Martha Stewart Is Loving Blake Lively's Cut Flower Garden. Here's How To Recreate It

Blake Lively, star of the classic series "Gossip Girl" and the hit film "It Ends with Us", has been turning heads with her gorgeous flower arrangements and stunning cut flower garden. Even floral design maven, Martha Stewart, took to Lively's Instagram page to admire them. You don't have to be a celebrity to have your own cut flower garden though, as recreating aspects of Lively's garden might be easier than you expect. All you need is a dedicated gardening area for your favorite bouquet-friendly blooms, as well as some gardening basics to make those flowers thrive.

While Lively has her cutting garden in a large raised bed, you don't need nearly that much space to grow your own flowers for bouquets. Even a few containers on a patio or balcony can be used to grow homemade bouquets, especially if you pick sufficiently productive plants and provide them with good soil and lighting. The actor's choices of cosmos and zinnias are perfect options for cut flower gardens of all sizes and they pair perfectly with perennials like the hydrangeas she enjoys working with. 

Cosmos (Cosmos spp.) and zinnias (Zinnia spp.) are cut flower classics for good reasons. Both are cut-and-come-again flowers, meaning that they produce more flowers the more you harvest. This is perfect for anyone who enjoys creating floral arrangements. Just be sure to opt for tall varieties, as while some cultivars have long stems, perfect for flower arrangements, others are intended primarily as bedding plants and don't grow much more than a foot tall. Both cosmos and zinnias also come in a wide range of shades and color combinations, ensuring you'll be able to pick whatever color of cut flowers is best for your home.

Both zinnias and cosmos grow easily from seed, making them perfect for beginner gardeners. They can be either started inside before your last frost of spring or direct sowed after the last frost. Be sure to locate your cut flower garden in full sun to ensure these flowers thrive and provide them with well-draining soil. While cosmos thrive in poor soil, zinnias benefit from monthly fertilization.

You don't have to use only annuals when creating a cut flower garden. Perennials like the hydrangeas can add beauty to your landscape and your flower bouquets. Lively uses gorgeous and lush purple hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) to complement her zinnias, adding texture and weight to her bouquets. Unlike cosmos and zinnias, which require full sun, hydrangeas thrive in shaded areas, returning year after year for gardeners in zones 6 through 11.

Lively's favorite flower, the peony, is also an excellent addition to bouquets when in season. Unlike zinnias and cosmos, herbaceous peonies (Paeonia hybrids) are not cut-and-come-again, though their beauty and long vase life more than makes up for this. While peonies aren't nearly as productive as some other flowers, often taking several years to establish, they can flourish for decades as long as they are planted in well-draining soil in full sun and have plenty of air flow. They also bloom in spring, giving you some gorgeous flowers to work with while you wait for your zinnias and cosmos to begin flowering.