Planning a Cutting Garden

Avena (oat grass)
Japanese Blood Grass
Pampas Grass, compact
Rose Fountain Grass
Silver Banner Grass

Ferns for Cutting:
Ostrich Fern
Japanese Painted Fern
Lady Fern
Royal Fern

Small Flowers and Foliage for Filling:
Anaphalis (pearly everlasting)
Asparagus
Aster
Elaeagnus (Russian olive)
Erica (heath)
Euphorbia (spurge)
Gomphrena (globe amaranth)
Gypsophila (baby's breath)
Hedera (ivy)
Lathyrus (sweet pea)
Limonium (statice)
Myosotis (forget-me-not)
Miniature zinnia

Tips on Care for Cut Flowers

To enjoy your flowers for a longer period, give them proper care. Don't allow flowers to remain without water too long after cutting. The sooner they are in water the longer they will last. Once cut, slice the bottom-end diagonally for about an inch to give them a maximum surface for water intake. Then give them tepid water. The foliage touching the water should be removed. Leaves left in water deteriorate quickly and will make the water smell bad. Flowers need a cool and well-ventilated room, with no direct sun or heat. Use flower food or 1/2 tsp of sugar in the water to feed them. If you don't use those, cut the stems again after a couple of days.

Spring Garden Layout
This plan is based roughly on a 7 x 10 feet bed. Three evergreens were planted to provide a gorgeous backdrop for the flowers. You can replace the tulips by daffodils or narcissus and replace the colours to your taste.

1 = Agapanthus (lily-of-the-Nile) (6)
2 = Tall pink hybrid tulips (30-40)
3 = Muscari (grape hyacinth) (10)
4 = Yellow hybrid tulips (20)
5 = Pink hybrid tulips (30-40)
6 = Pink Darwin hybrid tulips (20)
7 = Doronicum cordatum (leopard's bane) (7)
8 = Chamaecyparis lawsoniana "Columnaris" (3)


Islands Bed Garden
A selection of cutting flowers that will delight many. The colour scheme is a blend of purples, blues, pinks and white. But for some of them you can replace the colour of your choice and create the perfect cutting garden for your home.

1 = Hollyhock (12)
2 = Iris (12)
3 = Foxglove (14)
4 = Shasta Daisy (12)
5 = Delphinium (10)
6 = Golden Yellow lilies (10)
7 = Rocket Larkpur (16)
8 = White nicotiana (12)
9 = Lupine (12)
10 = Siberian iris (12)
11 = Garden phlox (12)
12 = Bellflower (12)


Create simple but stunning bouquets with unusual flowers. Pinks make a wonderful and scented bouquet. A mix of fragrant Anethum graveolens (whose fragrance goes wonderfully with food) and add white phlox which create an attractive centrepiece. The white fragrant snowball-shaped flowers of Viburnum opulus, mixed with a bunch of green ivy, will

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