Plant a Perennial Cutting Garden: Flowers for Vases

Flowers bloom in landscapes and gardens around the world during thewarm summer months. The colors and shapes of the landscapes change constantly as new blooms open and old blooms are spent.

Gardens are a ever changing work of art. Gardeners can make design a garden, making decisions about the kinds of plants they want, sizes, shapes, colors and placement and then sit back and watch the ever changing show of blooms and textures.

It’s wonderful to view this show of fresh flowers in the garden, but it’s also wonderful to bring some of the fresh flowers inside to decorate the home. Flowers in vases always give a great lift to the look of the house and uplift the spirits. Fragrant flowers are even better, as they add their perfume to the room.

A cutting garden includes the best plants for displaying in vases. There are many annual flowers that work great in cutting gardens, such as zinnias. Annual flowers last only one season. Gardener’s love annuals for their ease of producing colorful blooms. Annuals can be planted from seed or purchased as plants at garden nurseries.

Perennial plants reward the gardener by returning year after year, for a show of color. Perennials vary in their length of bloom time. The flowers appear at different times of the year. Perennials may not be in bloom all summer long, but they add texture and shape to the garden. When planing a perennial garden, consider the bloom times of the individual plants, Plant a variety of perennial plants so that something is always in bloom.

A combination of annual and perennial plants adds beauty and color to the landscape from spring to fall. Plant flowers with long stems that can be successfully cut and put into a vase for color indoors.

Perennial flowers can be purchased as plants from garden centers and nurseries. Following is a list of perennials that make great cutting flowers. There flowers bloom at different times of the year for an ever changing season of color.

Spring – Early Summer: Bellflowers, Columbines, Coreopsis, Daffodils, Foxglove, Globeflowers, Iris, Lupines, Peonies, Sweet William, Tulips, Wild Blue Phlox.

Summer: Astilbes, Baby’s Breath, Balloon Flowers, Beardtongues, Bee Balm, Blanket Flowers, Canterbury Bells, Crocosmias, Delphiniums, Feverfew, Lavenders, Lilies, Pinks, Purple Coneflower, Sea Lavender, Shasta Daisy, Speedwell, Torch Lily, Yarrows.

Late Summer – Fall: Asters, Black-Eyed Susan, Chrysanthemum, Fall Blooming Japanese Anemones, Garden Phlox, Gayfeathers, Globe Thistle, Goldenrods, Monkshoods, Orange Coneflowers, Ox-Eye, Perennial Sunflowers, Sneezeweed.

When cutting flowers, perennial or annual, to put into vases, it is best to cut them in the morning and put them into warm water immediately. The vase of warm water can even be taking into the garden so that the stems can be placed directly into the vase. Hold the stem under the warm water in the vase and cut again, at t slant. Take care not to crush the stem. Remove extra foliage. Don’t submerge any leaves in the water, cut them off. In the house, place the vase in a cooler area that the flowers not exposed to sunlight. Mist the flowers occasionally for longer beauty.

A beautiful cutting garden enhances the outdoor landscape and the indoor decor.

Resources:
Burpee, The Complete Flower Gardener, The Comprehensive Guide to Growing Flowers Organically, by Karan Davis Cutler and Barbara W. Ellis.