By Natasha Vadas, Winterthur Horticulturist
While each season of gardening is sure to bring its own unique experience, I find there are a few things I consistently do when cultivating a cutting garden. My first rule, as simple as it may sound, is to have fun with my cut flower garden—so I grow flowers I truly enjoy working with and watching bloom. My recent favorites have been dahlias, whose unique colors and beautiful symmetry go well in almost any floral arrangement.
Another rule I like to follow is to grow something I know will perform well, year after year. I often choose zinnias, which are fantastic and dependable flowers to grow in a cutting garden. Not only are they amazingly easy to grow from seed, but they will also bloom continuously up until the first frost of the fall season.
Beyond an array of colors, I enjoy growing various textures in my cutting garden to add more dimension to both the garden and flower arrangements. The lacy caps of false Queen Anne’s lace or the papery blooms of early-season poppies add dimension and delicate texture to any display. I also love to add an element of surprise by using herbs such as sage, nasturtium, or variegated basil to provide aroma and greenery to an arrangement.
Because my cutting garden receives full sun for much of the day, I typically choose plants that will thrive in that environment. Of course, with full sun comes the prospect of soil drying out, so I keep my plants watered by running a sprinkler on them during the early morning hours when they can absorb the most water.
When the time comes to make an arrangement, I prefer to cut the flowers before the heat of the day. Using clean flower cutters, I snip flowers that are either freshly blooming or about to open their buds, cutting above the next node of growth. This will allow the plant to continue blooming into the growing season. After cutting the flowers, I allow them to sit in room-temperature water to acclimate for a while. Then, when it’s time to create an arrangement, I invoke my first rule of the cutting garden—to have fun.
There is no “correct” way to create a floral arrangement. Each is as different as the flowers themselves, and it’s always exciting to allow the artistic process to unfold into a beautiful display.
Join Natasha for Garden to Vase: Cut Flower Workshop on September 2 to create your own stunning floral arrangement from Winterthur flowers.