Top Tips for Harvesting Homegrown Flowers
I can’t think of anything more rewarding than cutting your own flowers (especially if you’ve tended to them from seed!) and then bringing them indoors to enjoy even further. The following tips and tricks will ensure that your flowers look fresh in the vase for days to come.
Sr Designer & Event Lead, Brianna, captured by L. Olivia Photography
Harvest at the right stage
Every flower variety is a bit different, and it’s important to know when they’re ready to cut. If harvested too early or too late, they won’t have an optimal vase life and/or won’t look quite as nice in an arrangement. Below are a few tips for some of the most popular cut flowers:
Dahlias are best harvested when the bloom is fully open but the petals (especially those towards the back of the flower) are not wilting or drying out. Most dahlias will not open further once cut.
Cosmos and sunflowers are ready to pick when the bloom is still mostly closed, but shows color. They will open fully within a day or two in the vase. If they’re cut when they’re fully open, they won’t last as long in a vase.
Zinnias need to pass the “jiggle” test prior to cutting. Lightly hold the stem a couple inches below the base of the bloom, and give it a little shake. If the stem is wiggly, it’s not yet ready to cut. If the stem is relatively firm, it’s ready to harvest!
Celosia have a pretty flexible window for harvesting, but it’s best to snip them and bring indoors before their plumes start to look dry and discolored.
Cut them in the early morning or late evening
This is probably the single most important tip for harvesting your cut flowers, and is especially true on hot summer days. It’s best to pick your flowers in the early morning, when it is still cool out, or late in the evening. If you’re planning a large harvest, I’d recommend watering the garden fully late the evening prior, and then picking them at dawn the next day.
If cut in the middle of the day, many flowers are prone to wilting—especially the more delicate varieties, herbs, and vining greens.
Snip stems on an angle
When you’re harvesting flowers from the garden, it’s good to get in the habit of cutting stems on a slight angle. The reason this is so beneficial is that it increases the surface area of the bottom of the stem (by about 33%, for any fellow math nerds!) which allows your bloom to soak up a bit more water. Hydration is incredibly important to keeping cut flowers fresh, so every little bit helps, and your blooms will drink the most water the first day or two after they’ve been cut from the garden. (You’ll notice they drink *way* more water than grocery store flowers, for example, which were typically cut about a week prior in a foreign country!)
Place them in water immediately
While it’s tempting to place your flowers in a pretty basket or the crook of your arm when snipping them in the garden (I know!), it’s best to get them immediately into cool, fresh, clean water to ensure they stay hydrated. Fill up a simple bucket or wide-mouth mason jar with clean water and place your flowers and foliages directly in the water as you cut them.
Gina (left) and Alanna, photographed by L. Olivia Photography
Flower food and fresh, clean water
It’s worth spending a few dollars on flower food if you’re planning a cutting garden, as it’ll give most of your favorite flowers a few extra days of life in a vase. There are plenty of commercially-available products for sale (any of the standard flower foods online or at a wholesaler will do just fine), and in a pinch you can always use our favorite trick: sugar and vinegar. Mix about 2 tablespoons of each of these pantry staples in a medium-large size vase to give your flowers a boost. The sugar provides the nutrients flowers need, while the vinegar limits bacterial growth and balances the pH.
It’s best to change the water every day or every other day, too. Lift up your bouquet, and trim the stems about 1/2” at the bottom, ideally on an angle, and place them back into fresh, cool, clean water that has been mixed with flower food.
Let them rest before arranging
If you’re planning to design your flowers in a vase or compote bowl, it’s best to let them rest in water with flower food for a few hours prior to handling them. This allows them to get as hydrated as possible, to ensure they look fresh in a vase. (As florists, we call this process “conditioning” the flowers.) There might not always be time for this, of course, and that’s usually okay—as long as the stems get quickly in water when you’re designing.
Keep them in a cool place out of direct sunlight
As wedding florists, our biggest fears are wind and sun—not rain, like many people would think! While wind is probably not going to be an issue in your home, sunlight just might be. We always encourage gardeners to keep their beautiful homegrown flowers out of windowsills or other sunny spots in their home; this direct sunlight causes the flowers to wilt quickly…just ask us how we know :)
Happy harvesting! xx
