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If you’re a hardcore vegetable gardener you might be guilty of skipping over the flower section of your favorite seed catalog in favor of the vegetables. I’ve been guilty of this myself in the past.
In fact, for many of us, buying ourselves fresh flowers often feels like an extravagant and unnecessary expense.
Even at my local farmers market at the peak of summer, I’m guilty of walking by the amazing bouquets of bright flowers in favor of spending my money on vegetables.
But today, let me try to convince you that choosing to grow cut flowers alongside your vegetables is one of the best ways to deepen the joy and beauty your garden infuses into your life.
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of harvesting a basket full of colorful produce you grew with your own two hands. If you know just what I’m talking about then I’m pretty sure you’ll also love gathering a bright bouquet of cut flowers just as much.
Luckily, if you’re already a vegetable gardener it’s incredibly easy to incorporate some cut flowers into your garden so you can harvest beautiful bouquets for yourself and friends all summer long.
This post was originally featured as part of the book launch for Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms. 
I updated and expanded this post with more resources and two additional flowers I grow every year in my own garden.
This post isn’t sponsored in any way. I’ve been so impressed with their heart-centered business over the years that I reached out to them and offered to help promote their book.
7 FABULOUS CUT FLOWERS TO GROW IN YOUR GARDEN
Photo by Floret Flower Farm
Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus)
A cousin to the carnation, these fragrant blooms are anything but boring. The Dianthus ‘Amazon’ and the ‘Sweet’ series are both consistent performers with great stem length and nice sized blooms.
Often called “pinks,” this plant pumps out mounds of flowers all summer long. Unlike biennial Dianthus, neither require cold temps to set flowers so they can be grown as annuals.
Floret Flower Farm grows and sells its own cut flower seeds and they often sell out very quickly.
Because of this, I’m providing links to other sources as well. See the end of this post for the best places to buy cut flower seeds.
You can find Floret Flower Farm’s seed store here.
I found some other dianthus seeds around the web:
Photo by Floret Flower Farm
Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus)
These beautiful blooms are highly productive, have long strong stems, a long vase life, plus a lovely citrus scent. Great in late spring bouquets and before the summer heat arrives.
This gorgeous group of ruffled butterfly-type blooms is one of our most requested and best-loved crops of the summer!
Favorites include:
Lots of snapdragon seeds on Etsy here.
Photo by Floret Flower Farm
Zinnias
Nothing screams summer more than a handful of cheery zinnias. Available in a brilliant rainbow of colors, these cut-and-come-again plants are essential for any flower-loving gardener.
As one of the easiest cut flowers to grow, they are a perfect first crop for beginning gardeners. They also do well in a wide range of climates and growing zones.
Favorites include:
Lots of cool zinnia varieties in this Etsy shop here.
Photo by Floret Flower Farm
Chocolate Lace Flower (Daucus carota)
This large-flowered chocolate-colored Queen Anne’s Lace looks great en masse, pairs well with many other colors and blooms for most of the summer from just one planting.
The lacy umbels come in a range of sizes and shades, adding a dramatic, airy quality to garden bouquets.
Seeds for Chocolate Lace Flower.
Photo by Floret Flower Farm
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena)
If you don’t already grow this old-fashioned cottage garden favorite, you’ll definitely want to make room for it in your garden this spring.
This complex plant features lacy, star-shaped blooms framed by a delicate halo of fringed foliage and thin, almost thread-like leaves that resemble fennel (even though they are in different families).
While this plant looks quite fragile, it’s one of the hardiest early bloomers in the garden. Nigella can be hand-sown into prepared beds in your garden, as they don’t perform as well when transplanted.
Considered a “cool” flower, Nigella is cold-tolerant and can be sown into your garden in the late summer/early fall (in warmer regions) which allows them time to get established and build a strong root system before the winter cold sets in.
You can also direct seed them in your garden in early spring.
This seed seller has lots of unique varieties.
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
Black-eyes Susan is commonly seen in perennial and prairie gardens in the Midwest where I live. The good news is that you don’t have to be a perennial flower gardener to grow rudbeckias (as they are also known).
The photo above features the best Black-eyed Susan I’ve ever grown – Prairie Sun. Instead of a black eye (or center), it has more of a green center and two-toned petals featuring complementary yellows.
I’ve also tried and liked
Cherry Brandy (maroon instead of yellow)
This Etsy shop has many different varieties of Rudbeckia seeds.
Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa)
I’ve been planting Globe Amaranth as a companion to my vegetables for as long as I can remember. I often rotate the flowers I grow each year, but this one is always on the list!
Many of the varieties are tall and airy, so you easily mix them with your vegetables and they won’t crowd them out.
The blooms last way past your first frost and hold their color when dried so you can use them for winter bouquets as well.
I love Strawberry Fields Gomphrena mixed with the Prairie Sun Rudbeckia in the same garden bed. The red and yellow colors pop against each other and the vastly different forms of the plants complement each other well.
Other favorite varieties
This shop and this shop have some fun varieties of Gomphrena.
Where To Buy Cut Flower Seeds
If you already have a favorite seed company you should be able to find cut flower seeds in their catalog. Some of the varieties we talked about in this blog post are a little more difficult to find because they’re so unique.
But, due to the rising popularity of growing cut flowers I have noticed that more and more seed companies are expanding their seed selections to include more than just your average cut flowers.
If you prefer to support local and small seed companies and growers like I do, check out some of these seed sources.
Etsy: There are a lot of individual seed savers and growers on Etsy and they tend to carry many of the harder to find varieties. To save you time lots of time I created an Etsy list featuring many of the varieties from this post. Check it out here.
Floret Flower Farm: A family-owned business in Washington state, the farm featured in this blog has been slowly breeding their own varieties and expanding the amount of seeds they offer each year.
They open their seed shop in early January and many of their most unique seeds tend to sell out very quickly. I’d suggest signing up for their email list so you get notification each year about the seed shop’s opening date. Find all of the seed varieties they offer here.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds: This Maine company is a favorite of organic farmers all over the US. Their vegetable, flower, and herbs seeds are focused on high-performing varieties.
If you want to grow cut flowers this season you won’t be disappointed if you order from them. See their offerings here.
Botanical Interests: This Colorado company has been selling herbs, seeds, and flowers for 25 years. They also have a robust seed donation program I utilized when I ran youth gardening programs for a local non-profit in Madison. Check out their flower varieties here.
Amazon: Although it might be more convenient for you to purchase your seeds from Amazon, I struggle with their platform because it’s difficult to know who exactly is selling the seeds I’m purchasing.
While looking for varieties while writing this article I discovered one of the vendors had stolen photos from the Floret Flower Farm website to use in their listing. It’s the Wild West on Amazon sometimes.
I know it’s convenient to purchase from Amazon, so I did provide some links to that platform in the variety suggestions under each flower type. I also list favorite garden tools, vegetable varieties, and more in my Amazon shop.
How to Plant Cut Flowers
More Resources for Growing Cut Flowers in Your Garden
A Year in Flowers: Designing Gorgeous Arrangements for Every Season
Once you get the hang of growing cut flowers the next step is mastering how to artfully arrange them into stunning bouquets you can scatter around your house to bring you joy all season long. This is the follow up book to Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden. Click here to purchase.
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Vegetables Love Flowers: Companion Planting for Beauty and Bounty
One of my favorite gardening books is a holistic view of why and how mixing flowers in with our vegetables benefits us, our plants, and the animals and insects that are a part of our garden ecosystems. Click here to purchase.
Read more about adding beauty to your vegetable garden:
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