Cut flowers for indoors

It may not be edible, but I LOVE having flowers to bring indoors for most of the gardening season here.    Sharing a few of the bouquets I've enjoyed from my own yard this past year,   I am not shy about including "weeds" as well,   I let fleabane grow everywhere for example.    And anything with interesting foliage as well, like y willow.    I make a fresh arrangement for my work lobby every week as well to share with clients:  

Beautiful!  I just started growing flowers to sell along side our produce at farmers markets.  I didn't pay all that much attention to them until around 3 years ago.  Now I find myself really enjoying them.  

beautiful!  How are they doing as a sale item,  is it popular?    (and now I must have iris....   lol)

Thank you, Heather.  :)  They don't do too bad.  Some of the markets that we do are better than others for them.  Are you thinking of starting a business selling what you love? :)

Ha, well, always more ideas than time right?      I'm currently self-employed doing what I love (dog training) and it fills up many of my hours quite well.    Although I would be lying if I said I don't often think of adding a small "farm stand/self serve"  right inside my current lobby!    It could happen...     (if only I had multiple mes)

Any recommended things to grow for cut flowers? The flowers in the 'forest garden' gave me much joy last year, and I'd like to add to their ranks.
So far I have echinacea (pink and white), eucalyptus, alliums and rudbeckia.

Heather Staas wrote:Ha, well, always more ideas than time right?    .... (if only I had multiple mes)

LOL That's the truth!  .... (I know the feeling).  We do markets and have a farm stand that is semi self serve.  The farm stand is the easiest.  I really want to work my way out of farmers markets and into u-pick farm memberships, whole sell to local producers (fruit, herbs, and flowers), and just the farm stand.

Charli,  one of the only things this house came with was 4 large rose bushes.     I never appreciated roses before!    The are excellent thorny habitat for small birds and mammals, create a lot of ground protection,  and the blooms start in June and then reblooms go right through to the mid fall for me.   I had no idea they were so versatile.    I'm working on figuring how to develop and use rose hips (I understand, I think, that not all types of roses are useful this way).    Almost all of my flower arrangements included roses.     I also use a lot of non-conventional fillers...  like catmint and marigolds.  They are WONDERFUL in bouquets and long-lasting cut.   Who knew?   And they are both already hard working permaculture plants in their own rights.   How about sochan/ cutleaf coneflowers?   LOTS of tall yellow daisy like flowers on long stems,  and lots of delicious greens in the spring.  

Charli Wilson wrote:Any recommended things to grow for cut flowers? The flowers in the 'forest garden' gave me much joy last year, and I'd like to add to their ranks.
So far I have echinacea (pink and white), eucalyptus, alliums and rudbeckia.

I like my hydrangeas, crocosmia (though they will take over if you don't watch them), goldenrod, campanula, buddleia, clematis and of course roses--I have a lot of others too, mostly perennials, though some years I'll raise things like sweet peas, dahlias and cosmos .  Most of mine are legacy plants from a previous owner, though I did put in loads of spring bulbs myself, as well as a few others.

For a couple of years I was taking a photo of my weekly homegrown bouquets, but life happens.  I still pick the weekly bouquet but it's for our cemetary visit now.

I love to give my friends and family flowers.  I find interesting "vases" at the thrift store, often times a mug with an appropriate saying.  My cost is .50 to a 1.00, and people seem to really love them.  
Strange I know, but the last bouquet I made was for the people at my work.  I was fired, and most didn't think I should have been fired (including me).  I was touched and amazed by the kindness and support I received.  I'm kind of an introvert, I always took my lunch and break by myself in my car, or an other location.  I had no idea how many people cared.  I was amazed, and very grateful!  I wrote a little note of appreciation, and left my flowers by the time clock.  The flowers were a hit.

Cut flower time again!  Finally!  

You all have a very good sense for flower arrangement... Here's my meager attempt.

Some feral begonias got snapped by accident, so I put them in some water in a vase, but they looked lonely so I found them some wild chrysanthemums and pineapple sage for friends!

Heather Staas wrote:Ha, well, always more ideas than time right?      I'm currently self-employed doing what I love (dog training) and it fills up many of my hours quite well.    Although I would be lying if I said I don't often think of adding a small "farm stand/self serve"  right inside my current lobby!    It could happen...     (if only I had multiple mes)

Ah, yes, the "I need clones!" premise...or, maybe, have our brains/spirits/what have you, put into an android body, like Data?  He never needs to sleep....

For indoors, orchids hands down!
Outdoors, I adore them all. Even the stinky ones

Thought I'd pop back in at the end of the flower year here and share a few more of my cut flowers for work, and a few that I brought to friends/family for birthdays and other celebrations.  Every year I have a few new ones growing, and test out some other bits to add to the arrangements, grass, herbs, shrub trimmings: