Cut Flower Gardening Guide
If you’re interested in growing a cut flower garden, this guide will help you select annuals, perennials and shrubs that have been tried and vetted to perform well as cut flowers. Annuals provide vibrant blooms during the growing season, while perennials offer a reliable return of flowers year after year. Shrubs add structure and longevity to arrangements, providing both beautiful blooms and interesting foliage. Growing the right shrubs can yield flowers, foliage and berries throughout the growing season, and even branches and evergreen foliage throughout the winter! By thoughtfully combining these three plant types, you can create a cutting garden that yields a diverse and abundant supply for your bouquets year-round.
Below, we’ll introduce you to a vibrant assortment of annual, perennial and shrub varieties that will produce fantastic blooms for your cut flower arrangements. You’ll also find some awesome cut flower tips from gardening pros like Natalie Keeton of Northlawn Flower Farm and garden influencer Casey Lynn Lawrence.
Get The Look With Casey Lynn Lawrence
If you follow Casey on Instagram, you know her fondness for brilliant, bountiful blooms and penchant for design. Her backyard pergola provided an ideal setting for a garden party. Along with creating a variety of stunning bouquets with her friends, Casey also put up a beautiful vining garland and decorated it with cut flowers to create a lush living frame for her outdoor gathering.
Flowering Annuals | Left to right:
BRIGHT LIGHTS™ Purple Osteospermum
UNPLUGGED® Pink Salvia
TRUFFULA™ Pink Gomphrena
SUNCREDIBLE® Saturn™ Helianthus
ANNUALS FOR BLOOMS
Click on the left and right arrows to cycle through plant slides. Click on any slide for more plant information.
Flowering Annuals | Left to right:
SPACE AGE™ BLACK HOLE™ Begonia
Persian Shield Strobilanthes
PEGASUS® Begonia
ANNUALS FOR FOLIAGE
Click on the left and right arrows to cycle through plant slides. Click on any slide for more plant information.
PERENNIAL ICON KEY
Spring Flowers
Summer Flowers
Fall Flowers
Winter Flowers
Spring Foliage
Summer Foliage
Fall Foliage
Winter Foliage
Click on the left and right arrows to cycle through plant slides. Click on any slide for more plant information.
Shrub Recommendations for Cut Flowers
Shrubs might not be the first plants you think of when cutting flowers for bouquets, but these varieties will keep your vases full in all four seasons. Learn all about how to use shrubs for cut flowers here.
10 Care Tips for Long-Lasting Cut Flowers
With Danielle Keeton
As a small scale cut flower farmer at Northlawn Flower Farm, Danielle Keeton knows a thing or two about designing bouquets. Using her grandmother’s antique pin frog, she composes artful arrangements using flowers grown in her certified pollinator-friendly garden. She intentionally allows a few of the blooms to spill over the sides of the vessel to create an air of abundance and organic richness. Placing the same type of flower with varying stem lengths throughout the arrangement brings balance even in asymmetrical designs.