Cutting garden?

15 years ago

Are there any flowers that will grow here that make good cut flowers? I'm a transplanted New Englander, and always had a cutting garden with peonies and zinnias and iris, etc. I would bring in buckets of flowers for the house. I've tried growing zinnias and cosmos without much success. I'm lucky to get one spindly flower from each plant. I'm growing a number of varieties of zinnia (my favorite), all large varieties that should grow to at least 2 ft. but they've generally reached about 6 inches in two months. Will they do better planted in the spring when the days are getting longer, rather that shorter? Are there other flowers that grow easily here that make good cut flowers? I haven't noticed any in neighborhood gardens. So far, I've had to make do with a few leaves from ferns and elephant ear in vases, which look nice, but I'd like some color!

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Comments (4)

amberroses
15 years ago
Zinnias will do well here. I think they may like a little more heat or daylight than we have currently. Mine are also tiny now, but earlier in the year they were very large. The yellow/orange cosmos do better than the pinks in the summer.
tomncath
15 years ago
Pentas bloom year around here and are nice mixed in with other flowers, so does Thryalis and that will give you some yellow blooms to mix in for more color, and porter weed for a nice blue texture, but the blooms fall off at the end of the day so it's best picked in the morning.

Tom

Posting this picture made me remember the lantana too....
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carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
15 years ago
Zinnias should do well - you might need to look @ your soil &/or the seeds if you're having problems. I add LOTS of compost & do transplants, I add compost to the planting holes, but the rest goes on top, not mixed in. Snails & slugs seem to love munching on zinnias, so I sprinkle iron phosphate snail bait around & replenish as needed to keep them @ bay.

Cosmos should do well too - marigolds & rudbeckias also make good cut flowers. I've started cosmos & rudbeckia in the ground, but I usually start my marigolds as transplants.

Perennials/tropicals I like are kalanchoes, tea roses (on fortuniana rootstock), amaryllis, crinums, alliums & gingers.

A couple of things I use that seem to really help everything grow better are seaweed extract (Maxicrop) & alfalfa pellets (rabbit food). I soak the transplants w/ the Maxicrop before planting & water in w/ it as well. & I add a handful of the pellets to planting holes & also sprinkle them around the surface - they expand & break down once wet.

HTH
fl_gypsy
15 years ago
Hi, IÃ¢ÂÂm new to this forum but saw your question and thought I would jump in. I live in zone 10 here in Fl. and have had luck with quite a few flowers in my cutting garden. IÃ¢ÂÂve listed those I can think of below.

Zinnias Calendula
Marigolds
Baby's Breath
Forget me not
Russian sage SalviaÃ¢ÂÂs
Cosmos - Orange, Pink, Purple & White
Gomphrena - Red, Orange, Pink, Purple and White
Numerous varieties of Celosia (Prince feather, Cockscomb, etc)
Aramanth
Numerous varieties of Sun Flowers
Bachelor Buttons
Asters
Gladiolas
Rudbekia
Catchfly

That is all I can think of right now. Hope it helps.