Top 15 Cut flowers and 8 Foliage Plants To Grow This Year

Top 15 Cut flowers and 8 Foliage Plants To Grow This Year

• 19.1.20

Growing a cutting flower garden for the last four years has brought so much happiness.  It began with a few wooden crates and has quickly moved to several flower beds. The joy of growing flowers, bringing them inside our home and sharing with the family has been amazing.

In the last few years, I have seen some plants perform really well in the garden and then last year not grow so well with too much rain. I hope this list might help you to get started with a cutting garden or perhaps just add a few new additions to your garden.

For my top-performing fifteen flowers, I have chosen the constants of my flower garden. These are great when cut for vase life and for an abundance of flowers. To see more on cutting and conditioning cut flowers the RHS has a good article to help prolong vase life.

Homegrown Zinnia Giant Red With Bee

Top Fifteen Cutting Flowers To Grow 2020

These are in no particular order but they give an abundance of flowers and were some of the first flowers I grew on the flower garden.

1. Dahlia Brown Sugar 
2. Zinnias Giant mixed
3. Cosmos Cup Cake Blush
4. Dahlia Linda’s Baby
5. Mixed Cut Flower Seeds (Sarah Raven)
6. Icelandic poppies Sherbert Mix Papaver nudicaule
7. Zinnia ‘Early Wonder Mixed’
8. Sunflowers ‘Helianthus annus ‘Sonja’
9. Dahlia ‘Bishops Children’
10. Stocks ‘Vintage Antique Mix’
11. Icelandic Poppies Giant Peach Paver Nudicaule
12. Ranunculus Picotee Pink
13. Calendula officinalis ‘Indian Prince’
14. Red Parrot Tulips
15. Peter Beals Rose ‘Desdemona’ 

August 2019 Flower Bed Two

For my top eight to grow foliage plants, I selected on what works really well when making homegrown flower arrangements and bouquets. See 18 Easy Flower Arrangement Ideas to fill your home for more inspiration on filling your home with flowers. 

Top Eight Foliage To Grow This Year

1. Cerinthe major ‘purpurascens’ 
2. White daisy flowers
3. Orlaya grandiflora (white Lace Flower)
4. Euphorbia Oblongata (Eggleaf Spurge)
5. Eucalyptus gunnii Azura (Cagire)
6. Moluccella Laevis (Bells of Ireland)
7. Amaranthus caudatus ‘Viridis’ (Love-lies-bleeding)
8. Ammi Majus

I live on Hayling Island in Hampshire Uk, which is a 9a Zone. Look here to find your British planting zone https://www.trebrown.com/hrdzone.html or here is a plant hardiness global zone useful when thinking about the types of flower and foliage to grow. Although weather patterns are definitely changing so I do try and test my own flowers to see if how they grow.

Dahlia Brown Sugar Homegrown DIY Bouquet

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How Nurturing A Flower Garden Created New Possibilities

How Nurturing A Flower Garden Created New Possibilities

• 16.12.19

I wanted the flower cutting garden to be a constant source of inspiration for my design work which heavily features florals. To use seasonal flowers that were fresh and I could select when needed. Rather than relying on locally brought flowers and what was for sale, although I do love to support British Flowers and I do visit pick your own flower events. 

What I hadn’t anticipated when I developed the area of our garden to grow flowers was how much I would like to browse the seed catalogues. Research online the colours, leaf textures, stem styles and vast selection of new flowers each year. With a cup of tea and a cosy chair, it is a great autumn and winter activity to start planning the cutting garden for the following year. Especially if you are not a fan of the darker months this can help as you begin to grow seeds inside. On a window sill, conservatory or even the hardy plants in a cold frame.

If asked what I would like for Christmas or Birthday's I do tend to answer with gift vouchers for our local garden centres or online sellers. I love to browse the sites and select what new items I would like to try in the garden. 

The first year I did select some flowers from Floret USA and coming from America I hadn’t realised the import tax would be more than the seeds themselves. However, I see this as an investment as I have grown these beautiful Daydream and Cupcake Poppies for a few years now and each year I collect seeds. I can sow every year without making another purchase and I have gifted some to my mum so she is enjoying her own. Also, we swap seeds to try new flowers and build up our flower stocks. 

Planting the seeds I let my children help, they love getting muddy in the garden. They have now started to select their own seeds to grow for next year including red sunflower xxx Pumpkin xxx, not quite a flower but I am quite open to trying new things. Also, I love my two sons being involved in the garden with helping to water and seeing things develop. Although they do lose interest after a while but that is fine. It allows me to carry on listening to the rustle of leaves, the birds and my boys playing in the background. I have been surprised how quiet it can feel in your mind when gardening, just thinking of the plants and being outside. How after an hour in the garden I can feel lifted in my mind having achieved something or just seen some new developments in growing through the seasons. 

I had thought growing a cutting flower garden would be inspiration for my design work and it is every day. Watching the seasonal flowers, colours breaking through each month but it has been so much more. 

Giving me time to have quiet moments as I nurture the plants, watering, feeding, staking and enjoying cutting the flowers so they come again. That is the difference for cut flowers, the types of flowers for a cutting garden grow more as you cut them. Giving an abundance of flowers through their flowering months.

I arrange flowers to constantly fill our home on tables and window sills. To add a fresh garden feeling inside when the weather still has a chill in the spring and when it feels too warm for long periods in the summer.  

I like to wrap a bunch of flowers for friends or family members to brighten their day. Sharing the love of flowers and the joy people show when realising they are homegrown is really special. I cannot think of a more thoughtful gift than homegrown flowers, especially if it is from someone you love. That is how the cutting garden inspired me to create the Flower Wrap & Grow business I run today, so we can all grow and share the joy of flowers. 

This summer has been busy but so much fun with the children helping in the garden developing their understanding of nature and growing cycles. Next year I am arranging an area for both of the boys to grow their own, I will add photographs of how they get on as we go along.

After digging and watering regularly with my husbands relaxing in the garden was wonderful with blooms to watch has been amazing. As I look back with lots of memories, I am excited for next year and to see the flowers grow again with some new additions.

Whether you start with one flower pot or a whole section of your garden, I couldn’t recommend growing your own cut flower enough. 

Do join the newsletter here if you would like to keep up with us on the Flower Garden. Each month there will be updates, offers and lots of seasonal ideas based on flowers. 

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