The Best Ideas for Your Cut Flower Garden to Create Stunning Bouquets

Planting a cut flower garden is an easy way to bring your blooms indoors while keeping the rest of your bloom-filled backyard intact. A cutting garden is simply an additional part of your yard that grows flowers meant to be cut and displayed in a vase. Plan a cut flower garden with annuals or perennials for plenty of seasonal choices. Here's how to choose the best location for your cutting garden, along with which flowers, herbs, and plants are the best to grow, according to our experts.

Where to Plant a Cutting Garden

Before choosing your flowers, you'll need to figure out where to plant them so your garden will flourish. There are a few factors that make for a great cut flower garden location: access to sunlight, a well-drained area, and healthy soil, say Jennifer and Adam O'Neal, the owners of PepperHarrow Farm and co-authors of Small Farm, Big Dreams: Turning A Flower-Growing Passion into a Successful Floral Business.

Sunlight Access

The first step is to find a location in your yard that receives adequate sunlight. "Most cut flowers prefer full sun, so picking a spot that achieves at least six hours of sunlight per day is ideal," say the O'Neals. This will also satisfy any cut flowers that require partial sun, they add. (Be sure to check the back of the seed packets for sunlight requirements.)

Well-Drained Area

It's also important to find a well-drained area that won't hold rainwater. "Flowers don't like to be kept overly moist, and too much water, especially standing water, will impede your flowers from growing and thriving," say the O'Neals. "If you're dealing with areas like this, the best thing you can do is to actively work on ways to help excess water drain away from the location."

The O'Neals recommend adding compost to your soil, constructing French drains, or building the area up slightly and adding raised bed gardens to help the water drain away from your cut flower garden.

Soil Health

A cutting garden also needs fertile, workable soil (typically topsoil and compost). "The first thing we always recommend is having a soil test completed for the location you're looking to add a cut flower garden," say the O'Neals. "Obtaining a soil test will help you to determine what nutrients you might be missing in your soil, so you can add those missing nutrients back into the soil."

Choosing Flowers for Your Cutting Garden

When choosing flowers, consider a mix of colors, shapes, sizes, and textures (this allows for the most striking arrangements!), says Adam Dooling, the curator of Outdoor Garden and Herbaceous Collections at the New York Botanical Garden. To make it even more eye-catching, add in some foliage such as hosta leaves, as well as ferns and ornamental grasses. "Beyond aesthetics and fragrance, there are some objective qualities that make for a good cut, such as long, strong stems and a good 'vase life'—meaning, the amount of time a cut flower will still look good and retain its appearance in a vase," says Dooling.

Zinnias

• Zones: 3-10
• Height: 3 to 4 feet
• Vase Life: 7 to 10 days

Zinnias come in a variety of colors and grow large blooms. With full sun access, these flowers can reach up to 4 inches in height. "This is a flower we recommend giving a 'pinch' when they reach 12 to 18 inches tall to promote branching and flowering on the plant," say the O'Neals. "The more you cut zinnias, the more blooms they produce."

Do note that you should cut a zinnia when it's fully mature. The best way to tell that it's reached this point is by giving it a wiggle test, they say. Bounce the stem between your index and middle finger, and if the stem is rigid, it's ready to be cut. When the stem is floppy, it's not ready to cut and won't stand up straight in the vase. After cutting your zinnias, they will last for about seven to 10 days, however, they are known as a "dirty" flower, say the O'Neals. "Their stems are hairy, so they make vase water murky quickly," they say. "We recommend changing the water for a vase with these flowers once a day, retrimming the bottom of the stems each time."

Celosia

• Zones: 2 to 11
• Height: 24 to 48 inches
• Vase Life: 7 to 14 days

When exposed to full sun, the celosia, specifically Celosia argantea, will grow vibrant, feathery blooms, which the O'Neals say are a great filler in bouquets. "This type of celosia can be pinched at 18 inches if you want to keep it a bit shorter," they say. Like zinnias, make sure the stem is rigid before cutting.

Salvia

• Zones: 2 to 7
• Height: 24 to 36 inches
• Vase Life: 7 to 10

For a beautiful blue bloom, consider growing salvias. The Salvia blue bedder is a favorite of the O'Neals, and it can be grown as a perennial in zones 8 to 10. "Salvia serves as a supporting filler and adds a striking pop of color in a bouquet," they say. "Salvia is a bloom we give the wiggle test to, to see if it's mature to cut."

Peonies

• Zones: 3 to 8
• Height: 2 to 3 feet
• Vase Life: 7 to 10 days

Some of the best peony varieties to grow for cutting are Paeonia lactiflora 'Vogue,' Coral Charm, and 'Baroness Schroeder,' says Speight. "Herbaceous peonies should be planted in the fall where they rise from the earth the following spring," she says. While peonies can take a growing season or two to bloom, they will grow in a variety of colorful hues.

Cosmos

• Zones: 2 to 11
• Height: 32 to 48 inches
• Vase Life: 7 to 10 days

Producing daisy-like flowers in shades of pink, white, and red, cosmos are another great cutting flower, say the O'Neals. "Their blooms are incredibly delicate and add the sparkle element to a bouquet," they say.

While they need full sun and typically grow in the 32- to 48-inch range, cosmos can be kept at a shorter length when they are pinched at 18 inches (this promotes branching!). "Cut blooms from them regularly, or remove old blooms to promote flowering," say the O'Neals. "Cosmos should be cut when the first petal is just beginning to curl open to give them the maximum vase life."

Strawflower

• Zones: 2 to 7
• Height: 24 to 36 inches
• Vase Life: 7 to 10 days

These flowers grow in shades of blush, orange, red, white, and yellow, and produce paper-like petals. Since they bloom into different shapes, the O'Neals love using this as a "filler flower" in an arrangement. These can be grown as annuals in zones 2 to 7 and as perennials in zones 8 to 10. "We give strawflowers the wiggle test to make sure the bloom is mature to cut," they say. "When cut at the proper stage, strawflowers can have a vase life from seven to 10 days."

Everlasting Daisy

• Zones: 3 to 10
• Height: 18 inches
• Vase Life: 7 to 10 days

There are many perks to the everlasting daisy. "Also known as Rhodanthe chlorocephala, [this] is an old-fashioned cut flower that can also be used as an everlasting (meaning you can dry the blooms for use in arrangements later)," says Speight. "The paper-like blooms should be harvested when partially opened. They will finish opening after harvesting within the arrangement."

Herbs

• Zones: 5 to 9
• Height: 36 inches
• Vase Life: 7 to 10 days

They might not be an obvious choice, but herbs, like apple mint or cinnamon basil, are perfect to include in an arrangement. "They serve as greenery in a bouquet that provides an interesting texture and adds a lovely fragrance," say the O'Neals. "These herbs make a cut flower garden even more inviting."

For apple mint, consider planting it in a container since it will spread if they are placed in your garden. This variety typically grows up to 36 inches in height and grows well as a perennial. Cinnamon basil can grow right in your garden and reach between 18 to 24 inches in height. This basil thrives in zones 5 to 8 as an annual and grows best in zones 9 to 10 as a perennial. "We often wait to harvest basil until it begins to go to seed, and it also likes to be harvested early in the morning before the heat of the day sets in," say the O'Neals. "The vase life for both of these is about seven to 10 days."

Ferns

• Zones: 3 to 8
• Height: 18 inches
• Vase Life: 7 to 10 days

For another filler in an arrangement, consider adding ferns to your cutting garden. These typically need partial shade to thrive in the garden. Once you cut and add to a bouquet or tabletop display, the greenery will add fullness, especially alongside taller plants, says Speight. "In particular, the Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum) adds a silvery tone that can balance, blend, and soften arrangements as needed," she says. "This particular cultivar grows easily in semi-shaded and damp areas." Ferns typically last as long as the rest of the arrangement, typically between seven to 10 days, as long as it stays hydrated.

How to Get the Most From Your Cutting Garden

When your garden is in full bloom, here are some tips for cutting and arranging your flowers, herbs, and plants to make beautiful bouquets.

Cutting

With a few exceptions, like dahlias and zinnias that should be cut when in full bloom, the flowers should be cut when color begins to appear on their buds, says Dooling. If you don't have floral snips, use a sharp knife or scissors to get the job done. It's best to cut the flowers in the morning when it's still cool, rather than when it's hot in the afternoon or evening.

Arranging

To keep cut flowers fresh as long as possible, start by putting them in a clean vase. Remove any leaves that fall below the water line in your vase, since those are what cause bacteria to grow, says Dooling.