Plant Perennials in a Cut Flower Garden

There are many ways to grow a cutting garden. You can add rows of favorites like peonies in a vegetable garden. After all, they thrive in the same full sun and well-drained soil that most veggies need. Peonies make wonderful cut flowers. They're resilient, and they have a soft, sweet fragrance. For the longest bloom, cut them before they open all the way.

The best way to add perennial cutting flowers? Mix them into a flower bed. When they emerge, you can enjoy them in the garden for a bit. Then, cut some flowers for bouquets for your home and to share with friends. Many will bloom more than once if the flowers are cut frequently. Pluck flowers after wilting and enjoy multiple blooms.

Of course, different flowers need different conditions. But there are key similarities in starting your perennial garden.

Know Your Site: 

• Perennials don’t always need full sun. But, the rule of more sun equaling more blooms almost always applies.
• If your climate is extra hot, consider shade. Many blooms appreciate protection from the sun with trees.

Know Your Soil: 

• Perennials require well-draining, loamy soil to thrive.
• Test your soil by scooping up a handful and squeezing it. Ideal soil is loamy, friable and will hold together. Sandy soil will fail to hold a shape, and damp clay soil forms a solid clump.
• If your test shows you need more quick-draining, but retentive soil, you can amend it. Amend the soil with organic compost and perlite. Or, amend the soil with peat moss.
• In a new bed, work 3 to 4 inches of amendments into the top 10 inches of soil. Plant your perennials.
• In an existing bed, work the amendments into the soil around the plants. Be gentle to avoid damaging the plants.
• Add garden soil from the Garden Center to improve your soil structure. Garden soil and amendments can revive tired soil if you find your flowers struggling.

The best advice for choosing perennials is to do your research. Understand your hardiness zone to know what plants will thrive in your climate. And of course, plant what you love! Read plant tags to check their hardiness zones. Ask an associate from The Home Depot for help picking the right plants. Note light and watering requirements, and be sure to note mature size. You don’t want to plant low-growing sedum in a space that needs coneflower.

In the Garden Center, look for plants grouped together. They will need similar amounts of sun, shade and water when they get to your yard. Check the seed selection, too. You can grow many perennials from seed. Fun and beautiful examples are coneflower and butterfly weed.

Consider these perennials for your cut flower garden:

• Alliums
• Astilbe
• Aster
• Baby’s breath (gypsophila)
• Bee balm (monarda)
• Blanket flower (gaillardia)
• Black-eyed Susan (rudbeckia)
• Butterfly weed (asclepias)
• Canna
• Chrysanthemum
• Columbine (aquilegia)
• Coneflower (echinacea)
• Coreopsis
• Dahlia
• Dianthus
• Gerber daisy
• Heliopsis
• Hellebores
• Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla)
• Lenten rose
• Liatris
• Lily
• Penstemon
• Peonies
• Roses
• Rudbeckia
• Salvia
• Sedum (stonecrop)
• Spider lily
• Stoke’s aster
• Yarrow (achillea)

In the garden, arrange the tallest in back. Place bulbs and mid-size plants in the middle. Put low growers, biennials, self-sowers and annuals in front.

Our best advice to get the most out of your cut flower garden:

• Harvest blooms in the cool of the day, before the sun's heat stresses the blooms.
• Carry a bucket of warm water into the garden with you.
• Use sharp snips or scissors to cut blooms.
• Ensure your tools are clean. Dirty tools spread bacteria which can cause cut stems to rot.
• Remove foliage from the bottom parts of stems. Decaying leaves will contaminate the water, shortening your vase time.
• Plunge stems immediately in warm water.

Bring your blooms inside and finish your bouquets:

• Begin by filling clean containers like bottles and vases with warm water.
• Add a floral preservative for good measure. A homemade recipe is easy. Take 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of bleach and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Add this mix to 1 quart of lukewarm water. Sugar provides food. Bleach keeps it clean. Lemon juice helps with uptake of water.
• Make a clean cut on the flower stem a bit longer than you think you'll need. The cut should be at a 45-degree angle to ensure water absorption.
• Arrange stems in containers, trimming as you create the arrangement.
• After use, clean tools and containers with a diluted bleach solution.
• Refresh the water in containers at least every other day.
• Keep the flowers out of direct sunlight to enjoy them the longest.
• When flowers start to wilt, try trimming the stem again.