24 Days of Giveaways - Day 20 Bouquet Blooms

What to grow, what to grow?  I get a lot of questions about what to grow.  Especially when it comes to a personal cutting garden.  Making your own bouquets is one of the most satisfying gardening pursuits there is.  You have the pleasure of reaping rewards all season long.  However, it is tricky for those just starting out, what varieties to grow to make a great bouquet, and how to get constant flowers from your choice of varieties. 

Before jumping  into a list of flowers, there are some important things to think about.  As you are building these bouquets for you, you should ask yourself what elements of my bouquets will I enjoy the most?  By that I mean, are there shapes you like and dislike?  Are there colours you are most attracted to? Are you more drawn to symmetry or disharmony?  After you make a list of these likes, you can start to build a recipe for your own bouquets. 

For the novice grower and bouquet maker you should start by thinking about which focal flower you like the most. As the name suggests you want this one to be the star of your show so size and colour are important too.  Big and bold is easy to do,  like sunflowers, and dahlias, or less dominant flower size and more repetition can work too, as in the case of zinnias, and cosmos.  Now your superstar needs a supporting cast.  Flowers to help show off the main character in your story.  These secondary flowers like strawflower or bachelor buttons for instance, use space well and won’t compete, especially in harmonious colours. And lastly, let’s make the flowers feel at home by giving your bouquets some volume with little competition.  fillers like Cress and Bunny Tail Grass add spectacular depth and visual interest to your bouquet without wanting to take over.   

Drum roll please…Here is a list of flowers to consider if you are wanting to try to grow from seed your own cut flower bouquets:  Ammi - simple form great colour, Cress - great neutral filler, Amaranth - Spectacular colour and form, Bachelor Buttons - subdued colours that help show off your focal, Cosmos - airy and colourful, Snapdragons - incredible form and unique colours, Bunny Tail Grass - visual interest in a slender form, Strawflower - hardy neutral flower, Yarrow - simple form with neutral colours, Zinnias - pack a big punch in small forms, Sunflowers - multitude of sizes, shapes and colours to choose from, Basil - fills and provides room filling aromas.

This is a great list to start from, but in no way are these the only flowers for bouquet building.   After you master the elements of design, you can experiment with dozens of others to truly make your garden and your bouquets unique.  And have a ton of fun learning as you get there.  

Day 20 in our 24 Days of Giveaways is a $150 Gift Certificate from Stems Flower Farm.  You use this gift certificate to build your own special garden and learn to create bouquets for your own enjoyment.  

For a chance to win leave a comment below.  In your message, share which flower you couldn’t do without in a bouquet , or your best advice for others starting to cut their own flowers, anything really, as long as it puts a smile on everybody’s face.  EASY.  This giveaway is open to anyone with a Canadian shipping address. This Giveaway is open until Thursday night December 30th at Midnight PT.  


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