Cut Flower Garden

2019 was the first year for the cut flower section at the Hutchinson Community College garden. Because the spring of 2019 was cold and wet, we were not able to get the garden planted so the flowers were blooming during the garden tour in June.  Nevertheless, in the form of bouquets delivered to people who needed a day brightener, this experimental garden provided pleasure for some who never visited the garden.  Some visitors to the garden came looking for ideas for flowers they might grow at home.  Others simply enjoyed the flowers in the same way they find pleasure in all beautiful plants.

One day’s harvest from the cut flower garden.

Dividing flowers into categories depending on how they function when arranged in a vase helps people who are planning their cut flower gardens. Line flowers, focus flowers, and filler flowers make up these categories.  Making sure that a cut flower garden contains something for each of these categories helps insure that bringing the beauty of flowers indoors will be possible all summer long.  

A Basic Cut Flower Garden

A focus flower: Benary's Giant Zinnia

Line/spike flowers: Rocket Snapdragon (cool season) 

and Pampas Plume Celosia (warm season)

Filler flowers: Blue Horizon Ageratum

and Frosted Explosion Grass