It looks as if I will be working from home for most of the summer, and I would like to have cut flowers in the house. Is it possible to grow enough cut flowers for a steady supply to use in the house?
— John Johnston, Evanston
It’s easy to grow cut flowers to use at home. Start by choosing a section of your yard that gets full sun. The main purpose of a cutting garden is functional, so you may want to position it in a less prominent area of your garden. With that being said, a bed full of different flowers arranged in rows or informally mixed together can be attractive too. I am building a cutting/vegetable garden bed centered in the lawn in full view of a kitchen window — flowers are always good to improve one’s attitude. It’s a good idea to arrange the plantings in a way that allows you easy access to the bed for cutting the flowers.
If you are placing the bed in a lawn area, then use a sharp, flat spade to remove the grass and place it upside down on a compost pile or in a separate pile to break down and reuse later as good topsoil. It’s important that you use a sharp spade, or it will be very difficult to remove the sod. I like to use a spade to loosen the soil a few inches deep before adding compost and tilling. If your soil is bad (heavy clay is common in this area), you can purchase some good quality topsoil and raise the bed 4 to 6 inches.
Since you are looking for a good harvest of cut flowers this summer, you should focus on annuals, as they will produce a sizable crop of flowers quickly. Perennials that are good for cut flowers such as phlox, peony, bee balm, lady’s mantle and purple coneflower need a year or two to establish before producing a decent amount of flowers. So plant some perennials this year for the future.
Zinnias, sunflowers and cosmos are a few easy annuals to grow from seed. You should get them sown soon, as it is starting to get to be a little late for seeding. Zinnias will be one of the easiest annuals to grow from seed with lots of color options. Marigolds, gomphrena, ageratum (taller varieties are better for cutting), celosia and blue salvia are a few more good annuals for cutting and should be available in cell packs in local garden centers. There are other options out there, so do not be afraid to experiment with flowers you like. Dahlias are good for cutting, too, though typically start flowering a bit later in the summer.
For more plant advice, contact the Plant Information Service at the Chicago Botanic Garden at plantinfo@chicagobotanic.org. Tim Johnson is senor director of horticulture at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
