5 Easy Cut Flowers to Grow
Beginner friendly flowers to start your own cut flower garden.
Starting a flower farm had never crossed my mind until the spring of 2022. In fact, I had never intentionally grown a cut flower and I had never even started a plant from seed. I was an absolute beginner in every sense of the word when it came to growing plants. To be fair, I was a person who would head to the local greenhouses multiple times throughout the season to get my annual flowers and herbs, most of which always went in porch pots, but aside from maybe a sunflower or two I started from seed in elementary school I was a complete novice. I remember thinking multiple times during the first season… “gosh, I hope flowers actually grow”.
When I started to learn about growing flowers I was thrilled to know that some varieties were so easy to grow that you would have to try for them NOT to grow. Not only were they easy to start from seed with the end result being a beautiful cut flower, but many of them also self-seed which means that if you leave a few (instead of cutting them all) they’ll drop their own seed and grow again next season!
Below are five easy-to-grow cut flowers that are great to start with if you want to have your own beautiful cut flowers throughout summer.
Zinnias
Seldom can someone mention summer flowers without zinnias coming to mind - and for good reason. Zinnias are true workhorses of summer blooms and they’re one of the easiest flowers to grow. Even better is that they’re considered a “cut-and-come-again” flower which means that the more you cut from them, the more stems and blooms they’ll send up! You could plant an entire garden of zinnias only because of the different sizes and colors available, and you’d have different flowers all summer long.
One things to keep in mind with zinnias. When harvesting, give each stem the “wiggle test” by wiggling the stem. If the flower head flops back-and-forth, those aren’t ready to harvest yet. If The flower moves with the stem (no flopping), it’s ready to cut!
Photos above ©Arlyn Flower Farm, 2024
Cosmos
It’s hard to not notice the beautiful and whimsically delicate nature of a cosmo. When these grow in big groups, they’re the idyllic summer flower that somehow captures the warm breezes and sun-filled days of summer. Whether you’re a fan of the traditional single-petal varieties or if you like the added complexity of the newer double and cupcake style cosmos, they are a flower that every summer garden should have. Just like the zinnias, cosmos are a “cut-and-come-again” flower, too, so you can have blooms for weeks on end with regular cutting.
Photos above ©Arlyn Flower Farm, 2024
Celosia
One of the key characteristics that all of my bouquets have is that of texture - and celosia is one of my go-to flowers for that. These soft spikes come in a variety of colors from delicate apricot to deep burgundy and all sorts of warm colors in-between. These have a slightly longer growing cycle (as in, they take a bit longer to grow from seed compared to other varieties like a zinnia or sunflower) but they are absolutely worth it. If you’re ever wanted to try your hand at drying flowers, too, celosia are a wonderful option for that as they retain their color and texture, giving any dried arrangement or craft an added pop.
Photos above ©Arlyn Flower Farm, 2024
Sunflowers
Is there any other flower that says “summer” quite like that of a sunflower? Whether they’re a favorite of yours or not, there is something special about seeing a field full of sunflowers moving their heads throughout the day to follow their fiery namesake. Many of us grew up with the classic yellow ones but any quick online search or glance through a seed catalog now and you notice there’s quite a bit more to choose from when it comes to options in color and texture. Whites, plums, deep reds, fuzzy doubles and incredible variations by breeders, like Sunflower Steve, are popping up all over.
When it comes to planting sunflowers for cutting, don’t be afraid to plant them close together (4-6” apart if plenty of space!). Like many flowers, the closer you plant them together the more it will encourage them to grow tall stems. With sunflowers specifically, planting them closer together helps to keep the head of the flower a bit smaller, too, which is ideal for bouquets. The birds might love an 8” sunflower head to pick seeds from… but your favorite vase might have a tricky time holding that bloom up.
Photos above ©Arlyn Flower Farm, 2024
Bachelor Buttons (aka Cornflower)
This small firework of a flower provides something that none of the other above-mentioned flowers offer… the color BLUE! If you want to have some color contrast in your garden then Bachelor Button (or Cornflower) is a perfect easy option to start with. Fun fact, it also comes in a beautiful purple variety and a deep wine color. The size and texture of these blooms also offer something a bit different than the others, as they’re slightly smaller (about the size of a quarter). But what they lack in size they make up for in color and texture, creating quite an impact when in bouquets.
Photos above from Johnny’s Seeds, Botanical Interests and Eden Brothers Seeds.
All of these flowers, except for the sunflowers (if you’re getting a “single stem” variety), benefit from being “pinched” early on in their growing. Pinching is essentially cutting the main center step quite deep to encourage more side stems, thus leading to more blooms. When plants reach 8-12” tall and have a few sets of leaves, cut the center stem. This does delay blooming initially but it will lead to a longer season of blooms!
Whether you want to try one or all of these, I have full confidence that if you give it a go you’ll not be disappointed with the results. Seed packets for all of these flowers are easily accessible in stores - wether it be your local greenhouse or nursery, your grocery store or a nearby Big Box store. If you want an extra layer of inspiration though, there are a number of wonderful seed suppliers that carry beautiful and different varieties of each. Some of my favorite places for seeds are Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Select Seeds and Botanical Interests.