Gardening with Cut-and-Come-Again Flowers

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Happy spring equinox, dear friends! If you, like me, are anxious to get outside and play around in your garden again, then I hope today’s post will inspire you to consider some wonderful cut-and-come-again annuals in your planting schemes this year. I’m new to gardening with annuals but a single summer working with them has completely changed my perception about gardening and has reframed my expectations of productivity.

Unlike perennials, which come back year after year but only flower for a couple of weeks during a growing cycle (I’m looking at you, peonies), cut-and-come-again annuals (zinnias, cosmos, dahlias etc) live short but hard-working and productive lives. These varieties are easy to grow and abundant bloomers – cutting promotes growth so the more you pick, the more they’ll flower. How amazing is that?

My gardening efforts were a direct application of Sarah Raven’s Create Academy course, Cut and Come Again Masterclass, and I’m happy to say things worked out beautifully. To make space for a cut flower garden at the back of our house, we built a few raised beds using a simple Youtube tutorial, lined them up just right and filled them with compost and dirt. My initial investment in plants was modest – a few seed packets from a local grocery store (mostly varieties of zinnias and cosmos), and some dinner plate dahlia tubers from Walmart. 

My initial goal was to have fresh flowers in vases all around the house, all summer long. The outcome, however, far exceeded my expectations, with several bouquets of picked blooms every week, from early June to late September. Plus, thanks to generous friends and neighbors, I branched out into growing veggies and herbs, and it was a wonderful experience!  We had an abundance of fresh tomatoes, zucchinis, basil and rosemary for cooking, all summer long.

So, if you’re interested in learning more about growing cut-and-come-again annuals, I highly recommend Sarah Raven’s course, which you can access HERE. Starting seeds indoors takes a bit of patience, but if you have a sunny window sill and some seed starting trays, it is well worth the effort since one seed packet will go a long way in minimizing your financial investment in plants.

It was my first time starting seeds indoors and I was very pleased with these seed starting trays, which had a 99% germination rate for my cosmos and zinnias. Labeling and keeping track of your plants is an important part of the process, not just for your records, but for the sake of having a neat and orderly garden. There are many different options out there, and you will probably find your own favorites, but I loved these little labels – elegant and environmentally friendly.
Well, this pretty much summarizes last year’s gardening highs over here – please feel free to share your own take and wisdom, I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences growing annuals, be it flowers or edibles.