I Long for a Cutting Garden

Farm-fresh flowers

Just picked up a bouquet of snapdragons from the local farm stand. They reminded me of the ones my grandmother grew in her cottage garden when I was little.  I remember her showing me how pinching the blooms made them snap open and close like a dragon's mouth.

I'd love to be able to cut large, fresh bouquets like this from a cutting garden on my property.  Unfortunately, space and sun are limited unless I clear another significant patch of land.  Sure, I can snip a rose or hydrangea bloom here and there.  And I have plenty of filler material like ferns and shrub stems.  However, I always get stingy when cutting perennials as I want to leave as many blooms in the garden as possible.

In my dream cutting garden, I would plant tall annuals that could be cut without remorse.  And the garden would have spring bulbs, peonies, tea roses and dahlias that supply seasonally appropriate blooms for indoor arrangements.  And when cut or past their prime, these sacrificial plants would be out of sight from the main gardens.

But for now, I'm content to support the local farm stands that consistently produce quite an array of flowers.  After all, I like contributing back to the farms whose fields make the Hamptons so picturesque.