Quick Tips for planning a cutting garden from a flower farmer.

💐Choose a sunny location. Most varieties require full sun, so at least 6 hours of direct sunlight. Varieties that tolerate part-shade will thrive, but not bloom as prolifically, and in a cutting garden, that’s the point.

💐 Make sure the soil drains well. Do a drain test and make sure the soil should not get waterlogged after heavy rains. Almost nothing likes water log soil - I can’t think of anything except for very specific bog plants, and that’s a whole other (and very awesome!) post. Amend clay soils with compost to improve drainage, or construct raised beds.

💐Ready for the fun part? Decide what you want to grow! Bulletproof choices include: Zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, dahlias, native queens like like bee balm, mountian mint, and herbs like Thai Basil and lemon verbena. See my future article where I go deeper into varieties and timing.

💐 Plan for a long bloom season. Choose early, mid, and late season bloomers so you have flowers coming continuously from spring through fall. Some good choices are tulips, daffodils & alium for spring; peonies for early summer, zinnias, cosmos, and snapdragons for summer; and sedums, asters, and dahlias for the fall.

💐 Use succession planting. By planting certain flowers every few weeks, you can extend the bloom period. Sow quick growing annuals like zinnias and cosmos from seed every 2-3 weeks from spring to mid summer.

💐 Include foliage plants. Incorporate attractive foliage like ferns, thai basil, mountian mint (not a true mint, true mints are a bad idea) & bee balm, for texture, color, and to use as greenery in arrangements.

💐 Space plants properly. Most directions are not made for cutting gardens. Check plant tags, then plant 2x closer. Planting nice and tight reduces weed pressure and maximizes space.

💐 Raised beds are a lovely idea. They promote better drainage and you can completely control your soil. Better for annuals than perennials through. Amend the soil with compost annually.

💐 Plan for easy access & maintenance. Think weeds… the two best ways are to make paths and borders large enough to mow between, but you can also go really narrow and mulch with a heavy layer of leaves.

💐 Cutting varieties are different from landscape bedding flowers. Some do not stand strong at all on in their own, and if they seem to - just wait for a storm! 🙀 The best support is simple wooden stakes driven into the ground in spring, with twine tied in a box around the flowers, with a few straight twins lines through the bed to the other side. Take care not to install anything that could entangle a bird’s. Netting is used for greenhouses and should not be used outside.