How And When To Pick Cut Flowers?

The majority of gardeners enjoy growing flowers for the beauty they bring to their outdoor space. However, we also love to cut flowers and get them inside. Nothing can make your indoors more beautiful than a vase of freshly cut flowers.

But, if you think that harvesting flowers is just taking your gardening scissor and snapping the blooms, you couldn’t be more wrong. Flowers are living things and demand proper care and attention. And if you manage to arrange your own cut flowers and provide the necessary conditions, you will have much success in the harvesting process.

Having this knowledge will ensure you select the flowers at their best and have them last the longest.

Now, let’s learn how to pick flowers!

When to pick cut flowers
A woman picks flowers

When to pick cut flowers?

Even if you don’t know anything about flowers, you could guess that cutting flowers is best early in the morning. The flowers had enough time to rest during the night and haven’t been exposed to daily warmth. This that case, when you cut the flower, the plant won’t suffer a shock.

But, if you aren’t unable to cut your flowers in the morning, cut them in the evening, as they won’t sag under the sun’s heat. The absolutely worst time of the day to cut your flowers is midday. They have a small amount of water during that time and won’t last long in your vase.

Make sure to cut the flowers that are just coming to full bloom. If you pick them before this, they might be too immature and won’t open their buds. On the other hand, if flowers are picked into full bloom or at the end of the blooming period, they will quickly fade away. Also, older blooms tend to drop pollen and leaves everywhere, creating a mess.

But, how can you know whether a bloom is old or not? Well, it’s quite easy! Blooms that contain a lot of pollen are not good for cutting and should be skipped. The exception to this rule is tree blossoms and daffodils.

How to harvest cut flowers?

The first step would be to get proper tools. For instance, you need a clean pair of garden shears and a bucket to place your cuts. In this case, you will ensure that your blooms stay protected and prevent any bacteria from entering the stem. At the same time, you will prolong the vase life of your flowers.

Even though some types of plants have special requirements, most need a bucket filled with cold water. To learn how to cut flowers, you need to know the optimal blooming stage of your plant. While you should pick some flowers early, others need more time to open in the garden.

Therefore, knowing when to pick will primarily vary from one plant to another. As we explained earlier, the best way to cut flower garden is when the temperatures are cool, usually early morning, alternatively late night. If you want to cut the stem properly, make sure to make a 45-degree angle cut at the designed stem length.

After cutting the bloom, place it directly into a bucket filled with cold water. Additionally, remove all leaves that are under the water level of the bucket. Some farmers suggest that you should fill another bucket with clean, warm water and transfer your blooms there to preserve it. This will help flowers draw more water and rehydrate. After a couple of hours, you can place blooms into vases or make flower arrangements.

Requirements for specific flowers

To give you a broader picture, we’ve selected a couple of common garden varieties and their best picking time:

  • Daffodils – while the bud is tight.
  • Marguerites, dahlias, and daisies – when coming into full bloom, if you notice too much pollen, you have missed the cutting time.
  • Delphiniums, foxgloves, and lupins – when blooms are fully open, and upper-level buds are yet to open.
  • Poppies – when blooms have just burst open.
  • Peonies – when the petal starts to unfurl.
  • Chrysanthemums -when buds are fully open.

As you can see, there is no exact time whether one flower should be harvested or not. It mostly depends on the type; however, it’s important to notice the first sights of blooming and then decide when to cut your flowers. We hope these tips helped you learn how to cut flowers from your garden.