Are you dreaming of early spring flowers but not sure what to plant? In today’s video, I’m sharing a step-by-step guide to planning and planting a cold-tolerant 4×8 foot cutting garden bed, packed with some of the best flowers for cool-season success. Whether you’re a flower farmer or a home gardener looking to extend your bloom season, this guide will help you get started with hardy annuals that thrive in chilly temperatures!
One thing I forgot to mention in this video: don’t forget to harden off your seedlings! While they are cold tolerant, just like any seedling, they need practice before getting planted out, so give them at least a week to 10 days of gradual exposure to outdoors and cold temps, and if you’re forecasted to drop below 20 F or so with no snow cover I’d recommend covering with some fabric!
🌿 What You’ll Learn in This Video:
✅ The best cold-hardy and easy flowers for early blooms (including stock, snapdragons, sweet peas, and more!)
✅ How to plan your flower bed for maximum growth and productivity
✅ A recommended layout based on how we grow flowers on our farm for high-yield blooms
✅ Sustainable gardening tips like cover cropping to help your plants establish strong roots before spring
Planting cold-tolerant flowers is a great way to get a jumpstart on the season, ensuring you have early color, fragrant bouquets, and healthy plants well before the heat of summer arrives! Whether you’re growing for a cut flower garden, a small-scale farm, or just want to enjoy an abundance of springtime beauty, this video will give you the knowledge and confidence to grow more flowers, earlier!
💚 Let me know in the comments what cold-hardy flowers you’re growing this year! And if you love learning about cut flowers, sustainable gardening, and flower farming, don’t forget to like & subscribe for more tips!
#flowergarden #gardening #garden
Check out our plan for a direct sown bed here if you don’t have indoor seed starting space: https://youtu.be/K09HzSiT5T8?si=0uGriA8pD4nI4YQT
Peachy cut garden plan: https://youtu.be/Gtz9jK68_KE?si=nKtQd_HU7-jsqznj
Easy cutting garden: https://youtu.be/yicXGSm8LDI?si=BE571q3HpKZ9cKqL
Medicinal garden plan: https://youtu.be/8AgOt-uPCpc?si=8vCrg0u294SkQPVO
And our cover crop class here! https://blossomandbranchfarm.teachable.com/
49 Comments
Currently home with the flu—you really made me think I had fever delusions with the back and forth 😂. Love the plan regardless!
Fabulous and informative video! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and knowledge with us! Mentally building a new 4×8 raised bed to follow this plan.
So informative and creative use of space. I love these plans you have put together, they make cut flower gardening feel very accessible even for small spaces. ❤
the specific detail and organization of this video was extremely useful. thank you and excellent content.
Green paint color, please? We share similar tastes in flowers and paint!
On another note.. your hair looks amazing!! Love! Love! Love!!
Hi, Willow!
You’re #1
I love your garden box plans✔️❣️
🌿🌸💖🌼💖🌼💖🌸🌿
Thank you so much for providing the detailed timelines for starting these seeds and planting out (along with your separate video on starting sweet peas). I've struggled with understanding the timelines around sowing these cold tolerant flowers because the "planting out" information isn't always readily available. I've also been hesitant about transplanting when it's cold out. I feel more confident after watching your videos!
Where did you get the stalk knife please? I've been looking for something just like this but idk what it's called.
I live in sweet home Alabama and when you’re talking about planting out six weeks before frost I’m like, that gives me 1 week for these seedlings to grow. Guess I’m too late for cool crops:/
So, so informative – thank you!!
Do you thin the phacelia when it comes up? What is the spacing?
So helpful to have the visual spacing. Thank you!
Don't snapdragons self-seed? I have a memory of enjoying snapdragons at my stepmom's house when she and my dad were dating. I don't think she planted them, cuz we found them in the ditch
Exactly what I needed! When you mention cutting down/clearing out do you typically just cut the plant down to the soil and then cover crop or direct sow? Or are you pulling the whole plant/roots? Thanks
This is such a great video, so clear with your instruction! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this ❤
Oooh thank you so much I was planning on trying your cutting patch from last year again, now I have this new plan thank you!😊🌱
Great video 😍👏🏻💐
As always great detailed to the point info!
I am going from a 1/4 acre suburban growing area to 3 acre property to grow more cut flowers These videos are sooo helpful for spacing plants. Thank you Briana for this I am so excited to grow some of these flowers for the first time this year!
Yay!!! This was huge Thamk You So Much!!!🌱💚🌱💚
Thank you for sharing this!! Last year many of my cold annual crops did not make it because I was confused about the “before last frost” part and planted them when it was too warm out (like my Yarrow).
Question. Do you need to cold stratify all the seeds before planting them into soil blocks or can you winter sow these in soil blocks? Thank you 🙏
You should sell seed kits with these plans! Gorgeous
This is so helpful and I love that you're leading into succession planting because I'm bad at that lol.
one question Bri – I was going to start my sweet peas according to local guidance (Alaska). Letting them germ and then putting them in the unheated greenhouse but I am still getting temps dipping down to zero. Should I wait?
I’m so thankful for you Bri! Thanks for the wonderful information you pump out each week. Excited to give this plan a try. I’m also in zone 5b but up in Owen Sound, Ontario.
Thank you so much for this! I was feeling a little overwhelmed as to choosing what to try and start first. This is perfect!
You are a wealth of knowledge! Thank you so much 😊🌻
🌸🌸🌸
Very helpful video. Thank you!
That was so helpful!!! You explained it in a way that works for my brain 😂 and you could easily scale this as well. I’m only producing cut flowers for myself and a small hobby stand but it makes me so excited to get to it. Thank you!
I just love learning from you! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. Question, where do you typically buy your cover crop seeds in bulk?
Thanks so much for the plan! It works great for my beds! If transitioning straight to the direct sow plan afterwards, would you still succession sow or just sow everything at once?
silly question, are you recommending starting these out indoors 6-8 weeks before frost? Or starting them out in doors and then planting outside 6-8 weeks before last frost? Can you tell I'm easily confused? LOL
I love your hair, also this was helpful as always.
Love the info on early cover crops!
Love this video! So helpful!
Really enjoyed this breakdown😊
I'm going to grow lacy phacelia this year for the first time. It's such a pretty flower, and I plan to make a little pollinator friendly hedge of it with borage, foxgloves and sweet alyssum, all of which will hopefully reseed and come back every year 🙂
💚👍Great tips ,Thank you
Love love love these flower plans!
Love seeing your vision!
This was a wonderful video. What would you recommend as a sub for the orlaya? As much as I love it, its a prohibited plant where I live
I bought pansy seeds from bakers creek. It doesn't say having them germinate in total darkness? It that what you recommend still?
lol i about died when you said your cat was enjoying eating seedlings. Mine can't suffer a plant to live in the house. Any seed starting has to occur in a closed space with artificial light. No plants in the open or she digs them up and eats them.
Thanks for sharing!
This is so useful- I live in the UK and have been growing cut flowers for about 3 years but have never quite worked out how to use the beds efficiently like this – makes lots of sense and also did not realise you could space snaps much closer than I have been doing . Thank you 😊