Freshly cut bouquets of flowers straight from the garden are such a rarity nowadays, it seems. We dream about informal fistfuls of country flowers and sense how wondrously the bounty from a simple flower garden can feed our souls. But then in the rush to start our veggies and get through all the other spring garden chores, so often the cutting garden falls by the wayside. This year, you can do it if you start now!
What is a cutting garden exactly? In more formal times, a separate area would be set aside specifically for growing a carefully chosen variety of flowers to cut for use in the house. Flower arranging was a daily ritual and truly an art form. Today we are lucky to be able to dash outside, snip a few stems and plop them in a container. That's just fine, because we all enjoy the flowers regardless and the flowers sure can't tell the difference!
So don't worry about the containers or even the selection of flowers — if it's blooming or it looks pretty, use it!
So what to grow in a cutting garden? Flowers, of course, plus maybe some interesting foliage plants and perhaps a few flowering shrubs for both forcing and snipping at bloom time. We are reaching out to embrace more and more types of materials for our arrangements — no longer is it de rigueur to include roses, for example. Instead we may select from the entire range of "plant material" at our disposal. Why, even the lowly teasel makes a lovely addition whether fresh-cut or dried! So grow whatever does well in your area. Experiment a little and have some fun.
So where to begin? I usually use a spare corner of the vegetable garden for masses of blooms specifically for cutting — salvia, cornflowers, zinnias, snapdragons, strawflowers, sunflowers and the like. Next I wind through the perennial beds and borders and pick what ever is in full bloom that week. Then I look to the roadside and meadow for even more variety. My arrangements (read fistfuls jammed into jars) are always different from week to week, but I like the variety and surprises I find. Other flower arrangers prefer a predictable supply and would prefer a generous selection of annuals purposely selected for color, texture and dependable summer-long season of bloom. Either approach is successful.
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