The No Effort Spring Cutting Garden: Flowers that Don't Need You

Herbert Wilson Foster, 1846–1929

Ain't nobody got time for that.

MS. SWEET BROWN

To be honest, I haven't been very enthusiastic about the garden.  All my hopes of planning the perfect vegetable garden stopped when Mr. Peasant injured his IT band. My garden dreaming was derailed by life which is exactly how life goes. I still did my have to do's. This would be the minimums. I started my tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds indoors. I also started some sweet potato slips. 

I've been labeling, watering, and planning. Some seeds sprouted and others were duds. The past few months, God has given me comfort through flowers coming up in the yard. These are flowers that I have done NOTHING to help grow. NO watering, NO planning. Life indoors has been colored gray by Mr. Peasant's painful recovery that seems never ending. Having beautiful flowers indoors has brought joy to both Mr. Peasant and I. Best of all, I didn't have to do anything. These are literally no work, no hassle flowers. So, for all the regular ladies out there who love the dreamy English country cutting gardens but don't have the energy or the hired gardener, there is hope. I have been cutting spring flowers from the yard, and I didn't do anything. Here is a love note to the cutting flowers that don't need you--daffodils, azaleas, and irises. With an honorable mention to purple salvia as a great filler. Our purple saliva has been blooming since March here in South Carolina (zone 8).  

Walter Grane, 1902 From the book Flora's Feast

DAFFODILS

First week in March, the very first flower to come out was the small 'Tete-a-Tete' Daffodils, and then the Slim Whitman.

First week in April, we have the Yellow Cheerfulness Daffodil. The Cheerfulness Daffodil is my first scented daffodil. I didn't know what to expect. These smell light and green exactly like walking into a florist shop. They are not sweet smelling but have a little note of spice. The smell is not strong. so I have to put my nose right in there.

AZALEAS

These came with the house, I don't know the names. I never thought of Azaleas as cut flowers before this year. I actually was considering removing the bushes because I thought trimming them after bloom was too much work. I never trim them properly, and they still always bloom. I love them. They last 5 days in the vase. Cut a small branch off and watch it slowly unfold into blooms. It's like a firework show. One bloom will fall and another will open. It's lovely. And the leaves round out the bouquet perfectly, so that one cutting feels complete. I even like just one azalea flower in the bathroom.

IRISES

These came with the house. I do not know the name. Our iris is a show stopper. The coloring is a homage to God's attention to detail and beauty. These are elegant. The color shimmers, and they have a smell similar to a Stargazer Lilly. I don't do anything to help them outside. She just has a will to live. 

I hope this inspires you to consider adding some easy no work flowers for cutting and enjoying. I think loveliness doesn't have to be so hard. I always appreciate you stopping by. Thank you for reading and God bless you. 

Consider How the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin.

Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor 

was dressed like one of these. 

LUKE 12:27

Francesco Saverio Altamura, Young Lady with Boquet of Flowers 1891