10 Must-grows! My absolute favorite varieties from the 2018 flower cutting garden
The end of the growing season is a good time to reflect on what went well and what needs improvement for next year. There is simply nothing that compares to learning things from experience, sometimes the lessons are hard and other times they are joyous.
I’m going to focus on the latter and share with you my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES from my 2018 cutting garden. These flowers stunned me every time I entered the garden with their productivity, abundance and beauty!
Tickseed (Coreopsis hybrida): this lovely small and abundant flower is GREAT for cutting. It is full of small one inch blooms that will transform from tiny bud to flower in the vase for a super long lasting cut. In the garden this flower looks full and bushy and has colors ranging from white to yellow, to orange and red.
Breadseed Poppy (Papaver somniferum): a super easy to grow flower transforms from a large and delicate lavender flower with a grape colored center to HUGE poppy pods that look super cool cut in a bouquet or dried for a fun project later.
Madame Butterfly Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus): snapdragons love growing in Alaska - they like relatively cool weather. Mine bloomed continuously from early July through the end of October!! This variety is an open faced frilly bloomed version of the standard snapdragon. I just LOVED these flowers. And they would look great as a dessert topping as snapdragon blooms are edible.
Amaranth - red spike (Amaranthus cruentus): A fun deep red/burgundy grain that looks stunning in arrangements and in the garden. Very easy to grow!
Cerinthe - kiwi blue (Cerinthe major purpurescens): This was my first season growing cerinthe! It is a great early season bloomer. Blue/green foliage with tiny blue/purple bells. So fun!
Dahlias: Linda’s Baby: a pinkish-orange specialty dahlia that is SO prolific in blooms, you will be amazed. Nice and long stemmed for cutting.
Cosmos - double click cranberry (Cosmos bipinnatus): Deep burgundy/pink double blooms that bloom mid summer till first frost. Huge plants and plentiful blooms.
Nigella - love in a mist (Nigella damascena): A fun flower that ranges from blue to white (it is so hard to find a true blue flower and here is one!). You can cut in flower stage or wait for the seed pod to emerge for a funky floral addition to your dining room bouquet.
Rudbeckia - cherokee sunset (Rudbeckia hirta): Simply big and gorgeous! Although the wait for blooms always seems long, they are well worth it. Big, showy burgundy to yellow double or single blooms that have a long vase life and long bloom time on the plant. Very hardy - these can be planted before the last frost.
Dusty miller - new look (Senecio cineraria): These will be looking great till the end of October this year! they’re an easy all season frosted leaf that looks great cut in a vase or in the garden. You can even dry them for making wreaths or dried bouquets.
If 10 varieties seems a bit daunting to you, pick 5 and add them to your garden next year!
I will advise that the garden stores might not carry these varieties, and that’s why I highly recommend starting your own seeds. Then you can grow EXACTLY what you want to grow.
Leave a comment here telling me 2 of YOUR favorite flowers to grow!