Make Your Own Cut Flower Garden

If you’re like me, you’re a sucker for a beautiful vase. But too often they sit empty on the shelf.

That’s why creating space for a cut flower garden has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done at Moss Mountain Farm.

The secret to a productive cut flower garden is to select varieties that go from seed to bloom very quickly. Just a handful of seeds will give you armloads of flowers — enough to fill every neglected vase in your home. And it’s friendly on your wallet, too!

How to get started:

Find a strip of ground in a sunny location that is about 3 feet wide and 15 feet long (the size may vary for your situation).

Prepare the beds by removing the sod and turning over the soil. Divide the strip into 3 foot squares with temporary strips of wood laid on the ground.

Within each square, follow packet instructions and plant the seeds, one variety per square.

Keep beds consistently moist.

When seedlings are up, thin the plants and mulch to keep weeds down.

If you are short on space, use large containers filled with potting soil to grow the flowers.

Some easy-to-grow cut flower suggestions:

Yarrow (perennial)

Purple Coneflower (perennial)

Bells of Ireland

Delphiniums (perennial)

Bachelors’ Buttons

Cockscomb

Calla Lily (perennial)

Daisy (perennial)

Love in a Mist

Sunflower

Zinnias

Snapdragon

Nicotiana

Cosmos

Gomphrena

Keeping Cut Flowers Fresh

Begin by preparing a solution of equal parts lukewarm water and lemon lime soda, one aspirin, and half a teaspoon of bleach.

Even after a flower’s been cut, it still needs to be fed. The sugar in the lemon lime soda provides nutrients to the flower and the citric acid in the solution allows the nutrients to be taken up more efficiently. The bleach keeps the water clean. Whether you use a preservative or not, you should replace the vase water every 3 to 4 days.

Before you slip the flowers into the solution, recut the stems under water at a slight angle; this is particularly helpful for roses. Alsostrip away any leaves that fall below the water line.

Keep the flowers out of direct sunlight and away from sources of heat.