Bringing flowers indoors makes a space instantly feel special, and that pleasure increases exponentially when the flowers come from your very own garden!
It’s no secret that flowering plants make the garden come to life and make your outdoor space memorable. Planting repeat blooming shrubs, perennials, vines, and annuals gives you flowers for month after month during the Spring, Summer, and Fall.
The best part about our favorite repeat blooming flowers is that they not only liven up the garden, they also all make fantastic cut flowers for bringing indoors. Long stems, interesting forms, choice colors, and of course, a long bloom season make our list of the seven best cut flowers the obvious choice for any gardener!
We’ve selected flowers that will look gorgeous in a cut flower arrangement and perform well together in the landscape. Our custom plant combinations will give your planting beds a refined, design-forward aesthetic with an intentional color palette and thoughtful textural medley.
Plant these together in a south or west-facing bed, or a place that gets at least 6–8 hours of sun to keep bloom production high. Harvest flowers and/or deadhead plants to encourage more blooms, water regularly, and fertilize with a high phosphorus (middle number of N-P-K) organic fertilizer every 4–6 weeks from April to September.
Below are the best plants to get hundreds of flowers all season long, plus suggestions for varieties to plant together to give you a cohesive and tasteful color palette to cut and arrange!
1. Annual Cut Flower: Cosmos
Cheery, daisy-like blooms cover Cosmos and are borne above fine-textured feathery foliage. White, soft pink, magenta, and even yellow blooms cover plants, depending on the variety of Cosmos, beginning in June and lasting until October or the first hard frost. Start Cosmos from seed or purchase as starts—these plants are incredibly easy to grow and play well in mixed borders with other cutting garden flowers. Mature height will vary depending on the variety selected, so select taller varieties for longer cutting stems.
No matter which Cosmos strikes your fancy, the key to maximizing flower production is to harvest flowers and fertilize regularly! Cosmos have an airy, romantic look in an arrangement and add a relaxed, charming quality to bouquets. Use them as a filler to accompany larger flowers, or as the star of the show in a textural, unstructured arrangement.
2. Annual or Perennial Cut Flower: Scabiosa (Pincushion)
Scabiosa brings whimsical, dancing blooms to every arrangement or garden that they grace. Perennial Scabiosas offer gardeners delicate pincushions of soft purple, blues, and pinks, and that ‘Fama White’ and ‘Fama Blue’ are particularly useful for anyone hoping to include them in their vases as a cut flower, as these varieties offer longer stems and larger flowers. For those willing to start these easy-to-grow flowers from seed, you’ll be rewarded with an additional array of color options, including rich mahogany and purple blacks.
Not only are the blooms of Scabiosa ideal for use as cut flowers, many of the seedheads are also delightfully decorative in arrangements. Use flowers or seedheads to add movement and a unique floral texture to homegrown bouquets.
3. Perennial or Biennial Cut Flower: Digitalis (Foxglove)
Digitalis creates tall, striking floral spikes composed of multiple tubular flowers in soft, pastel colors from white to peach to rose. Foxgloves are beloved for their woodland-style charm and the way they make garden beds and floral arrangements alike appear effortless and complete. If buying Digitalis at a garden center, you can expect blooms the same year it is planted. When starting from seed, the biennial nature of this plant will yield a small rosette of leaves in the first year following germination, and will produce a flower spike in the second year.
Harvest Foxglove flowers for use in arrangements when half of the flower spike has yet to open, and leave side shoots on the plant so that they will continue to produce shorter flower wands that you can continue to enjoy all season. If you want them to reseed in the garden, leave a few flowers to mature and form seedheads, which will split open and dry out, giving you more plants to enjoy the following year.
4. Perennial Cut Flower: Echinacea
Echinacea plants have exploded in popularity in the last decade thanks to a the introduction of a tremendous range of color options and flower forms. While Magnus and White Swan, some of the original ornamental varieties, still offer home florists phenomenal options for long-stemmed, long-lasting cut flowers, newer introductions have brought vibrant oranges and yellows, and soft coral and apricot into the mix. The vast range of colors available make this drought-tolerant perennial a true all-star when it comes to its use in both gardens and arrangements.
When selecting an Echinacea for your home cutting garden, note that some newer varieties are shorter-stemmed, dwarf plants, and while still great for shorter floral arrangements, will need to be planted at the front of a flower garden to make them stand out. Whether you prefer the pom poms of newer double varieties like the ‘Double Scoop’ series and the wildly popular peachy ‘Cantaloupe’, or the simpler forms of classic coneflowers, these plants will last for weeks in floral arrangements, and as petals fade the center cone will continue to provide texture and interest. Learn more about Echinacea on our blog, Echinacea: Summer-Long Blooms in Every Color.
5. Vine Cut Flower: Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle, with its viny, twining stems, gives floral arrangements a unique and carefree spirit. The intoxicating fragrance of honeysuckle is sweet and evocative, lending any vase that it graces something memorable and special. Most varieties of honeysuckle sport an ombre of color within each flower cluster, from white to pink or white to yellow, while beautiful, orange native varieties are not fragrant.
Honeysuckle’s fragrance is particularly pronounced in the evening, so we suggest slipping a stem or two into a simple bud vase to greet you in your bedroom at night. In mixed bouquets, Honeysuckle is beautiful spilling over the edges or tucked into the front. Even though the vine is irregular, it isn’t difficult to find straight stems with flowers coming off the main woody framework of the plant.
6. Shrub Cut Flower: Rose
Roses need no introduction and are a must-have plant for anyone hoping to grow their own cut flowers. Fabulous fragrance, long stems and vase life, and classic or unusual forms and colors make Roses the ultimate cut flower. Cabbage and English Roses (David Austin Roses) that have a high petal count are particularly prized for their ability to take a homegrown bouquet and elevate it to something chic and elegant. While the form and endless color options of Roses are an immediate draw, we’d also argue that it is always worthwhile to plant a Rose with a strong scent. Rose fragrance can range from spicy and woody through to floral or light, and you’ll find that the first thing nearly anyone does when they see your bouquet will be to stop and smell the Roses.
Plant Roses with any of the plants mentioned in this blog, or with lower growing plants like Lavender or Salvias, but be sure to give them space to grow and plant them in a location where you’ll be able to harvest from them all Summer long. Fertilize regularly and deadhead to keep bloom production high, and know that even after a period of rest, your Roses may bloom well into November!
7. Shrub Cut Flower: Panicle Hydrangea
The largest plant in our list of long-blooming flowers for cutting is Panicle Hydrangea, a woody, deciduous shrub with unmistakable, massive cone-shaped flower clusters. Most panicle hydrangea varieties emerge with a soft green cast and as they mature, change color to white, pink, or mauve depending on the variety. While many Panicle Hydrangea varieties can grow as tall as 6–8’ in height, there are also many newer introductions that stay under 4’ tall. You can easily grow Hydrangeas at the front or back of borders, selecting varieties with the right mature height for you and what you hope achieve in that space.
Hydrangea blossoms are gorgeous in all stages of their flower and make striking cut flowers, especially when used in large arrangements. A single flower or two can be added to a mixed bouquet to give it weight and engaging texture. The large flower clusters can easily be dried at the end of the season before they turn brown to use in waterless arrangement and enjoyed all through the Fall, Winter, and early Spring.
Custom Cut Flower Combos for Inspiration
Interested in creating your own dream flower garden that you can cut and enjoy throughout the entire growing season? Any and all of these plants can be grown in combination with each other where they will make a stunning visual display in the garden or in a vase! For a cohesive and designer-inspired look, select colors and plants according to a specific color palette.
To create a calming and delicate look, use the Romantic color palette from our Bohemian Landscape Design Guide. For a sophisticated and grounded take on a these cutting garden classics, use the Composed palette from our Pacific Northwest Landscape Design Guide. For a charming and timeless approach to your bouquets and garden aesthetic, select plants from the Nostalgic color palette in our forthcoming Cottage Landscape Design Guide.
Dennis’ 7 Dees Garden Centers are open year-round and are stocked with fantastic options for creating your own dream cut flower garden. Browse our full selection of cutting garden plants online, or visit us in store to find the perfect blooms for you!