Lisianthus Celeb Metallic Blue - Cut Flowers - September 2026

I've been harvesting the purple blooms off of the Lisianthus Celeb Metallic Blue plants that I tucked into our front yard over the past few weeks.  They're interesting, but I'm thinking that I'm not maximizing them as a cut flower.  By that, I mean that I'm probably making a rookie (cut flower) mistake:  cutting the stems too short.  

It is human nature (I think) to cut them short.  You see these secondary (emerging) buds on the stems and you don't want to sacrifice them by cutting deeply.  So, you end up cutting them short.  And, you get MORE blooms.  But, they're SHORT ones.  

I've been surprised by how EASY these have been to grow.  They're all doing well and pumping out blooms, despite not being billed as cut-and-come-again.  I've fed them on the same monthly cycle as dahlias/roses with the 3-in-1 and pests haven't been a problem.   I have a little rabbit fence around these, but Google says that rabbits will generally leave them alone.  

Here, below, are a couple of photos of these short stems.

What I like about Lisianthus:

• The purple color.  DGN color.  I like that.
• The ease of growing them.  They haven't needed a ton of attention.

What I don't like about Lisianthus:

• They're not dahlias.
• I'm cutting them too short. 

Last year, I made the Babe a Homecoming wristlet using dahlias.  If I have some of these purple blooms come Homecoming weekend, I'll try making one with these.  If that works, I'll grow them again next year.  For that alone.  And, I'll cut them with longer stems.