How to Grow a Cutting Garden That Keeps Your Vases Full All Season
A good cutting garden is more than a flower bed that you visit with a pair of shears now and then․ It should be planted with flowers that reward cutting‚ close planting‚ succession sowing‚ and most importantly‚ flowers that last better once cut․ If your yard lies in Tennessee or anywhere else in the southeastern United States (USDA plant hardiness zones 6a through 7b and a small part of 8a near Memphis)‚ you start the growing season earlier than much of the United States and can prolong it․
Plan layout before selecting particular plant types․
Most people plan a cutting garden the way they'd plan a landscape bed - for looks․ That's backwards․ Like a small vegetable garden‚ a cutting garden can also be laid out in rows‚ allowing space to walk between them to do the cutting and to minimize the risk of damaging adjacent blooms․ Replant between harvests․ Planting them more closely together than one would normally plant ornamental flowers‚ with a 4-foot (1․2 m) bed spaced 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 cm) apart‚ will produce the long‚ straight stems needed for flower arrangements․
Tennessee's clay soil is a challenge for a novice gardener․ Adding two to three inches of compost before planting will help․ If the bed still holds water after a rain‚ build it up six to eight inches as a raised row; in fact‚ more cutting-garden flowers die here of bad drainage than cold․
Core Lineup for a Southern Cutting Garden
Poppies should be sown in the fall‚ October and early November for Tennessee․ They require cold stratification for germination․ They bloom the following May․ They do not transplant well‚ so they should be direct-sown where they will grow․ They bloom for three to four weeks‚ then are finished․ To have a longer season of poppies‚ the seeds can be sown in repeated small batches rather than one large batch․
Stargazer lilies are planted as bulbs in early spring as soon as the ground becomes workable‚ generally in late March in this area They bloom on their second and third years‚ in late June or July‚ and produce additional offspring‚ larger and stronger‚ year after year․ Plant them once and you'll have cutting material for a decade․ They're heavy feeders so it's a good idea to incorporate a slow-release bulb fertilizer at planting time․
They're basically wildflowers‚ and at the end of the season if you let a few flowers go to seed ‚ they will self seed readily․ You can sow them in the spring‚ or in the fall‚ directly from seed․ Germination takes 10 to 14 days‚ and they flower the first summer when spring sown․ As these plants can spread‚ give them their own area rather than planting them in a neat row with the picky ones․
Shasta daisies‚ by contrast‚ are more refined‚ and the stems are sufficiently strong for use in cut flower arrangements․ Shasta daisies are late-spring perennials․ Plant in spring to bloom in early summer‚ and deadhead the spent flowers to induce a second bloom in late summer․ Divide the clumps every three years or they'll grow too close together and won't bloom as well․
Tulips are the one flower on this list that behaves differently in the South than up North․ For example‚ because winters in Tennessee are usually not cold enough‚ tulips are usually treated as annuals and planted in November for a spring cutting crop․ Although it takes more work‚ it's worth it for six to eight weeks of some of the best cut-flower material there is‚ so we replant every year․ TN Nursery ships tulip bulbs for the fall planting window for growers with the intent of producing a spring bouquet crop․
Maximilian sunflowers are the tallest‚ growing 6 to 10 feet by the end of summer․ Start seeds after the last frost date‚ which is usually in mid-April in Middle Tennessee․ Since they are perennials‚ and as North American natives will spread via rhizomes‚ you should give them plenty of room to spread (if necessary‚ plant along a fence line so that rather than shading out neighboring plants‚ the height works in your favor)․
What Most Bouquet Guides Leave Out: Cutting and Conditioning
Growing the flowers is not the whole story․ If you cut them properly and at the right time‚ they should last 10 days․
Cut flowers early in the morning when the stems are full of water and before the heat of the day has stressed the plant․ Carry a bucket of clean‚ cool water into the garden and put the stem in it immediately after cutting the bloom instead of leaving it in a basket while you finish cutting․
It is best to cut them at an angle to provide a larger surface area from which to draw water‚ and for woody or thick-stemmed flowers such as sunflowers‚ recutting at an angle every couple of days considerably extends vase life․ Remove any leaves that would be submerged in your vase; drenched foliage will rot and turn the water cloudy within a day‚ ruining the look and reducing the life of everything else․
Tulips do not follow conditioning rules․ For instance‚ cut tulips continue to elongate and bend toward the light after being cut․ To maintain quality‚ cut and re-arrange the tulips daily‚ or at least every other day․
Succession Planting for a Longer Season
One planting date gives you only one bloom window․ To get bouquets from May to October‚ stagger your plantings:
Fall (Oct/Nov): poppies‚ tulip bulbs‚ and seed for oxeye daisy Early spring (March): stargazer lily bulbs‚ shasta daisy transplants Mid-spring (April): Maximilian sunflower seeds‚ a second round of oxeye daisies
The tulips and the poppies would be finishing by June‚ the lilies and the daisies would be just starting‚ the sunflowers would be the last ones in August and September․ That is really the whole secret to a cutting garden, not going flat by the middle of summer․
A Final Note on Getting Started
If you are planting bare-root perennials or bulbs instead of seeds, you will have a whole year's head start, and it is worth it for lilies and tulips.
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