If your perfect Saturday involves digging in the garden—and you can't resist bringing home fresh flowers from the grocery store—it's time to plant a cutting garden.
In the simplest of terms, a cutting garden is the type grown by professional flower farmers. All the blooms are grown specifically to be harvested for bouquets and other arrangements. (A pollinator garden, on the other hand, provides a safe sanctuary for bees and other insects.)
That said, you don't have to be a pro to grow your own! At-home cutting beds have been a rising garden trend for years now, as they make it easier and cheaper to refresh the arrangements dotted throughout your home.
Interested in planting your own? These great cutting garden flowers will give you the best bang for your buck, as they are easy to grow and may last in a vase for up to a week with daily water changes.
Cosmos
Cosmos lend a graceful feel to bouquets with delicate blooms that float on slender stems above wispy foliage.
Zinnia
The strong forms of zinnias, which come in an array of sizes and shapes, add pops of bold color to vases.
Celosia
Celosia adds texture and interest to fresh or dried bouquets with its feathery plumes or velvety, cockscomb-shaped flowers.
Sunflower
Sunflowers with classic yellow, bicolor, peach, cream, ruby-red, or chocolate-brown petals make charming farmhouse-style bunches.
Coneflower
The daisy-like blooms of coneflowers come in nearly every color you can imagine, offering cottage garden appeal to a mixed arrangement.
Dahlia
With forms ranging from tiny balls to dramatic dinner-plate-sized flowers, dahlias come in hundreds of exquisite hues for creating lush, romantic displays.
In the fall, plant some tried-and-true bulbs for early-spring flowers to kick off your cutting garden next year.
Daffodil
Sunny yellow or creamy white daffodils, one of the earliest signs of spring, make cheerful bouquets after a long winter.
Allium
With adorable ball- or drumstick-shaped flowers, alliums are striking accents in both fresh-cut and dried arrangements.
