Picking the right plants for Plenty of Picking
as printed in Hampshire Life September 19, 1997
I love to pick flowers.
When I was 11 I convinced my parents to let me plant a flower garden behind our house just so I could have flowers of my own to gather. When Gramma came for Sunday dinners I cut her bouquets of cosmos and black-eyed susans to take home. She'd smile and say "thank you sweetie-pie".
Eventually my dad couldn't stand the weedy mess anymore and mowed it down. These days I have a lot of different flowers for bouquets (and almost as many weeds). In the summer I invite visitors to walk around the yard with me while I pick flowers. Since I don't get to give "tours" very often I take the opportunity to point out unusual plants and color combinations I like.
People who have the room -and Martha Stewart tendencies - might want to plant acutting garden, in orderly rows away from visitors and passerby. But out of the way spots are troublesome to maintain and I find it very hard to keep things in rows. So I don't go the cutting gareden route; I prefer to gather my flowers from the plants that I grow just for the enjoyment of looking at them. By growing plants that have lots of flowers or a long blooming period I can have flowers indoors and not disturb the outdoor display.
Dicentra spectabilis, columbine, dianthus, and digitalis are spring blooming perennials that may not bloom for very long but have blossoms to spare. Daisy-shaped flowers such as shastas, coreopsis, rudbeckia, helianthus and echinacea are standard bouquet ingredients. Blooms with different shapes and colors make arrangements more interesting. Lavender, astilbe, lobelia, nepeta, and veronica add vertical elements. Salvia, both annual and perennial varieties have the blues and purples that are hard to come by in midsummer. My malva alcea, with pink hollyhock-like flowers, ends up in so many bouquets that even I get sick of them. White boltonia and perennial asters with blue, pink, and purple flowers are in full bloom when everything else has gone by.
I don't have a place to start annuals inside and I have a black thumb when it comes to growing indoors, so I only buy seeds that are easy to start directly in the ground. Blue bachelor's buttons, red "Wizard of Ox" poppies (papaver somniferum), and cosmos make a great combination and should be planted in early spring. All three bloom best in poor soil and will plant themselves for next year if they are happy. Calendula and zinnias are easy to grow and come in a variety of colors. They should be planted after the last frost.
Cleome, nicotiana and verbena bonariensis are annuals that combine easily with perennials and fill in empty spaces with their long-blooming habit. Cleome and verbena bonariensis reseed so heavily that I cut flowers all summer and still have plenty in the garden. The white varieties of cleome and nicotiana are a great addition to my crescent-shaped moon garden, which is planted with white flowers for evening viewing. Both attract hummingbird moths at dusk. I would grow nicotiana sylvestris just for the wonderful evening aroma it has but it is also nice in arrangements. I don't bother with hybrid nicotiana because the scent has been bread out of them.
I cannot resist catalog descriptions for sunflowers so I plant up to 10 varieties each year. The small flowered multi-branched plants are best for cutting but I always plant some Russian Mammoth for birdseed. Because sunflowers emit a chemical that discourages competition from other plants I grow them separately. By planting them within sight of my window I can watch hummingbirds hovering around the flowers eating tiny insects and finches putting on a great show harvesting the ripened seeds.
Fillers and accents add character to a bouquet. Egyptian walking onion, with its curly stalks and a tiny onion at the end is a peculiar addition to an arrangement with large flowers and leaves. Amaranthus - also known as Love Lies Bleeding - never fails to draw attention. Its ropy chenille-like blooms are so long that I have to place the vase near an edge so they can dangle below. Aegopodium podagraria (Bishop's weed) spreads everywhere, but planted in a corner where it can do no harm, it will reward you with flowers similar to queen ann's lace in the spring and great foliage all summer. When it starts to look ratty I just cut it back and fresh new leaves are up in no time. Other nice plants for foliage include any variety of artemesia and ornamental grasses. Gypsophila, feverfew, and achillea are good for drawing arrangements together and give the eye a rest between colors.
The herb garden is a great source of flowers and foliage. I use tansy's green ferny foliage all season. In late summer the yellow button flowers look great with purple flowers and perilla's crinkled purple foliage. Most people don't recognize lavender chive blossoms in the spring or airy white garlic chive blossoms in late summer. Oregano, tarragon, sage, thyme and dill flowers all find their way into my bouquets. Include monarda, lilies, nicotiana, lavender, phlox, and of course roses and the result is a scented bouquet that will not disappoint.
Now is a great time to check out your local nurseries and garden centers for late season bargains. With fall rains and cooler nights on the way it won't be hard for them to become established and you can be sure that your vases will be filled next summer.
My son and I visited Gramma's grave last week and brought her a jar of black-eyed susans, daisies, and the same mopheaded hydrangeas she grew in her own yard. I added some purple coneflowers hoping that a butterfly or two would stop to see her, and some sweet smelling lilies and monarda. She's been gone for 10 years now but I still miss her. On that beautiful Sunday morning as we walked back to the car I couldn't help but hear her say "Thank you Sweetie-pie".