Cut Flower Garden

Nothing is prettier than a fresh cut bouquet indoors. Buying bouquets week after week can become quite expensive. This year, when you sit down and plan out your vegetable gardens, plan out a garden for your cut flowers as well. Decide where it’s going to go, and what you want to plant in it. Not only will it provide you with beautiful flowers, but it will also provide nature the essentials they need in order to thrive. You may start seeing a lot more humming birds and butterflies. The most important of all, it will also help the bee population.

Deciding on what to put in your cut flower garden is simple and fun. Just ask yourself what colors you like best, and what textures you like best. Thats right, I said textures. Bouquets don’t have to be just cut flowers. They can also be foliages mixed in or by themselves. One of my favorite cut flowers isn’t even a flower. Its a palm from the ‘King Tut’ Umbrella Grass. It makes for beautiful displays in large glass vases because they are so big. I use these on my kitchen table and even on one of my largest mantles.

For summer time, you can mix in some elephant ears or palm leaves to give that tropical feel. Don’t be reserved when it comes to putting a bouquet together. There is no wrong way. My favorite bouquets are when I mix a couple of foliage leaves in with flowering cuts and a few sticks for that rustic flare. I get so many compliments on those kinds of mixed arrangements.

We all know how I love bringing the outdoors in, so if you are that same way then you should definitely be putting in a cut flower garden this year. Since many cut flowers and foliages only last 3-7 days, depending on the variety, here are a few tips to making them last longer.

Always cut your stems on an angle.
Start off with a clean vase, because you don’t want any bacteria growth in the water. This results in your flowers dying out faster.
Remove any leaves on the stem that would sit in water.
Add a little sugar and apple cider vinegar. This gives your cuts some extra nourishment and makes your flowers look fresher for longer.
Add a splash of bleach or vodka. This cuts out any existing bacteria.
Change the water every few days. When you change the water, if you feel your plants are starting to look like they may be close to the end of their life span, you may even want to recut the stems. Be sure to cut them at an angle once again. Also, add fresh cut flower feed when doing so. Always keep fresh cut flower feed on hand.
Lastly, add cold water to your bouquet. Enjoy!

Here are some of my favorite cut flowers and foliages for my bouquets:

Umbrella Grass