How to Plant a Cutting Garden
The Echeveria ‘Gilva’, in the foreground, I’ve shared about before – not as many flowers as we’ve had previously, but a better showing than expected this year (the weather has been so strange). To the left is Iris foetidissima ‘Variegata’ – a nice, tough, persistent clump of handsome foliage. Behind it, in front of the large terra-cotta pot, is Calamintha nepeta – we’ve seem this a lot growing wild in the South of France. My plants came from the late Wayne Roderick, a local plantsman and plant collector. I really enjoy its fragrant, minty foliage.
To the right of the Calamintha is a pot of hybrid Agengel or Pansy-Faced Pelargonium ‘Angie’ (from our friend Robin at geraniaceae.com). Below ‘Angie’ is a small, blue-gray carpet of Sedum rupestre. I also grow the very closely related S. sediforme, but S. rupestre is distinctive in its flower stems which emerge arched over like an umbrella handle before straightening up when in flower. Between this Sedum and the Echeveria first mentioned, is the foliage of Stachys chrysantha.
In the rear is a large plant of Lavandula dentata and a small potted specimen of L. viridis. The succulent in the top left corner is Crassula perfoliata var. heterotricha.
Grow a cutting garden and enjoy flowers indoors and out
If you feel guilty when you cut flowers in your garden, worrying that you’re destroying nature or leaving gaps in your flowerbeds, it may be time for you to plant a cutting garden, says the American Association of Nurserymen (AAN). A cutting garden is designed to provide flowers for indoor arrangements, and it will give you a new perspective on removing flowers from your garden.
Choosing the Right Flowers and Plants
As with any garden, the first step in planning your cutting garden is to select plants that grow well in your part of the country. Ask the experts at your local garden center for their suggestions, and keep in mind your soil conditions, the amount of sun or shade your garden receives and how much it rains.
Selecting a Color Scheme
After you’ve decided which plants will thrive at your site, choose a color scheme, whether bright and vivid primary colors, soft and muted pastel shades or dusty earth tones. Since the purpose of a cutting garden is to grow flowers to use indoors, think about how flowers of certain colors will look when you place them in main rooms of your house.
Finally, plant flowers and plants in such a way that no one will notice that you frequently forage for new material for your indoor bouquets. One way to achieve a continuously balanced look in your cutting garden is to group your plantings by color, so that when you clip several blue flowers one day and several yellow flowers another, the overall appearance of the garden is still one of continuity and growth.
You can also fill in around your flowers with shrubs and larger, bushy plants that can easily spare a few leaves or berries, as well as plant a mix of perennials, annuals and bulbs so your garden will bloom all year ’round.
