recommendations are. This is extremely helpful.

Deadheading

Deadheading the spent blooms is absolutely necessary to extend your flower production. Producing seeds is the last step in the life cycle of a flower, so by removing the flowers’ opportunity to proceed to that step, you are providing the plant with more opportunities to produce flowers. Why do you think flowers like zinnias are called ‘cut and come again’?

Floral design

Remember, good flower design has several components.

The showstopper – something big that grabs your attention –  could be a choice of dahlias, sunflowers, lisianthus, or zinnias.

But, just as important as the focal or showstopper flowers are the smaller filler flowers and greenery. No bouquet is complete without them. Filler flowers include zinnias, calendula, snap dragons, aster, etc. Try to vary the flower shapes to add more interest to your bouquets. For instance, add spike-shaped stems as well as disc-shaped flowers.

Greenery fills in the bouquet, making it more lush. Examples of greenery that fit in nicely include basil, apple of Peru*, cerinthe, branches and herbs. Here you might ask yourself, what else do I have in my landscape that could be added to a bouquet? Branches of ninebark, smoke bush? Any perennials in bloom right now?

*The above-mentioned apple of Peru plant has been listed on the invasive plant list in Ohio and an escape of cultivation has been reported as far north as Minnesota. Terry avoids this situation by thinning and pulling the plants.

Airy flowers and grasses add movement to your bouquet. Ammi, cosmos, and dill are all good examples.

And then think about colour. You could challenge yourself to only grow flowers in a certain colour palette and change this up every year. Or a cutting garden with flowers that dry well, such as paper daisies, strawflowers, gomphrena, and statice, can provide you with enjoyment all winter long.

And, as the story, “If you give a moose a muffin” goes, once you start on this journey of growing your own cut flowers, you will want to add more and more to your collection each year,  and not want to stop with just a small garden…

For more information on the lesser known plants such as ammi, apple of Peru, and cerinthe, please click on the links provided below.

Info about apple of Peru 
https://www.invasive.org/browse/subinfo.cfm?sub=6084
http://www.misin.msu.edu/facts/detail/?project=misin&id=377&cname=Apple%20of%20Peru

Info about cerinthe
https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/honeywort-cerinthe-major/

Info about ammi
https://www.gardenia.net/plant/ammi-majus-
https://www.seedneeds.com/blogs/flowers/growing-bishops-flower-from-seed