A space that blends the formal with the less formal, where pathways lead the way to annuals, perennials, vegetables, fruits, herbs, and more, our Idea Garden is one of the most unique, ever-changing parts of our Gardens. Here, inspiration, experimentation, and education flow and take shape … and with the colorful cut flowers now blooming in the Idea Garden, a perfect opportunity for a beautiful collaboration. Now available in The Garden Shop are joyful representations of this collaboration—bouquets sourced straight from Idea Garden horticulturists and designed into bouquets by the creative minds at The Garden Shop, just steps away. Follow along as we share the cut-to-design process behind these stunning creations … and how you can enjoy them.
To create these fresh cut bouquets available for purchase, The Garden Shop works primarily with Horticulturist Faith Redcay, who harvests and delivers blooms by the bucket full every Wednesday morning to the Shop’s studio. A 2023 graduate of Longwood’s Professional Horticulture Program, Redcay joined the Longwood team full-time in 2023 and works in the Idea Garden—primarily growing these cut flowers.
Redcay harvests Anethum graveolens ‘Bouquet’ (dill), selecting the best blooms to snip—with the support of students, interns, and volunteers. Photo provided by Faith Redcay.
Gorgeous, colorful blooms look like a summer dream in the Idea Garden. Photo provided by Faith Redcay.
Our array of cut flowers grown in the Ornamental Kitchen Garden are fed with a natural compost tea used as a liquid fertilizer. The cut flowers’ species are purposefully diverse, with the benefits of this diversity far-reaching. “Senior Horticulturist Alex Correia and I generally follow the philosophy that the more plant diversity the better in every respect, including pest control,” says Redcay. “Many flowers attract beneficial insects which help fight off pests.”
We began harvesting the Idea Garden cut flowers in early June; they are expected to thrive, and be harvested, through the summer and into early fall. “It’s a long time coming,” says Redcay. “We start the growing process early, sowing crops such as sweet peas as early as December of the previous year.”
The flowers used for these bouquets are simply excess blooms growing right within the Gardens. We’re using what we already have, honing the creativity of our staff across multiple departments, and creating beautiful ways for our flowers to be enjoyed not only within our Gardens, but beyond.
Harvests in the Idea Garden’s new cut flower garden begin bright and early around 6 am every Wednesday. Photo by Hank Davis.
Typically, Redcay delivers the cut flowers to The Garden Shop around 9 or 10 am. Then they’re off for design! Photo by Carol Gross.
Once the cut flowers are delivered to the Shop’s studio, the bouquet-making begins. Photo by Carol Gross.
The main designer behind these cut flower bouquets is The Garden Shop Plant Specialist Eve Chang, who is trained as a professional florist and floral designer. Planted by Longwood Retail Manager Katrina Probst and The Garden Shop Retail Associate Laura Drill also lend their design skills, incorporating their own unique styles. Chang, who usually arranges more symmetrical, classical designs, has experimented with a more relaxed, casual style along with Probst and Drill, letting the flowers speak for themselves.
“Sometimes not thinking is better (when it comes to design),” says Probst, pictured. “There’s no one way to do it.” Photo by Carol Gross.
The bouquets themselves are designed to be reflective of the wild, free-flowing way in which the flowers grow in the Idea Garden, resulting in an organic, asymmetrical, interwoven style that plays with the height and shape of each flower.
Probst starts by trimming off the leaves, clipping the stems, and prepping the flowers to be joined together. Photo by Carol Gross.
The bouquets are also an unpredictable mix of colors—and each week, the fresh bouquets are different, depending on the best blooms in the Idea Garden. Harvests have included delphinium, honeywort, thorough-wax, feverfew, dill, Canterbury-bells, annual phlox, snapdragon, penstemon, speedwell, eryngo, sweet pea, and sweet William, to name a few.
A stunning addition to one of the weekly bouquet selections was the Campanula medium ‘Champion II Deep Blue’ (Canterbury-bells). Photo by Carol Gross.
Adding more blues to a weekly mix were Veronica (speedwell) flowers, paired with Antirrhinum (snapdragons) and Dianthus (sweet William). Photo by Carol Gross.
Anethum graveolens ‘Bouquet’ (dill) is such a unique flower to add to any bouquet, as it gives off a fresh summery aroma that lasts. Photo by Carol Gross.
Probst finishes off a bouquet by giving the stems a fresh cut at the ends, ensuring the height arrangement of the different floral elements and allowing the flowers to better soak up water. The bouquets are wrapped in eco-friendly brown paper and twine to finish them off. Photo by Carol Gross.
The quantity of cut flower bouquets on sale each week isn’t determined until all of them are arranged. At that point, Probst, Chang, or Drill may move some flowers from one bouquet to the other and swap out colors and textures until every bouquet is evenly sized, varied, and bursting with floral interest. Each weekly cut flower harvest yields around 10 to 12 and even up to 16 bouquets if the harvest is especially bountiful. Bouquets are typically available on Thursdays, and they go quick!
Finally, the bouquets are placed by check-out in The Garden Shop. Photo by Carol Gross.
These bouquets can even be brought into the Gardens after purchasing, as they’re grown here originally. Photo by Carol Gross.
While this is the first time the Idea Garden has supplied The Garden Shop with fresh blooms, The Garden Shop has used harvests from the Idea Garden to create dried accents—from buds to blooms to foliage—in Planted by Longwood cloches, for Design Tuesdays @ The Garden Shop workshops, and throughout the handmade decoratives in store.
The collaboration between the Idea Garden team and The Garden Shop is creative and thoughtful, right down to preserving and displaying florals and foliage long after their season. Photo by Carol Gross.
At Longwood, we’re always looking for new ways to connect the expert, imaginative work we do across every part of our Gardens—and do so in thoughtful, creative, and beautiful ways. From planting to bloom, and from harvest to when they are arranged with their spirit in mind, we’re honoring the diversity and magnificence of these cut flowers … taking them straight from our Gardens to you.
