Cut and Dried


Looking out my window, I see a blazing haze of color in the bright spring sunshine. The more I look the more I see in full glorious bloom and I want to save it, savor it, keep it all!

This early summer flush is my favorite: the peonies, the first rose, the iris. I don't want to see it fade, even though I know perfectly well there is another equally rich floral wave right behind this one, ready to fill the garden with its own special color, texture and fragrance.

There are ways to save bits of today's display, even if we can't save the fresh cool breeziness and the "Irish spring" shade of green. Here are some ways to bring that garden display closer to home, indoors, up close and personal throughout the seasons.

Certainly with a little planning (Cut Flower Planner) you can have a purpose-specific cut flower garden for either bouquets or drying, but that's a bit calculating and requires discipline. It would preclude mixing things all together the way I like to do in my garden.

Somehow neat and tidy rows of strawflowers are too much of a neatnik thing for my taste - if you can do that, why not take it a bit further and with a little more planning, run it as a business? Somehow I doubt that would be as much fun as it might sound at first thought.

Haven't you ever wondered just how they manage to grow those perfect flowers? Frankly, I'd rather not think about the less IPM-inclined as I arrange those commercial blooms on my breakfast table.

Obviously the realm of "specialty flowers" is not going to be my route. And if you're a rank beginner just getting started you might find this site with its handy cut flower charts useful and reassuring.

If you're like me, you'll want to snatch a garden bit here and there to serve as a memento later or maybe to bring inside the house or even to the office-that-is-jail. So what I want to know is:

  • the best way to cut roses,
  • how to select the best lilies for keeping,
  • how to dry and preserve all those garden favorites.

    And if you opt for drying, don't miss this easy way to string em up!

    Shhh! Here's a little secret. Not happy with the color of your home-grown cut flower? No problem -- Presto!

    The copyright of the article Cut and Dried in Cottage Garden is owned by Barbara M. Martin. Permission to republish Cut and Dried in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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