Top 10 Cut Flowers To Grow - Planting A Cut Flower Garden

For many flower gardeners, the addition of a cutting garden is a great way to bring the beauty of their hard work indoors. Though growing flowers to sell at farmer’s markets is especially popular, growing your own cut flowers to give to friends and family is equally rewarding. Among the most important steps when growing flowers for cutting is first determining which plants will perform best.

Popular Cut Flowers for Vases

1. Ageratum - Though less common than some other cut flowers to grow, ageratum serves as a valuable filler/foliage plant in the cutting garden. Each plant produces large clusters of floss-like flowers, which add dynamic texture and interest to arrangements. 
2. Celosia - Ranging greatly in form, depending on type, celosia are among the best cut flowers for vase life. Unique feathered and textured blooms are sure to create interesting visual appeal in any vase. Celosia also offers its growers a selection of intense, highly-saturated color for bouquets. 
3. Cosmos -  Though seemingly delicate, cosmos are actually a great addition to the cut flower garden. For the best flowers for cutting, consider picking the bloom while the petals are still tightly furled.
4. Dahlias - Unlike many other cut flowers, dahlias are best grown from tubers. This will ensure that each variety grows true-to-type. Dahlia plants provide a dependable production of vivid flowers from midsummer until the first frost. 
5. Peonies - Perennial peonies are a must have for flower growers looking to make an immense impact with cut flowers for vases. Large, impressive blooms range in color from white to pink and dark crimson. These early spring bloomers are also an excellent choice for early season flower sales. 
6. Rudbeckias - The traditional daisy-like blooms of rudbeckia flowers are at home in both formal cutting gardens and in more naturalized landscapes. Rudbeckia flowers are also an excellent choice for novice growers because they are highly adaptable and able to thrive under a wide range of growing conditions.
7. Snapdragons - Snapdragons are among the most popular flowers for cutting. Gardeners delight in the production of tall, charming flower spikes. Cold hardy snapdragons can also be sowed easily in succession for extended bloom window. 
8. Sunflowers - Sunflowers are often among the first cut flowers to grow for beginners. Both open-pollinated and hybrid varieties can easily be directly sown into the garden as soon as the last frost date has passed in spring. Newer day-neutral varieties also allow for ease of succession planting and extended harvest.
9. Tulips - Grown from bulbs, tulips make an excellent addition to the spring-cut flower garden. Among the first flowers to begin growing each year, diversity among tulip varieties is sure to impress guests to the garden, as well as recipients of flower arrangements. 
10. Zinnias - One of the easiest to grow cut flowers, zinnias thrive in regions with warm summer temperatures. As a cut-and-come-again flower, its growers are rewarded with an endless supply of flowers throughout the entire growing season.