A Flower Guide to Cultivating a Beautiful Cutting Garden
As the days grow longer and warmer, it's the perfect time to start planting if you want to create a cutting garden, where you can cultivate your own blooms to brighten your home and table settings. While the task may seem daunting at first, with a bit of planning and some of your favourite flowers, you can transform even the smallest patch of land into a vibrant little haven.
Timing is Everything
As May beckons, it's a time of transition, where tender shoots push through the ground to meet the warm sun above and while the threat of frost still lingers, now is the time to transplant your tubers and seedlings into their growing place. The anticipation of watching them grow, from delicate shoots to full-blooming flowers, fills any amateur gardener's heart with joy and pride.
The Joy of Growing Your Own
There's a special satisfaction in growing your flowers. It's not just about the result – but the entire journey, from nurturing tiny seeds to admiring the blossoms. In a world where mass-produced flowers dominate supermarket aisles, cultivating your own offers a sustainable alternative that's both rewarding and environmentally conscious.
Creating a Small Cutting Garden
You don't need acres of land to create a cutting garden; even a few pots on a balcony will do. The key is to choose a variety of flowers that bloom at different times, ensuring a steady supply of fresh blooms throughout the season. From regal dahlias to the delicate scabiosa, each flower brings its own unique beauty.
Above: A mix of ‘Labyrinth Dahlias, Pink and Red Cosmos, Japanese Anemones and Papaver.
Favourite Blooms for Your Garden
Among my favourites are the majestic Dahlias – from 'Arabian Night' and the playful French CanCan, with its vibrant hues and intricate petals. The dinner plate-sized 'Labyrinth' dahlia is probably my ultimate favourite, while the timeless elegance of Scabiosa, which holds a special place in my heart as it was in my wedding bouquet 10 years ago, adds a beautiful delicate nature to your garden. Cosmos, with its whimsical charm, and Japanese anemones, with their delicate beauty, are also must-haves in any cutting garden and easy to grow.
Unexpected Delights
Last year, I was delighted to successfully grow Icelandic poppies or Papaver with their delicate petals in shades of yellow, orange, and pink – I’ve heard they can be divas so was over the moon that they weren’t playing up for me. The airy blossoms of Ammi Majus, also known as Queen Anne's lace, add a touch of whimsy, making them perfect for both formal arrangements and casual table settings.
Getting Started
If you're inspired to create your own cutting garden, I've compiled a list of my favourite flowers to help you get started. Whether you have a sprawling garden or a cosy balcony, there's something magical about cultivating your own blooms, watching them flourish, and bringing their beauty indoors to enjoy.
Happy growing!
Jade x
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FLOWER GUIDE
Dahlia 'Arabian Night'
Has masses of fully double, dark wine-red flowers with slightly incurved petals.
Dahlia 'French Cancan'
A loose and flouncy dahlia with two-tone orange flowers, 'French Cancan' is a gorgeous bloomer with light tangerine, slightly twisted petals and a deeper, warmer underside of blood-red orange.
Dahlia Rip City
A stunning cactus dahlia with red-black flowers and a black heart. The fully double flowers have long, narrow, pointed petals that recurve for more than half their length and have a ruffled appearance.
Dahlia 'Crème de Cassis'
Good sized flowerheads, with petals that are a soft violet-pink on the upper surface and a rich plum underneath.
Dahlia 'Labyrinth'
A decorative-type, peachy dahlia that blends with veined apricot and unfurls like miniature calla lilies from a raspberry clustered centre. ‘Labyrinth’ is an intoxicating and flamboyant plant whose flower can reach up to 18cm (7”) across and looks fabulous in a cut flower vase.
Papaver Nudicaule – Icelandic Poppies
These flame-coloured, papery poppies would ignite any border or planting scheme with their delicate, bowl-shaped blooms in a fiery mixture of yellow, orange, pink and white.
Anemone hupehensis var. japonica 'Splendens'
A fabulous plant for adding late summer colour to the garden, this Japanese anemone grows in sun or shade and has masses of yellow-eyed, pale pink flowers.
Cosmos bipinnatus 'Dazzler'
Carmine red blooms top the upright stems, clothed with finely divided foliage, of this glorious annual. Flowering from early summer (if sown early) to mid-autumn - and sometimes beyond, these easy-to-grow plants will provide lots of colour in the garden.
Scabiosa caucasica 'Perfecta Mid Blue' (Perfecta Series)
Solitary lavender-blue flowerheads appear in mid and late summer above the clumps of lance-shaped, grey-green foliage.
Scabiosa caucasica 'Perfecta Alba' (Perfecta Series)
The frilly outer florets of 'Perfecta Alba' surround a somewhat domed eye, which together form showy heads that top tall and sturdy stems.
Ammi Majus
Dainty white flowerheads that look like lacework are born in summer and seem to hover in a frothy haze above the finely cut, green foliage.
Elegant cutting garden collection
This cut flower collection, is perfect for those who love the simplicity of white, featuring classic and contemporary flowering annual favourites for borders and cut flower vases. Includes: Cosmos Bipinnatus 'Fizzy White', Ammi Majus, Lepidium Sativum, Antirrhinum Majus ‘Admiral White’.