1. Choose a location. The best site will be one that gets plenty of sun, has rich soil, and drains well. Other sites could be sunny areas along the sides of your yard, in a corner, or a forgotten space beside the garage. You don’t need a large area; a 3-by-6-foot bed will hold about 20 plants. Raised beds are a popular choice for gardeners who want a tidy garden that is easy to care for. Don’t fret if you have a teeny yard. Plant flowers in pots or flower boxes on your patio or deck.

2. Plan the garden. Once you know the dimensions of the garden, draw a design based on plant heights and bloom times. Use plants that will give you a mixture of color, heights, and textures that will bloom in spring, summer, and fall. Try to avoid gaps. The goal is to produce flowers to bring indoors, not to have a beautiful cutting garden itself. Be creative! Include your favorite annuals, perennials, herbs, and bulbs—even shrubs, if space allows.

3. Prepare the soil. Add compost, peat moss, or chopped leaves to a depth of 8 to 10 inches to improve clay or sandy soil.

4. Go ahead and plant. Plant in rows according to your plan. Rows provide for the easiest access and make it easier to weed, thin, fertilize, deadhead, and harvest. Plant the tallest varieties in the back, shortest in the front. Fill bare spots with annuals or herbs.

5. Cut the flowers. Your planning and hard work does pay off! Use the different colors and shapes, varying stem lengths, and foliage textures to create appealing arrangements for your home.

5 Popular Flowers for Cutting

Gardeners in the know almost always have these top choices in their flower beds.

1. Sunflowers -Not only are they easy to grow, their unique flowers come in a wide array of colors, sizes, and forms. 

2. Celosia comes in a tempting palette of colors. Some species have feathery plumes, while others have rounded, folded combs and are also known as cockscomb. All make excellent cut flowers for homegrown bouquets.

3. Zinnias- Zinnias bloom all summer long, require little fussing, and have an incredible range of flower sizes and colors. Succession planting fresh seedlings every few weeks extends the crop of large, high-quality blooms. To encourage longer stems, zinnias should be pinched when they’re around a foot tall. Using pruners, remove the top few inches and cut back to a fresh set of leaves. 

4. Rudbeckia-Like zinnias, these are easy to grow, but unlike zinnias, they don’t need to be pinched to produce plenty of flowers. 

These pretty flowers are great for bouquets and can last in the garden into fall.

Sources: savvygardening.com, treehugger.com