The Joys of a Cut Flower Garden
How to plan, grow, and protect a wide variety of beautiful blooms
Editor’s Note: Author Karen Bruce is passionate about growing a cut flower garden. Over the past ten years, she has honed her skills and enlarged her Camano Island garden to be able to cut 100 – 150 blooms each week for events and giving to others. Like so many cut flower gardeners, she is grateful for the beauty of the flowers blooming and the joy she finds in sharing the results of her passion with others.
By Karen Bruce, Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener
Karen Bruce
A cut flower garden brings not only colorful flowers throughout the growing season, but also bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other beneficial visitors that come to enjoy the blooms. Gardening in general can teach us lessons if we pay attention. A cut flower garden’s lessons are vibrant in color and design. Planning a cutting garden begins in the fall with an assessment of this year’s garden and gathering seeds for next season.
The cut flower garden can consist of both annuals and perennials. Annuals grow and bloom for one year (occasionally they can overwinter but typically do not). Annuals can be planted from seed (most economical) or with starts or plugs from your local nursery, online sources, or the Master Gardener Plant Fair! Examples of annuals are sunflowers, zinnias, lisianthus, snapdragons, statice, Queen Anne’s lace, stock, and amaranthus.
'Chantilly Bronze' and 'Madame Butterfly Bronze' snapdragons © Photo: Karen Bruce
Perennials come back year after year; their initial investment is higher, but they will produce flowers that can be cut for many years. Examples of perennials that grow each year are alstroemerias, hydrangeas, hypericum berries, peonies, weigela, and astilbe.
Bulbs, tubers, and corms, if properly cared for, will come back each year. Examples of these are daffodils, tulips, anemones, ranunculus, lilies, gladiolas, and dahlias.
So you want to start a cutting garden of your own.
Things to consider when deciding what and how much to purchase:
- Why are you growing cut flowers? Is it for personal enjoyment? Are you creating bouquets and arrangements for special events such as weddings or memorial services? Are you growing to sell your flower bouquets at a farmer’s market or other venue?
- Are you are growing flowers for a special event next year? What colors, varieties and how many stems do you need? Consider the event date and which flowers will be in bloom at that time.
- What is your budget? Seeds can be purchased for as low as $4 to $6 per packet. Established plants will cost more but may be more predictable.
- How much space do you have? Will you incorporate the plantings into an existing garden? Are you going to create raised beds to grow your plants? Do you have a fenced area to protect your plants from deer or other critters?
- Do you have a greenhouse or area to start seeds, or do you need to purchase seeds that can be directly sown into your garden space?
- How much time and energy will you have to devote to your cutting garden?
- Do you have the several months of time it takes to tend the growing seedlings?
- Will you be around to take care of your plants, or do you have extensive travel plans?
- Do you have adequate watering available?
Answers to these questions and your goals for your flower garden will help you plan for the season ahead.
Bells of Ireland © Photo: Karen Bruce
Peach Hypericum berry bush © Photo: Karen Bruce
Hops plant growing in garden. © Photo: Karen Bruce
There are many books available that can provide you with information about flowers you can grow to create beautiful cut bouquets. It is a good idea to look for an author who lives in your general growing area who will have an idea of what grows well in your gardening zone. A local favorite is Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms by Erin Benzakein, a well-known flower farmer and writer. Benzakein’s flower farm is located right here in Skagit Valley, and her New York Times best-selling book provides information on all types of flowers, along with photos of each flower. She also covers topics such as soil, tools, and techniques for seed starting and caring for your flowers once they have been harvested.
This Month in Your Garden
- September -
- Prune bamboo culms to thin your bamboo. Prune older (without sheaths), leaning, or damaged culms and cut them close to the ground. Prune any culms encroaching into an undesired area, and don’t forget root pruning to contain your grove.
- Stop dead-heading your roses and allow them to begin developing rose hips. The shortening hours of sunlight, along with allowing the rose hips to develop, lets the rose bush know it has done its job of making seed and can now prepare for dormancy. Remove wilted petals and any leaves with black spot, rust or mildew to keep any developing fungus away from plant.
- Deadhead perennials that self-seed, such as calla lilies, Shasta daisy, and crocosmia to prevent propagation.
Planning for next year’s cutting garden begins in the fall with the process of journaling and collecting pictures of what was successful, then making lists and ordering seeds, bulbs, tubers, corms, and plant starts and plugs.
In looking back at May/June, some favorite flowers were:
- Sweet peas
- Peonies – all colors
- Lilies
- Ranunculus – 'Champagne' and 'Chamallow'
In assessing the July/August flower gardens, some current standouts this year are:
- Dahlias – Peach/coral and blush colors such as 'Café au Lait', 'Sweet Nathalie', 'Castle Drive', 'Clearview Peachy', 'Nicholas', 'Ferncliff Copper', and 'Breakout' are beautiful for event bouquets
- Snapdragons – This year, favorites are the 'Madame Butterfly' bronze/white and the 'Chantilly' pink snapdragons.
- Bells of Ireland
- Zinnias – The 'Queeny' series and 'Benary’s Giant Mix' provide big blooms in a variety of beautiful colors.
- Lisianthus – Because lisianthus can be challenging to start from seed, ordering plugs helps make growing them less anxiety producing. Farmer Bailey is an online brokerage for starter plants and plugs for cut flower varieties suited to the United States. Here, lisianthus begin blooming in late August. If you want to try your hand at growing lisianthus from seed, check out > https://skagitmg.org/how-to-grow-lisianthus/
- Alstroemerias
- Veronica
- Hypericum Berries – The peach hypericum (Hypericum inodorum 'Kolmades') or Magical® Desire St. John's wort works well with other flowers from a cutting garden.
And don’t forget to have an ample supply of greenery to add to the look, color, and texture of an arrangement. These can include:
- Eucalyptus
- Viburnum 'Spring Bouquet'
- Salal
October/November blooms will include chrysanthemums that are starting to form buds now. One of the first to bloom is a golden decorative chrysanthemum called 'Honeyglow'.
Every gardener benefits from reviewing and documenting successes and challenges.
To have continual blooms from June to October requires planning. Flower gardeners, such as myself, who grow flowers for events and sharing require 100 – 150 blooms per week. How is this possible you ask? Many flowers are cut-and-come-again. This means that you can cut from the plant, and new growth will provide additional flowers. For cut-and-come-again flowers to be successful, you must continually cut blooms from the plant and/or deadhead the ones that you do not use. Examples of cut-and-come-again flowers are dahlias, zinnias, cosmos, scabiosa, sweet peas, strawflower and statice.
Most cut flowers need to be planted in a sunny location with six to eight hours of sun per day. They also need to be watered on a consistent basis. A drip watering system saves time and avoids the need for much hand-watering. The consistency and deeper watering that comes from a drip system is helpful. Cut flowers also need regular fertilizing. Some years, annuals like snapdragons can survive our temperate winters. This past winter, many snapdragons survived, so that was an added success, providing many beautiful blooms earlier than usual in early May. As the snapdragons that overwintered finished blooming, the snapdragon seedlings started in the greenhouse provided new blooms later in the season.
Staking and plant supports are critical to protect flower stems from unexpected wind and rain storms.
Save the seeds of the flowers you like, this will increase your seed stock for next year at no additional cost. Some of the easiest seeds to save are sweet peas. After sweet peas are finished blooming, they form a pod that looks like a pea pod. When this pod turns brown and the outside feels like sandpaper, pick the pods and store them in a paper bag. If you open the pod, there will be several dark brown seeds per pod. Save these seeds to plant early next year. Other easy seeds to save are scabiosa, Bells of Ireland, Queen Anne’s lace, and zinnias. Be aware, some flowers, like zinnias are cross-pollinated and the seeds may result in a mix of colors and traits in the new plants. Learn more about seed saving at: Seed Saving 101
The greatest challenges to a cut flower garden tend to be deer, bunnies and slugs
If your property is situated next to the woods, you may have many resident deer. Gardeners protect their beloved flowers in various ways. The surest preventive measure is to build a fence around the areas devoted to flowers (and edibles.) For this gardener, a seven-foot-high fence was a good first start. Some gardeners even erect two parallel fences to thwart the most athletic deer. After discovering that the local deer do not seem to eat my dahlias, my dahlia beds are outside of the fence. Often, not all plants can be planted inside a fence, and scent-based repellents like Liquid Fence may also be helpful. Learn what deer like to eat and spray repellent around those plants about once a week (and after a rain) during the growing season. For more information see Washington State University fact sheet > Deer Damage
Know & Grow: Conifers in the Home Landscape
Free, no registration required
Listen to Master Gardener Alison Hitchcock speak on caring for conifers in the home garden. Alison Hitchcock has been a Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener since 2001. Prior to retirement, she worked for the Department of Natural Resources as the Northwest Regional Silviculturist.
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
1 pm - 2:30 pm
NWREC Sakuma Auditorium
16650 State Highway 536, Mount Vernon
Rabbits can also be a problem and some years can be worse than others. Fencing can work, but only if the fencing material is buried 6-12 inches deep and stands at least 2 to 3 feet high. Chicken wire cages around plants are helpful but also must be buried like fencing. Applying a pet- and child-safe rabbit repellent, such as Liquid Fence, is helpful, though it may take several weeks of attention. It also helps to have a dog or cat roaming the property to chase them away. WSU’s Hortsense website offers more tips and methods for protecting plants from rabbits> Rabbits
Healthy slug and snail populations are ever-present in western Washington gardens. Sluggo and Sluggo Plus are organic iron phosphate products that can be your best friend. Neither is harmful to animals or children and have been the effective way to deal with slugs and snails when applied according to their label directions. Some gardeners manage slugs and snails with early morning or late evening garden checks, manually picking and disposing of them. For more information check out:
- Oregon State University Extension: Managing Slugs and Snails > Managing Slugs and Snails
- Skagit Master Gardener Blog article: Midnight Marauders≥ Midnight Mauradors: Managing Slugs and Snails
As summer is winding down and fall approaches, I am thankful for the flower season and the joy it has provided, as the giver and to those receiving flowers this season. Start small if you have never grown flowers before. See what you like and keep track of what grows well in your space and microclimate. Flowers provide joy to many and you will not be disappointed!
RESOURCES AND REFERENCES :
Benzakein, E. (2017) Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.
Oregon State University Extension Service. 10-Minute University™. (2025). Oregon Master Gardener™ Association – Clackamas County Chapter in Cooperation with Oregon State University Extension Service University. Managing Slugs and Snails. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/extd8/files/documents/12281/managingslugssnails.pdf
Washington State University (WSU) College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS). (2025). WSU Extension Hortsense Fact Sheet. Vertebrate: Deer Damage. https://hortsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/fact-sheet/deer-damage/
WSU. CAHNRS. (2025). WSU Extension Hortsense Fact Sheet. Vertebrate: Rabbits. https://hortsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/fact-sheet/rabbits/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Karen Bruce has been a Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener since 2019. She is co-manager of the Cottage Garden at the Discovery Garden on SR 536, west of Mount Vernon.
Questions about home gardening or becoming a master gardener may be directed to Skagit County WSU Extension Office, 11768 Westar Lane, Suite A, Burlington, WA 98233; by phone: 360-428-4270; or via the website: www.skagit.wsu.edu/mg
Washington State University Extension helps people develop leadership skills and use research-based knowledge to improve economic status and quality of life. Cooperating agencies: Washington State University, US Department of Agriculture, and Skagit County. Extension programs and policies are available to all without discrimination. To request disability accommodations contact us at least ten days in advance.
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Love my flower garden, gladiolus, zinnias, dahlias, nigella, calendula, sweet peas, goosenecks, calla lilies, lilacs, lilies of the valley, grape hyacinths, sunflowers & nasturtiums. In pots & hanging baskets lots of geraniums, heliotrope, begonias, phlox & petunias & more begonias. 0f course daffodils & tulips. Thanks for your article👍 I’m in the process of saving my seeds right now. 😄
Thank you Karen. Your flowers are beautiful as always!
Excellent information!
Great article and beautiful photos. Thanks for the dahlia recommendations.