Planting a cutting garden

Flower bulbs for a cutting garden: a private florist on your doorstep

A garden can be many things: A calm haven from the noise & stress of everyday life. A chance to exercise your green thumbs. A way to bring your creative ideas to life. All of these at once. But there’s another function a garden can have, especially when you plant a lot of flower bulbs: A cutting garden. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have your own private flower shop, right on your doorstep and for a fraction of the price?

A hand-picked gift

A vase filled with fresh flowers gives an immediate lift to any space, from a spray of Spanish Bluebells in your bathroom or guestroom to a big, lavish bouquet in your kitchen or dining room. And what would make a better gift for friends and family than a gorgeous bouquet you picked from your own garden? Flowers are ideal to celebrate happy occasions, and when things are tough, a cutting garden can provide the perfect pick-me-up to get your loved one through a difficult time.

How to plant a cutting garden

But what makes a flower bulb especially suitable for cutting? Here are a few factors to consider:

• Every bouquet needs a so-called focal flower: bold, eye catching statement blooms that set the tone for the rest of the arrangement.
• Since a bouquet should be about three times as tall as its vase, it’s important to plant flowers bulbs that have some height to them.
• The final and most important factor is longevity: You don’t want your carefully selected arrangement to start wilting after just a few days. The best way to guarantee a display that stays is to invest in top-quality bulbs, which will replay you many times over with their staying power.

Best flowers for a cutting garden

Let’s take a look at the flower bulbs in our range that are especially suitable for bouquets and vases:

Early Spring

In very early spring, our first pick does not meet the height requirements, but is simply too cute to skip: Grape Hyacinth Ocean Magic looks wonderful in a tiny glass vase on a bedside table or windowsill and will fill the room with a lovely, tender fragrance. At the same time, the first real vase fillers are starting to bloom: Daffodils. With this flower you will get the best result when you put only one variety in a vase, as the white and yellow of the blooms together with the dark green of the stems is already enough to create a wonderful early spring contrast. Daffodil Ice King or Daffodil Ferris Wheel are great for cutting.

Mid Spring

In mid-spring you’ll still have many daffodils to choose from, like wonderfully frilly Daffodil Peach Cobbler, or Daffodil Pink Charm with its almost red trumpet and snowy white petals.

But this is also the season of the undeniable queens of bouquets and mainstay of every cutting garden: Tulips, with plenty of varieties to choose from that are bold, tall and lasting. With tulips you can opt for three types of bouquets: Just one variety (especially when it’s a multicolored tulip); a bold tulip as the focal flower, supported by 2 or 3 other varieties in matching or contrasting single colors, or a mix of 3-4 different colored tulips. Red and white striped Tulip Candy Apple Delight would make for an amazing single-variety bouquet, and a vase filled with only coppery-yellow Tulip Brownie creates an air of extravagance and wealth.

Late Spring

Mid- to late spring is true tulip time, with an endless amount of options to choose from. How about pink, white and apricot Tulip Apricot Parrot? You can also let us decide the combination for you, by planting the Tutt Frutti Collection. The end of the season still delivers, with the luscious peony-like blooms of Tulip Renown Unique.

Alternative arrangements

But there is more to vases (and to DutchGrown) than just tulips and daffodils. White flower bulbs like Giant Snowflake , Ixia White and Ornithogalum may not be as tall, but they still very charming and refined. Anemone de Caen Mix will look especially good in a farm kitchen, and if you’re looking for a focal flower you can’t go wrong with planting spiky Camassia Esculenta in your cutting garden.

Best bouquets

Ready to grow the best flower for your own bouquets? At DutchGrown we have everything you need to grow a cutting garden that will keep your vases ( and those of the people in your life) full all season long. Hop on over to our colorful website, order your favorite cut-flower bulbs and we’ll deliver them to your door at the perfect time for fall planting.