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If you love to have bouquets in your home, planting your own cutting garden will provide the abundance and variety that you will need.
Having seasonal cut flowers inside somehow seems to extend summer and shorten winter just a little. You can dedicate a separate flowerbed for a cutting garden, or grow dedicated cutting flowers within decorative beds and borders that are already established. One advantage to having a separate area is that you can harvest all you want. In a decorative bed you have to take into account how much to harvest without making the bed look bare. But if you have enough room and like the look of many different flowers growing together, you can easily incorporate a cutting garden in decorative beds or borders.
There are several things to consider in your plan. The choice of site depends on your preference as mentioned above. In addition consider which plants you would like to have in bouquets and whether they prefer shade or sun for optimal growth. Of the plants you choose, be sure that the moisture requirements are similar. Selecting flowers with common bloom times and complementary colors are equally important. Then decide how early and late in the season you would like to cut flowers.
Some sun-loving plants that have low moisture requirements are: Yarrow (Achillea hybrids), Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea), Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), False Indigo (Baptisia australis), Painted Daisy (Chrysanthemum coccineum), Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro), and Torch Lily (Kniphofia uvaria).
Some plants that prefer sun to part shade and are also good for cutting are: Columbine Hybrids (Aquilegia hybrids), Astilbe (Astilbe x arendsii), Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), Maltese Cross (Lychnis chalcedonica), and Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana). Part shade to full shade plants will want more moisture. Among those good for cutting are Monkshood (Aconitum napellus), Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis), and various ferns or grasses for greenery.
Flowers with especially long bloom times are an advantage because they can be used to fill in bouquets in which you feature shorter-blooming flowers. Yarrows (Achillea hybrids) work well for this as do Jupiter's Beard (Centranthus ruber), Lance Coreopsis (Coreopsis grandflora), Baby's Breath (Gypsophila paniculata), and Perennial Salvia (Salvia x superba).
You can plan for mixed or one-color bouquets. Either way they will be more interesting if you use flowers with a variety of shapes and sizes mixed with some greenery to add texture. The following are a few color selections with common or overlapping bloom times:
White: Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea), Jupiter's Beard (Centranthus ruber), Gayfeather (Liatris spicata), Bee Balm (Monarda didyma), and Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata).
Pink: New York Aster (Aster novi-belgii), Boltonia (Boltonia asteroides), Jupiter's Beard (Centranthus ruber), Gayfeather (Liatris spicata), Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus), and Spike Speedwell (Veronica spicata).
Purple: Delphinium (Delphinium hybrids), Hardy Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema x morifolium), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Fleabane (Erigeron hybrids), Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica), Sea Lavender (Limonium latifolium), and Lupine (Lupinus hybrids).
Red: Astilbe (Astilbe x arendsii), Hardy Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema x morifolium), Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus), Blanket Flower (Gaillardia x grandflora), Geum (Geum Hybrids), Coralbells (Heuchera sanguinea), and Torch Lily (Kniphofia uvaria).
To extend your cutting season and to provide the full spectrum of colors, plant both spring-blooming and summer / autumn-blooming bulbs. Many of these also have intense aromas that can add to their attraction. Among the variety of bulbs to plant in the autumn for spring blooming are daffodils, hyacinth, tulips, snowdrops and grape hyacinth. A few spring planted flowers which will bloom during summer/autumn are caladiums (grown for foliage), callas (white/yellow/pink), cannas (colors range from ivory to scarlet), dahlias (every color except blue), gladiolus (nearly every color), and lilies (various types and colors).
A cutting garden can provide years of beautiful flowers. As with all perennials, plan to dig and split them after a few years. Have a friend plant a cutting garden also and when the time comes to do this you can swap plants.
For further information on perennials, bulbs, grasses, and xeriscape flowers, consult the following FactSheets: #7.402 - Perennial Gardening; #7.405 - Herbaceous Perennials; 7.410 Fall-planted Bulbs and Corms; #7.411 Spring-Planted Bulbs, Corms and Roots; 7.232 - Ornamental grasses and 7.231 - Xeriscaping: Garden Flowers. Also call Planttalk Colorado toll-fee at 1-888-666-3063 and request the many recordings on perennial plants for the home garden.
Q: We have just moved to Colorado and bought a house built in 1980. The north edge of the property has a row of mature Russian-olive trees that don't look healthy because of an oozing brown fluid. What should we do?
A: The oozing of fluid or gummosis is often an indication that the tree is stressed for some reason such as over/under watering, disease, etc. Insects and diseases attack weak trees which complicates diagnosis. To help in your diagnosis refer to Fact Sheet #2.942 Russian-olive decline and gummosis or call the Larimer County Cooperative Extension Office at 498-6000 and ask to speak with a Colorado Master Gardener.
Q: Last year the slugs cleaned out my vegetable garden. How can I fight back this year?
A: Slugs thrive in high moisture, so moisture-reduction practices will reduce slug problems. Eliminate their shelter by removing surface debris. Increase air movement around plants by using trellises and wider plant spacing. Drip irrigation and soaker hoses also decrease humidity around the plants. You can trap slugs with pans of beer or sugar-water and yeast mixtures. For further information and other options to trap or control slugs consult Fact Sheet 5.515 - Slugs: characteristics and control.
After a very crazy spring - - 70 degrees one minute and snowing the next - - it should be safe, finally - - to plant peppers, eggplant, melons, squash, pumpkins and cucumbers. Warm season flowers like marigolds, zinnias and sunflowers can also be planted now.
Fire season is rapidly approaching. If you live in the foothills, take some precautions that may save your home. Keep tree branches 15 to 20 feet away from the house. Stack firewood 30 feet away and uphill from your home and any outbuildings. Keep all vegetation about 3 to 5 feet from structures. House numbers should be 6-inches tall so they are easily visible from the road.
Five annuals that are easy to grow, bloom over a long season and do well as cut flowers are sunflowers, cosmos, dahlias, marigolds and zinnias.
Spanish explorers called California the "Golden West" not because of the mineral gold but because of the hillsides covered with golden poppies. They call the flowers "copa de ora" - - cup of gold. California poppies look fragile but they're hardy here and reseed easily.
Prune lilac bushes right after they bloom and before next year's buds have formed. Remove any branches that are dead, damaged or diseased. Pruning the spent blossoms will put more energy into the plant and next year's blossoms instead of seed production.
The authors have received training through Colorado State University Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program and is a Master Gardener volunteer for Larimer County.
Fact Sheets are available at the Larimer County Extension Office, 1525 Blue Spruce Drive, Fort Collins, Colorado, telephone (970) 498-6000, or contact us by e-mail at larimer@coop.ext.colostate.edu
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