Cutting garden ideas?

[thistlebloom]

NYboys post on zinnias gave me the idea to ask you all for some ideas on good bouquet flowers. One of my clients is an avid flower arranger and I just installed a cutting garden for her, but left room for more perennials and annuals. Do you have some favorites that make good cut flowers?

 

[Nyboy]

This should be a interesting thread. Gayfeather ( liatris) lasts forever as a cut flower. Believe it or not my favorite for cut flower is lily of valley, shot glasses make great vases for it. Does your client want fragrance in her cut flowers ?

 

[thistlebloom]

I don't know, but that's always appealing I think. She just told me to plant anything that can be cut for a bouquet. Liatris is a good one, I planted a clump of them.

So far I have-
*Hydrangea paniculata, 3 varieties
*oriental lilies, lots of Casa Blanca
*Delphinium
*Larkspur
*echinacea
*gaillardia
*helenium
*Chinese Snow Flower shrub, which is new to me, it is supposed to be a long and prolific bloomer, looks like babys breath
*babys breath
*Astrantia
*Venusta filipendula
*betony
*red yarrow
...and I can't remember anything else.
Next year I really want to fluff it out with annuals.

 

[ninnymary]

Calla lillies, hyssop, lavender, hydrangea, peonies, and alstroemeria.

Mary

 

[Smart Red]

I once had several dedicated cutting beds -- one red and white, one blue and yellow, one pink and purple. They were all annuals that came in a 'special collection' from Park Seeds. It's been a while and I really don't remember what most of them were. I do know they made for some great bouquets.

 

[Lavender2]

A couple perennial favorites of mine, 'Becky' daisy and Sea lavender (limonium latifolium) . There may be other hardy limoniums, but this one has done great in my garden for many years. Pretty easy to grow and it makes a nice filler.

 

[digitS']

Would dry flower arrangements be appreciated?

Many would benefit from a greenhouse start. Is that available? Some can be direct-sown. They aren't really the most attractive plants but there are some better looking choices. And, there is the extra step of drying. They aren't just cut and carried in to a vase.

I like things like wheat, oats and millet. Celosia and its amaranth cousin are good choices.

Nigella has it's pretty garden moments and an interesting shape for a seed pod. Strawflowers look like something you'd take a weedwacker to if it sprang up in your yard but they are quite pretty, dry. Statice is a near requirement and can be used fresh, too.

Some folks really like hydrangeas and peonies dried. Roses hold their color quite well ... Anyway, those and many more may find better locations in the landscaping.

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Those are all good ideas Steve. I know she loves hydrangeas....maybe she is interested in blooms other than fresh cut. They are only at this place until mid August, so I don't know how the drying part would work. I guess that's where I would get involved more. There is a roomy garden shed that would work for hanging dried flowers in.
There's tons of peonies on the property already, and generally they are done before they arrive in the summer. It might be a nice thing for me to do, dry some of those so she can enjoy them too...

The trouble is, so many of bouquet type flowers are deer favorites also, and I arrived Monday a.m. to a crime scene. The Casa Blanca lilies which were swelling and getting ready to open had been mowed down to about 6" from the ground.
To say I was furious was an understatement. They didn't eat the delphiniums I planted against the rock wall, but they did bust some of them off when they stepped on them as they jumped up to the next terrace. I'm so frustrated. I doused all the new plants with deer repellent when they went in. Usually the repellent lasts close to 2 months and it hadn't even been 2 weeks.
The deer are eating things they have never touched before. Solomons Seal is one you could always count on as deer "proof". Mowed down this year.

What I really want is a bazooka to blast them into kingdom come...
The urban deer problem is really getting to be an issue in these neighborhoods.
There are generations of deer that have never seen a wild forest, they just make a living by consuming landscaping and are protected by the "they were here first"
baloney. If they were ugly you know people wouldn't hesitate to take measures against their breeding and proliferating in an urban setting.
There. Maybe I can get off my soapbox now.

 

[Nyboy]

Thistle that is why I gave up on lilies, deer would wait till just before bud opened to eat.

 

[digitS']

I think you did quite well on that soapbox, Thistle'.

Venison. Bambi, Shmabi!

And, I'm glad that you mentioned hydrangeas. Yes, the florists like dried hydrangeas. I've only just learned that peonies are dried and have no experience with them. (I went back to edit in "hydrangeas" in my post.)

Steve