This time of year, I spend lots of down time flipping through seed catalogs. And they all have me day dreaming about flowers. In my mind, edible flowers and fresh-cut flowers are already bursting in my garden and on my farm. I love incorporating flowers into my crop production areas to invite beneficial insects, and add color and beauty.
But I also love to incorporate flowers into my home garden, where I grow vegetables and kitchen herbs for my family. So, I’d like to share some of my successes with you for planting edible flowers, herbs and flowers for cutting into a garden landscape.
Go beyond flowers
In thinking about flowers for fresh cutting, you don’t have to just think about flowers. Consider herbs and grains like amaranth, buckwheat, and multi colored quinoa.
These tall stems can be show stoppers on their own or make great fillers in your arrangements. Herbs like Purple Ruffle basil, Thai Basil and Cardinal Basil, and more unusual and tasty herbs like Perilla (Purple Shiso), Indian Coriander and Papalo make lovely fillers that add shades of green and purples in your bouquets and in the garden.
Think edible
Add edible flowers to your garden to attract more pollinators and give you something to harvest for meals. These are some of my personal favorites:
- Bee Balm or Monarda)
- Borage (bumble bees love these flowers as you will too – they taste like cucumber!)
- Blue Butterfly Pea
- Chamomile
- Echinacea or Cone Flower
- Bronze Fennel
Consider varying heights
When designing your garden, think about the heights of different plants. Use taller plants behind shorter ones, or place them in the middle of a circular bed with shorter plants around them. Some tall plants that are edible and great for cutting fresh and dried include:
- Cosmos
- Quinoa
- Amaranth
- Buckwheat
- Dahlias
- Tall marigolds like Orange Hawaii
- Tall growing Snap Dragon like Potmac and Madame Butterfly.
Bordering plants that are edible and great for fresh cutting include Gem series Marigolds, Dianthus (small carnations) and Calendula.
Plant flowers for drying
Some flowers dry better than others. Incorporate some of these varieties into your garden and play with drying flowers for pot pouris and dried flower bouquets. Some of my favorites are:
- Zinnias
- Statice
- Strawflower Helichrysum
- Lovage
- Lavender
- Gomphrena (globe amaranth)
- Celosia – so many to choose from!
Mark your calendar for our Pre-Season Organic Plant Sale
April 27-28, 2019
This year, we’re doing things a bit differently. We’re putting more focus on our plant nursery for a shorter period of time so that we can offer a larger selection of cultivars all at once.
We’ll have a Pre-Season Plant Sale on Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28 from 9:00 to 4:00 pm.
RSVP to our Pre-Season Organic Plant Sale on Facebook!
We grow all of our plant starts from seed right here at our farm in Palisade, Colorado. We always use non-GMO, untreated seeds, and we start our plants with organic seeds as much as possible. Buying plants locally means that you get healthier, hardier plant starts that are already acclimated to our high desert climate.
We have a vast assortment of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables, flowers, medicinal and culinary herbs and perennial plants – Not to mention our collection of lavender plants!
Join us for our Pre-Season event April 27-28. Opening Day at the farm is May 2, 2019. Mark your calendar! Plant shopping is so fun – and we look forward to having you!
Pre-Season Gift Certificate Special
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Special Pre-Season Price: $100
Buy Now and get $125 worth of plants for $100!
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Special Pre-Season Price: $65
Buy Now and get $65 worth of plants for $65!
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Special Pre-Season Price: $45
Buy Now and get $50 worth of plants for $45!
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Big plans for your garden? Check out our Organic Plant CSA
Like many small farms and greenhouses across the country are beginning to do, we’ve adapted the CSA model here at Sage Creations to suit the needs of sustainability-minded, food-loving gardeners. Our Organic Plant CSA program provides organically grown plant starts, seeds and educational resources to new and experienced home gardeners throughout the growing season.
Join our Organic Plant CSA to save more than 10% on plants
What flowers are you excited to plant in your garden this year?
What are some of your favorite herbs to incorporate into your garden beds?
Let me know in the comments below!
Coilleen Gibbons
My husband and I recently purchased 5 acres in Norwood that I would love to see turn into something beautiful. Right now it’s mostly a blank slate. I dream of having a lavender farm. I dream of creating something as beautiful as yours!! I find that edible and medicinal plants are intriguing. Last summer I started out with English lavender, oregano, bee balm, and giant sunflowers . This summer I want to explore some cover crops for fruit trees we planted. I have been inspired by your farm and hope to someday have something as wonderful.