Nothing speaks to me as much as a field full of picking flowers. Flowers sown for the sheer purpose of plucking – then enjoyed indoors some more. In fact, to save money for our wedding, we ended up growing lots of flowers to be picked the morning of as table centerpieces. And save money we did. Stress? Not to much. My hair started graying then methinks. No one should be picking flowers the morning of their wedding. Bad idea. I digress. Some flowers were born and bred to be picked and then cherished in a favorite watering vessel. But no one wants to fight with flowers in order to have a cute bunch to enjoy. So give me thick stems to easily draw up water and big, bold flowers in radiant colors. Prolific and long-blooming flowers win the day each and every time. Here’s what I’m hoping you have in your garden now!
1. Sunflower
A couple of months ago we invested in family passports to make our entry into Canada as smooth as possible. Since we only live about 40 minutes from the Canadian border, it was high time to show our 7 and 5-year-old this beautiful neighboring country. So Niagara-On-The-Lake it was. And. Wow. Canada. You do flowers right. Mind-blowing. The sunflowers were for sale at every roadside stand and fields of them could be seen sparkling in the sun. There are no words for how gorgeous the gardens are in this little spot nestled into Lake Ontario. So if you can ever get there – go!
A sunflower can always go solo by stealing the show with those humongous blooms. No other flower is needed to make the room glow. Prolific, they seem to bloom literally forever and a day. It takes weeks for the flowers to shed a few petals and even then the damage is slow and oddly rewarding.They are so incredibly easy to grow but do make sure they get full-sun! (I mean, they are called sunflowers after all.)
2. Snapdragon
As a kid, I used to dissect snapdragon flowers. I pulled and pulled open and shut those dragon mouths with bliss and I still do! Silly me. But I love the abundant colors they come in, don’t you? And I appreciate how the tops can still be in bud while the bottom blooms its heart out making the flower last an extremely long time.
They come in both dwarf and tall flowering varieties with my favorite by far being the tall ones. Lovingly they get snipped for indoor splendor.
3. Joe Pye Weed
Joe Pye Weed is a stunning U.S. flower which I’m sure you are seeing in full bloom all over the roadsides right now. So if you want to snag some for free, that should be easy to do right now.
Wildflower. Yep. Perennial. Yep again. Herb. Again correct! And it’s a late blooming perennial so when everything else comes to a halt in late summer into early fall, you still got some Joe Pye weed. Buyer beware…..if you plant some of it in your garden it spreads like wildfire.
The bees and the birds love Joe Pye Weed too. What a stellar cut flower to have and to grow in the home garden (if you can control it). Like the snaps above, it comes in dwarf and tall varieties with the taller ones being great in those tall vases you have.
4. Zinnia
A zinnia is a hardy hardy hardy flower! And butterflies love them too.
The zinnia is the powerhouse of any summer/fall cutting garden. They literally bloom their hearts out and then bloom some more. They come in a stunning array of colors and seemingly last forever. Sturdy is just the right word for this workhouse flower that comes in a plethora of shapes and colors.
They are special to my heart because the zinnia was the star of the show for my homemade wedding arrangements. Each dinner table had at least a few to savor.
5. Shasta Daisy
Shasta daisies take over my garden by storm in summer and fall. In fact, they are so abundant that at times, we are looking to purge a few as they always want to dominant the perennial bed. They are control freaks! But this is good news for flower pickers like myself You always will have plenty in the garden and plenty to pluck. Perfect. It’s a guilt-free picking flower because you have so many of them, the garden bed will hardly become sparse from this indulgence. And it’s a huge attraction for butterflies which my kids love.
Big plus is that the white helps offset all the other colors in my homemade bouquets.
6. Cosmos
Sure, they are a sidekick in a vase, but a cosmos is a cheerful sidekick that blooms their little hearts out for weeks on end. They make every other flower stand out in the vase and even those of you who consider yourself black thumbed with get tons of prolific cosmos quickly.
Out of any flower, herb or vegetable I’ve tried from seed, cosmos have given me the most success over the years. Grown in a pot or sown directly in the ground, I’m always amazed at how quickly they germinate and grow, grow, grow. In what seems like no time at all, I have my pinkish/purplish and white blooms.
7. Queen Anne’s Lace
Yes, it’s tempting to simply write-off Queen Anne’s Lace thinking it nothing more than a roadside wildflower. Why you shouldn’t? Because they last simply forever in a vase. So when all else droops and drops you still have these snowflake lace flowers to enjoy.
We were walking the dogs and saw lots of Queen Anne’s Lace in an obliging field. It was pleasant. As typical of her, my 5-year-old picked me a little bouquet and I appropriately swooned with delight.
8. Gerber Daisy
These low-maintenance flowers are great for containers and can even be brought indoors as a houseplant. In warmer climates, they can bloom year-round! But even where I live, they’ll bloom beautifully until that first frost which makes them a wonderful fall picking flower. Plus they come in pale pastel colors to the bold yellow, red and orange showcased below. Just make sure you water well!
It’s the stiffness I love best about the gerbera daisy. Cheerful and happy, they seem almost like a silk flower. But they are not! Their stems are always so sturdy for the picking and fit ideally in any vase.
9. Dahlia
Don’t you thrive on spiky and spunky dahlia flowers that bloom from midsummer all the way to that first frost? When many of your other blooms have bit the dust, you can rely on the dahlia to bloom its heart out. And they’ll last about a week in any indoor vase, especially if you change the water.
The dahlia was made to upstage all the other flowers in your bouquet. And that’s okay! Prized for their beautiful range of colors, from the palest to the most bold of hues, you’ll love this star of any summertime arrangement. Grown as an annual from tubers, dahlia delivers that “wow” factor in both texture and vivid color.
10. Coneflower
Coneflowers are easy to grow and always provide abundant flowers. You are going to love these pinkish/purplish flowers with long thick stems to pluck and enjoy. They come back year after year with no effort and kind of resemble daisies. Full-sun please!
Although my coneflowers are quickly fading as shown in the below photo, they still retain their attractiveness even when drooping.
These are all great choices for bouquets. I really love the impact sunflowers make.
Love the list, proud to say I have them all in my garden.
I love everything about the blog.
I do not grow my own flowers just to pick, but I love to grow them in the garden or around the outside of the house. I think its a great idea though!
I have always just loved sunflowers. There is just something about them.
I adore Wildflowers…such a beautiful gift from God❣️🌻
Love all the flowers! I grow sunflowers because they are so bright! They make me happy!
I don’t grow them to pick but I should start doing this – so pretty!
This is great !! I lpve it.
I love having flowers to cut from my yard to bring inside. I can’t wait to get flowergardens plantd in our new house
I definitely need to plant some flowers in my yard to make it look prettier!
i came,i went,i farted
Cut flowers are the best! Hydrangeas are my favorite.
They are all so beautiful.
Love sunflower 🌻
Pictures of the Sunflowers bring back wonderful memories of visiting my grandparents when I was a child. My grandfather grew them then would remove the seeds at the end of the season & roast them. So delicious.
I love fresh picked flowers.
We’ve been picking our hydrangeas lately and putting them in vases around the house. I cannot wait for my sunflowers to pop up so I can pick those. We used to do dahlias but not this year.
I love all kinds of flowers, and these are some great picks!
Daisys are my favorite!
These are beautiful choices for bouquets.
I tend to leave my flowers in the garden for the bees and hummingbirds. All these photos are encouraging me to plant more and to bring some inside.
I have majority of these in my flower beds and love them too. I had never heard of Joe Pye Weed. I will definitely look for it next year. Thank you!