Create a Cut Flower Garden for Only $100

You’ve probably seen those photos on Instagram—the ones of happy flower farmers with armloads of flowers and gorgeous bouquets, and thought to yourself, “if only I could grow flowers like that!” Imagine waking up in the morning and heading out to your own personal cut flower paradise to snip a few blooms for your table. It’s not an impossible dream.

You might be surprised to find out that you can grow a beautiful, blooming, colourful cut flower garden with around a $100 budget and a backyard-sized space. It might sound like wishful thinking, but with a little careful planning, and a whole lot of care and love, you can start a prosperous, budget-friendly cut flower garden.



Before I break down how you can have your own backyard-sized garden, let me introduce myself. My name is Kristen and I’m a flower farmer and content creator based near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I sell flowers for weddings, run bouquet making workshops, and have a small bouquet CSA through my flower farming business, Shifting Blooms. I’m also the voice behind the cold-climate gardening blog, Shifting Roots, and I’ve written multiple ebooks about cut flowers, perennials, beginner gardening, and small space gardening. I also run a course for beginner flower farmers, helping them start small and market themselves well.

Now, back to the flowers and helping you create a cut flower garden on a budget.

I’ll admit, it’s not easy. If you’re shopping at the usual places marketed to flower farmers, seed prices are steep. They are usually $5-$6 a packet, and many of them can be found much cheaper elsewhere. While I don’t want to discourage you from supporting these places, because many of them are small businesses and some seeds are just more expensive and/or can’t be found elsewhere, I also know what it’s like for money to be tight.

So I’ve teamed up with West Coast Seeds and planned out a cut flower garden that is worth $97.15 (just shy of $100), has something blooming during all parts of the season, and has enough different types of flowers that you could make bouquets to sell. I’ll explain some of my thought processes, as well as what I’d also get if you have a little more of a budget to work with. If you’d rather watch than read, I got over my selections and why I picked them on my YouTube channel.

1. Bishop’s Flower (Ammi) $3.29
2. Swamp Milkweed $3.89—Perennial
3. Zeolights Organic Calendula $3.69
4. King Size Apricot China Aster $3.69
5. Fairwell-to-Spring/Clarkia/Godetia $3.49—This is an amazing deal for the number of seeds you get and because there are not many other annuals blooming when it blooms.
6. Tall Mixed Cornflowers $3.49
7. Double Click Assorted Cosmos $3.69—Totally worth it to get the $7 package for how much you will use them. Get the smaller package if you only have a backyard.
8. Chinese Forget Me Nots $3.49
9. Eucalyptus $5.99
10.Baby’s Breath Gypsophila $3.49
11.Persian Jewels Nigella $3.29
12.Cloud Grass $3.49
13.Capuccino Rudbeckia $5.99
14.Imperial Mix Scabiosa $3.29
15.Supreme Mixture Statice $3.49
16.Sultane Mix Strawflower $3.29
17.Velvet Queen Sunflower $3.29
18.Short Blend Sunflowers $3.69
19.Siam Queen Thai Basil $3.69
20.Peppermint $3.29
21.Dark Green Italian Parsley $3.29
22.Green Tails Amaranth $3.99
23.Burgundy Organic Amaranth $3.69
24.Moranga $4.99
25.Queen Lime Orange Zinnia $5.99
26.Western Yarrow $3.49

Total: $97.15

I did not include shipping and taxes in the total, as I imagine they would vary depending on which province you’re ordering from.

You’ll find most of these flowers in the flower section, but I’ve also taken a few selections from the herbs, grasses, and vegetable sections as well. I picked these seeds out back in December 2021, so prices and availability should be current.



DIRECT SOWING FOR NEW FLOWER FARMERS

While some seed starting is involved in this plan, a surprising number of flowers can be direct sown or winter sown in milk jugs. Perfect if you’re new to seed starting, don’t have a lot of space for grow lights, or have been growing vegetables forever but don’t feel confident with cut flowers.

You’ll need to seed start the China Aster, Godetia, Eucalyptus, Rudbeckia, Strawflowers, and Statice—a manageable amount of the list. The Yarrow, Rudbeckia, and Swamp Milkweed could be winter sown to save on precious grow light space.

While I would recommend seed starting everything if possible, you could direct sow the rest of the flowers on the list that I did not mention.



PLANT WITH THE BOUQUET IN MIND

When you first open the seed catalogue or scroll through the website, it’s easy to just order whatever looks pretty and hope it all works together. However, you might find that everything blooms all at once, or that your bouquets feel like they fall flat and are just made up of one or two things.

My list contains a mixture of greens, fillers, spikes, supporting (or rounds), and a few hero flowers. With a mix of these in every bouquet, you’re certain to have arrangements that get compliments.

To see how this all plays out, I’ll be growing this actual garden and documenting both the process and the bouquets on my YouTube channel this year. I’ll also be back with another guest post in the fall of 2022 so you can see exactly how my plan worked and the bouquets I was able to make with it.

OTHER WAYS TO SAVE MONEY ON CUT FLOWERS

Most home gardeners don’t need every seed, so a simple way to cut costs is to share your seed order with a friend. You can also look out for Seedy Saturday events and libraries in your area to swap, sell, or buy seeds. If you have any friends or neighbours with well-established gardens, ask for perennials. In my experience, gardeners love to share!

There also tend to be quite a few seed sales in the fall, so keep an eye on your favourite sites and haunt your local greenhouses at this time.

Lastly, start seed saving. If you’re new to this practice and want some easy tips and tricks, check out my ebook Savvy Seed Saving to learn more about saving seeds from annual flowers.



WHAT IF I HAVE A LITTLE MORE OF A CUT FLOWER BUDGET?

Glad you asked! While West Coast Seeds' prices are cheaper than the average specialty cut flower seed shop, I still had to make some tough decisions. If you have a bit more money, I’d also include Honeywort, Lunaria, and Pink or White Pampas Grass. The Lunaria and Pampas Grass seeds are very popular and hard to find elsewhere in Canada, so I’d grab them if you have the budget!

I also would consider swapping out one of the sunflower mixes for the Sunrich series of sunflowers. Each of these seed packets is $5.19 each for 20 seeds, but the Sunrich series is pollen-less and designed for florists. This means that you won’t get pollen all over your table, or wherever your bouquet is sitting. If you’re worried about providing food for the bees, you can always plant one variety of sunflower with pollen, and one without.

BULBS, CORMS, AND TUBERS

Finally, if you have another $50-$100 to play with, I’d invest in some perennials. The Narcissus Golden Pearl Daffodil looks amazing–I’d grab at least 3 packs (15 bulbs) at minimum, as well as a few tulips. I personally like the Elsenburg ones and would grab at least 3 packs (18 bulbs). The spring planting bulbs aren’t up on the website at the time of this writing, but I’d also get a few lilies, and at least 5 dahlia tubers if they have them.

Whether you’re able to add in the extra flowers or not, all of the flowers listed here will provide you with a good backyard-sized cut flower plot that you’ll enjoy picking from. Depending on the weather and what part of the growing season you’re in, you can expect 3-10 bouquets per week from your garden.