After describing, in a previous blog post, the different types of flowers for a balanced arrangement that also helps you plan what to grow in your cutting patch. Here I’m going to go into a bit more detail about some of my favourite filler flowers, that I use quite a lot from my garden and cutting patch.
Ammi majus and Ammi visnaga, these are the queens of froth! Umbelliferishly beautiful! Yes I’ve created a new word. White lacy flowers like Cow parsley, they are long flowering and great as a cut flower. They are both hardy annuals but I tend to sow these in the autumn, one it gives me less to sow in the spring, and two they develop into good chunky plants. Ammi majus expecially from an autumn sowing gets really tall but both will need some support. I have to say though I prefer Ammi visnaga and I use that way more than I use Ammi majus. Ammi visnaga has lovely foliage as well as the flower head. Ammi visnaga is a bit later into flower than A. majus but I used it in most of my arrangements in the summer. I love it at all stages and after you pick the main stem you get lots of sideshoots. 
Here we have Ammi visnaga with Cosmos ‘Double Click Cranberries’ and Cosmos ‘Apricotta’ and Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ and Phlox ‘Cherry Caramel’.
Here with Helianthus ‘Ruby Eclipse’, Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ and ‘Amaranthus Red’.
Salvia ‘Oxford Blue’, I’ve talked about how much I love this flower in a blog before but I just think everyone should have this or Salvia viridis in their cutting patch. It flowers all summer long and in the vase its so long lasting. Its easy to grow, you can cut it and it comes back for more and there is hardly any prep that you have to do to it to go in the vase, and you can dry it to use over the winter months. Have I convinced you yet? It adds a lovely spike form to your arrangements, I love the intense indigo blue of the ‘Oxford Blue’ but it also comes in pinks, paler blues and white. I sowed some in the autumn this year and they are doing really well so hoping for some earlier flowers but I will also sow some in Spring too, for later pickings. Its so bright and versatile.
Here with Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, Lysimachia barystachys, white Oreganum and Sweet pea ‘Nimbus’.
Here we have it with Rudbeckia ‘Marmalade’, Zinnia ‘Mammoth’, Nicotiana ‘Bronze Queen’, Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ and Larkspur ‘Imperials’. 
Cerinthe, one of my favourite plants in the cutting patch for its foliage, it has glaucous succulent stems and leaves with nodding heads of purple bell-like flowers tipped with white. because its so succulent it can flop after cutting so its best to sear the stems in boiling water for 10 seconds and then put in cold water and they will usually be ok. I quite like the way they curl and hang down a bit but if you do want super straight stems then wrapping them in paper is supposed to keep them straight. Again I sow these in autumn and unless we have really prolonged frost that come through but I also sow again in the spring to extend the cutting season. They are also easy to collect seed from for growing another year!
Here with Orlaya grandiflora, Silene vulgaris and Cornflower ‘Blueball’.
Here with Calendula ‘Indian Prince’ and Calendula ‘Sherbert Fizz’, Chrysanthemum ‘Rainbow’, Cornflower ‘Black Ball’, Orlaya grandiflora, Omphalodes linifolia ‘Little Snow White’.
Daucus carota or wild carrot is another lacy umbellifer like the Ammis, I think these look fabulous in a wilder arrangement. I often pick the flowers also as they are going over, they have a beautiful habit of curling in on themselves and can be used at various stages including when dried. The cultivar Daucus carota ‘Dara’ is a real beauty too with varying shades of pink in the flower. As the common name, wild carrot, suggests this is a plant that develops a big tap root so doesn’t always respond well to transplantation so its better to sow this directly and it does well from an autumn sowing, but equally will still flower well from a spring sowing. If you do want to sow undercover, then sow into modules and minimise the amount of transplanting.
Here is Daucus carota ‘Dara’ with Dahlia ‘Arabian Night’, Zinnia ‘Purple Prince’ and Lysimachia clethroides. 
Echium ‘Blue Bedder’, I love this plant as much as the bees do and thats a lot! Its a bit hairy and its a bit sprawling in habit but its long flowering and adds a hit of bright blue into your arrangements. I also grow the white form, Echium ‘White Bedder’ which I probably use more of in arrangements but probably slightly less loved by the bees. Sometimes its fine from autumn sowing and sometimes not if we have lots of prolonged frosts but its pretty quick from sowing to flowering so spring is good time to sow. Keep deadheading it or cutting to keep it flowering.
Here it is with Cornflower ‘Black Ball’, Cynoglossum ‘Mystic Pink’, Feverfew and Ammi majus.
Dill is superb if you want to add a splash of acid green into your arrangements, some vibrant colour to clash with bright pinks and purples of Zinnias. Or blues of Cornflowers. Another one that prefers direct sowing to minimise disturbance of the roots. This also adds a different dimension to your arrangement with its fresh green aniseedy scent.
There are a number of small flowered annuals that make good filler like Gypsophila ‘Covent Garden’, the annual Phloxes, Omphalodes and Cynoglossum. Obviously there sometimes overlap in categories as these may also be used as supporting flowers. But the smaller flowers again add an airyness to your posies. Gypsophila ‘Covent Garden’, this is just such a lovely delicate white flower. The problem I sometimes have with this is that it gets overwhelmed by other things in the cutting patch, so it needs its own space where it won’t get squashed by other more dominant annuals. Always tricky if like me you are trying to squeeze so much into a space. They can be sown undercover earlier or direct sown into the flower bed. I want to grow more of this this year.
Here it is with Oreganum, Cornflower ‘Black Ball’ and Cynoglossum ‘Mystic Pink’.
Another similar white flower is Omphalodes linifolia ‘Little Snow White’, this also has attractive glaucous stems and leaves. I discovered this a couple of years ago and love its delicate beauty. Sow in the spring, I sow undercover in trays and pot on and plant out once the frosts have passed. Again it needs space to grow with out being overwhelmed by other plants.
Here with Calendula ‘Indian Prince’ and Calendula ‘Sherbert Fizz’, Chrysanthemum ‘Rainbow’, Cornflower ‘Black Ball’, Orlaya grandiflora and Cerinthe.Also with Orlaya grandiflora, Chive flowers, Sweet Rocket and mint. 
I’m a big fan of the annual phloxes, especially Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’, I just love the intricate details of colours on the small flowers and the twisted flower buds that unravel to open. I use them as much as I can in my arrangements. I’ve written about them in more detail here. They are half-hardy so I sow mine undercover in the spring and protect from frosts. They can look a bit floppy and leggy when they first start growing but the trick is to cut them for the flowers or pinch them out and they will progressively get more sturdy and branch out and then will produce nice long stems of flowers. Then they will flower all summer long.
Here it is with Amberboa muricata, Canterbury Bells and Cosmos ‘Apricotta’. 
Here with Helianthus ‘Ruby Eclipse’ and Rudbeckia ‘Sahara.
Just a small posy of Phlox ‘Sugar Stars’.
Cynoglossum, I grow a couple of varieties of this, one ‘Firmament’ is such a lovely clear fresh sky blue and the other ‘Mystic Pink’, which I think I love even more, is a soft pastel pink. For picking best to wait to till all the flowers are open up the stem and sear stems in boiling water first like for Cerinthe.
Here is Cynoglossum ‘Firmament’ with Nicotiana ‘Starlight Dancer’, Feverfew, white Oreganum and Salvia ‘Oxford Blue’.
Here is Cynoglossum ‘Mystic Pink ‘ with Zinnia ‘Purple Prince, Cosmos ‘Sensation’, Cosmos ‘Apricotta’ and Cosmos ‘Fizzy Rose’.
Grasses make great fillers and add so much texture to your arrangements, there are a couple of annual grasses that I use a lot of and they are Briza maxima and Panicum ‘Frosted Explosion’. Briza creates lots of movement the flowerheads seem to dangle on a tiny stem and flutter about in any breeze. I’ll be brutally honest its a rampant self seeded but you only have to sow it once and any in the wrong place are easy to pull up. I’ve a little area where they are left to self seed every year and seem to have kept themselves there so far! Cut lots for drying too. 
Some Briza with Cornflower ‘Blue Ball’ and Cornflower ‘Black Ball’, Orlaya grandiflora, Cerinthe and Silene vulgaris.
Panicum ‘Frosted Explosion’ or ‘Sprinkles’ is a bit of a wonder, it produces a fibre optic like cloud of flowers and is a must-have for your arrangements. I grow it in the big dustbins with my Dahlias and it froths around between the flowers but they are very good cut and come again flower so have plenty to pick too.
With Dahlia ‘Arabian Night’, Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’, Cosmos ‘Apricotta’ and Ammi visnaga.
So there you go just some suggestions for what to grow as filler flowers, some of my favourites. I also have quite a few perennial plants that I grow for filler so I might try and blog about that at some point too.
Wishing you a flower filled year!
Higgledy Anne
(I’m on Instagram anne_hinks if you fancy a follow, I’ve also joined Bluesky Anne Hinks)