Grasses and Greenery to Elevate your Home Cutting Garden

Once you have a nice collection of flowers planned for your home cutting garden, you are ready to take it to the next level.

It’s time to start growing grasses and greenery.

Here are some of my favorite varieties from this genre of plants.

Amaranth - level of difficulty: moderate.

Amaranth is a grass that has beautiful upright or cascading seed heads.

Hopi Red Dye and Hot Biscuits are my favorites right now although I’ve grown so many different varieties over my 7 years of flower farming.

Plant in week 17 and 19.

Although these grow easily and vigorously I call them moderately challenging because they tend to prefer heat.

Amaranth would grow out of control in my original flower garden in the steamy mid-west heat.

Up in Alaska, they grow slower and are sensitive to cold temps. I’ve lost a few plantings by optimistically planting these out too early.

Pinch when plants are 4 - 6 inches high.

Hot Biscuits Amaranth in the Turnstone Farm Garden.

Atriplex - level of difficulty: easy.

Plant in week 13 and 15.

Pinch when plants are 4-6 inches high OR plant 3-5 seeds to a cell. This will stunt them a bit to make the stems more manageable.

These easily self-seed so be careful - you will have to “weed” these out of places you don’t want them.

Harvest when seed heads have matured completely. Pop in a vase or hang to dry.

Bells of Ireland - level of difficulty: challenging.

Plant indoors in week 15 and 17.

I call these challenging because germination can be spotty and slow, so I often like to pre-sprout in damp paper towels before planting.

Pinch once plants are 4-6 inches tall to promote more stems per plant.

Harvest when the “bells” are firm to the touch.

Bupleurum - level of difficulty: challenging.

Maybe it’s just me, but I find this one challenging to grow. It does prefer to be direct seeded but I like to get a head start indoors.

Plant starting in week 13. You could plan for 2 to 3 successions spaced 2-3 weeks apart if desired.

Be patient as it can take a little longer to germinate.

Harvest when the flower heads are fully open - the flower heads stay green. You can also hang to dry at this stage as well.

Cress - level of difficulty: easy.

Penny, Persian or Wrinkled are what I grow. Seeds save well after being dried.

Plant in week 15 and 18.

Harvest when seed heads are fully mature.

Dill - level of difficulty: easy.

“Bouquet” is the variety best for cutting.

Plant in week 15. You could try a few successions 2 - 3 weeks apart.

I only do one planting since aphid pressure becomes high in my garden later in the summer. I’ve gotten rid of this problem by not replanting dill and certain varieties of kale.

Harvest when seed heads are fully mature.

Add to an arrangement or hang to dry.

Bouquet Dill in a Turnstone Farm wedding arrangement. Photo courtesy of Erica Rose

Fennel - level of difficulty: easy

“Bronze” is lovely but you can try other varieties too. They all offer great ferny and delicate elements to your arrangements.

Start in week 14 and 17.

Harvest at various stages for fun elements. Or wait for seed heads to mature fully to add to bouquets or hang to dry. Smells heavenly.

Figwort - level of difficulty: easy

Plant in 13. This is actually a perennial to zone 4 but will flower the first year. I have yet to discover if it will come back in my garden but there’s no reason to think it won’t.

Harvest when flower heads are fully mature.

Grass - level of difficulty: easy

Highlander, Lowlander, Green Drops and Ruby Silk are 4 of my favorites. But try others! There are many.

Grasses are so fun to grow!

Plant in week 15 and 17.

Remember that one seed equals one grass, so you can cluster 5-7 seeds in one cell or pot when planting.

Ruby Silk Grass from the Turnstone Farm Garden

Scented Geranium - - level of difficulty: moderate

I took a few cuttings from a plant in my son’s school. I now have 7 big and bushy plants sitting in my window waiting to go outside for the summer.

Heres what I did:

1) Take a cutting (feel free to pop by my garden and ask for a cutting in the fall).

2) Place cutting in damp soil or a bit of water. You could add some propagating hormone, but mine sprouted roots without.

3) Once you see roots sprouting, pot them up.

4) Pinch back once plant is 6 inches tall to encourage branching.

5) Harden off and plant out in the garden.

6) Before the first fall frost, dig up, pop in a pot and bring inside. You now have a gorgeous house plant to place in a sunny window all winter.

7) In the spring, harden off and plant out again. You can take cuttings from this plant at any time to make more plants for your garden

Feeling unsure about starting seeds indoors go here to read my blog all it: https://www.turnstonefarmalaska.com/garden-blog/2018/10/27/seed-starting-part-3-starting-your-seeds-indoors

Grow with care and you are well on your way to a killer home cutting garden!

5 Cut Flowers for the Advanced Gardener

If you’re ready for more challenge in your garden, you are going to love these 5 cut flower!

They are a staple in my commercial cutting garden year after year. And while they take a bit more care that easier varieties, with practice you will have great success.

Dahlias

While dahlias are not hard to grow, they offer more challenges than just planting a seed.

To read more in depth on growing dahlias go here to read my blog: https://www.turnstonefarmalaska.com/garden-blog/how-to-grow-dahlias

There are hundreds of dahlias varieties that are great for the garden and the vase. Go here to read up on dahlia varieties: https://www.turnstonefarmalaska.com/garden-blog/choosing-dahlia-varieties

Harvest when the flower has fully opened but before the petals on the back side have started to wither. Dahlias do not last long in the vase but you should get a solid 3-5 days of beauty on your dining room table.

Cornel and Dreamcatcher dahlias tucked into a Turnstone Farm wedding flower arch. Photo courtesy of Lauren Roberts

Nigella

I’m planting nigella in week 16 and 19.

Varieties I love include: Black Albion Pod, Love-in-a-mist and Delft Blue.

While these aren’t officially a hard flower to grow, mine seem to take special care. In fact I wrote in my notes section next to my planting date: “take special care!”.

Nigella prefers to be direct seeded and since I don’t direct seed anything besides salad greens in my garden I think they suffer a little when transplanted.

This is a fun and super unique flower that can be harvested for the flower and for the pod. The pod dries great for everlasting bouquets.

Nigella pod in a Turnstone Farm boutonniere. Photo courtesy of Lauren Roberts

Ranunculus

I start ranunculus by corms in week 16. There is a special process for planting these so be sure to read up by clicking the link below.

Ranunculus loves cool weather. That’s why they are a great flower for northern growers. Most growers plant one round of ranunculus for spring and early summer blooms.

I recently learned how to also get in a fall crop by planting a second round in week 20. This can be a bit of a gamble because if we have a warm summer they will not thrive. But it’s worth the effort! The past two years I’ve gotten a fall harvest although the blooms seem to be smaller than my spring crop.

These can be cut for harvest as soon as the buds feel like soft marshmallows. The more stems you cut, the more blooms you get per plant.

For a more in depth look at growing ranunculus GO HERE to read my blog: “How To Grow Ranunculus”

Yellow ranunculus is a luxurious and wildly popular wedding flower. Photo credit Corrine Graves

Anemones

Anemones are one of my absolute favorite flowers. I grow different varieties each year, so just search around for colors that look amazing to you. I’m starting mine in week 13 only.

These are started very much like ranunculus. Follow the instructions for planting ranunculus here: https://www.turnstonefarmalaska.com/garden-blog/how-to-grow-ranunculus

Ideally you’ll harvest these for the vase after the flower has fully opened once and closed once (they close at night). This is just about impossible to keep track of, so I just harvest when the flower is almost fully open.

Anemones have a fabulous vase life. They don’t ship well so you will almost never see good looking ones anywhere but in your garden, at a farmers market or in your Turnstone Farm bouquet.

Anemones from the Turnstone Farm garden.

Stock

I’m starting all my stock in week 13. This is considered a one and done flower, meaning you grow one plant for one bloom and then the plant is done.

Because of this, I would usually plant 2-3 successions. But because stock dislikes heat I stick to only one early season planting. It would be worth testing a planting that’s mature in time for fall. Perhaps I’ll try a few this year to see how they fare!

Stock is an early season bloomer that helps fill the gap between tulips and all the other garden varieties.

Its smell cannot be beat and the flowers are edible.

It lasts for a solid week to two in the vase and the dried petals can make a heavenly smelling potpourri once dried.

It comes in a variety of colors: white, apricot, purple, light and bright pink and yellow.

While a more challenging flower to grow as it must be started earlier, dislikes dry conditions (spring 2022 anyone!), and dislikes heat, it is well worth the challenge.

Purple stock helps fill out these early season Turnstone Farm bouquets.

Grow Your Own Cutting Garden: 10 Cut Flowers for the Intermediate Gardener

If you’ve already mastered some of the beginner cut flowers I reference here in my last blog, you’re ready to add a few more challenging flowers to your garden.

I classify these as more intermediate because each of these varieties may have one or more needs:

• the need to be started earlier and usually indoors

• more time babying them inside

• particular needs when harvesting

• the need for succession planting

For greater ease in growing any of these, skip the succession planting for now and just do one planting of each during the last seeding week I mention for each variety.

If you want to test your skills further, pick a few to succession seed for a longer blooming garden.

Campanula

These are fun and delicate blooms that look fabulous in the garden.

I also use them consistently in my wedding work.

In the vase they lasted a good 1-2 weeks in good condition.

This is an all round excellent flower.

Cut these for the vase when the first flower opens up as the other buds will continue to open in the vase.

Cosmos

Cosmos is a staple of mine every year. Varieties I love are: Rubenza, Double Click Varieties and Cupcakes.

I plant mine in two successions, one starting week 15 and another starting week 18. The varieties I plant in week 18 are usually more fall themed colors like Rubenza and Double Click Cranberries.

Pinch these when 4-6 inches tall to get the most blooms per plant.

These flowers are delicate and ephemeral. They look stunning and full in the garden and marvelous in the vase.

Part of their joy is that they can’t be shipped since they are so delicate.

You can only have these in your vase if you grow them yourself or buy from a local farm.

Harvest when just beginning to open for longest vase life.

Double Click Cosmos in the Turnstone Farm Gardens

Dianthus

I fell in love with the “Sweet” varieties last year and am growing three different colors from this line.

My seeding will occur during week 13 and 15.

Harvest for the vase when the florets are 10-20% open. They will continue to open in the vase giving a solid 2 weeks of vase life.

Godetia

While this one didn’t make my initial “best of” list I’m still listing it here for the home gardener. “Grace Mix” gives you a nice variety of colors for your garden.

I’m giving this one more go this coming year to see if I can get a bit more length to the stems.

I’m seeding these in week 15 and 18.

Godetia will last forever in the garden and in the vase - florets just keep opening up. It is short and sturdy for garden beds.

The petals are easily damaged by rain. Although we had an exceptionally rainy summer in 2022 which was my first year growing these.

Phlox

Cherry Caramel, Dulce de Leche and Sugar Stars are what I grow each year.

I start these in week 14, 17 and 19.

These are delicate blooms that have a solid vase life. Harvest when the flower just begins to show color. If you cut before they are fully open they will open in the vase.

This is a solid cut and come again flower and the more you cut, the more blooming stems will grow.

Scabiosa

This is a tall plant with long strong stems.

I love “Black Knight”, “Oxford Blue” and “Fire King” but there are many more fabulous varieties.

Start in week 13 and week 16.

Scabiosa looks whimsical and lively in the garden or you can cut it just when the first florets begin to open. When cut at this time it will last a solid 1-2 weeks in the vase.

Scabiosa loves cooler temperatures so does better in our cooler Alaskan summers.

Black Knight Scabiosa

Snapdragons

My go to variety is any color in the “Potomac” variety family. They are strong and sturdy with fabulous blooms.

If you want something more unique try “Madame Butterfly” varieties or “Chantilly”. These two types have the most unique florets but are much more delicate and break fairly easy. If you’re just bringing them from garden to your house, they should do fabulous.

This is one of the earliest flowers I plant and I start these in week 11 and week 14. They grow slow and you can put them in the garden extra early since they can weather a few light frosts.

Harvest for the vase when 1/3 of the florets have started to open.

Me netting a bed of snapdragons in the original Turnstone Farm Flower fields in Southern Wisconsin.

Statice

These are great for a long lasting cut flower or for drying.

They come in a variety of colors but my favorite is QIS Apricot.

I start these by seed in week 12 and week 14.

Cut when most of the flowers are fully open and showing color.

Sunflowers

Although these are relatively easy to grow, I put them here for a couple reasons. The first being that they are good practice for succession planting. I plant these in weeks 18, 20 and 22.

Varieties I’m growing this year include the Sunrich series and the Procut series. I grow these each year and then will add in one fun and new variety each year.

You can succession plant sunflowers a couple ways: plant the same variety every 2-3 weeks for 3 successions. OR plant different varieties (that each have a different DTM) at the same time. Then repeat this once or twice.

You can also play with growing them close together to get the perfect sized sunflower for the vase. I space mine 4-6” apart for best results.

Harvest for the vase when petals are just beginning to unfurl but are fully colored.

Space your sunflowers 4-6” apart to create the best size flowers for your vase.

Rudbeckia

I love the Cherokee Sunset, Indian Summer and Prairie Sun varieties.

I start these by seed in week 13. I don’t find it necessary to succession seed as these are cut and come again flowers. You cut them and they keep growing new stems!

Harvest when the stems pass the wiggle test. Simple grab onto a stem and wiggle back and forth. If the bloom wobbles on a floppy stem, wait to cut until the stem has matured further. Once the flowers are fully open I check daily for a nicely rigid stem

Look at this freaking beauty!!!! Rudbeckia is stunning in the cut flower garden.

I hope this gave you new ideas for your home cutting garden this year. Start with 1-5 new varieties and see how they do!