Every year I trial a half-dozen or more new kinds of flowers and I have to say that most aren’t great hits. But every year there is at least one plant that gives me a thrill, a new discovery in the never-ending quest to grow the beautiful and unusual for my cut flower business.

One of this year’s little treasures is mountain mint, Pycnanthemum muticum. I know several people who have grown this for many years but I had not. Bob Wollam of Wollam’s Garden in Virginia gave me three plants last year, and assured me I would love it. He was right – next year, I’m planning to have a whole bed of this plant. Mountain mint’s primary attribute is its foliage, which is a pale green with silver leaves at the top of the stem. It’s 30 inches tall, with stiff, straight stems, and a delicate minty fragrance. It’s positively elegant. Ralph Cramer of Cramer’s Posie Patch in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, sells the silver mountain mint, and he is getting ready to start selling a selection called ‘Purple Haze’ that he has been propagating for several years. It will be available next spring.

Working with the mountain mint made me think about how valuable herbs can be to the cut flower grower. Although none of my herbs are what I would consider major crops, they are a constant presence in my gardens, ready to stand in when needed for fillers, fragrance, and edible flowers. Herbs also have a “language” of their own, which some designers and many brides like to incorporate into florals. You probably know that “rosemary is for remembrance,” but did you also know that sweet basil symbolizes good wishes; fennel, strength; and lemon balm, comfort? The late Bertha Reppert, a prolific writer and herbalist, compiled an extensive list of ancient herb symbols in her book Herbs for Weddings and Other Occasions. (See excerpt next page.) Every year, one or two brides ask for herbs with their wedding flowers and I’m able to oblige because I keep a few plants of many kinds of herbs.

Many herbs are prolific producers that require little care once established. I don’t have to go near the tansy and oregano until they’re flowering and ready for harvest; they do quite well without my supervision. Not all herbs are suitable for cutting, of course; some don’t have adequate vase life or stem length and others have a fragrance that might be considered objectionable. However, a huge number of plants that we consider culinary or medicinal herbs make great cut flowers.
Karen Gast, a professor at Kansas State University, has studied many herbs for their potential as cut flowers. She says that floral preservative should not be used on any plants in the mint family, including true mints, oregano, horehound and monarda, because it causes necrotic spots. Even in plain water, the herbs in the mint family listed below will hold up fine in the vase.

Here are a few of the best herbs for cutting, listed chronologically by bloom time:

Mints
The genus Mentha includes all the true mints, most of which can be used as cut foliage if tall enough. One of the best is spearmint, Mentha spicata, which has dark green leaves and purple flowers. Last year, I purchased an unusual mint called ‘Himalayan Silver’ from White Flower Farm. Thankfully, I bought only one plant, which is all I’ll ever need because it spreads so rampantly. ‘Himalayan Silver’ has downy gray leaves, with small lavender flower spikes. It grows 24 to 30 inches tall on stiff, straight stems. It’s a nice addition to small arrangements, bridal bouquets and corsages. White Flower Farm doesn’t offer it this year, but Goodwin Creek Gardens does. See sources at the end of the article.

Oregano
I have one 50-foot bed of Origanum vulgare, known as wild marjoram or common oregano, that for the past five years has produced hundreds of dollars in revenue every year without requiring any care. What could be easier? The plants are 32-36 inches tall, with dozens of stems on each plant. Flower buds, which grow in clusters atop the stems, are reddish purple, opening to pink or lavender flowers. There’s a lot of variability in color on these plants, with the darker purple buds being more attractive.

Another nice oregano is ‘Hopley’s Purple’ which has darker leaves and dark purple flower clusters that are more airy than the common oregano. ‘Hopley’s’ makes a good dried flower, too. It’s not as winter hardy as the vulgare, though. ‘Herrenhausen’ and ‘Rosenkuppel’ are both darker purple selections.

Dill
The best culinary dills are bred to produce lots of foliage before slowly going to flower. The best dill for cutting is ‘Vierling’ and it does just the opposite – it bolts quickly, producing big umbels of yellow flowers on 36-inch plants. The chartreuse of dill flowers is a perfect foil for many colors.

Tansy
Once you have tansy, you’ll always have tansy, so be careful where you plant it. In my experience, it is much tougher than any weed on the farm, so it can be put just about anyplace to fend for itself. Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, is 3 feet tall and has ferny foliage that has an astringent smell many people find offensive. The clusters of bright yellow button-like flowers redeem it entirely. There’s a selection called ‘Goldsticks’ with bigger flowers and longer stems.

Echinacea
Purple coneflowers are great for cutting. For years, the standard cutflower cultivar has been ‘Magnus’. This year, there’s a new one called ‘Primadonna Deep Rose’ which has broad, flat flowers in a deep shade of pink. It’s also taller, reaching 36 inches. It is seed propagated and available from Ball Seed as of now, but probably many other pl aces soon.

Basil
The green pesto basils don’t hold up well in water, but there are several others that do. Cinnamon basil is the tallest, and I think it’s the prettiest, with its purple stems, lavender flowers and smooth green leaves. Florists love that spicy-sweet scent. ‘Mrs. Burns Lemon’ basil isn’t as tall as cinnamon basil, but it has bright green leaves, white flowers and a strong lemon fragrance that make it useful for bouquet work. Two of the purple basils, ‘Osmin Purple’ and ‘Red Rubin’ will hold up in water.

Garlic chives
Allium tuberosum has flat, strap-like leaves with a garlic flavor. In late summer, it sends up tall, stiff stems topped with starry white flowers. Garlic chive flowers look great in bouquets and they are a fresh white at a time when most other white flowers have gone.

In addition to these herbs, many other plants with culinary or medicinal value have been bred or selected for their ornamental value and have passed into the category of flowers rather than herbs. Achillea, Agastache, Asclepias, Calendula, Eucalyptus, Feverfew, Monarda, and many Salvias are common cut flowers.

Sources
•Ball Seed, 800-879-2255, www.BallSeed.com
•Cramers’ Posie Patch, 877-CRAMERS, www.cramersposiepatch.com
•Goodwin Creek Gardens, 800-846-7359, www.goodwincreekgardens.com
•Johnny’s Selected Seeds, 207-437-4395, www.johnnyseeds.com
•Richters, 905-640-6677, www.richters.com