Planning your cutting garden
Scent, character, charm and scale are the essentials when cutting flowers for a vase. To maximise this, when planting use a mixture of brightly coloured annuals and long-blooming perennials to yield a bountiful supply of flowers. This will ensure your container or bed will last for months’ worth of cuttings.
Arthur suggests planting flowers that will scent a room – they add a wonderful touch for yourself and guests when placed in bathrooms or on a bedside table.
Our favourite varieties to grow in a cutting garden are:
- Peony 'Eden's Perfume' (look for other fragrant heirloom varieties such as Sarah Bernhardt, Felix Crousse and Dinner Plate)
- Cosmos (choose semi doubles such as 'Cranberry Click' or 'Fizzy White')
- Parrot tulips
- Lady’s mantle
- Foxgloves
- Sweet Pea 'Scent Infusion'
- For large centrepieces and bouquets, consider using flowering branches such as lilacs, mock orange, daphne, viburnum, wisteria, gardenia, azaleas and summer sweet
- Hellebore
- Achillea
- Cardoons and artichokes (produce a wonderful perennial foliage)
Picking bold flowers is crucial in creating an overall show. Consider your colour palette to make it look more harmonious to the eye and plan colours that complement each other to create beautiful arrangements and groupings of pigments.
Why not try herbs?
Alongside planting beautiful flowers to compliment your tablescapes, why not consider intermingling your arrangements with freshly cut herbs from the garden. A touch of fresh herbs can add both texture and fragrance to any floral arrangement.
Try to consider traditional culinary herbs differently. There are countless varieties of herbs that can grow up to the same height as many herbaceous perennials. Their fresh fragrance makes them ideal for arrangements and bouquets as the flowers give a beautiful burst of texture. Arthur suggests taking cuttings of shrubby herbs in summer to late autumn in order to produce a prolific herb cutting garden.
Our favourite herbs for cutting are:
- Rosemary 'Foxtail'
- Mint
- Catmint (Nepeta)
- Fennel
- Marjoram (or oregano)
- Lavender
When to cut your flowers
You’ll know when the time is right to cut your flowers when they begin to show some colour. Flowers already in full bloom will wilt and die more easily. However, keep in mind that the flowers of some plants such as dahlias and roses may not be able to fully develop in a vase if picked in tight bud.
Most flowers will perform best when cut during the earlier hours of the morning as this is when their stems are fully turgid. Avoid picking and cutting flowers during the heat of the day or in warm and sunny periods of weather as the plants will be water stressed. If possible, wait until the evening so they have a chance to recover from the heat of the day and reach their full flamboyance when arranged.
Cutting your flowers
When the time comes to cut your flowers, Arthur suggests it’s always better to cut longer than shorter ‘to maintain the height of the stem’. You can shorten the flowers inside when you match them to the vases. Cutting the stems at an angle allows for better water intake and will keep your cut flowers fresher for longer. Arthur suggests cutting right into the heart of your perennials to make them produce more flowers, he says ‘by cutting quite a substantial part of each of your plants it is going to make them bush out rather than letting them go leggy and go to seed’.
Cut your flowers straight into a bucket of water, if some plant varieties are not immediately picked into the water their necks will turn swan-like and quickly flop down the side of the vase.
Make sure to strip the leaves off before placing flowers and foliage in their vases to avoid unnecessary water loss and rotting. If possible, try to keep a pair of florist’s scissors handy. They’re great for cutting hardy stems and have a good sharp point.
Foliage for arrangements
Foliage is not only the perfect bushy filler for a garden but also acts in the same way as a verdant accompaniment to floral arrangements. We’ve suggested a list of robustly structured plants that will add intriguing shapes to any floral arrangement.
You can also source zesty green foliage from your local hedgerows and fields, you might even consider including wild grasses or berries. When cutting foliage with woodier stems such as beach and willow, Arthur suggests a useful tip to boil water and submerge the hard stems for around 30 seconds underwater to avoid flopping heads and excess sap. This exfoliates the bark and extends its vase life as it allows it to pump up as much water as possible.
Leafy foliages to consider growing:
- Euphorbia oblongata
- Alchemilla Mollis - lady's-mantle
- Pittosporum
- Jasmine
- Spirea
- Raspberry foliage
- Camelia japonica
- Copper beech
- Willow
Arranging your flowers
When arranging flowers, always start with the foliage to provide the backdrop for more garish colours. When sourcing your foliage consider the sizes and shapes of your vases. Vases with a fluted edge are ideal for supporting the shapes and stems of flowers. Remove any excess leaves or foliage that could be at risk of being submerged. You don't want any leaves ever under vase water. Arthur recommends using the thumb and forefinger to remove leaves from delicate stems. Be mindful to not suffocate the flower heads or stalks to allow space for the flowers to absorb water. Pair smaller flowers with statement larger heads.
Finishing touches
The next step in arranging your hand-cut flowers is to consider the arrangement of them on the table. Place the larger vases in the centre and then dot the rest of the surrounding arrangements around the show stoppers. Play around with lots of different heights to create variation and an intriguing tablescape. Continue to fill in with your statement flowers for a flamboyant array of flower species. Arthur recommends experimenting with fruit in the table decoration to bring that Dutch still life into reality.
Learn more from Arthur Parkinson in his online course ‘Grow a Spectacular Garden in Pots.
