A Pacific Northwest Cutting Garden Introduction
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DebbieTT
Posted: May-23-2004 at 1:18pm
A Pacific Northwest Cutting Garden Introduction
A flower, when offered in the bud, Is no vain sacrifice.
-Isaac Watts
I love to grow flowers for bouquets. My gardens have numerous plants perfect for cutting and bringing into my home. The problem is I don't want to cut them because then the gardens look bare. A garden just for cutting is a good solution. This can be tucked in a corner of the yard, or placed next to the vegetable garden. Annual flowers can be tucked right in with the vegetables, giving the vegetable garden a visual appeal while providing food for the body and soul. I can supplement the bouquets with flowers from the regular gardens without leaving bare spots in the display.
Many plants can be grown in the cutting garden. For spring a planting of bulbs such as daffodils, Dutch iris and tulips, is done in the fall. Once the soil warms up, annual cut flowers can be planted amongst the dying foliage of the bulbs, allowing the foliage to ripen while the annuals settle into their new home. Summertime allows a mixture of annuals with perennials, selected and cut during their peak blooming times.
There are many things to consider in choosing a plant for your cutting garden, including length of stem, strong stems, and, of course, how the flower holds up in a vase. Daylilies have a nice stem, but the flower only lasts the day it is cut. The same is true with a hibiscus, although I have heard of people cutting the hibiscus in the morning and placing the cut flowers in the refrigerator until evening. The flowers are brought out in the evening for a one night stand in a vase. Another consideration is how well the plant grows in our Pacific Northwest climate. If it doesn't do well, then I would rather choose a plant that will be easy to grow, and grow to its full potential. We can grow so many plants that perhaps we can discard those not easily adapted to our cool summers.
Annuals are usually a good source for cut flowers. Most will keep on blooming if you keep them from going to seed. Since this is in the cutting garden, this means we can pick the flowers to our heart's content. Keeping the flowers picked and deadheading any spent flower off the plant, will keep an annual from setting seed and signaling the plant its life cycle is complete. Too many flowers at once can mean we fill up our homes with flowers and give generous presents to our neighbors or friends. The drawback to annuals is they will need to be planted every year, as they will die at the end of the year.
Biennials are another group of plants we can look to for cut flowers. In their second year of life, they shoot up some of the most spectacular displays of flowers. When finished they will die after setting seeds. Some biennials you can trick into living another year by keeping their flowers cut and not letting them set seed. The drawback to biennials is it is a two year wait from the first seeding. If they aren't a hybrid, you can let them reseed themselves by allowing a few flower stalks to go to seed.
Perennials make a fine addition to a more permanent cutting garden. There are many plants in this group that make wonderful cut flowers. The drawback to most perennials is they flower for only a few weeks to a month, once a year. I believe they are a must for the cutting garden though, and will add a beautiful variety of flowers for your indoor bouquets.
Shrubs and trees can also provide beautiful flowers or foliage for bouquets, especially in the darker days of winter. Some shrub branches can be forced for late winter blooms inside the home.
When I go outside to cut my bouquets, I bring along a container of water and a sharp pair of scissors. Cutting with sharp scissors keeps the stems from being crushed. When the stem is cut, the flower goes immediately into the water. Once inside the house, the flowers are left soaking in water for about 8 hours in a cool dark place. During that time, the stems take up water. Then I recut the stems, usually on a slant so the plant has more cells exposed to water. In addition when the stem rests on the bottom of the vase, it will still have the cut end exposed to the water. I slit woody stems up the middle with a knife and open them up some. Poppies or any other milky sap-producing stem gets the stem end seared with a lighter lit under its end. This is best done twice: initially when first cut in the garden, and again when recutting the stem if it still oozes sap. With tulips and daffodils, I take a sharp pin to the swollen green base of the flower and poke a small hole. A florist taught me this trick to let air bubbles escape from the stem, and I have always done it just before recutting the stems.
I've seen recommendations to recut the stems under water, although I don't do this. This helps to keep the flower stem from taking up air and creating air bubbles in the stem. But since I am constantly changing bouquets, it isn't important for me to get an extra day or two out of flowers. I am not good about changing water either. One exception is when I pick Oriental lilies. I do change the water in their vases because they last for a long period of time. You may want to keep your bouquets longer than I do. You can buy preservatives for the vase water, but I don't add this to my garden flowers. If I have planned my cutting garden right, I can go right back out and put a fresh-as-a-daisy new bouquet in the house.
Cut most of your flowers when they are just coloring up and the outside petals or flowers are half open. I try to cut flowers on racemes, such as Oriental lilies, just when the bottom flower is opening. Delphiniums, Larkspur, Gladiolus and other similar plants do well with cutting this way. As you become more accustomed to your cutting garden, you will become familiar with what the best timing is on each plant to keep them fresher in the bouquet longer or for drying purposes.
tommyb
Posted: May-23-2004 at 3:02pm
OK, doing the Happy Dance here, in the house so as not to scare the neighbors or get arrested...Joe Cocker doin' "With a Little Help From My Friends" on the CD.
So I'm a complete neophyte, never grew nothin', don't have a clue:
What solar orientation? Raised bed on clay? Mix of annual and perennial? How big a bed is best? Wide row or wide spacing? Best soil mix? How much manure? Organic or chemical? Limp along hidden behind the garage or "a front row seat"?
What's the BEST cut flower? Worst? Longest lasting? Got to have IT? Grandma's favorite? Grampa's?
I want it all folks, all the secrets and little cheats and the hidden nursery out in the forest.
So as the Star Wars theme rises in the background, I eagerly await the pentup wisdom flowing from your keyboards.
Oh, what's my favorite? Today it's Vinca minor atropurpurea.
Tom
tommyb favorite tool: potato hook
DebbieTT
Posted: May-23-2004 at 3:30pm
I will be adding some good cut flower lists and more information.
For most cut flower gardens build a bed like you would for a vegetable garden. Most flowers will appreciate that and grow well. Full sun for most annual flowers and you may want a shade one to put ferns and some shade tolerant foliage plants in to cut.
Mixing annual with perennial can get tricky, and it can be done but for me I like to keep them seperated as I can do a complete clean up of the annual garden easier and I can mulch and keep the perennial garden packed with plants for less weeding chores.
BUT (you knew that was coming), mixing annuals with spring flowering bulbs such as tulips and daffodils for cutting is a great mix. Tuck the annuals in betweent he dying foliage of the spring bloomers.
My personal preference for the best cut flower is the Oriental lily . The article I just linked to has a long list of lilies, time of bloom, and descriptions, plus links to some in the plant gallery. An annual I fell in love with last year is Trachymene coerulea or Blue lace flower as its commonly called. A rarity in the Apiaceae (carrot) family, in having blue flowers. Oh and lets not forget the sweet pea!
I will be posting more so stay tuned.
I hope to see everyone's favorite cut flowers.
Lisa A
Posted: May-24-2004 at 10:19am
I love blue flowers! I will definitely add Trachymene coerulea or Blue lace flower to my list of annuals for my annual cut flower bed (which will likely be built this year and planted next year). Thanks for the tips, Debbie.
I like to use cosmos for a good cut flower annual, I've found. Lovely and long-lasting and easy, easy, easy. Oh, did I mention easy? You can buy six-packs of these now. Leave a few to sow their seed and they'll be back next year.
I add greenery from my garden to cut flower bouquets. I've used sword fern, variegated euonymus, deer fern, California wax myrtle, salal, evergreen huckleberry, dwarf 'Burford' holly. Stiff foliage helps hold up wimpy flower heads and is great filler. For winter bouquets, I like to use the bright red leaf-less branches of red-twig dogwood. I recall giving a hostess gift of a bouquet of red-twig dogwood, rose-glow barberry with tiny red berries (and deep wine branches and thorns), 'Sugar Tyme' crabapple with bright red berries, 'Silver Queen' euonymus and white crimson flag (huh?) - Schizostylis coccinea var alba. It gave oooohs and aaaaahs and my friend said it lasted quite a long time.
A perennial that I like to add to cut flower arrangements is Jacob's ladder, Polemonium caeruleum. It lasts well and is sweetly fragrant. It has seeded itself around my garden but I don't consider it a pest. In fact, I wish it seeded more so I could cut more flowers.
Of the rugosa roses, 'Theresa Bugnet' is the best cut flower.
Gardening in Sunset Zone 6, USDA Zone 8.
"There is more pleasure in making a garden than in contemplating a paradise." - Anne Scott-James
JeanneK
Posted: May-24-2004 at 10:30am
Nice article, thanks, Debbie.
That's a good idea about planting flowers in with the vegetables. Problem is that the squash and zuccini grow so big, leaving no room for flowers. Maybe putting in annuals before the big growers get to big would be a way to do it. Right now the veggie garden looks sort of sparse.
I cut one flower out of several to create a bouquet to bring into the house. That usually means that some days or weeks, I have no flowers in my house. But then I am lazy about that so sometimes the house is bare anyway.
Jeanne
DebbieTT
Posted: May-25-2004 at 2:25am
Bulb Spring Cutting Flowers
Between daffodils and tulips spring is well covered for the cutting garden. Varieties have been bred to bring outstanding ranges of colors and selecting varieties for bloom times can keep your cutting garden well stocked with flowers. There are other spring flowering bulbs too. What are your favorite bulbs for cut flowers?
My favorite tulips are the lily-flowering tulips. They come back year after year. T. 'Ballade' is quite stunning with its purple petals with white margins. The pure white of T. 'White Triumphator' is one I planted years ago and my florist friend picked them from my garden for a bride's bouquet because she couldn't find any on the market at that time. It felt good that a bride was able to get her white tulips in her bridal bouquet because of my garden. T. 'Burgundy' is an old standby in my garden too. Having them bloom for many years is a plus. T. 'William and Mary' is on my list for this fall. Their creamy yellow, flushed pink would be nice for the cutting garden, and probably in the rest of my garden for display. Pick tulips when they color up and the buds are still tight for longest vase life.
But I don't rule out tulips that are a one-pony-show. If I can get some for inexpensive and quality bulbs I am not opposed to planting them and yanking the bulbs when they are finished blooming.
Daffodils are great but I really dislike the foliage that hangs on in the garden through at least July, looking ratty and unkempt. 'Thalia' was a long time favorite for me with its pure white flower. The first ones I grew had a lovely scent. I have since then bought more and haven't found any of them to have a fragrance like I remember. They have three flowers to a stem. I also liked 'Mount Hood' for its pure white flower. The flower is much like an albino 'King Alfred' in size and shape. 'King Alfred' is the old standby of the large classic daffodil. 'Ice Follies' was another one I liked. All white but the trumpet faded to a creamy white as it aged.
I like to choose daffodil varieties that will be with me for many years so I choose varieties that say they will naturalize. In other words, many years of cut flowers for me. The ones above were not ones that naturalized well for me but managed to stay for a few years in my garden. With so many daffodils to choose from you could try them all in your lifetime, plus a few reincarnations.
I am not a fan of hyacinths because the fragrance gives me headaches for some odd reason. They certainly are showy flowers but for my cutting garden it gives me a headache just thinking about the fragrance. Other people love them so they should be included in the cutting garden, too.
Ah but then there is the Dutch Iris. I have one on my wish list called Iris 'Delft Blue' -- a white Iris with splashes of blue. But I have a clump of dark blue iris that I have had so long, I don't even know their name. I keep carrying it from house to house and here it is still with me since early 1980s. Please no reminders how long that has been.
Calla lilies are long lasting as a cut flower and are beautiful in the garden. For cut flowers Zantedeschia 'Green Goddess' is exotic looking with its green and white frilly (un-calla like) flower that tends to get lost in the garden. In a vase it is beautiful! Of course the standard white calla -- Zantedschia aethiopica is the classic calla lily.
What are your favorite spring flowering bulbs for cut flowers?
Trish
Posted: May-25-2004 at 9:12am
My vegetable garden is backed with a plank fence where I plant sunflowers. I particularly like the Autumn Sunset mix -- medium heads, lots of colors, good for cutting.
In the middle of the veggies, I plant a row of zinnias, signet marigolds (lemon or tangerine), cosmos, and borage. By the end of the season, birds are flocking to pluck seeds from the zinnias and cosmos -- very entertaining.
JeanneK, I find that nasturtiums can keep up with zucchini. They get shoved aside, but they shove right back.
JeanneK
Posted: May-25-2004 at 9:32am
Thanks, Trish. I have some nasturtiums seeds I hadn't found a place for yet! Zinnias sound great. Sometimes zinnias in my shadier places get powery mildew but maybe in the sunny veggie garden? Both flowers might jaz up the veggies nicely!
Jeanne
DebbieTT
Posted: May-25-2004 at 11:53am
Jeanne, I grew Sunflowershelianthus 'Music Box' and H. 'Pacino' that grow a few feet high last year. The pumpkin and zucchinni marched under them. It was pretty neat as the flowers poke up just above the large squash leaves. When the pumpkins ripened I really enjoyed the look of the flowers and pumpkins. Taller sunflowers of course would do well with the squashes and pumpkins. Actually any tall sturdy perennials could be planted with them, I would think. It would be a fun experiment that's for sure!
Trish, I love the visual you gave of your vegetable garden.
Gazebo! Explosive sound produced by hay fever sufferers. —A Gardener's Dictionary
DebbieTT
Posted: May-25-2004 at 11:57am
Lisa, I hadn't thought about Jacob's ladder for a cut flower. Will have to move some into my cutting garden.
Yes I think starting your cutting garden bed in the fall is a good idea. Much like preparing your veg garden in the fall for the following spring is a good idea. I had mine ready only it was so full of weeds, it took awhile to get last year's sunflowers and other remains plus the chickweed and those pesky popping seed heads of jewel weed(?) out. Fortunately it was little digging as the soil was soft and crumbly, most of it came out with a pull of the hand. I wish all my beds were like that.
Gazebo! Explosive sound produced by hay fever sufferers. —A Gardener's Dictionary
DebbieTT
Posted: May-25-2004 at 11:27pm
Summer Bulbs for the Cutting Garden
Who can resist lilies to cut for a vase indoors? One stem with racemes of the large oriental lily flower is a bouquet in itself. Most of the Oriental lilies are highly fragrant. Who needs an air freshener when we have Oriental lilies in bloom?
I just received a package of Lilium 'Siberia' that I need to plant in the garden soon. The flower has pure white petals on stems rising up to 36 inches and very fragrant too. I am looking forward to this coming into bloom as there is nothing like pure white flowers to give a touch of elegance to almost any vase.
Although I like the Oriental lilies the most there is room for Asian lilies, Trumpet lilies and many lily species, give a long period of time to have lilies blooming in the cutting garden. Careful selection of species and hybrids will have lilies blooming from June into September in your garden.
Dahlias are a must for the cutting garden. These dependable growers have flowers that can look like either a daisy or even a giant puffball the size of a large melon. Many colors and shapes to choose from to fill the sunny borders with many cut flowers for the late summer garden. Personally I like the simpler single flowers or semi double flower forms but I am growing some flowers-on-steroids type dahlias just to see if I can like them in my garden.
Gladiolus is a reliable cut flower. Their corms can be consecutively sown over weeks to allow a long season of cutting flowers. Gladiolus has found some disfavor in recent years, but I predict that they will make a great comeback into favor like the Lily did.
I cut a bouquet of pure white peonies to take to the host of a meeting I went to last night. I have no idea the name of this exquisite looking peony with very fragrant flowers. Peonies, a late spring flower, is excellent for the cutting garden. Who can resist a flower that can look like an overdone ice cream cone such as the P. 'Sorbet'. Last month I brought lilac flowers. Having a cutting garden does help in having something to give to a host.
What other summer flowering bulbs make a good cut flower?
Sydnie
Posted: May-26-2004 at 12:08am
Whoa- at all your idea's Debbie. What great ideas. Hmmm. Another bed for just cutting. That is a great idea. LOL. I do have a place... hmmm. LOL. And we have a tractor now. This makes a lot of idea's of new beds and such- much easier to think about. Oh boy. Not hard to talk him into anything if he can do it with engine sounds. LOL. Maybe I better take advantage.
The Earth Laughs in Flowers. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
JeanneK
Posted: May-26-2004 at 8:29am
Yep, lilies have got to be one of my favorites also. I am partial to trumphet lilies as the best. What about crocosmia and acanthus for cut flowers? How do they do? LOL, Debbie, with all the plants going into a cutting bed, it probably looks like a regular garden bed!
I know what you mean, Sydnie. My hubby likes power tools and big engines too. He always stares longingly at the big steam rollers, smoothing out new pavement. What is it with men and power tools and engines?
Jeanne
Lisa A
Posted: May-26-2004 at 9:04am
So, how about all the tips to help cut flowers last longer? I've heard adding home remedies, such as aspirin, 7-up or a little bit of bleach, will help flowers last longer (besides changing the water daily). I've tried them at times but I have no idea if they helped or not. Comments?
Gardening in Sunset Zone 6, USDA Zone 8.
"There is more pleasure in making a garden than in contemplating a paradise." - Anne Scott-James
DebbieTT
Posted: May-26-2004 at 9:32pm
Lisa, Here are a few tips for longer vase life.
Harvesting is best done when temperatures are cool. Harvest flowers in the heat of the day when they are most stressed will lesson their vase life. In the morning is when their water content is the highest and temperatures are lowest. Did you know that a dark flower could be 10° warmer than a lighter flower? When cutting drop the stem into a deep bucket of cold water that acts as a mini hydro cooling system.
If your water is on the acidic side, the acidic water helps prevent the growth of many micro-organisms. Stems also take up water more quickly if it is acidic.
The best thing for long vase life is clean harvesting tools and buckets, clean vases and clean water. Floral preservatives have sugar to feed the flower, a biocide to keep the microorganisms at bay and something to lower the pH of the water. The lemon-lime type sodas probably do a lot of the same thing, providing a sugar to feed with, and properties that inhibit growth of the little guys and lower the pH of the water. This is my best guess though. I don't use this as I have said before I have too many flowers to cut now and so fresh bouquets are frequently the order of the day for my home.
DebbieTT
Posted: May-26-2004 at 10:04pm
Jeanne, I have not used Acanthus as a cut flower as it is so beautiful, long lasting and stately in the garden. I haven't the heart to cut it. I will try it this summer. What a huge statement that will make in a vase. Even if it only lasted a few days I would think it would be worth cutting for a vase. As with other racemes, cut when the first flower opens, is how I would approach it.
Crocosmia is great as a cut flower. Cut the flower when the first bud has colored up or opened. Or you can harvest the seedpods after the flower is gone, as they look great for bouquets. Harvest the stem of pods before the pods begin opening up. Both flowers and pods are fragile so handle them with care. The strappy leaves too are great greens for a bouquet.
You can also dry them, harvest as you would above both flowers, pods and leaves. Leaves you can add right to a dried bouquet. Flowers and pods hang in small bunches upside down and let dry in a warm dry place. Give them a good amount of air circulation, which helps them retain their color.
Gazebo! Explosive sound produced by hay fever sufferers. —A Gardener's Dictionary
DebbieTT
Posted: May-26-2004 at 10:06pm
I thought of vroom vroom Sydney, your garden is being created, vroom, vroom.
DebbieTT
Posted: May-27-2004 at 11:28am
What is in your cutting garden?
We are voyeurs and we want to know!
Sydnie
Posted: May-27-2004 at 2:32pm
LOL - men and engines!!! You can hear all the grunting!!! LOL!
Looks like mine will be where ever I want it to be. Guess I got to think on that for a bit. I'm getting a new bed via between the pond patio and green house. That's my peony & oriental lilies & ??? bed/ 'slugs like me bed'! I have a hard time cutting them if they are somewhere outside where you can sit and look at them or you can see them from a window. BUT I am thinking when we add the new vegi garden beds I will add a long raised bed just for a cutting garden. Less visual if I cut all the flowers! Were doing long raised beds. I think that this project will be next yr. Our tents for the w. reception go there this yr. It's the flatest spot we have, and holds moisture better than anywhere else! Hmmm, but we could put the tents in the front yard. We will see how far I get with everything else. LOL. I do this 'this will only take me' thing- where it always takes a thousand times longer! LOL.
The Earth Laughs in Flowers. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Phlox
Posted: May-29-2004 at 5:36pm
Ok, I must admit, I have a really hard time cutting flowers, mostly because I don't have a whole lot of any one-kind. When Memorial Day comes around, I do cut a few for the cemetary but other than that, until my meger garden grOWS, I'm going to be a little stingy .
I am getting a few different colors of Antirrhinum (snapdragon) and Aquilegia (columbine) and hopefully the day lilies I have will be more than one color. (see Debbie, I've already forgotten what to call them ).
I still have a small amount of 3 types of campanula and a patch of crocosmia (montbretia)? My bearded Iris' with no names and a couple of other tall flowers that I have no name for........
My goodness, I just may have a cutting garden and didn't know it.......better go look to see what else I have
Still, there is only so many of each one...........
Linda
P.S. Do ferns count??
P.S.S. Great All-Around information Debbie, Thanks!
'Silently, one by one in the infinite meadows of Heaven, Blossomed the lovely stars, the Forget-Me-Nots of Angels' *Longfellow*
DebbieTT
Posted: May-30-2004 at 6:30am
Linda, I know what you mean about not wanting to cut your flowers, that is why I have worked on a cutting garden, and even there I have a hard time about cutting the flowers. Oh but yesterday I cut a huge bunch of white double peonies and put them in a white vase. And it looks scrumptious in my house. So I have to get over it! I will, I will!
For cut flowers daylilies are only good for one day. You might try the trick with the hibiscus of cutting the flowers in the morning and refrigerating them until evening so it will be open and alive during a special evening occassion. I haven't tried it yet to see if it will work like it does for hibiscus, but I will when I see my two start to bloom.
Divide your iris in late summer and you will have a few more for cutting next year. Iris too don't last long in the vase, but oh are they pretty while they last. This fall buy some of the taller Dutch Iris bulbs and plant just for cutting. I need to lift my Iris bulbs as this year they weren't flowering as well now that the Rhody is shading them too much. Time to move them to the cutting garden.
Yes ferns count! Great for greenery in the bouquets.
DebbieTT
Posted: May-30-2004 at 6:34am
I still have a lot of information for the cutting garden, but I think I will hold off until fall and revisit this. With the holiday and all it seems this topic should have a part 2. Then add preparing the beds for next year, and perennial and annual lists that I have, will be available. My lists are on my hard drive that fried. Hopefully the place we are taking this to will be able to retrieve it! If not I will start the lists over.
Wanda
Posted: May-30-2004 at 9:35am
Oh Deb, I feel your pain. I hope you are able to retrieve it. -Wanda
DebbieTT
Posted: Jun-25-2004 at 9:29am
Since this is about cutting gardens I thought I would announce this here instead of announcements.
I wrote an article on Tulips as cut flowers --Tulips for the Spring Cutting Garden. Plus, I cross referenced everything except Trees and shrubs (will do that later) in the Plant Gallery and made a list of cut flowers. So not only can you find an extensive cut flower list but click on each plant for cultural advice and/or to see what the flower looks like -- Flowers for the Cutting Garden
DebbieTT
Posted: May-30-2004 at 6:30am
Linda, I know what you mean about not wanting to cut your flowers, that is why I have worked on a cutting garden, and even there I have a hard time about cutting the flowers. Oh but yesterday I cut a huge bunch of white double peonies and put them in a white vase. And it looks scrumptious in my house. So I have to get over it! I will, I will!
For cut flowers daylilies are only good for one day. You might try the trick with the hibiscus of cutting the flowers in the morning and refrigerating them until evening so it will be open and alive during a special evening occassion. I haven't tried it yet to see if it will work like it does for hibiscus, but I will when I see my two start to bloom.
Divide your iris in late summer and you will have a few more for cutting next year. Iris too don't last long in the vase, but oh are they pretty while they last. This fall buy some of the taller Dutch Iris bulbs and plant just for cutting. I need to lift my Iris bulbs as this year they weren't flowering as well now that the Rhody is shading them too much. Time to move them to the cutting garden.
Yes ferns count! Great for greenery in the bouquets.
Gazebo! Explosive sound produced by hay fever sufferers. —A Gardener's Dictionary
Sydnie Posted: Jun-26-2004 at 1:52am
How'd I miss this. Great Stuff Debbie!!!
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton