In my experience, there is no good time to cut them! No matter when you cut, they drop flower petals constantly. Each floret doesn't last long, but it keeps making more - and dropping the finished ones. Besides which, it looked rather weedy to me, a look my customers don't like, so I plowed it under.

Jeanne

Well, I didn't know when to cut it, but I did cut it with a few florets open on the top and some of the side stems had 1 or no open side flowers. I just cut it into water. It lasted 6 days and never dropped one floret.

The only thing I found out about them from doing research is not to refrigerate them and to cut them with as they are just opening.

I do like the fragrance of them and like the fact that they can grow in all types of light.

Sharon

We haven't grown hesperis; however, some growers who have had difficulty growing stock grow this plant, Hesperis matronalis, because it has a similar fragrance. The plants grow in the ditches here in Michigan along with the perennial sweet pea. It's a very pretty sight.

Germania says to harvest stems when 1/4 to 1/3 of the blooms on a stem are open. And, vase life should be 5-7 days, which is what I think you found Sharon.

Maybe I was harvesting too late?? That could explain the flowers dropping. The weedy/wildflower look was a non-starter for me anyway, in spite of their lovely fragrance.

Jeanne