7 flowers for a summer cut flower garden
Growing your own cut flowers is such a rewarding and satisfying hobby. Especially if you can grow some of your cut flowers from seed, then you can really measure the value of your efforts in the abundance of seasonal flowers. You can enjoy the flowers on the plants and in your vases at home, some plants even produce more flowers when they’re cut.
This year I had a go at growing from seed and didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself (last year I had a few challenges with a collapsed seed table and so many slugs) and wanted to enjoy growing out of a curiosity of what works instead.
In this blog I’ve included 7 of the flowers in my garden that are producing the most cut flowers, so if you’re wanting to up your cut flower patch, you can have a go at growing some of these too.
Cosmos. These have grown from seed so well this year and the frothy foliage looks really lovely in the garden too. They have a very open ‘daisy‘ look flower which tilts beautifully when placed in a vase.
2. Roses. I was lucky enough to have 2 roses that were already growing in the garden when I moved in. They were a bit swamped by a raspberry bush and weeds but I’ve gently pruned them over the last couple of years and they bring beautiful scent and colour to the garden with their English country garden style petals.
3. Sweet peas. Another great one to grow from seed, I find that soaking the seeds before planting them helps them to germinate. These keep coming the more you cut them so it’s a great excuse to have never ending bunches of sweet peas indoors. The fragrance of sweet peas hold fond memories and so much nostalgia for lots of people so they’re amazing in wedding bouquets.
4. Scabious. These have grown from seed in the garden and I’ve got them in white, chocolate, raspberry and lilac colours. Their long and thin stem with the bobble shaped flower on the end adds an amazing silhouette shape to floral bouquets.
5. Snapdragons. Seeds from last year’s flowers have grown so well this year, and the blush and hot pink varieties I’ve got growing have beautiful spire shapes and are adding a splash of colour in the garden and in vases indoors too.
6. Flowering Mint. A top tip - never plant your mint directly into the border or ground because it completely takes over. Keep them in pots, the flowers are fluffy and elegant plus you get the bonus of the minty scent too.
7. Hydrangea. This plant is also great for hydrangea heads for drying and making an Autumn wreath. You only need a couple of these stems in a vase for huge impact.
When you’re growing cut flowers it draws you into the garden because it’s so exciting and rewarding seeing what’s growing all down to your efforts. Even snipping a few stems, to go in a little bud vase on your desk, when you’re working from home brings a huge amount of joy knowing you grew those. Leaving some flowers in the garden gives a great view when you’re gazing out the window at what’s growing and it benefits pollinators as well. Let me know what you’re growing in your garden, I would love to hear all about it!
