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Cutting Garden

July 6th, 2015

There is no proper cutting garden here at Chiot’s Run, in fact I rarely cut flowers to bring them inside. I spend enough time outside to enjoy the flowers in the garden. One of my friends LOVES flowers and wants to incorporate a cutting garden into her garden space. When I went to a dinner party at her place last weekend I took a few arrangements of various flowers I had in my garden. I’ll be giving her starts of many of them for her very own cutting garden.
flower arrangements 1
We’ve been brainstorming various perennials that she can add to a space to have a long season of cut flowers. Of course a few annuals mixed in will make for a long season of beauty from the garden. Lady’s Mantle is one of my favorite cut flowers, I love how understated it is and how it fills in the space around more showy flowers.
flower arrangements 2
Even though I don’t bring flowers in, I often cut arrangements to take when I’m invited somewhere. I find arrangements are most welcome. It’s also nice that it’s something the person can enjoy and then compost, there’s nothing they will end up feeling guilty about getting rid of someday.

Do you cut flowers from you garden often? What’s your favorite flower(s) for cutting?

6 Comments to “Cutting Garden”
  1. ann roberts on July 6, 2015 at 6:43 am

    I do some cut flowers. Mostly I am willing to pick the wildflowers and leave my garden flowers be!! But when I do cut my favorites are:

    globe amaranth
    Ballerina yarrow-looks better and grows better than baby’s breath
    zinnias
    gladiolas
    sunflowers
    nigella
    butterfly weed
    liatris
    salvia
    dahlias
    sweet peas
    columbines
    astilbe
    black eyed susans
    statice

    Probably many more. Plus I love to use non-traditional foliage to round out a bouquet. Such as the asparagus that volunteers all over my garden, hosta leaves, ferns, ect

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  2. tj on July 6, 2015 at 6:59 am

    …Susy, your arrangements are beautiful! You definitely have the eye for color and placement – stunning! :o)

    …Have a wonderful day!

    …Peace & blessings. :o)

    Reply to tj's comment

  3. Chris on July 6, 2015 at 10:24 am

    I do love Ladie’s Mantle too as a filler in bouquets and especially with anything purple! It’s so frothy and I love anything lime green…I grow, cut and arrange bouquets for sale to local restaurants, businesses, etc. but my favorite bouquets are the ones just given to friends, like you…just because. Who doesn’t love flowers?
    I just finished up my 4th of July bouquets, which consisted of sky blue hydrangeas, red crocosmia, lilies and roses and white Shasta daisy with feverfew and chamomile as filler. Fun!

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  4. Lee on July 6, 2015 at 10:57 am

    Those are beautiful! I would love a cutting garden but don’t get enough sun. I think I like them all when it comes to cut flowers. In particular, I’d plan Echinacea, cosmos, hydrangeas, and zinnias.

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  5. bonnie knox on July 6, 2015 at 11:14 am

    Your arrangements are thoroughly lovely.
    Right now I have purple coneflower in a vase. It’s great because it is so long lasting cut. I’m not the most prompt about getting rid of spent bouquets, so I need something that lasts.
    I like putting bits of red cedar or Leyland cypress in some bouquets to add greenery. I have a variegated Leyland cypress that I grew from a cutting, and I like the cream and green combo.
    I used gilt-edged elaeagnus greenery in combination with blanket flower for a fall bouquet that I really liked.

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  6. whit on July 6, 2015 at 2:41 pm

    Such beautiful gift bouquets, Susy! We do a lot of cutting since moving to our new place. There’s lots of established roses, lavender, and other perennials and herbs. Add hydrangeas now, as those are my favourite. This weekend, I cut a Firework Bouquet from flowers around the yard, the whole thing looked very festive. Carrot, onion, chive, garlic and sweet cicely blossoms plus a couple hydrangeas. Needed some red blooms to make it red, white, and blue, but my zinnias aren’t ready yet.

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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