10 Easy Flowers to Grow to DIY Summer Wedding Flowers
Summer Events:
Flowers are often the key aspect of decor and theme for weddings and events, and its no surprise they are beautiful and vibrant and set the tone of the day. I love how personal floral styles can be and how the romance and sentimentality of certain flowers have so much meaning to so many folks. Wedding florals are a big ticket item that is well worth the investment if you plan to have your florals done professionally. That said, if you plan to DIY your flowers and have some growing space in a garden or even in some containers then you have the space to grow at least some of your own flowers to harvest. Timing is really key to make this happen, so its important to do a bit of planing in advance to make sure your flowers and plants are ready to be harvested for your event.
In the summertime Cosmos, Zinnias, Nigella (Love in a Mist), Anise Hyssop, Rudbeckia, Purple Flowering Oregano and Dahlias are going to be fabulous options this time of year. You may even get some early dahlias if your event is in mid to late august. I’ve had dahlias in early august but as always in the garden, it depends the seasonal weather that year.
Anise Hyssop or Agastache is a beautiful purple spike flower that smells incredible and also happens to be native to Canada and Northern areas of North America from Ontario to BC and south to Colorado in the US. This perennial is easy to start from seed and will come back year after year. Its leaves are edible and makes delicious tea and is also beloved by pollinators. I cannot recommend this beauty enough! Be sure to choose the native variety when puchasing seeds Agastache foeniculum. I love Northern Wildflowers, they have a fabulous selection of seeds and share a lot of great resources on their website as well.
Chocolate Lace Flower (Daucus ‘Dara’) is in the same family as Queen Anne’s Lace but this variety reveals itself in a range of shades from a dark maroon to red to a soft light pink. It’s easy to start from seed indoors about 4- 5 weeks before your last frost date. They are another light an airy flower that brings texture and depth to bouquets and arrragments. It has a long vase life as well if harvested at the right time- another flower who can be wiggled back and forth and if the flower stays rigid on top of the stem its ready to be harvested… if it flops back and forth its not quite ready yet. Lace flowers will readily self slow and in some cases can be in very high numbers, it can be easily managed either by cutting seed heads before they dry or by removing them after they dry to save the seeds. Lace flower is also a biennial and so the same plant will usually return for two years in the garden.
Cosmos: Cosmos are a real joy, and for being such delicate looking flowers that are surprisingly hardy and long lasting as a cut flower. There are a number of varieties to choose from, and I love them all. But I am absolutely smitten with the ‘Rose Bon Bon’, ‘Cupcake’ both blush and white, ‘double click snow puff’ white, Double Click Cranberry (the ‘double click mix’ is also a great option) and ‘Purity’. Similar to Zinnias, Nigella and Rudbeckia, Cosmos are a cut-and-come-again flower.. so the more you cut the more flowers you’ll get. Cosmos are long blooming from mid-late summer into early fall.
Cosmos also benefit from being pinched early to encourage more blooming and longer stems. Cosmos have been said to be an aggressive self sower so be on the look out for that and though I have never had that experience myself, they do self sow but not in a way that is unmanageable by any means. If you’re concerned about this dead head the flowers BEFORE they go to seed.
Pro tip: when starting seeds be sure to sow the side upright, with the seed’s thinnest point pointing up towards the surface of the soil. In my experience this has really improved germination and the strength of the seedling.
Dahlias are grown from tubers which you can start indoors 4 weeks before the last frost by placing in some soil or you can wait until all risk of frost has passed and plant them outside. its important to choose long stemmed varieties for cutting as bedding dahlias are very short compact plants that won’t give you a long enough stem to work with. Dahlias bloom late summer right up to your first frost. Dahlias are another cut-and-come-again flower and truly NEED TO BE PINCHED. The first bud of the dahlia needs to be pinched above a set of leaves to encourage long stems and more flowers. Some of my favourites are the queen of them all (in my opinion) ‘Cafe au Lait’, ‘Maarn’, ‘Glorie van Noordwijk, ‘Arabian nights’, Sweet Love’ and ‘Cornel brons’ but there are SO many varieties out there so you are sure to find something that you will love. There are those of us to fell truly madly deeply in love with dahlias and never looked back. Saving tubers requires some effort but for me its well worth the beauty.
Nigella also known as ‘Love in the Mist’ is a beautiful and unique looks flower that similar to a poppy becomes an equally beautiful and unique pod/ seed head. These beauties can be started early in the season when the nights are cool, can be seeded quite thickly and also grown in succession. While they are not a very long stemmed flower, if cut for length the feathery foliage adds beautiful texture to any floral arrangement on top of the unique interest of the flower or seed head.
Rudbeckia (commonly known as Black Eyed Susan) is another easy to start from seed option that is highly product and will provide a TON of flowers for your event. They come in a variety of shades including the classic golden yellow Rudbeckia ‘Hirta’, as well as ‘Cappuccino’ and ‘Cherry Brandy’. These beauties will often self sow in the garden or return back- some varieties are perennial, some are described as being biennial and others are said to be more annuals. I recommend wearing gloves when harvesting these cheerful flowers as the stems have tiny hairs that I find irritating but are easily covered when used in bouquets and aren’t an issue in centerpieces.
Purple Flowering Oregano is one of my favourites. It is a perennial but is easy to start from seed either indoors or direct sowing and will become ton of the most beautiful members of your garden. Its edible and can be used for cooking- its easy to dry and the flowers are gorgeous sprays of purple and white and they are often covered in bees all summer long. I used Renee’s Garden’s seeds when I started mine over 5 years ago.
Fennel is a fast very tall and fast growing perennial that delivers beautiful yellow umbellifer flowers and unique feather foliage. It’s very easy to start from seed and it smells amazing, like light sweet licorice, is edible and is also loved by many pollinators. My favourite is swallowtail Fennell and true to its name I often see both swallowtail caterpillars enjoying its foliage and then later the swallowtail butterfly on the flowers in my garden. If harvesting the foliage it is best kept in water, so not ideal for bouquets that will be out of water for long periods of time.
Yarrow is an easy to grow flower that not only has medicinal qualities that have been used for centuries but many yarrows are native to Ontario and parts of North America. It flowers fairly early in the season and then often offers a second flush in late summer as the weather gets a bit cooler again. be sure to cut back the flower heads as they go to seed to encourage a second or later season flowering. Yarrow is a fabulous flower to add some structure and fill out arrangements and bouquets. Direct sow yarrow from seed the previous fall or early in the season around the time of your last frost or start indoors a couple weeks before your last frost.
Zinnias are super easy to start from seed and are fast growing cheerful flowers that come in a variety of colours so you are guaranteed to find something that fits in your colour palette. Zinnias are super productive and have a long vase life and hold up well out of water in a bouquet. You’ll know they’re ready to harvest when you wiggle the flower head and it doesn’t flop at all from side to side and stay fully upright. Zinnias prefer to be direct sown when the soil has warmed and will not tolerate a frost so be sure to wait until all risk of frost has passed. I usually wait until its safe for basil to be transplanted out before sowing my zinnias. Some of my personal favourite varieties are “Oklahoma Salmon’ ‘Oklahoma Pink’, ‘Cresto Peaches and Cream’, ‘Zinderella Lilac’ and ‘Queen Lime Red’. Recently I discovered the variety ‘White Star’ (which I think im going to be obsessed with) through Antonio Valente (if you don’t follow him you should.. the flowers are gorgeous, the content is super informative and hilarious and his seed offering and shop is fully swoon worthy). Pro Tip: Pinch the zinnia before it first flowers just above the set of leaves to create more lateral growth a.k.a. more flowers and longer stems. Zinnia’s are annuals.
Growing and harvesting tips:
These flowers all want full sun so choose a sunny spot. I highly recommend mulching, either with leaves or wood chips or even cardboard once your seedlings have matured a bit to reduce weed pressure early on. This really reduces the amount of work a the season progresses and makes for a healthier, more productive plant.
Many flowers do not want to be pampered so don’t overwater them after they are established. Once or twice a week is sufficient once the seedlings have 3 sets of true leaves. avoid overhead watering… remember you are watering the roots, NOT the leaves or the flowers!
When growing a flower garden for cutting you can seed/ plant much more densely than the packet suggests. This will reduce weed pressure and actually encourage longer stems as the flowers compete a bit to get all the sunlight and growing space.
Don’t be afraid to ‘pinch’ the first bud and deadhead spent blooms. This will encourage more growth. if you don’t deadhead old flowers the plant will start putting energy into creating seed instead of continuing to flower. Shifting Roots has a fabulous article about on the benefits of pinching and deadheading and is well worth the read!
Harvesting flowers at the right time is key:
Harvest flowers first thing in the morning before the day has really heated up or late in the evening after the sun is no longer heating everything up. Immediately put stems into clean cool water and store flowers out of direct sunlight and out of the wind whenever possible. Use sharp, clean gardening sheers.
Many of these flowers need the ‘wiggle test’ another flower who can be wiggled back and forth and if the flower stays rigid on top of the stem its ready to be harvested… if it flops back and forth its not quite ready yet. Flowers needing the wiggle test are cosmos, rudbeckia, chocolate lace flower and zinnias. I tend to test most of my cutting garden this way before harvesting.
Links to specific seeds:
Anise Hyssop
Cosmos:
Dahlia Supplies (in Canada)
Rudbeckia
Yarrow
White Yarrow (Native Achillea millefolium)
Yarrow mix ‘favourite berries’
Zinnias
Favourite Flower Seed Suppliers:
All photos are by Andrew Roorda or Stephanie Roorda