Select Summertime Favorites

Snapdragons are natural for cutting -- especially varieties with long, tall stems (such as the Arrow series). We planted several fragrant Arrow Pink in our this cut-flower garden. The soft pink blooms are an elegant accent to celosia Kelos Purple, which offers magenta-purple upright spikes that are elegant in both fresh and dried flower arrangements.

For color and texture, we added in ammi, a relative of Queen Anne's lace that features soft, ferny foliage and domes of white flowers that attract butterflies. Rich purple fountain grass adds a jolt of rich color and basil adds fragrance. Unlike most varieties of basil, Floral Spires Lavender is grown for its lavender-pink blooms that add to any garden or container planting.

What's Inside

• Ammi majus
• Basil (Ocimum Floral Spires Lavender)
• Celosia Kelos Purple
• Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum Vertigo)
• Snapdragon (Antirrhium Arrow Pink)

Basil: Learn more!
Purple fountain grass: Learn more!

Employ Contrasting Colors

Blue and yellow is practically always a winning combination -- both in the garden and in the vase. We used yellow snapdragons and blue salvia to create a big jolt of garden color.

Ammi adds fun texture, and we complemented it with the white flowerheads of dianthus. Whether you use them together or separately, this collection almost ensures a colorful, successful cutting garden.

What's Inside

• Ammi majus
• Dianthus Dash White
• Salvia Mystic Spires Blue
• Snapdragon (Antirrhinum Arrow Yellow)

Plant Harmonious Colors

We love the soft, silvery-blue flowers from Fairy Queen salvia (as well as its easy-care nature and the fact that it brings butterflies to the garden). While it looks good with just about anything you plant it with, we're particularly fond of pairing it with silver-leafed plants such as the helichrysum here. Together, the two plants have an elegant beauty that works in the garden, in containers, or when cut in vases.

To add in a pop of color, we included celosia Kelos Purple, which also has upright spikes that play off the salvia. A few Liberty Rose snapdragons completes the mix.

What's Inside

• Ammi majus
• Celosia Kelos Purple
• Helichrysum Silver Star
• Salvia Fairy Queen

Mix Light and Dark Colors

Pair light and dark colors to create bold, dramatic effects in the garden. We did that here with dianthus and snapdragon; the velvety, dark red dianthus flowers contrast beautifully against the creamy-pink snapdragon spikes. The difference in flower shape -- upright spikes and rounded balls -- adds extra interest.

For more color, we included another snapdragon in a darker shade of lavender pink. Ammi lends the garden delightful texture and airiness with its ferny foliage and delicate, lacy flowers.

What's Inside

• Ammi majus
• Dianthus Sweet Black Cherry
• Snapdragon (Antirrhinum Arrow Pink)
• Snapdragon (Antirrhinum Liberty Lavender)

Include Fragrant Flowers

Add an extra-special touch to your bouquets with fragrant flowers. We did that in this garden with beautiful lavender, a heat-, drought-, deer-, and rabbit-resistant plant that loves sunny spots. In early summer, it shows off spikes of lavender-purple blooms that are great fillers in flower arrangements.

We've paired the lavender with dianthus, another cottage-garden favorite. First Love, the variety we chose, has tall stems of white flowers that quickly mature to a rich pink. Individual blooms in the flower head open at different rates, so the plant has a multicolor feel. A dwarf white carnation adds more appeal to the garden and is accented by the tall stems of ammi -- a relative of Queen Anne's lace that offers lacy foliage and big white flower heads.

What's Inside

• Ammi majus
• Carnation (Dianthus Sunflor White)
• Dianthus First Love
• Lavender (Lavandula Vicenza Blue)

Be Playful

Gardening is fun. Even with the weeding and watering and other things that sometimes feel like chores, there's something that's just fun about watching plants grow and enjoying their beauty.

Garden design should be fun, too. We pulled out a playful feel with a multicolor dianthus variety. The flowers open white and quickly mature to an intense, magenta pink. When planted in groups, this variety gives your garden a confetti feel. Ammi is another fun plant bearing delicate-looking, lacy foliage and umbrella-like domes of lacy white flowers.

A couple of snapdragon varieties add fragrance and a vertical feel to the mix. They're a perfect contrast to globe amaranth, an excellent cutting flower that produces ball-shaped blooms that work beautifully fresh and dried.

What's Inside

• Ammi majus
• Dianthus Dash Magicien
• Globe amaranth (Gomphrena Buddy White)
• Snapdragon (Antirrhinum Arrow Pink)
• Snapdragon (Antirrhinum Liberty Lavender)

Keep it Simple

It's nice to have lots of flowers at your disposal for making beautiful bouquets, but when space is at a premium, look at ways to create impact with less. We did that here with two longtime cutting-flower favorites.

Dahlias provide a nonstop show of gorgeous flowers from spring all the way through fall. And the more you cut them, the more they bloom! We selected a bicolor variety (Dalaya Yogi) for heightened visual interest.

Gerber daisy is an elegant accent to dahlias. It's also a reliable blooming machine with flowers that last a long time in the vase. And like with the dahlia, cutting the blooms mean it produces even more.

What's Inside

• Dahlia Dalaya Yogi
• Gerbera Jaguar Pink

Pay Attention to Flowers

We hear from many gardeners who are intimidated by combining flowers. One trick we like to use is to echo colors. We did that here with a snapdragon and dahlia; the rich, velvety-red snapdragon bloom is a match for the center of the dahlia. The subtly adds elegance to your design.

For contrast, we used silvery helichrysum and tall, lacy ammi majus. The combo is great in the garden and cut in the vase!

What's Inside

• Ammi majus
• Dahlia Dalaya Yogi
• Snapdragon (Antirrhinum Arrow Red)

Go for the Unexpected

Sometimes it's a little fun to throw in a surprise. We did that with bright orange celosia as a focal point against red, pink, and white flowers.

Celosia is a longtime favorite flower for cutting. Its elegant, feather-like plumes work well in both fresh flower arrangements and in dried-flower crafts. A heat- and drought-tolerant beauty, it's also wonderfully easy to grow. Snapdragon and dianthus are both cool-season flowers that bloom best in spring, but continue to produce some blooms in summer -- especially if you take the time to remove faded blooms. Ammi adds texture and height.

What's Inside

• Ammi majus
• Celosia Kelos Orange
• Dianthus Dash Crimson
• Snapdragon (Antirrhinum Arrow Dark Red)