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Cut Flower Perennials

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Few pleasures in life are as simple as surrounding yourself with flowers, indoors and out. Great satisfaction comes when your vases are overflowing with homegrown blossoms. Spread the joy by sharing summer bouquets with neighbors and friends. To create your own cutting garden, choose a site with well-drained soil, plenty of sun and easy access to water. Prepare the soil by clearing the garden area of grass and weeds. Work organic matter, such as Bumper Crop, into the soil. Design the garden for easy care and cutting. Arrange the plants in straight rows or 3-foot-wide garden beds. Make paths wide enough for you to walk and work comfortably. Imagine the bouquets you want to create, including colors you love that work with your indoor colors when selecting the plants you’ll grow. Plant perennials to have something in bloom at all times. Perennials come back year after year and often bloom early or late in the season. Combine a variety of flower forms and size. Select plants that have sturdy stems and a long vase life.

The plants below are some of the better perennials for their cut flower performance:

Achillea (Yarrow)
Alcea (Hollyhocks)
Anemone (Pasque Flower)
Aquilegia (Columbine)
Asclepias (Butterfly Flower)
Asters
Astilbe (False Spirea)
Campanula persificola (Bellflower)
Campanula glomerata (Bellflower)
Carnations
Centaurea (Bachelor Button / Cornflowers)
Centranthus (Red Valerian)
Chrysanthemums (Mums / Shasta Daisy)
Coreopsis (Tickseed)
Crocosmia (red/yellow Sword)
Delphiniums
Dianthus barbatas (Sweet William)
Dicentra (Bleeding Heart)
Digitalis (Foxglove)
Echinacea (Coneflower)
Eremurus (Foxtail Lily)
Eryngium (Sea Holly)
Filipendula (Dropwort)
Gaillardia (Blanket Flower)
Geum (Avens)
Gypsophilia (Baby’s Breath)
Heliopsis (False Sunflower)
Heuchera (Coral Bells)
Hosta (Plantain Lily)
Iris (Bearded, Dwarf, Siberian, Japanese)
Lavender
Liatris (Spiked Gayfeather)
Lilium (Asiatic Lilies)
Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower)
Lupinus (Lupine)
Lysmachia (Gooseneck Loosestrife)
Monarda (Bee Balm)
Penstemon (Beard Tongue)
Paeonia (Peony)
Perovskia (Russian Sage)
Phlox Paniculata (Summer Phlox)
Platycodon (Balloon Flower)
Pyrethrum (Painted Daisies)
Rudbeckia (Black-Eyed Susan)
Salvia (Meadow Sage)
Scabiosa (Pincushion Flower)
Sedum (Stonecrop)
Solidago (Golden Fleece)
Statice
Trollius (Globeflower)
Veronica (Speedwell)