Author: Jessica Damiano.
Associated press
If you grow your own garden, you can have beautiful bouquets all season long. Almost any flower can be cut and used indoors. But growing the right garden takes some planning. Treat your flowers like a crop to be harvested. Just as some tomatoes make the best salsas, some flowers are cut and arranged better than others. Short stems don't lend themselves to a second movement in the vase, for example. The same goes for those whose fragile flowers dry out quickly indoors. Seed catalogs often contain information on the suitability of flowers for cutting and arranging. Annuals and perennials are great for trimming gardens.
Every spring I cut some very fragrant stems of lilacs from two bushes near the front door and put them in a vase inside, and their fragrance spreads throughout the first floor better than a candle or an aromatic diffuser.
During the summer, some of my hydrangeas and roses are also in the house, their flowers stand out in a vase above the dining table.
Most any flower can be cut and used indoors, but growing a proper garden takes some planning, and the first step is treating flowers like a crop to be harvested. Just as some types of tomatoes are better used in sauces, some flowers are better sliced than others.
Short stems don't lend themselves to a second movement in the vase, for example. The same goes for those with fragile flowers that will one day wither inside.
Seed catalogs offer the widest selection and their descriptions often indicate whether they are suitable for cut flowers and arrangements.
In the garden you can grow both annuals and perennials. Annual plants complete their entire life cycle in one year, but usually produce many flowers throughout the season. Use sequential planting or plant more seeds or seedlings every two weeks to ensure a constant supply of cut flowers.
Perennials come back year after year, but are often not as productive as annuals. Some flower for only two or three weeks; others bloom repeatedly. Read plant descriptions carefully.
Note that although there are many flowers each year, perennials grown from seed usually don't flower until their second, and sometimes third, year.
Suitable annuals for cutting include celosia, cosmos, amaranth, delphinium, sunflower varieties, Queen Anne's lace, annual sage, and zinnia.
Perennials to grow and trim include astilbe, lemon balm, black-eyed susan, chrysanthemum, echinacea, foxglove, garden phlox, gladiolus, lily, peony, briar, rose, perennial sage, shasta daisy, and yarrow.
Another category of plants called fresh perennials are technically perennials because their life cycle doesn't end in a year, but they're usually grown as annuals because some of them can't reliably come back and some can't live indoors. in winter outdoor regions. .
Ideal perennials for cutting include: marigold (hardy in zones 9-11), California poppy (hardy in zones 8-10), snapdragon (hardy in zones 7-11), statice (hardy in zones 9-11). 11, stable in areas up to) and straw. flower (perennial in zones 9-11).
Bulbs, tubers and bulbous plants such as alliums, daffodils, tulips and dahlias should also be considered.
And don't forget the fillers: fern, gypsophila, Irish bluebells, mistletoe, tobacco flower, oregano, willow, silver dollar plant, and interesting twigs and twigs will elevate your curated bouquets to a professional level.
Both annuals and perennials can be grown in the ground, in raised beds or even in containers. If you have enough space, growing in separate beds will make it easier to plant each year, but it's not necessary; If space is tight, plant them where you can, even if that means placing flowers among vegetables or other garden plants.
Most flowers need fertile, well-draining soil, regular watering, and at least six to eight hours of sunlight a day. You can use plants purchased from a nursery, plant seeds at home, or plant them directly in the garden.
Add lots of compost to the planting holes to feed the plants. Or, if you're planning ahead, cover the soil with 2 to 3 inches of compost in the fall and the bed will be productive well into spring.
Beds should be no wider than 3-4 feet, allowing access to your produce from all sides. When planting, place taller flowers in the back of the bed, medium plants in the middle, and shorter varieties in the front so they're all easily accessible.
Be sure to place plants according to the recommendations on the seed bag or plant label to account for the size of the mature plant. Dense plants often turn into diseased plants.
After planting, apply a slow-release balanced fertilizer and 2-3 inches of mulch, then water well. If you're planting seeds directly in the garden, fertilize and mulch when the seedlings are 4 inches tall.
Three weeks after planting, apply a high nitrogen and high phosphorus liquid flower fertilizer labeled 1-34-32 and repeat every two weeks.
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Jessica Damiano writes regular gardening columns for the AP and publishes an award-winning weekly mud newsletter. You can sign up for weekly gardening tips and tricks here.
