How to Grow Fresh Flowers to Cut and Enjoy in your Home

If you are a passionate gardener you probably find ways to spend regular time in your garden on most days. You fit it into your routine from early spring to late fall because it is an essential part of maintaining equilibrium in a busy lifestyle, and you look forward to those moments with eager anticipation. Like most of us, you want to extend those moments in any way possible, and one of the best ways is to grow flowers that are easy to cut and maintain their beauty long afterwards. Bringing an ultra-fresh bouquet of your favorite blossoms into the house with you gives you the opportunity to maintain the aura of your recreational time, as well as share the bounty of the garden with everyone in the house.

While most annuals and perennials will do fairly well for a few days after being cut, there are varieties of both that seem to be made for the purpose of displaying beauty long after they are gathered into a bouquet. Here are common garden flowers that will deliver warmth, aroma, and a sense of well-being for 5 to 7 days, or longer after you’ve snipped them and placed them in a vase full of water. The best flowers for cutting and bringing indoors, or offering to a friend, tend to be those with sturdy, long stems that will keep their shape, allowing the free flow of water to reach the blooms. And here’s the wonderful truth – the more stems you cut, the more energy the flower puts into producing more glorious blooms. Quality perennials and annuals truly are gifts that keep on giving.

Perennials: These yearly friends offer the best bets for cutting. Anemone, Yarrow, Cone Flower, Daisy, Roses, Zinnias, Cosmos, Sunflowers, Cerinthe, Violet, Phlox, Bishop’s Lace, Carnation, Lily, Bell Flower, Coreopsis, and Iris.

Annuals: Marigold, Snap Dragon, Bachelor’s Button, Lark’s Spur, Pink Dianthus, Salvia, Gladiolus, Sweet Pea, Zinnias, and whatever grabs your attention that season.

When you go out to the garden with plans to bring in some cut blooms, take a bucket or vase filled with tepid water. The warmth will keep the vascular lines open within the plant that is placed in warm water. When you bring the bucket full of flowers into the house, consider cutting off a ¼ to ½ inch each day, to remove dry ends and give the flowers the best chance of taking in water. You might also want to add a small teaspoon of plant food to the water to keep your blooms beautiful for as long as possible. When blooms are inside, be concerned only about enjoying their loveliness, not about how long they will last. Flowers are transitory joys – but there are more waiting for you outside, with fresh promises of deep satisfaction.

Perennials Flowers

The backbone of any great garden is the mix of perennial flowers it contains. Annuals are nice, for color and variety from year to year. Flowering shrubs add interest, and bulbs are very nice while they last. But perennial flowers make or break a flower garden. Their name is packed with meaning: perennial. The term refers to a plant that endures year after year, going dormant through the winter, and then awakening to start the life cycle again in the spring, producing new life, fresh stems, and another bounty of lovely blooms.

Perennials were once the only option, and to passionate gardeners they become more than just flowers. They were honored friends that appeared in the garden each spring and provided pleasant companionship throughout the season. They were split and shared with friends. Girls leaving home were provided with shoots, clumps, roots, or vines from the family garden when they established one of their own. They were passed down from one generation to the next like a treasured heirloom or piece of family history.

While we live in a world that is much more mobile, perennials can still reflect these values. Let’s look at some of the choices you have as you begin your garden. Start with perennials. Select them based on their color, when they bloom during the season, and how tall they grow. Plan spaces in your beds for them that will give adequate exposure, and will keep each section of your garden full of color throughout the year. If you can accumulate perennial flowers from relatives or cherished friends, you will not only enjoy their beauty and fragrance throughout the year but the warm memories that come with them.

Let’s look first at traditional perennials and then list the top five perennial favorites for today’s gardeners. That way you’ll be able to plant a garden that incorporates the mix of old and new that feels right to you.

Our list of traditional perennials begins with Daisies. Clear testimony of their use dates back 5,000 years. If there is a more cheerful, hardy, eager to please flower we don’t know what it is. They are reliable, beautiful, simple to care for, and can be transplanted with ease. Next on our list is Lavender, a pretty little flower that has been a favorite since the 16th century. Lavender was delighting flower lovers with its soothing aroma long before the term “aromatherapy” entered the lexicon. Bring a start of this hardy plant indoors and enjoy its blessings throughout the winter! Beyond these two, also consider the following perennials as you plan a traditional garden that might have been flourishing anytime in the several centuries:

Aster, Daylily, Bellflower, Carnation, Marigolds, Mulleins, Lily of the Valley, Sweet Violet, Verbena, Peony, Primrose, Christmas Rose, and Chrysanthemum. These will put you well on your way to growing a garden any Victorian flower-lover would have cherished!

If you are looking for the top perennials among today’s gardeners, these will give you great options to begin your own traditions. Here are five perennials that you simply cannot go wrong with. They are beautiful, easy to care for, grow in most regions, and can easily be split for sharing with others.

1. Aster Blue Autumn are new to the scene. While Asters have a long history, this is a newly developed variety that will please the modern gardener with a wealth of blossoms that are deep, deep blue and very hardy.

2. Geraniums are today’s retro favorites. They are hardy, easy to grow, and stunningly gorgeous when thriving. A good variety of colors lets you customize your garden’s look.

3. Violet Rebecca is a big, bold violet, swathed in crisp white. It will provide a dazzling splash to any section of your garden that needs some energy. Plant it next to bright reds, deep purples, shocking pinks, and vibrant blues for greatest effect.

4. The Astilbe ‘Country and Western’ is another new variety that is making a splash. It features puffy, full-orbed blooms in eye-popping pink. It likes a partially sunny setting and will bloom for months.

5. Clematis Roguchi is a newer Japanese stunner that delivers an ongoing bouquet of deep blue/purple petals when you give it the sun it thrives in.

These traditional and contemporary favorites are just a start. You’ll want to make your own acquaintances with perennials and choose the ones that catch your fancy or capture your imagination. Some day you may be dividing them for your granddaughters, with years and years of warm memories encapsulated in each bunch.

Buying Flowers Seeds Online

If you plan to grow some or all of your flowers from seed next season you’ll want some tips on how to do it right. In this guide we’ll offer step by step guidance for selecting the right seed company, choosing the best seeds for your garden, and getting them ordered and on the way.

The first step when buying flower seeds online is to plan out your garden well ahead of time. Keep in mind you’ll need to order your seeds in early to mid winter, so you’ll want to know by then what seeds you want. Take into consideration these factors:

• Choose flowers that will grow well in your region or zone.

• Map out sectors of your garden based on the blossom’s color and when it flowers.

• Decide the mix of annual, perennial, and bulb flowers you want.

• Know whether the sections of the garden offer full-shade, partial sun, partial shade, or full sun.

• Buy seeds for each section that grow best given the available sun.

• Determine how many of each seed type you’ll need.

The second step is to find one or more reputable seed companies. Get familiar with their websites so you have a sense of the company’s reputation. Does it seem like they’re well-organized? Are the seeds in stock? Problems can arise if they cannot deliver seeds to you in a timely manner, since those seeds need to be planted in time to make the most of the growing season in your zone or region. When considering the selection, determine if they carry a variety of perennial and annual flower seeds. You’ll want to make a nice selection of perennials the foundation for your garden, and use different annuals yearly for the sake of variety. If bulbs are part of your plans take a look at their inventory, too.

It is also important to shop online from a website that will show you which seeds grow well in your zone. Being able to search for seeds by zone is a big advantage. When scanning the website click on their customer service tabs and review things like their FAQ’s, their return policy, and shipping policies. You will learn a lot about the company and will be able to decide whether or not you are comfortable ordering from them.

The third step is to place your order from the chosen web-based seed company. Have a clear list in front of you when ordering, and cross things off once you’ve added them to your cart. Make sure that you know how many of each type seed comes in the package, and how large the plants will grow. You don’t want to order more than you can use, but you certainly want enough. Err slightly on the side of buying more than you need. You’ll find places in your landscape for them perhaps, or will want to share extras with friends and family. It’s always fun to have the same flowers as others you know who enjoy gardening, so you can chat about how their doing and how much pleasure they provide. After you have placed all you need into your cart, double check it against your list to make sure you’ve got everything, and that you didn’t accidentally order anything twice, a common mistake when you’ve got a long list.

Finally, choose a shipping time that will get your seeds to you before you want to get them started. If you are running late on your ordering you might have to select expedited shipping. If you can order well ahead of time standard shipping should be fine.

 

Places you can buy flower seeds online :

Amazon.com – flower seeds at amazon.com – large selection

BloomingBulb.com – For quality flower bulbs and perennial plants at rock bottom prices, go to BloomingBulb.com

Brecks – premium Dutch bulbs from Brecks

Mixing Flowers – Colorful Flower Garden Design

When you plan your garden for this season you will want to include a mix of annual and perennial blooms that will provide a wonderful array of dazzling colors that will last from the first blossoms in the spring until you say goodbye to your flower beds in autumn. By knowing when your perennials bloom, and selecting appropriate annual flowers to complement them, the color parade can continue unabated. You won’t have a 2-3 week stretch where everything seems to be yellow or red. There won’t be a section of your garden that sports mostly blue. By mixing flowers you’ll craft a colorful garden design that will keep you interested and thrilled.

This will sound odd perhaps, but the first item you’ll need for planning a richly colorful garden is a color wheel. Available online or at the paint store, perhaps, these color wheels show what colors go well together and which ones clash. You’ll learn, for instance, that red and purple can provide a stunning contrast, red and orange don’t mix aesthetically when planted side by side, and blue-green combinations can be very soothing together. Most importantly, you’ll be able to easily identify the color combinations you most enjoy, and that really is the most important factor.

The second thing to do is to make a list of your favorite flowers, or those you’d like to try. Include both perennials and annuals. Using a flower encyclopedia helps here, and it can be a lot of fun to look through all the different varieties that come in the rainbow of colors found in the world of flowers. Be sure the guide you do your research in also lists the climate zones the flowers grow in, so you can be sure that they will thrive in your area. Remember to make selections from the entire color wheel, choosing 8-16 different colors, depending on how much detail the color chart gives.

Thirdly, it is also important, when selecting perennial flowers, to know when the blooms will appear and blossom. Make notes next to your selections such as early, early-middle, middle, middle-late, and late season. By doing this, you won’t expect a beautiful batch of golden mums in June or hope your sky-blue hydrangeas will last into September.

Finally, you have the basic information required to design a colorful flower garden with a breathtaking, pleasing mix of blooms.

1. You’ll have a list of the flowers you want to use.

2. You’ll know which flower colors to plant side by side and in the same region of the garden.

3. You’ll have a good idea of when they will make their appearance, if they are perennials.

Now, lay out your garden on paper. It is a good idea to plan sectors of the garden, broken up by stones, statuary, ground cover, or other décor, rather than trying to make one large area blend together. In each sector select plants that will bloom at the right time, and give the right color, to provide complimentary or contrasting colors that meet your preferences, and avoiding those that will clash or produce a section with too much of one color.

The nice thing about annual flowers is that you can always find them in the right color for your needs, to fill in color gaps in your garden. They are usually hardy and will continue to produce blooms until the frost catches up to them. Using these principles you should be able to mix flowers and produce a colorful flower garden design that will provide beauty and satisfaction all season.

Choosing the Right Mix of Annuals and Perennials

Perennial flowers in our gardens are like old friends. We eagerly wait for them to wake up in the spring from their long winter nap and begin to produce growth, foliage, buds, and finally the gorgeous blooms we’ve grown to love and rely upon. But just like in social circles where meeting new friends is a pleasure, too, many gardeners will enjoy adding annuals to their garden each spring or summer, to enhance the beauty of the garden. Some flower enthusiasts leave space among the perennials so that they can select annuals each year to fill in the gaps and create variety in their gardens.

Choosing the right mix of annuals and perennials is largely a matter of choice, though a few guidelines will produce results you’ll enjoy throughout the season.

First, start with perennials, since they will provide the permanent residents of your garden. See other guides on this site that address choosing the right perennials for your garden. In short, choose perennials that will bloom sequentially throughout the growing season so no section of the garden is ever bereft of blooms. Select perennial blooms in colors that complement and blend without clashing. If miscalculations do occur and you are faced with a bloom-free section of the garden, add instant color by picking up some complementary annuals at your local garden center.

Once you have a well-established perennial garden, you’ll know where annuals are needed. The great thing about annuals is that you can choose different varieties each year. Annuals come in so many different colors that you’ll always have a good selection to choose from, even if certain annuals are in short supply in a given year, which seems to happen due to climate issues where annuals are grown.

Add annuals that go well with your established perennials, both in color and shape. Time honored annuals like begonias and impatiens bloom for months, to provide a colorful transition from early blooming annuals to later bloomers. Marigolds and zinnias are found in enough color options to mix with any perennial garden, and provide hardy, enduring blooms well into autumn. Petunias, geraniums, nasturtium, and lobelia also offer rich tones to complement their perennial neighbors. These new friends will enhance the overall look of your flower beds and enrich the enjoyment you take from them.

Let’s conclude with a few words of advice. When selecting annuals from the nursery or garden center, make sure you are choosing healthy plants. Examine them carefully for signs of disease, pest infestation, or rot. The last thing you want to do is to bring home problems to introduce into your garden. Choose plants with leaves that are lush and firm, not showing discoloration or wilting. One option for annuals is to start them from seed indoors during the winter, then setting them out once your perennials begin to show new growth. However you choose to proceed, nurturing perennials and annuals together can produce a more vibrant, more colorful, more enjoyable garden from the first blooms of spring until you say good-bye to your garden in autumn.

How to Prune Flowers for Bigger, Bolder Blooms!

All plants respond to expert cultivation, including pruning. When done, pruning allows the plant to direct more of its energy toward making bright, beautiful blossoms, with less energy spent simply extending its stem structure. Here are time-proven tips for cultivating a more abundant production of blooms throughout the growing season through the use of suitable pruning.

First, know the goal. Pruning should be done to restrict unneeded plant growth, to allow the plant to use nutrients for flower or fruit production, and to shape the plant the way you’d like it to look. The same techniques will accomplish all of these goals.

Secondly, start the pruning process with all weak or dead material. Dead stems are easy to identify. Prune them first, and then consider stems or branches that do not appear to be robust and healthy. If disease is present, prune them immediately. When pruning, cut back to the point of a strong lateral branch, or in extreme cases, all the way back to the main stalk.

Thirdly, if you desire a certain shape from the plant, prune the lateral branches all over it to produce the shape you want. This is a great technique for shrubs, but all perennials respond well to being shaped.

The fourth tip is to prune plants just prior to growth beginning. For most plants, late winter is the best time to do the pruning. Then, the plant will be ready to exert its best energies towards maximum fruitfulness in the spring once the sap begins to flow and the growth starts in earnest. In the first few weeks of growth, all of the stored nutrients and energy in the roots is pushed up into the plant and used to produce the most significant growth of the season. Pruning tools should be kept well out of reach during these times, so the temptation to continue shaping or pruning will not be indulged! Also, do not prune in late summer because the cut stems and branches need time to seal and heal before freezing weather comes. When pruning is done too close to the first hard frosts damage to fresh pruning points may occur.

Next, use the proper tools for pruning. Never tear off branches or unwanted stems. This will produce a scar that may inhibit fresh growth. Rather, use very sharp pruning shears and keep them in excellent condition. Dry them off after use so rust does not develop that will dull the edge. In addition, if tools are used to remove diseased material, be sure to disinfect the tools using bleach or alcohol before they are used on other plants. Before storing the tools for any length of time, oil them to prevent corrosion.

Finally, feed the pruned plants lots of fresh, nutrient-rich compost to fuel the healing of the cut areas and the development of new, vibrant growth that will produce heartier blossoms and fruits. In the middle of the growing season, you will want to dead-head all spent flowers and may also choose to prune back the supporting stems one to two inches, to facilitate a new round of growth and perhaps be rewarded with a new blossom before the season ends. This is more likely where warmer climates produce a longer growing season.