Start your own cut-flower garden

Even if you think you don't have green fingers, you can cultivate your own flowers for picking – and save a lot of money in the long run. Follow our expert advice on how to start your own cut-flower garden this spring. All you need is one small bed (or four to six large pots).

- JOHAN VAN ZYL

Perhaps it's precisely because they don't last forever that a bunch of fresh flowers is so highly prized in almost every culture, whether presented as a gift, or purchased to uplift your own mood or add colour to your home.

Many of us might think that growing our own flowers is too great an undertaking and involves far too much work. Yes, of course it will require more time and effort than quickly popping into the supermarket or florist, but you will save money in the long run, especially if you are someone who frequently buys flowers as presents, décor or for special occasions. The non-financial rewards of a cut-flower garden are also not to be sneezed at. A few seeds will give you your own supply (and a greater variety) of organic, chemical-free flowers that you can either use yourself or give away; they are a wonderful food source for bees and butterflies; your garden will be far more colourful; and you will enjoy the simple pleasure of watching tiny seeds develop into lush plants with magnificent blooms.

Over the years, Platteland has published many stories about ordinary people who have spotted a gap in the market and built successful businesses from cut flowers. Dahlia queen Adene Nieuwoudt of Adene’s Flowers in Wolseley, who was featured in Platteland #24 (Spring 2019), now also has cut-flower farms in Pretoria, Somerset West and Paarl. And let's not forget the nine small-scale flower farmers who started the Hort Couture Flower Collective, featured in Platteland #36 (Spring 2022).