12 Cut Flower Seeds I Sow Every March for Vases of Blooms All Summer

When a bouquet of blooms costs upwards of $50 but you can buy a packet of seed and get change from a ten-buck note, I don’t know why more folk don’t grow their own cut flowers. Everything else you need is already out in your backyard and, as long as you choose the right cultivars, it couldn’t be easier.

Grow cut flowers and you can also raise blooms that money simply can’t buy. Many varieties grown for the floristry industry need to be tough enough to be transported, and survive without water for periods – and sometimes even refridgerated to prolong their shelf life. However, if the journey from snipping to sipping water in a home vase is measured in minutes rather than miles, you can enjoy far more fragile, whimsical varieties. Backyard blooms are often just prettier, too, simply because they're so much fresher than store-bought flowers.

All my favorite sow-every-year varieties grow in a sunny spot and can be squeezed into borders if you don’t have the space for a dedicated cut-flower patch. So don’t wait a second longer before you start growing your own bunches of blooms – all these seeds can be started off indoors in March, then hardened off and planted outside after your last frost date, depending on your USDA zone. Just use biodegradable pots like these from Amazon filled with a seed-starting mix like this, also from Amazon, so you can plant them straight into the ground, pot and all, without disturbing the roots. Or, if you prefer to keep it super-simple, direct sow the seeds where you want them to flower once all danger of frost has passed.

These are all annuals so speed from seed to flower quickly, produce abundant blooms, are easy-peasy to grow and suitable for zones 3–10. What are you waiting for? Your summer of jug-fulls of flowers gracing the kitchen table, and generous bunches and bouquets to gift to friends and family, awaits.

1. Cosmos ‘Apricot Lemonade’

If I had to pick one cut flower that I couldn’t be without, it would be this Cosmos bipinnatus cultivar, and seeds are available from Burpee. Its appealing mix of soft pinks and buttery yellows is slightly different on each and every flower and it adds a jaunty, cottage-garden charm to a bunch of larger, showier blooms. With the bicolour petals slowly opening from a cup shape to a flatter saucer, a jug with just these sweethearts in is characterful enough to hold a room all by themselves. And, as long as you deadhead, you get flowers all summer long, so that's a regular treat.

2. Poppy ‘Black Beauty’

Poppies don’t usually spring to mind when you think of cut flowers but, as long you snip them just as the buds are opening and immediately sear the stem ends in boiling water for 10-20 seconds, they’ll last in a vase for up to five days. Papaver somniferum ‘Black Beauty’ is wonderful for its opulent color and mix of single and double blooms, but I let plenty run to seed for a supply of plump seedpods. Those with the biggest flowers often create curvy stems as they struggle to hold up these bouffant blooms, adding another artful touch. Poppies seriously hate root disturbance so sow these seeds, available from Amazon, direct as soon as your soil is workable.

3. Bells of Ireland

Here’s a filler that’s a thriller in its own right! Bells of Ireland grows 2-3 foot spires of apple-green florets, studded with tiny white flowers, that add standout structure to vases and bouquets. A word to the wise, though: the leaves of Moluccella laevis can irritate sensitive skin, so remove these when cutting. Stashing the seed, available from Amazon, in the freezer for a week before sowing is a smart move as it will bring better germination.

4. Celosia ‘Fan Dance Purple’

How weird is this?! Love it or hate it, adding just one – or three – cockscomb stems to a bouquet turns even the most average bunch of flowers into a showstopper. I adore the vibrant violet tone and velvet texture of this Celosia cristata cultivar available from Burpee, and the sturdy stems don’t need any staking. These fabulous crested fans dry well, too, and it’s far easier to grow than its tropical appearance suggests. Just wait till you hand a friend a bunch of these and say you grew them yourself…

5. Strawflower ‘King Size Salmon’

Strawflowers dry so easily, and keep their color, so you can plonk these pretties in a vase and they’ll slowly dehydrate and turn into everlasting flowers without any help from you, thankyou very much! This Helichrysum bracteatum variety available from Eden Brothers is the very best of the best. The flowers grow up to 2½ inches across in glorious peach and coral shades perfect for this year’s huge earthy minimalism trend. Love, love, love!

6. Stock ‘Iron Apricot’

I grow these for their unusual clove-like scent: add a stem or two to a bunch of blooms with a typical floral fragrance and it cuts through any cloying sweetness, creating a sophisticated aroma blend. This Matthiola incana cultivar available from Burpee gives a mix of single and double flowers, but it’s simple to ensure you get the fluffiest, most petalled blooms by selecting the right seedlings. When you’re thinning out, remove the faster-growing, darker green seedlings with narrower leaves, as they're far more likely to grow single flowers.

7. Cosmos ‘Double Click Bicolor Pink’

This beauty is just as easy to grow as a regular cosmos but it has double blooms of delightful ruffles that look almost dahlia-like. It’s just as generous with its cut-and-come-again flowers, too, so you can snip plenty and more will grow. This cultivar has super-tall sturdy stems as well, reaching 2–3 feet, so it’s great for bouquets and big vases. Seeds are available from Burpee.

8. Snapdragon ‘Opus Yellow’

Snapdragon spires are one of my favorite cut flowers but they’re often too big and unwieldy for an arrangement. This is a dwarf Antirrhinum variety (though it still grows to 3½ foot) and has sturdy stems so it’s far easier to use, and oh – will you just look at that colour? This creamy lemon hue goes with every color and brightens up any bunch of blooms in a split second. Seeds are available from Burpee.

9. Zinnia ‘Tequila Lime’

We all know that including foliage in a bunch of blooms makes the flowers look even better, right? Well, adding green flowers takes it up another notch. The fresh citrus green of this easy-grow Zinnia elegans variety available from Burpee shows off any pink or purple-toned blooms brilliantly, making a display or bouquet look fuller. They’re fast to germinate and flower, too.

10. Starflower Scabious

The white flowers of Scabiosa stellata are nothing to write home about – but they turn into the most fabulous spherical seedheads that bring an unusual, structural touch to any bunch of blooms. The stems grow up to 3 feet high, so I like to add a few of these bizarre silvery forms floating above the main arrangement for a serious dash of personality. As their cultivar name suggests, these scabious seedpods are stellar, and seeds are available from Eden Brothers.

11. Cornflower ‘Polka Dot Mix’

Bachelor’s Buttons bulk up a bunch of blooms for very little effort or garden space, germinating quickly and bringing endless flowers for as long as you keep snipping, right up until the first frost. This Centurea cyanus cultivar, whose seeds are available from Amazon, gives you a pretty mix of white, pink, blue and purple flowers on 2-foot-long stems, but these cute blooms are just as adorable snipped short and stuffed into a jam jar. I like to press individual petals too, for mini heart shapes to add to a tag on a bouquet for a friend.

12. False Bishop’s Flower

These umbels start a lovely lime green and gradually fade to white, adding an informal, cottage-garden vibe to a bunch of flowers – or by themselves, create a stark, structural vase-full against a dark wall. The easy-grow seeds are available from Amazon. Wherever you buy your seeds from, do make sure you check Ammi Majus is written on the packet: false bishop's flower is often sold as Queen Anne’s lace, which is also a common name for the wild carrot, Daucus carota, that’s just as lovely but self-seeds heavily so can be invasive.