Having a steady supply of foliage is key to successfully making bouquets throughout the season�in spring, during the long months of summer, and into early fall. Most of the varieties here can be grown from seed the exceptions are raspberry greens, scented geranium, and ninebark. For more great fillers, like amaranth, millet, and cress, check out my recent post on Grasses, Grains, and Pods.
Scent is a bonus with many of these varieties. Some are culinary herbs with a magnetic fragrance that might make you hungry , and others, like bells of Ireland and the eucalyptus varieties, have a fresh, clean scent. A few stems of any of these fragrant-leaved varieties will add perfume to your arrangements and bouquets. SPRING Bells of Ireland pictured above is a cutting garden staple and one of the finest annual foliage plants you can grow for mixed bouquets. Plants are heavily branched, producing a bumper crop of tall, lime green spires adorned with bell-shaped blooms.
They have a lovely, subtle, springlike scent. Harvest once the green bells start to form along the stem. Remove leaves from the lower half of the stem because they often yellow.
Expect a vase life of up to 2 weeks with the use of floral preservative. Bupleurum pictured above : The bright, chartreuse green blooms of this easy-to-grow flower add sparkle and interest to early summer arrangements.
I love to combine the airy stems with brilliant jewel tones or simple clean whites and greens. For an extended harvest, sow seeds every 2 to 3 weeks. In mild areas, seeds can be sown directly into the garden in fall. Everywhere else, direct seed into the garden 6 weeks before the last frost. Harvest when flowers are fully open, otherwise they have a tendency to wilt.
Fresh flowers last an incredibly long time in the vase, 7 to 10 days, with or without flower food. Euphorbia : Hands down, this is one of the most versatile and productive early season foliage plants you can grow.
Its bright, chartreuse green umbels combine with nearly every color palette and are perfect for mixed bouquets. A must-grow. Harvest when flowers are fully colored but not completely open. Sear stem ends for 7 to 10 seconds in boiling water. Use caution and wear gloves when harvesting, as the sap is irritating to the skin and eyes. Expect a vase life of 7 days. Featuring gracefully arching stems with nodding blooms, these plants are easy to grow and produce a bumper crop for many weeks.
Honeywort combines beautifully with most other flowers and makes a great bouquet filler. Bees love it. Start seed indoors in trays 6 weeks before last frost; transplant out after all danger of frost has passed.
Harvest during the coolest hours of the day and then treat stems right away by dipping the bottom 2 to 3 inches 5 to 7. Stems get very floppy immediately after harvest, but once hydrated, honeywort has a vase life of 7 to 10 days.
Mint is one of the first foliage plants available to harvest in the spring and makes early spring bouquets possible. My two favorite varieties are of the same species, Mentha suaveolens : apple mint and its variegated sister, pineapple mint.
They have a fruity fragrance and slightly fuzzy leaves that are larger than those of other mints. They are hardy to Zone 5 and can grow up to 2 feet 60 cm. You can start plants from seed in either spring in cold climates or autumn, when varieties are available in nurseries. Plant in full sun to part shade, in a place where they can wander without causing any trouble. No floral preservative is needed. I plant hundreds of them each year and use every single stem. For staking, I recommend using flower netting attached to sturdy posts, since these plants are quite bulky.
To extend the harvest, succession sow every 2 weeks. Cut when about 80 percent of the flowers on a stem are open. If harvested much earlier, the stems have a tendency to wilt. Fresh flowers will last 6 to 8 days in the vase with flower preservative. Sweet Pea vines: Sweet peas were the flowers that inspired me to begin my flower journey, and they are a favorite at our farm.
We offer more varieties of sweet pea than any other plant, including many new introductions for , several developed by renowned breeder Keith Hammett of New Zealand. Check out my recent blog post on new sweet pea varieties. While sweet peas are beloved for their gorgeous, fragrant blooms, they also are a surprisingly wonderful filler.
The wild-looking vines add amazing texture, shape, and volume to arrangements. In our cool climate, basil must be grown in low tunnels to lessen disease pressure and extend the stem length. The bright green foliage and white flowers are fragrant, and we combine them with zinnias for a fast, beautiful bouquet from midsummer through autumn.
The aromatic foliage is a spicy combination of licorice and mint. Expect a vase life of 7 to 10 days; stems often root in the vase. This special dusty Miller features tall, thick stems with large, smooth-edged silver leaves.
The more you pick it, the more stems it produces. Ready to cut just 4 months from sowing, this hardworking plant will reward you with buckets of fuzzy, silvery foliage all season long. In warmer areas it will perennialize if mulched. Start seed indoors in trays 10 to 12 weeks before last frost; transplant out after all danger of frost has passed. Seed is slow to start; bottom watering is recommended until plants emerge.
Seedlings do not look silver when very young but color up as they mature. Cut foliage is prone to wilting in the heat, so harvest during the coolest part of the day and place directly into water to rest for a few hours before arranging.
Stems will last 7 to 10 days in the vase. This plant is super versatile and makes a wonderful addition to summer bouquets. Start seed indoors in trays 4 weeks before last frost, then gently transplant out after all danger of frost has passed.
Dill can also be direct seeded into the garden after your last frost date. For an extended harvest, sow 2 to 3 successions. Harvest when umbels are fully open and bright yellow-green, and remove some of the ferny foliage near the base of the stem.
Expect a vase life of 10 days. The plant is easy to grow from seed in spring, has foliage that smells like Earl Grey tea, and holds well in arrangements. Its unusual overall coloring�a mix of green, gray, and soft purple�and the whorl-shaped blooms make it more useful as a filler plant, like bells of Ireland, than as an actual flower.
It can be succession-planted throughout the summer, and it churns out an enormous volume from even the smallest planting. Cut when the flower whorls begin to turn from all green to purple.
These flowers are prone to wilting in the heat, so harvest in the cool of the morning or evening, and place in water to rest for a few hours before arranging. Stems will last 7 to 10 days if you use floral preservative. It looks great en masse, pairs well with almost anything, and blooms for most of the summer from just one planting. The lacy umbels come in a range of sizes and shades, adding a dramatic, airy quality to finished arrangements.
Cut when flowers have fully opened and flower heads are flattened across the top. Expect a vase life of 6 to 8 days in the vase with floral preservative. Love in a Puff pictured above : These long, ferny-leaved vines are loaded with tiny white blossoms and the intriguing green, balloon-like pods resemble miniature paper lanterns. What is even more magical is that inside each balloon are tiny black seeds imprinted with perfect white hearts. These vigorous growers will scramble up and over a trellis in no time.
Woven into an arrangement, this beauty will take any creation to a whole new level. Start seed indoors in pots 8 to 10 weeks before last frost; transplant out after all danger of frost has passed. Love in a Puff is very sensitive to cold; wait until weather has warmed to plant out. Provide a strong trellis or support for vines to climb. Choose stems that have firmed up and are covered in little green lanterns.
Stems will last a good week in the vase if flower preservative is used. Raspberry greens: I started using this wonderful foliage in bouquets years ago, and it is still on my top favorite list of things we grow. The greens last more than 2 weeks in the vase and are wildly productive, providing foliage all season long.
They grow in poorer soil than traditional summer-fruiting types, and they fruit in yellow and red. Grown primarily for its striking, serrated foliage, hibiscus only flowers indoors in temperate regions.
The more you cut this heat- and drought-tolerant plant, the more it produces. Start seed indoors in 4-inch cm pots 4 to 6 weeks before last frost; transplant out after all danger of frost has passed. Harvest during the coolest part of the day once the foliage is mature and leathery and the tips are no longer floppy. Strip the lower half of the leaves off and sear stem ends ends in boiling water for 5 to 7 seconds.
Expect a vase life of 7 days or more. Scented geranium: This foliage makes an amazing base for arrangements from midsummer to late autumn. You can order plants from Select Seeds.
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