How To Grow A Cut Flower Container Garden – For Gorgeous Fresh Blooms Even In Small Spaces

Some flowering plants are loved for their ability to attract pollinators, while others are appreciated for their immense beauty or fragrance. Cut flower gardens often contain a combination of these elements. Most flowering options thrive in outdoor beds, but if you have limited space, you can grow a cut flower container garden to create a haven of beauty. Growing a potted cottage garden for cut flowers follows many of the same principles as a ground-based sanctuary, and is just as easy to achieve.

The key focus is on selecting the right plants for pots, and making sure you take care of your pots – whether you are growing around a potted pollinator garden theme, a native flower arrangement, a color theme, or a combination of ornamentals and edibles. Here, we'll explore how to grow a container cut flower garden, taking special note of best practices for continued care – so you can enjoy a dazzling selection both in your pots and later, once they have been harvested for indoor displays.

Why Grow Cut Flowers in Pots?

If you can grow a cut flower garden in pots, you are instantly increasing your planting potential. This is true whether you use pots on a large scale in tandem with beds and borders – or exclusively as a way of scaling down your cut flower space. Planting in containers often offers greater flexibility and allows you to make full use of the available space. So if you feel shortchanged by your garden's basic size, you can still use pots to cultivate a haven of long-lasting cut flower color and fragrance.

Container culture makes it easier to maintain optimal growing conditions, allows for easy care, and improves the aesthetics of a small space. Though larger cutting gardens may be more productive in terms of numbers, you’ll find that pots and containers can produce impressive bouquets dependably through the summer.

How to Grow Cut Flowers in Pots

To grow a cut flower garden in containers, you just need to pay special attention to cold tolerance and hardiness zones. A plant’s cold tolerance dictates whether you’ll be able to maintain the best flowering perennials in pots. It’s also a factor in determining the best planting time for annuals, the plants’ growth habits, and their eventual size at maturity. And while it is possible to create shade containers of certain cut flowers, most varieties make their biggest splash in full or partial sun.

To grow cut flower containers with real staying power, it’s helpful to plan ahead. This includes determining which species will grow best in your designated space, when to plant them, which pollinators you’d like to attract (where relevant), and the specific needs of the plants regarding their care. Consider how to extend the flowering season by combining plants that bloom at different times of the year. And make sure your pots are strong, sturdy and prepped with adequate drainage.

Which Cut Flowers Grow Best in Containers

Compact plants like astilbe or celosia are great in containers due to their abundance and productivity. The same can also be said of growing hydrangeas, viburnum and a variety of perennial shrubs. Choosing a wide range of species imparts color, texture and appeal across pots and containers. Once you have considered cold tolerance and whether your potential plants are suitable native options for containers, the biggest decisions you need to make involve plant size and container size.

Incorporating a harmonious blend of annuals and perennials, and including some small shrubs where possible, can pleasantly diversify your small cut-flower garden space. Some pretty cut flower options that will flourish in a container garden include:

• Dahlias: Many dahlia varieties (particularly smaller breeds such as single flower types and anemone dahlias) do very well in containers. To grow a container-based dahlia, choose a pot at least 12in (30cm) in diameter, and add some well rotted manure or other organic material.
• Lavender: As cut flowers go, this is a classic container plant, as long as you select a pot that is well draining. To grow lavender in pots, make sure the potting mix has a generous amount of sand or gravel and allow the plant to dry out between waterings. Compact English heirloom varieties such as Munstead from Park Seed, available in the Gardening Know How Shop, do well in large containers. French lavender types are particularly well suited to container gardens.
• Zinnias: For happy potted zinnia plants, choose compact varieties and dwarf cultivars and make sure zinnia stems are well supported over the flowering season. Options such as Funfair Mix from Park Seed, available at the Gardening Know How Shop, will flower happily in patio pots from early summer to first frost. Deadheading blooms as they fade and wither will encourage a longer season of blooms for your container garden.

• Phlox: Container growing is fine for Phlox drummondii (annual) and Phlox subulata (creeping phlox) varieties. It might also be possible to grow bigger Phlox paniculata types, as long as you make sure the pots are large and the plants are well supported.
• Cosmos: Dwarf varieties of cosmos work well in a well draining potting mix placed in a sunny spot with access to shelter on very hot days. To grow cosmos in pots, good varieties include Sonata, Candyfloss Mix, Dwarf Sensation and Sea Shells from Park Seed, available in the Gardening Know How Shop.
• Bachelor’s Buttons: Cornflowers can thrive in containers, particularly clay and terracotta pots, with a potting mix that is neutral or slightly acidic. Make sure your container-based cornflowers have access to six-eight hours of sun a day.
• Sunflowers: Choose a dwarf breed (Elf, Sunny Smile, Choco Sun or Teddy Bear). Keep your potted sunflowers well supported, either with stakes or a position against a wall or trellis, and they are more than happy to grow in containers.

Best Cut Flower Care in Containers

Cut flower species will perform best where their basic needs are nourished and maintained carefully. For many, this means selecting a site that receives bright, full sun throughout the day. Brief periods of shade are also beneficial during the hottest portions of the afternoon in summertime. Since containers are prone to dry quickly, routine irrigation is crucial. Some container-based plants will need daily hydration, while others just need to be watered once the top layer of potted soil dries out.

As well as maintaining consistent levels of moisture for your container cut flowers, make sure you are feeding potted garden plants according to their specific care needs. Routine feeding helps to maintain soil fertility and promote growth, further contributing to the overall health and longevity of your container cut flower garden.

Harvesting Container-Grown Cut Flowers

Learning to grow cut flower containers requires a little trial and error, but once you’ve experimented with sizes, colors and variety combinations, you’re well on your way to creating some unique and memorable cut flower arrangements. You can expect annuals to begin blooming quickly, usually within six-eight weeks from planting. The flowering period of established perennials will vary throughout the season, with most persisting from spring through summer.

When and how to properly harvest cut flowers will vary according to species, regionality, weather and planting time, but most can be clipped from plants just as each petal has started to unfurl. This can ensure the longest vase life, and aid in the overall health and hydration of cut stems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Other Great Cutting Garden Ideas

• Looking for something a cut above the usual cut flowers like peonies and roses? Our guide to the most unusual flowers to grow in your cutting garden will help you big up your bouquet plantings.
• Intrigued by the possibilities of yellow planting in your cut flower gardens? These unique yellow flowers are sure to add vibrancy, cheer and illumination to your rose, dahlia and peony beds.
• Keen to add hydrangeas to your cutting garden theme, but not sure which varieties are best for your region? Follow our guide to the best hydrangeas by zone so you can be sure of growing the most voluminous and dazzling selections.
• Create on-trend beauty in your cutting garden with cool blues and deep purples – check out our Blue and Purple Plants in the Gardening Know How Shop for a range of striking cut flower options as well as flowering shrubs and even edibles.

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