Cut flower garden: combinations for vases full of summer blooms

A garden full of vase material

Imagine: a fresh bouquet from your own garden every week. No plastic wrapping, no transport miles, just walk outside and cut. A cutting garden is easier than you think and delivers flowers from June to October.

With GardenWorld you can see how a cut flower bed would look in your garden. Upload your photo and plan your own picking garden.

Combination 1: Classic summer mix

Dahlia 'Café au Lait' (dahlia, 100 cm, creamy pink) as the star, combined with Cosmos bipinnatus 'Purity' (cosmos, 120 cm, white) and Zinnia elegans 'Giant Dahlia Mixed' (zinnia, 80 cm, mixed colours).

Add Ammi majus (bishop's flower, 90 cm, white umbels) as filler. This is the combination that makes florists jealous: elegant, colourful and endlessly productive if you cut regularly.

Combination 2: Warm-toned bouquet

Helianthus annuus 'Velvet Queen' (sunflower, 150 cm, dark red), Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherokee Sunset' (black-eyed Susan, 80 cm, warm orange-brown) and Celosia argentea 'Chief Mix' (cockscomb, 70 cm, red-orange-yellow).

Annuals you sow in April that bloom from July until frost. The warm tones are perfect for autumn bouquets.

Combination 3: Pastel dreams

Lathyrus odoratus (sweet pea, climber, 200 cm, pastel shades, deliciously scented), Nigella damascena (love-in-a-mist, 50 cm, light blue) and Scabiosa atropurpurea 'Fata Morgana' (scabious, 70 cm, purple and pink).

Sweet peas are the queen of cut flowers: the more you cut, the more they bloom. Combine with the delicate foliage of nigella for a bouquet-ready look straight from the garden.

Combination 4: Dried flowers

Limonium sinuatum (statice, 50 cm, purple and white), Xeranthemum annuum (immortelle, 60 cm, pink-purple) and Helichrysum bracteatum (strawflower, 80 cm, mixed colours).

Cut at peak bloom and hang upside down in a dry, dark space. Within two weeks you have dried bouquets that last for months.

Cut flower tips

Plant in rows with 30 cm spacing — this makes harvesting easier. Sow successionally every three weeks for continuous bloom. Cut early in the morning when stems contain the most moisture.

Feed fortnightly with a liquid potassium-rich fertiliser. Dahlias are heavy feeders — give them extra. Deadhead regularly to encourage new buds.

Start your cutting garden

A cutting garden fits anywhere: in a dedicated bed, alongside the veg patch or as a border by the terrace. Upload your photo at gardenworld.app and discover where your picking garden fits best.