A gardener’s life:  water, prune, plant, rake, weed, stake. Repeat as necessary. Then smell the roses, harvest the vegetables and It’s great to be out in the garden among your beautiful plants. Reward yourself and bring the outside in.

Have you ever seen the spectacular arrangements made weekly for the mansion at Filoli Gardens in Woodside? They are truly breathtaking, composed of whatever plants and flowers happen to catch the eye of the harvester. You can have this too for your own dining room table, kitchen, bedroom or bath.

Until about 100 years ago, one of the most important areas of any large garden was the cutting garden, where flowers were harvested like a crop and taken inside for display. Today our lifestyles and tastes are reflected in bouquets that are more casual. The bouquets you make from garden grown flowers, interesting foliage branches, grasses, vines and even herbs always seem to have more personality and cottage garden softness than ones bought from the store.

While just about any plant material that strikes your fancy will work in a mixed bouquet there are four types of plant forms that naturally look good together:  Spires for height and architectural properties ( liatris, snapdragon,gladiola, salvia, Bells-of-Ireland),  Round for focus ( roses, dahlias, long-stemmed marigolds, peonies), lacy for fillers ( ferns, baby’s breath, dill ) , foliage ( abelia, breath of heaven, Calif. bay ), and ornamental grasses.

Here are some unsung beauties to grow and add to your arrangements.
* Love-lies-bleeding ( Amaranthus caudatus ) Long, to 18", pendulous ropes of red flower clusters. Handsome mixed with bold companions like zinnias and sunflowers. Good dried flower.
* Bells-of-Ireland ( Moluccela laevis ) Showy, apple-green flower spikes, long lasting in either fresh or dried arrangements.
* Transvaal daisy ( Gebera jamesonii) Perennial, long-stemmed varieties bloom nearly year round with peaks in early summer and late fall. Prized cut flower. Split stem end, dip in boiling water and stand in deep water with sugar for long vase life.
* Lisianthus. Perennial grown as an annual. Flowers resemble roses in shade of purplish-blue, pink, and white. Blooms all summer on strong stalks.
*Pink muhly grass ( Muhlenbergia capillaris) airy plumes of feathery, deep rosy-pink flowers on tall stems. Drought tolerant.

There are so many plants to use in bouquets. Don’t forget grapes and other vines, herbs, woody trees branches and shrub foliage look great, too

The best time to cut is early in the morning. Cut non-woody stems on a slant for maximum water absorption. Cut woody stems straight across and smash the ends. Plunge immediately in a bucket of tepid water. Indoors, fill the kitchen sink with cool water and recut each stem under water so an air bubble doesn’t keep the water from being absorbed.

Then pull off any foliage or flowers that will be below the water level in the vase. Fill the vase with lukewarm water. You can add cut flower food but I find that changing the water every two days and making sure no foliage is under water works just as well.

If a plant isn’t working our or is spent in your arrangement just remove it. The main thing is to have a garden that you love both inside and out.
 

One of the greatest pleasures of gardening is to stroll out, bucket in hand, and cut richly colored, fragrant bouquets for your own home or to give to family or friends. Having a bad day? Walk outside and cut some flowers. Having a really bad day? Cut enough blooms for every room and snip a bunch to give away. The more blooms you cut, the more flowers will be produced by your plants. It’s economical to grow your own bouquets and because they’re fresh from your own garden they’ll be long lasting.

Flowers that lend themselves to cutting ( long stems and a long vase life) can be incorporated into any spot of the garden. if you really enjoy cut flowers indoors you may want to consider setting aside a small bed primarily for an old-fashioned cutting garden. A seldom used side yard would be an ideal place as long as it receives at least a half day of sun. Or how about that narrow bed along the fence you never know what to do with? if your never planted in the soil of your future cutting garden, amend the soil generously with organic matter or compost. Then water to germinate weed seeds and hoe them off. Don’t turn the soil again as you’ll bring up more weed seeds. Now you’re ready to plant.

Perennial flowers are among the most prized of all cut flowers. Many annuals are good as well as grasses or the straplike leaves of flax or cordyline. Prunings from the smoke tree, oakleaf hydrangea, grapes and Japanese maple look handsome in bouquets, too.

What can you still plant this time of year for cutting?

• Roses- Many colors and fragrant. Attract butterfly larvae. Buds open best with sugar in the vase solution.
• Foxglove- ‘Foxy’ blooms first year. Attracts hummingbirds.
• Delphinium- vivid shades of blue. Pick spikes when 3/4 of the buds are open. Attracts both hummingbirds and butterflies.
• Kangaroo paw- Low-water use perennial with unusual fuzzy tubular flowers of pink, orange, red or yellow.
• Alstroemeria- showy flowers attract hummers and butterflies. To pick, pull stems gently to break cleanly away
• from the rhizome.
• Penstemon- Tubular flowers attract hummingbirds
• Coreopsis- Double yellow flowers attract butterflies. Watch for flowers going to seed. remove spent flowers to prolong blooms.
• Dahlia- Huge showy blooms, all colors
• Gloriosa daisy- Bold gold, orange and mohogany daisies 5-7" across with a brown center. Pick when center is just starting to get fuzzy. Double forms have a shorter vase life.
• Coneflowers- Pinkish or white flowers attract butterflies.
• Snapdragons-Provide spiky accent that attracts butterflies. Pick off lower blooms as they wilt.
• Zinnia- Pompons 1-5" across in a rainbow of colors. Pick when flowers open but before pollen shows. Buds don’t open well. Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.

These are just a few of the many flowers that are good for cutting. Marigolds, cosmos,and lisianthus are other annuals to try. Perennials like coral bells, scabiosa, gerbera, mimulus, hosta, aster, yarrow and shasta daisy can be planted now,too.

To make cut flowers last, pick them early in the morning before heat stresses them. Flowers cut in the middle of the day will have difficulty absorbing enough water. Take a bucket of tepid water with you and place stems in it as you cut. Indoors, fill the kitchen sink with cool water and recut each stem underwater. The pull off any foliage or flowers that will be below the water level in the vase. You’ll be amazed just now long your flowers will last when you cut them under water. It’s worth the extra step. Now fill a clean vase with 3 parts lukewarm water mixed with 1 part lemon-lime soda, 1 teaspoon vinegar, and a crushed aspirin. Another recipe for floral food to add to the water is 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 tablespoons white vinegar , 1/2 teaspoon bleach in 1 qt water. The sugar helps buds open and last longer, the acid improves water flow in the stems and the bleach reduces the growth of bacteria and fungus. Change the water and recut the stems every few days to enjoy you bouquets for a week or maybe even two.