To Cut or Not? The Art of Harvesting Garden Blooms

The Dilemma of the Cutting Garden

When summer gardens burst with color—lavender stems beside stark white daisies and deep red Asiatic lilies—it feels almost sacrilegious to snip those blooms for indoor vases. Yet there is undeniable joy in receiving a bouquet from a friend’s garden, or giving one from your own. Deciding how much to cut and how much to leave is an art akin to a master hair stylist’s work. Many gardeners, myself included, are never quite sure which plants benefit from having stems cut and which might be damaged.

Inspiration from a Flower Farm

Every year I toy with the idea of a dedicated cutting garden, only to abandon it when faced with the demands of existing beds. That urge was rekindled last fall during a visit to Ancestral Acres flower farm, where a cutting garden yields barn-loads of gorgeous dried bunches and arrangements. I realized the advantages of a space where cutting is pain-free.

Urban Constraints

Setting aside acreage on a farm is one thing; carving out a niche in an urban backyard is another. Finding a spot with adequate soil and sun that isn’t a focal point is a challenge. For those with established perennial gardens—especially those on garden walks—there may be no open space at all, and certainly not one you’d plant in utilitarian rows for harvest.

Expert Advice from Urban Roots

If you can eke out a space, or gain access to a community garden or vacant lot, the variety of flowers and designs is endless. Patti Jablonski-Dopkin, general manager at Urban Roots and a professionally trained flower arranger, shares which varieties have the strongest stems and longest post-cut life.

“The list of great cutting flowers is long and diverse,” Patti says. “Most plants benefit from having a terminal bloom plucked before its peak so the plant can then shoot out lateral stems of blossoms. Cutting a little before the flower has reached its full bloom will also give you a longer vase life. This fills the plant with colorful blossoms and you won’t feel as guilty snatching a bloom or two later in the season.”

Harvesting and Vase Care

Patti confirms that flowers should always be cut early in the morning or well after sundown. “It is too stressful to the flower to be harvested in the middle of the day,” she says. “And it is imperative that before putting your flowers in a vase you cut the stems on an angle with a clean, sharp knife, remove any foliage that will be below the waterline, and then place it immediately in cool fresh water. Change the water every two to three days to prolong the life of your cut blossoms.”

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