The reason most of us grow flowers is so that we may enjoy them inside our homes as well as in the garden. However, if you're like me, you just hate to ruin the lovely effect in a formal bed that you worked so hard to acquire. The answer is to create a separate garden just for cut flowers. This garden can be tucked away in an inconspicuous part of your property; and may even resemble a vegetable garden, since you're growing the flowers to harvest, as you would the vegetables.
I made just such a bed out of a part of my lawn. You can begin the garden by removing the sods completely or spraying the area with an herbicide and waiting several weeks before planting. The former is hard work and the latter may harm the environment.
If you like the lazy man's method of gardening, you can start next summer's cutting garden now. The easiest way to make a new garden is to cover the area with newspaper, eight to twelve pages thick, and spread a one inch layer of sifted loam over it. Check with your local rag to make sure they use vegetable based inks. Most papers now do.
Let the bed alone until next spring. The newspaper will kill the grass and decompose over the winter. The following season you have a weed free space for your new cutting garden. Just turn the soil to loosen it and plant seeds or transplants in rows.
Choose the flowers for this garden carefully. You want species that will bloom for a good part of the summer, and provide a palate of color. Scent may also be a consideration. Planting tall varieties will make cutting easier. I also try to choose flowers that may be sown directly in the garden, rather than those needing a start indoors.
A cutting garden should have lots of plants, and if you haven't the space inside to start dozens of bedding plants, this might be a problem. Buying them from a nursery or garden center can be expensive.
Some of the species I've used in my garden are nicotiana, moluccella, cosmos, lavatera, cleome, scabiosa, salvia, dianthus, and antirrhinum. The new varieties of sunflowers also make great additions to a cutting garden and come in a wide range of colors from deep reds to cool yellows. I plant this garden to annuals so I can have an ever-varying array and change my mind on a yearly basis, trying new varieties.
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