Cutting Gardens: The Complete Guide to Growing Flowers and Creating Spectacular Arrangements from

Although I'd rather grow plants indoors than cut flowers, there are moments when a fresh-cut bouquet of flowers can brighten up even the most dull day. "One of the gardener's greatest pleasures is harvesting fragrant, colorful blossoms throughout the growing season. To bring fresh flowers indoors-with their heavenly scents, exquisite colors, and wonderful shapes and textures-is to bring indoors a little piece of paradise." This is not an extensive book, but it is practical. The contents include: Planning a Cutting Garden Cutting Garden Plans Growing Flowers for Cutting Cutting and Arranging Flowers Encyclopedia of Plants You will also find page after page of freshly blooming flowers all in country-like settings. The Encyclopedia of plants has a list of 200 plants with pictures. Each includes a description, planting zone information, planting information, care, harvesting and conditioning and uses. Also includes: Advice on planting seasonal selections. Instructions on how to condition and arrange flowers so they last as long as possible. Tips on designing with color and creating eye-catching color schemes. Happy Gardening... ~The Rebecca Review

I happened on this book at my library and found it to be the most helpful and informative on cutting gardens, so I had to buy my own copy. This is the best I have found on cutting gardens because, not only does it cover what you need to know from the dirt to the final blossoms, but the encyclopedia of the plants is fantastic. The most helpful is the "HARVESTING AND CONDITIONING" information. My cut flowers where always dead by the next morning before I had this great information. This is a book you will refer to constantly. My copy already has those great dirty pages, a sign of a wonderful well used out in the garden book!

This book's wealth of practical infomation is presented in a well thought out, easy to understand fashion. Chapters one through four are devoted to the planning of and caring for a cutting garden, as well as creating attractive floral arrangements. Without a doubt, though, my favorite section of the book is the 53 page Encyclopedia of Plants which lists 212 perennials, annuals, herbs, tubers, corms, bulbs, vines, shrubs, and, yes, even an occasional small tree which make suitable cut flowers. Each entry in the encyclopedia contains a photograph and description as well as tips on growing conditions, planting, care, and harvesting and conditioning. Ever wonder which cut flowers require searing, splitting or dipping into boiling water? You'll find the answers here!