While I love growing lush, romantic blooms, there’s also something very satisfying about cultivating weedier, wilder bouquet ingredients. These unique textural elements add interest and depth to any arrangement with their rustic appeal, and they produce an abundance of cutting material from midsummer through autumn.
In addition, many of these materials can be dried and used in fall wreaths and arrangements, making them doubly valuable in the cutting garden.
GRASSES
One of the fastest and easiest ways to add unexpected magic to an arrangement is to tuck a few stems of ornamental grasses into the mix. In addition to bringing unique visual interest to bouquets, these grasses are drought-tolerant and easy to grow, and they bloom for months from just one planting. ‘Feathertop’ (pictured above) has been a mainstay in my cutting garden for many years. One planting will flower for nearly 3 months, and the more you cut, the more it produces.
The creamy white, fluffy seed heads look like they are dancing in the vase and are beautiful when combined with chrysanthemums and dahlias. Seed heads will last for 7 to 10 days as fresh cuts; no floral preservative is needed.
GRAINS
Amaranth: I have grown just about every variety of amaranth on the market, but I’ve found only a handful to be worthy of planting en masse every year. Some varieties of this plant are upright and full; others produce dramatic hanging tassels that are showstoppers in vase arrangements and wedding work.
Amaranth is easy to grow and a great choice for beginning gardeners. Seed can be started indoors to produce transplants or direct sown in the garden. Harvest when the tassels begin to elongate, and remove most of the foliage so the colorful ropes are more visible.
‘Green Tails’ (pictured above, right) is an extra-special amaranth that provides a striking backdrop to a garden bed or a dramatic addition to large-scale arrangements. Its long, chartreuse green tassels add texture and combine beautifully with both bright and pastel color palettes.
I discovered ‘Coral Fountain’ (pictured above, left) during a variety trial some years back and fell madly in love with it. The pendulous blooms are the most exquisite shade of dusty pink that resembles sun-faded velvet. It is perfect for dramatic, large-scale arrangements.