![]() ![]() Strip off the lower leaves and stems to encourage good hydration and reduce the moisture lost through transpiration.ĭESIGNING WITH BASIL: Basil can be used as a foliage by showing off the beautiful glossy leaves, but can also be used as a filler if the flowering stems are used. We always harvest ours with a cup of Quickdip nearby - this allows for great hydration of the basil and we get no flopping whatsoever. Make sure that it’s harvested in the late evening or early morning when the temperatures are the coolest, and get it into water immediately after cutting it or it WILL flop. General rule is that we wait until basil starts flowering before harvesting it - it won’t be ready before then. First of all, make sure your basil is a bit woody - if you shake the stem and it is soft and wobbly up top, it won’t hydrate. HARVESTING BASIL: Basil actually is much more resistance to wilting if grown in dry and harsh conditions - but if you’re growing in moist and wet environments, there are a few tips to help prevent your basil from wilting. We actually do both, pinching half the crop to encourage a later bloom and harvesting the un-pinched basil first. You can either pinch out the first stem and encourage long and prolific side shoots or you can make your first pinch the first harvest - and then encourage the basil plant to branch out from there. GROWING OUT BASIL: Basil requires little from us as far as cultivation, just the minimum amount of water and nutrients to grow and produce plenty of foliage and flowers for you all season long. I find that it germinates pretty quickly if the ground is warm and the sun is shining, but when started indoor as plugs they grow pretty rapidly to transplant stage. STARTING BASIL: Basil likes heat, so either start it on heat mats or in a germination chamber or direct sow it once the ground starts warming up in the summer. ‘Lemon’ is also a great variety with chartreuse colored leaves and light-green calyxes and white flowers and a lovely citrusy lemon scent. We really enjoy the regular ‘Genovese’ basil for its lovely succulent green leaves and white flowers and gorgeous scent, but we also really like ‘Cinnamon’ for its dark purple-green leaves and flower stalks. It’s quite underrated as a floral material as well - you have to really appreciate the way that it fills out arrangements and just produces bucket after bucket of floral material week after week. Not just for caprese salad and pesto sauce, but for its use in floral arrangements and design as well!ĭrought tolerant, easy to start from direct sowing, and lending a beautiful form, glossy leafed foliage and fantastic herbal scent to any arrangement it is a part of, basil is one of the floral workhorses on our farm and is tucked into every single bouquet, mason jar, centerpiece and installation that we make during the summer. Here are five of our favorite herbs and vegetables that we like growing for using in cut flower arrangements Basilįor those of you who know us, you know that we grow a lot of basil. It also allows you to have a renewed appreciation for plants that you previously may have grown for the table but are instead growing for the vase, enjoying properties like scent and color and form that may have otherwise been missed! We still grow a lot of edibles - although ironically not so much for eating now, but as cut flower materials! Tucked into bouquets sold at market, mixed into centerpieces for weddings, bulking out bridal bouquets and even gracing boutonnieres and corsage wristlets and bridal haircombs, there’s just something amazing about using materials that would normally be at home in the kitchen in floral arrangements. ![]() ![]() I think a lot of people start out growing vegetables - it makes sense since growing your own food is one of the most magical and rewarding things about gardening! Fresh basil cut from the garden, picking your own blackberries, digging your own potatoes and the taste of a home-grown tomato picked fresh from the vine is something that ranks up there as one of life’s finest experiences. Those of you who know us know that we love to grow flowers.īut long before we started growing flowers, we started by growing edible plants - vegetables and herbs in particular.
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