If you garden in a short season like I do in Zone 3, early blooming cut flowers can be a huge struggle to grow. While it can be difficult for cold-climate flower farmers to have something ready when people are hungriest for flowers, the ten flowers featured in this blog post allow me to have flowers ready for customers when other flower farmers in the area might not!
Keep reading for my favourite early cut flowers, or watch below, if you prefer videos:
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Best Early Cut Flowers for Cold Climate Growers
Anemones
Anemones are a beautiful addition to early-season arrangements. I specifically love growing the Bianco Centro Nero variety of bright white anemones with a contrasting black centre.
Related: How to Soak and Pre-Sprout Anemones (and Ranunculus!)
Apple Blossoms
Whether you get flowers from your full-grown apple trees, crab apple trees, or ornamental apple trees, apple blossoms add extra colour and dimension to bouquets early in the season when there isn’t much else blooming!
Related: 20+ Beautiful Spring Blooming Perennial Flowers, Trees, and Shrubs
Cotoneaster
I grew up calling this plant Birdberry and often use cuttings from this shrub in early-season arrangements. Its delicate white flowers and beautiful greenery are helpful when not much else is blooming in Zone 3!
Forget-Me-Nots
Forget-Me-Nots live up to their name and have given me many volunteers over the years! Their brilliant blue is a striking addition to any bouquet, and they work brilliantly as filler flowers when not much else is in season.
Nigella
Also known as Love in a Mist, Nigella is a cool-loving flower that adds beautiful movement to any bouquet. This delicate flower is perfect to use immediately after harvesting, and you can also save the pods for interesting textures in arrangements afterwards. Nigella is low-maintenance and easy to direct sow after the snow melts!
Related: How to Grow Nigella in Zone 3
Peonies
If you’re in a zone where you can plant a peony bush and you don’t have one, you need to plant one! Unfortunately, you won’t see blooms for about three years after planting, but these gorgeous flowers are worth the wait! Peonies have been a staple in my cutting garden for years and are an old favourite. I love all peony varieties and include them in arrangements whenever I can!
Related: Beginner’s Guide to Peonies: Growing Tips and Beautiful DIYs
Queen Anne’s Lace
I grew Queen Anne’s Lace for the first time in 2022 and loved it! It’s extremely cold-tolerant, and because I started it beforehand, I could use it during those early months when not much else was available in my cutting garden. Queen Anne’s lace is especially handy for early-season weddings to fill out bouquets.
Ranunculus
If you love roses and peonies, you’ll love ranunculus! We have a lot of pest pressure on ranunculus in Zone 3, but they are definitely worth the effort.
Related: How to Grow Ranunculus in Zone 3 (So They Don’t Die!)
Rat Tail Statice
Rat tail statice blooms much earlier than other statice varieties and is a welcome texture for early-season bouquets. This underrated flower is really one of the only spike-type flowers that bloom early in the season, and I always make sure to have some growing in my cut-flower garden!
Saponaria
Saponaria is extremely cold-tolerant and perfect for early planting. Once you grow them, expect to have a lot more from volunteers! This is also a great substitute for Baby’s Breath in bouquets.
If you liked this blog post, find me on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram to follow more of my farmer florist journey and join in the cut flower conversation! I also make weekly videos on my YouTube channel. You can also sign up for bouquet-making events and buy my flowers at my sister site Shifting Blooms. I hope to see you there!
Eager to make bouquets with your homegrown cut flowers?
Bouquets Made Beautiful includes a collection of my best bouquets in all sizes and seasons, with a flower-by-flower list and pictures for every single one! I also share my favourite colour palettes that I return to over and over again. Whether you’re a backyard gardener or a farmer florist, this highly visual ebook will help you create better-looking bouquets and give you more confidence that you’re growing the right things.
R aam