cutflowers

Admit it. You’ve caught the dahlia growing bug. You’ve seen all those gorgeous flower farming accounts on IG and you’re officially in love. You know you want to grow dahlias for cut flowers, but there are so. many. varieties. How do you know which dahlias make the best cut flowers? Which varieties are the prettiest and work the best in your flower arrangements?

In this post I’ll break down what to look for in a dahlia variety (and if it’s even intended for cutting!) and share some of my favourites that look good in both your garden as well as the vase. Then, when you’ve made your list of must-haves, head over to these posts to learn even more about dahlias.

How to Grow Dahlias (Especially if you have a short growing season)
How to Overwinter Dahlias
The Best Places to Buy Dahlias

A field of tall red coloured dahlia flowers at dusk.

How to tell if a Dahlia variety would make a good cut flower

As I mentioned above, there are TONS of dahlia varieties available. The amount is staggering, and it’s sometimes difficult to know if you’re getting a good one. They’re also pretty expensive! A cheap dahlia tuber goes for around $4 a piece, and more expensive ones can go for around $10. They’re also labour intensive, as they need to be dug out in the fall, stored over the winter, started early, and then planted. Talk about a lot of money and work for a flower! All this to say, you don’t want to mess it up.

The best way to tell if a dahlia would be good for cutting is to check the height of the plant. Anything that will grow to around 3 feet or more is a sure bet. The shorter varieties are either meant for containers or to be planted in landscapes. While you can use these flowers in arrangements, the stems will likely not be as long as you’d like them.

Every Shape and Size

Dahlias generally come in 4 different sizes: small (sometimes called pom-sized), medium, large, and dinner plate. I personally am not a fan of the super large dinner plate varieties for cutting, only because the flowers are too big for most arrangements. However, the offshoot flowers tend to be smaller and a more reasonable size.

Dahlias can come in a wide range of colours and combinations–red, orange, yellow, coral, pink, purple, white and very deep reds and purples. They also have different textures. Some, like Cafe Au Lait have looser textured petals, and others, like Jowie Winnie are tighter. There’s also cactus varieties, that have thin spiky petals.

An example of a cactus variety of dahlia, grown in zone 3. Medium sized with orange tips and yellow base.

Every flower farmer will have their preferences, but these are some of my favourite varieties. They’re the ones that make your brides happy and your IG account swoon-worthy.

Tips for Purchasing Dahlias

So it’s your first time growing dahlias, and you’re not sure how much or what to invest in. Here’s what you need to know, and some of my thoughts now that I’ve grown dahlias a couple of years, and invested in both cheap and expensive tubers.

If you are growing dahlias purely for your own enjoyment, start by buying the cheap ones at a big box store. They’re much cheaper, and if you lose a tuber or two it’s not such a big deal because they’re not nearly as expensive. however, you will likely not find the really coveted varieties like I’ve listed here. That’s okay. Digging up and storing dahlia tubers over the winter is a bit tricky, so it’s better to lose cheap tubers than expensive ones.

If you are a flower farmer, or wanting to start a side hustle selling bouquets from your backyard, then it’s better to buy from a reputable grower or another flower farmer so you actually get the varieties that customers want. It’s a sizeable investment, but once you have the tubers, you can cut and divide them every year and expand your collection.

P.S. If you’re thinking about starting a cut flower farming business, you’ll want to get on the list for Cut Flowers Made Simple: Serious Side Hustle so you’ll be the first to know when it comes out in December.

The Best Dahlia Varieties for Flower Farmers

While every flower farmer will eventually figure out their favourites and what sells well with their customers, these are some of the prettiest varieties that you will often see in wedding bouquets and IG pictures.

A quick disclaimer–I’ve made every effort to get the right dahlia pictured, but I didn’t label every one when I took a picture of it! I’ve taken my best educated guess, but there may be the odd dahlia that is not correct. If I’m unsure, I’ve made notes about which other dahlia I think it could be. Thanks for understanding!!

Sweet Nathalie

Gorgeous in wedding work, and paired with other dusty pinks, lavender, or Burgundy.

Photo Courtesy of **Busy Bee Farm and Florals**

Wizard of Oz

A smaller dahlia variety with pink and white petals and a yellow centre. They look beautiful in wedding bouquets.

Arabian Night

Arabian Night is one of the first dahlias to bloom in the summer. I also found it to be more resistant to thrips than my other varieties.

Peaches and Cream

This blush colour is on point and will look dreamy on your table or in a wedding arrangement.

Cafe Au Lait

The original must-have dahlia for flower growers. Cafe Au Lait also comes in other variations, such as Rose and Royal–which are equally as beautiful!

Penhill Watermelon

A beautiful watermelon shade that adds a bit of pop to an arrangement. This one might also be Cafe Au Lait Rose.

Jowie Winnie

Jowie Winnie is one of those beautiful, muted, complex colours. Is it purple? Pink? Hints of coral? Whatever it is, it’s beautiful and blends seamlessly with other colours in the arrangement.

Sweet Love

A beautiful pink and white variety. Otto’s Thrill also has a similar feel.

Sylvia

A small yellowy/peach variety that looks elegant in fall arrangements.

Linda’s Baby

I would argue that Linda’s baby is almost as standard amongst dahlia growers as Cafe Au Lait. A must-have in your garden!

SEE WHAT’S POSSIBLE AND LEARN HOW I DESIGNED MY SMALL SPACE BACKYARD CUT FLOWER GARDEN IN THIS VIDEO. . .

READY TO GROW YOUR OWN BEAUTIFUL CUT FLOWER GARDEN, WITHOUT THE HASSEL?

I’ve taken all the guesswork out of creating a cut flower garden with my e-book, Cut Flowers Made Simple. It’s the perfect way for beginner and intermediate gardeners to start their own cut flower garden with or without seed starting.

Click on the picture to find out more or get your copy.

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots. She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden. She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

Growing a cut flower garden, whether it’s a small plot in your backyard or for profit as part of a flower farm is extremely rewarding. While many perennial flowers make beautiful cut flowers, the true heart of a cut flower garden is annual flowers grown from seed.

Starting flowers from seed can seem intimidating, but it’s quite easy once you get the hang of it. I’ve compiled a list with pictures of my favourite annual cut flowers that are easy to grow, plus a list of those which are harder for beginners. It doesn’t mean you can’t grow the harder ones, they’re just a bit more challenging!

How Long Does it Take to Grow Cut Flowers from Seed?

The days to maturity of each annual flower will vary. The seed packet of each flower variety will give a range of how long the flower needs to grow. Most cut flowers that I grow have a range of 70-100 days to maturity.

One confusing thing about the term “days to maturity” is that it measures the time it takes from the seed being in the ground to the first bloom that opens. This means that you might have 70 days until the first bloom, but it might be more like 80 or 85 days until the flower really gets going.

This is probably not a problem in places with longer growing seasons, but I live in zone 3 in Saskatchewan, where we only have 90-100 growing days depending on what the frost decides to do that year.

Because I have a short growing season, I start almost all of my cut flowers indoors, then direct seed a second crop of the seeds with a shorter number of days to maturity. This way, I’m guaranteed flowers even if we have an early frost and something unexpected happens at either end of the growing season.

When Do I Start Flowers From Seed Indoors?

Generally, I start my flowers 4-6 weeks before I intend to set them outside. I have started them earlier, but I find that they are difficult to harden off and take forever to get going. I’m working on refining my hardening off process, and I promise to share it with you when I find something that’s a little more fool-proof.

That said, there are some varieties that need to be started 8 weeks or more before you intend to plant. Check your seed packets to confirm when it’s best to plant.

Where is the Best Place to Buy Cut Flower Seeds?

You can buy cut flower seeds at your local garden centre or from online seed companies. If you don’t care too much about specific varieties and colours, it’s fine to pick up whatever you find at a garden centre or even a big box store.

If you’re looking for specific specialty colours or the prettiest flowers to blow up your IG feed, you’ll probably need to order online. I’ve compiled a list of the best places to buy seeds for a cutting garden in Canada, the US, and Europe.

Related: The Best Places to Buy Cut Flower Seeds Online

The Best Annual Cut Flower Seeds for Beginners

With all that out of the way, here are my favourite easy-to-grow cut flowers that are perfect for beginners. At the end of the list, I’ll also include others which I think you should avoid, either because they have really long days to maturity, or are difficult to grow.

1. Amaranth

Amaranth is one of the easiest possible flowers for a beginner, especially the Love Lies Bleeding variety pictured here. Direct sow early in the spring, basically forget about them (an occasional watering is appreciated) and collect the blooms in the fall.

2. Calendula

Calendula is a multipurpose flower in the garden. It’s a beautiful and versatile cut flower, it is a beneficial flower in the vegetable garden, and it’s leaves are great dried in homemade beauty products. Who knew a flower that’s so pretty could have so many uses?

3. Cosmos

Cosmos are a wonderful cut-and-come-again flower. There are so many beautiful varieties available that you don’t have to just stick to the basic ones. Try the cupcake, double flowering, or lemon varieties.

4. Pincushions

Pincushions are amazing because they look good at every point in their life cycle. Whether you cut them when they’re just emerging, in bloom, or as a seed pod, they look interesting in the vase.

P.S. When you’re done planning your cut flower garden, come back and watch this video to make the best bouquets.

5. Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia is available in both perennial and annual varieties. This beautiful flower will bloom in late summer and last all the way into the fall until a hard frost.

6. Snapdragons

Snapdragons are easy to find in garden centres and big box stores if you aren’t able to start them from seed yourself. Look for the Madame Butterfly and Rocket varieties to ensure they grow tall enough for cutting.

Snapdragons are surprisingly hardy, and will survive the first frost of the season.

7. Stock

Stock is not a cut-and-come-again flower, but it’s so pretty and so easy to start from seed that it still makes my list. My stock plants also survived the hardening off process in the spring the easiest.

8. Strawflowers

Strawflowers are hands down my new favourite cut flower to grow from seed. Almost every seed I planted came up, they last a long time in the vase, are a cut-and-come-again flower, and are easy and fun to save seeds from. Just make sure you purchase a tall variety, and not a dwarf one that’s meant for pots.

9. Sunflowers

A fall garden isn’t complete without sunflowers! You don’t have to stick with just the yellow ones either. There’s a whole range of beautiful blooms in brown, red, pink, and orange too, with many variations in between. Choose branching varieties so you get the most blooms possible.

10. Zinnias

In my opinion, zinnias are the backbone of a cut flower garden. There’s so many varieties with gorgeous, vibrant colours, in any size. They’re easy to start from seed, and grow well direct soon too. For something different, try growing the Zinderella and Queen Lime varieties.

Cut Flowers Beginners Should Avoid

While I’m a firm believer that you should plant what you love, I also think a head’s up as to what might be difficult for beginners is good too. The following flowers on my list are either hard to grow, had some surprising negatives for them, or require an extra long period to maturity.

Please remember that it’s my personal opinion and what is difficult in my zone 3 garden on the prairies, might not be as difficult where you live.

Poppies

Okay, okay, stop sharpening your pitchforks! I love poppies, but here’s why I think they might not be the best choice for beginners.

Icelandic poppies are finicky to grow in a short growing season. I was able to get them to work by starting them in compostable newsprint pots (Icelandic poppies don’t like to be transplanted, but have a longer period of maturity that doesn’t work in my growing zone). Clearly, from the photo above, I was able to get them to work. However, I don’t think most beginners would be willing to do all the extra steps.
Poppy Blooms are short lived. Last year I planted Thai, Shirley, California, and Icelandic poppies. No matter what variety it was, the blooms barely lasted.
Poppies tend to Re-Seed themselves. This can be a great thing or a terrible thing. The poppies I planted from seed two years ago reseeded themselves and I was thrilled. However, you might not be so thrilled if you didn’t know that poppies would reseed and you didn’t want them there every year.
Poppy stems aren’t that strong. Again, this isn’t the end of the world. But I find it really annoying when I want to put them in a bouquet with other flowers.

Lisianthus

The lisianthus flower is stunningly beautiful, much like a rose. However, it takes around 200 days to mature and requires very specific growing conditions. Again, I realize that this flower is not impossible to grow, and with a bit of research you can figure it out. But if you’re a beginner, it’s probably best to wait a few years before you tackle it.

P.S. This is the only picture in this post that isn’t of a flower grown by me in my garden.

See what’s possible and learn how I designed my small space backyard cut flower garden in this video. . .

Ready to grow your own beautiful cut flower garden, without the hassel?