Your garden borders can, and and probably have, supplied the odd cut flower for your home , but as we all try to reduce costs, trips to the florists to purchase bunches of flowers may have had to be curtailed. Flowers in the home are one of those little luxuries that increase our feelings of happiness and can make your home feel welcoming. A bouquet of fresh cut flowers from your garden can also make a beautiful and very personal gift.

Increasingly, growing plants for cutting and arranging is seen as having the added benefit of getting us outside in the sun (vital for Vitamin D production, needed to keep bones teeth and muscles healthy), as well as inducing a sense of well-being. In our evermore stressful lives, the benefit of this should never be underestimated.

There are numerous wonderful books to inspire your first forays into flower arranging and countless sites on social media that can show you how to create anything from a simple posy to large containerised displays, and even minimalist Japanese inspired masterpieces that use very few materials.

You do not need a large garden to produce some flowers for the home, just take a few stems from your existing borders while still leaving plenty of interest in the beds. If, however, you have some space in a sunny sheltered part of your garden you can create your own cut flower patch.

The bed(s) need to be weed free and have a good layer of free-draining top-soil. The benefit of mulching this area cannot be overestimated and should be undertaken every year in autumn or spring. A good rule of thumb is to use two full buckets of mulch in each square meter of soil. Reasons to plant in autumn and when to apply mulch

Plants that produce a lot of flower use a lot of energy and should be fed liquid seaweed or another broad-spectrum feed at regular intervals during the growing season, but particularly when the plants produce their first flower buds. Never exceed the stated amounts on the packets. Clay soils will need less feed than light sandy soils.

Plant in rows to allow you to keep the areas around the plants weed free and also help you to harvest with relative ease.

A site sheltered from the wind is essential to limit the need for staking and prevent damage. Frost pockets should also be avoided. Staking perennials

Herbaceous Perennials

By far the biggest range will almost certainly be your herbaceous perennials and the range is so large they are arranged into seasons. Remember to add a few that will supply beautiful foliage, stems and or seed-heads which can be used fresh or dried. The following is just a tiny snapshot of the plants you can grow for cutting. As the year progresses more and more inspiring plants will become available, far, far more than could ever be available at any florist.

Winter – Spring

Helleborus 'Anna's Red'

Helleborus Walberton's Rosemary

Coronilla glauca 'Citrina'

For dried seed heads and flowers

Eryngium olivierianum 'Big Blue'

Spring – Summer

Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata 'Christa Barlow'

Baptisia 'Pink Truffles'

Diascia 'Hopleys'

Saxifraga umbrosa

Lysimachia ephemerum

Summer – Autumn

Allium sphaerocephalon

Campanula lactiflora 'Loddon Anna'

Echinacea 'Sensation Pink'

Helianthus 'Lemon Queen'

Acanthus hungaricus

Aruncus dioicus

Astrantia major 'Buckland'

Digitalis parviflora Jacq.

Leucanthemum x superbum 'Wirral Supreme'

Autumn – Winter

Aster thomsonii

Bistorta affinis 'Superba'

Echinacea 'Hot Summer'

Helianthus salicifolius

Helenium vulgare 'Maikonigin'

Linaria x domini 'Carnforth'

Oenothera lindheimeri 'Rosyjane'

Seed sown annuals

Ideally have a mix of perennials, a few flowering woody plants, particularly for the colder months and some seed sown annuals that can add a quick extra bonus to your perennials.

Cosmos for height colour and texture in mid-late summer, annual Sunflowers, Lathyrus (Sweet Peas) for colour scent and repeat flowering and Nigella, (Love in a mist).

Bulbs

Daffodils and Tulips for late winter and early spring

Woody plants

Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Lady in Red’ etc (ideal for providing great foliage and structure as well as the flowers in late summer), Syringa (Lilac) for scent and colour in spring, roses, Lavendula, Hydrangea, Amelanchier, Corylus avellana contorta, Cornus sanguinea & Salix caprea (Pussy Wlllow) are just a few of the options.

Pick your plants in the morning just before the flowers are to open and ensure they have been well watered the evening before. Some will need their stems to be treated with hot water to keep them looking fresh for longer and others will need to have their water changed often. Remove any foliage below the water line in your container. Containers can make or break a cut flower display, so collect suitable containers from around your house and garden. Second hand shops are a great source of cheap receptacles. A small roll of chicken wire will prove invaluable for creating supports for your designs, and it can be used and re-shaped many times. Oasis is a traditional material for holding cut stems in place but its environmental impact is not good, so should be avoided. If you cut the stems a little longer that needed you can cut off the excess and wedge the pieces inside your container rims to make a support for your flowers.

The range of displays you can make are endless and after the first couple of goes your confidence will grow and the sense of achievement you gain from this pursuit will give you enormous pleasure.