Bring Your Garden Indoors With Cut Flowers

Beginning in the first mild weather of spring, my wife brings our garden indoors with cut flowers in vases. She starts the season with branches of forsythia placed in a vase in a warm spot of the house knowing in a short time they will be bursting with blooms. From then until the autumn cold puts an end to our mums, we have the beautiful colors and fragrances of our garden right in our home.

I recently asked some local gardening experts about their favorite cut flowers.

Betty Adelman of Heritage Flower Farm suggested peonies. “If you cut the flowers before they are fully open they last for weeks. They’re fragrant and big and blousy.” They’re also garden hardy and come in a variety of colors.

Rebecca Milaeger of Milaegers Garden Center favors one of the bearded iris for their beauty and fragrance. Milaeger said, “I like it combined with a strong vertical like veronica.” When selecting the iris for cutting, choose a stalk with several buds that are just beginning to blossom.

After cutting the flowers outdoors, bring them in and re-cut the stem at a 45-degree angle using a sharp knife and cutting them while the end of the stem is under water. This prevents bubbles of air in the stem and extends the life of the flower.

When placing them in the vase, gently remove any leaves and blossoms from the stem that would be below the surface of the water.

Keep your cut flowers away from direct sun and heat.

You can feed your flowers by purchasing a commercial flower preservative or by using a homemade solution containing 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of sugar and ¼ tablespoon of bleach mixed in a quart of warm water.

Following these simple steps will keep your cut flowers vibrant longer. There’s nothing that freshens a home up more than the beauty and fragrance that a vase full of cut flowers brings!