Collection

Fourth of July Cutting Garden

By Christine Alexander

The following plants were used in our Fourth of July bouquet video, but many plants can be grown and used for a Fourth of July cutting garden.

If you want to grow an Independence Day cutting garden, you’ll need plenty of red, white, and blue flowers.

 

In our bouquet, we used the following, which are available from most florists—but you can grow these plants, too! Look through the articles below for tips on growing these varieties.

Plants for a Fourth of July Garden

 

‘Mr. Lincoln’ hybrid tea rose 
Hybrid teas have gotten a bad rep from the gardening community, but they are beautiful in flower arrangements. Many other varieties of roses, shrubs, and climbers offer gorgeous blossoms as well, but typically they are too short-stemmed for many traditional bouquets. If you love having cut flowers but hybrid teas offend your design sensibilities, then we suggest tucking one somewhere out of the way. ‘Mr. Lincoln’ is a wonderful, bold, red variety, as is ‘Chrysler Imperial’, but ‘Take it Easy‘ might be a more disease-resistant alternative.

 

Hydrangea macrophylla
A white variety of Hydangrea macrophylla is a wonderful addition to Southern cutting gardens. Learn more about growing bigleaf hydrangeas. For northerners who can’t grow Hydrangea macrophylla, Hydrangea paniculata is an alternative to consider.

 

Baptisia australis
The plant with bluish purple flowers is Baptista australis. It blooms in spring but often can make it through to late June or early July depending on your location. This hardy plant can be grown from Zones 3 to 9, making it a versatile selection for your cutting garden. See more about growing Baptisia.

 

 

Hypericum androsaemum
This is widely grown for the florist trade but is not common in home gardens. Hypericum is the fruit that grows on this plant, commonly known as sweet amber. It can be grown in Zones 5 to 8. The plant works well as a ground cover, and berries are often found in floral arrangements.

 

Dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima)
Dusty miller is a very cool, soft, silver-leaved perennial that grows in Zones 7 to 10. Yellow flowers bloom from time to time, but most people plant dusty miller as an accent plant in beds and borders. See more about growing dusty miller.

 

Sea holly (Eryngium planum)
Sea holly has bluish purple spiky blossoms that look a bit starlike, which makes it a very appropriate addition to a Fourth of July bouquet. This plant grows in Zones 5 to 9, is fairly tough, and will easily spread out over a couple of years if allowed, which makes it a great selection if you’ve got some space to fill in your garden.

 

Finished bouquet. Photo: Dani Haims

 

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