Bishy Barnabee’s Cottage Garden

Cutting Garden Seeds

Long stems, generous harvests, vase-ready blooms

Quick picks
Sow this monthSpring favouritesCut flowersFor the vasePollinatorsBees and butterfliesHardy annualsAutumn-sow readyEasy to growFirst-time friendlyUnder £2.50Stock up favourites
129 products
Close-up of vibrant red and carmine-pink Cornflower Red Boy blooms from Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Ltd, growing among green stems and buds in a field, with foreground flowers in sharp focus and a softly blurred background.
Annual

Cornflower Red Boy

The name oversells it, and the flower is better for it

Sow: Mar–May · Sep
£2.30 View
A close-up of a Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden Cosmos Fizzy Rose flower with a long stem, shot from below against a blue sky with scattered clouds and blurred green trees in the background.
Annual

Cosmos Fizzy Rose

Semi-double blooms in soft pale mauve-pink, each petal…

Sow: Mar–Jun
£2.20 View
The Cosmos Purity by Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden features a single white bloom with a yellow center, standing out against green foliage—ideal for moon gardens or adding stunning white flowers to your cutting garden.
Annual

Cosmos Purity

Broad silky white petals around a small gold…

Sow: Mar–Jun
£2.40 View
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Growing a cut flower patch — your questions answered

How big does a cutting patch need to be?

Surprisingly small. A two-metre by one-metre patch densely planted will keep a single household in cut flowers from June through October. Most cut flower growers plant intensively in rows or blocks, spacing tighter than the seed packet suggests — the plants support each other and the harvest per square metre goes up.

Which cut flowers are easiest for beginners?

Cosmos, zinnias, calendula, cornflowers, and sweet peas are the reliable starting five. They are forgiving, fast from seed, productive, and — importantly — they rebloom when cut. Avoid fussier choices like lisianthus or dahlias until you have a season under your belt and know your soil and conditions.

What is the secret to long vase life?

Cut early morning when stems are fully hydrated, plunge straight into a bucket of cool water, and recut the stems underwater before arranging. Strip any leaves that would sit below the waterline. Most cottage garden cut flowers will give you five to ten days in the vase with this treatment — longer than supermarket bouquets and considerably fresher.

When do I sow for cutting through summer?

Hardy annuals like cornflowers and ammi go in from March (or autumn-sown the previous September for stronger plants). Half-hardy annuals like cosmos and zinnias start indoors in April, planted out after the last frost. Sow a second batch of fast varieties in June for late-summer succession — it keeps the patch productive into October.