I’ll freely admit that I’m the plant nerd around here and I love talking about how to grow a beautiful cut flower garden. I love everything about flowers, their names (foxglove!), the research required to grow them well, and the art of shaping them into bouquets. Flowers can just fill you up to the top with their beauty. They’re like tiny drops of heaven.
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Except for when they’re not. There’s been a time or two that I set out to have the perfect cut flower garden, but come October I was ready to throw in the trowel and forget all about growing things.
There have been times when I loaded up on seed packets in May with high hopes of beautiful bouquets on the table all summer long, but by July I couldn’t find the flowers for the weeds.
We’ve certainly had our share of spectacular flops, jungles of weeds, and crop failures, but bit by bit over the years, I’ve learned a few things. I thought I’d share them with you today in case you’re getting your own cut flower garden plan together. Maybe I can save you a few lessons learned the hard way.
For Great Cut Flower Garden Results, Read Your Plant Labels
I’ve started reading plant labels almost religiously. Too many times I’ve bought the wrong plant for the wrong spot. Before I buy, I always check for the amount of sun or shade the plant needs, how tall it will get, and what type of soil it prefers.
I also like to settle down with a cup of coffee and do a little online research to see if I can dig up some more growing tips. Some of my favorite places to poke around are seed companies, especially Johnny’s Selected Seeds. They give a list of the growing requirements for all the seeds on their website.
A few other places to check are Monrovia and The Spruce.
Dahlias are a big deal in cut flower gardens these days so if you’re looking for information on how to grow dahlias, we’ve written a blog post on that here and we’ve made a YouTube video on that as well.
Don’t Forget to Feed Your Soil
I used to plant my flowers into whatever garden soil I had and dump on the fertilizer, hoping everything would be fine. I’m starting to learn that healthy soil produces healthy plants, and healthy plants fight disease and pests much better than stressed plants that are growing in poor soil. It’s easier to just throw on some fertilizer instead of amending the soil with compost or rock minerals, but in the long run the results aren’t as great.
Along with our favorite organic fertilizer, we also use a great compost from a local farm co-op called Greenfield Farms. It’s worth it to do some digging and find a good compost source in your area.
We’ve also gotten our soil tested to see what nutrients we are lacking so we can amend the soil accordingly. Your county extension office is a great place to get your soil tested.
Rotate the Annuals in Your Cut Flower Garden
You’ve probably heard about rotating crops in farming or vegetable gardening, but have you heard about doing this with your cut flower garden? Always planting the same flowers in the same areas can increase the chances of bugs munching your flowers to bits. Disease can also hide in the soil, so keeping things rotated can help with that as well.
As a general rule of thumb, we try to rotate our crops for three or four years before planting in the same spot again. We make sure to do this with our annuals: zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, etc.
Keep a Garden Diary
When I started keeping a garden diary, I was finally able to relax mentally. Recording our tasks and the dates we accomplished them has been such a handy reference when I’m planning next year’s garden. Unless you’ve got a memory like Chuck Norris, you’ll never remember all that you did and what you wished you’d have done differently. Trust me, I know.
I also keep a garden sketch so that crop rotation is a breeze. I record when each flower begins to bloom so that if we have an event or a wedding coming up, we’ll at least have an idea of what might be available. Because I kept a diary last year I know that this year’s growing season is about 3 weeks (!) behind last year’s season. No wonder April has felt so long!
Water Your Flowers Consistently
Most plants require about an inch of water per week, but I’ve also learned that not all soils are equal when it comes to watering. We have heavy clay soil in some places and rich, fertile loam in others. The clay takes forever to dry out in the spring, while the loamy beds are ready to plant a couple of days after it’s rained. The clay soil seldom requires watering and the loam needs it regularly.
Last year we invested in a bunch of drip lines from DripWorks for our dahlias. We spend an inordinate amount of time watering dahlias every summer, and finally decided to bite the bullet. A drip line (or soaker hose) is a good idea if you’ll need to do a lot of watering. Plus, it has the added bonus of keeping plant leaves dry while watering which also helps prevent disease.
Have a Plan to Manage the Weeds
Weeds are the bane of every gardener’s existence. The first couple of years we grew flowers, the weeds were out of control, so we try to make it a priority to stay ahead of them. We use this landscape fabric and these landscape pins for garden paths and grass and leaves for the beds. We’ve learned to make sure we get our little seedlings well mulched with grass as soon as they’re planted, and have much better success in our battle against weeds as a result.
After the first few frosts in the fall, we clear our flower beds and layer on leaves and grass again. This makes an effective weed barrier over winter and the bed is ready to plant come spring, weed free. After planting in the spring, we top off the beds with another layer of grass. In our peony and rose beds, we’ll tuck some newspaper beneath the grass as an added layer of weed protection. Bonus: grass, leaves, and newspaper will eventually decompose and improve the soil structure.
I won’t lie to you, growing flowers is a ton of work, but it can also be rewarding. So much beauty can come from a handful of seeds. Plus, there’s not much that beats cutting flowers on a misty morning and making bouquets to brighten someone’s day.
Do you have any gardening tricks up your sleeve? Any tips for coaxing big, beautiful blooms from your plants? Talk to me in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.
Peace and happy gardening,
Rosita