Complement the color pallet of your home with fresh cut flowers from your garden. Harvesting fresh flowers from the garden is one of the greatest joys of home gardening. With a little planning, enjoying fresh-cut flowers from early spring until a hard frost can be easy.
Spring
Peonies are the queens of cut flowers. Their large flowers and long stems create fabulous bouquets. German Irises are a bouquet standard and a must for the cut flower garden. Other spring flowers - Columbine, Bleeding Hearts, Lilacs, Lily-of-the-Valley, Dianthus (Pinks), and Wild Sweet William.
Summer
Lavender is beautiful in the garden, in a vase, or dried. Provencal France lavender is popular, but many varieties thrive in St. Louis. Hydrangeas create fabulous bouquets that are long-lasting, but Panicle hydrangeas are the cream of the crop. With huge white flowers that slowly fade to shades of pink and chartreuse, they stun in the garden. Other summer flowers: Garden Phlox, Daisies, Perennial Sunflower, Roses, Clematis, Black-Eyed Susans, Lilies, Blazing Star, Zinnias, Rattlesnake Master, and Cosmos.
Fall
Anemones create stunning fall displays. Once cut, blossoms can last almost two weeks in the vase. Other fall bloomers include chrysanthemums, Sedums, Asters, and Toad Lilies.
Late Winter to Early Spring
Forsythia, the harbinger of spring, delights with large stems of sunshine-yellow flowers. When cutting stems, cut forsythia right when they bloom to enjoy the flowers opening in the vase. Other early spring flowers include daffodils, Lenten Roses, and Witch Hazel.
Pick fragrant flowers in the early morning or late afternoon—the volatile oils that carry the scent evaporate in the sun. Place fresh-cut stems into water immediately. Set flower arrangements away from direct sunlight and refresh water often.
Sugar Creek Garden offers free 45-minute design consultations to help transform your home exterior and interior from average to amazing.