I can't begin to count the number of cars I've seen parked at roadsides throughout southern Ontario in springtime - each car's occupants out raiding wild lilac bushes and happily driving off with armloads of blooms to fill their houses and apartments. There is nothing quite like a bouquet of fresh flowers. I've decided that everyone should have their own lilac tree, and failing that, should plant a backyard or balcony Cutting Garden.
Now, cutting gardens are not like ordinary and traditional Canadian garden beds. No, they are more like traditional English country gardens, a riot of free flowing colour, filled with all shapes and sizes of annual and perennial flowers bursting with bloom and ripe for the cutting. This kind of gardening represents a departure from our local ideas of uniform beds and complimentary colour codes. I'm not saying the one type of garden should replace the other, but rather that a special little place might be reserved for this unique and rewarding cutting garden. As long as it gets lots of sun, the cutting garden need not be your primary garden. If cut flowers are as much a passion with you as they seem to be with many people, you might do well to allot a place for flowers you've never planted before.
The perfect cutting garden should have flowers which bloom in succession from early spring until after the last frost, beginning with tulips and daffodils. Let the annuals disguise the dying back foliage of the bulbs. Let's have a look at some of the annual bedding plants you might use to begin a cutting garden this spring.
Snapdragons are necessary and are available in everything from Dwarf Floral Carpet (6 to 8 inches tall) to the Rocket Series which grows to 3 feet with magnificent blooms. When planted out early, the Rockets bloom in mid-summer, then after you've cut them down to 8 inches to fill your home with bouquets, they'll bloom again more beautifully in the fall. There are other wonderful varieties too, such as Pixie Mixture (6-8 inches), Little Darlings (10-12 inches), and Liberty Mixture (20-24 inches) which is arguably the most prolific and best Snapdragon ever!
There are several different varieties of Salvia including the 18" Victoria which blooms in beautiful sprays of rich blue.
Then there are the Jewel Mix Nasturtiums which have large double blooms and are excellent for cutting. And Asters, Carnations, Celosia, Gerbera Daisies, Zinnias, Sweet Peas, Cosmos, Marigolds, Strawflowers ... the list goes on.
In addition, while you are being so daring, plant some Purple Fountain Grass to compliment the blossoms in your bouquets. It produces graceful purple plumes which are most useful in both fresh and dried arrangements.
Let your cut flower garden change from year to year to lend variety to your bouquets. The Tulips, Daffodils, Iris and Glads can remain the same, just plant different annuals around them.
Have some fun with your garden. That's what it's there for!
