I'm not into diamonds or day spas. I'd rather treat myself to a beautiful bouquet of flowers, preferably from my very own garden.

Planting a cutting garden is eco-friendly and economical. For the price of a few seed packets — and a little sweat equity — you can grow a range of blooms to rival those of any florist. The trip from backyard to bouquet is much shorter than the journey most hothouse flowers make, often from as far away as Asia or South America. And, with the right site and smart planning, you can grow enough flowers to fill your vases all summer long without clear cutting your flowerbeds. Here's how:

Plan before you plant

Before you sow a single seed, think about your favorite bouquets. Are they spare and minimal or old-fashioned and overflowing? What sort of colors and shapes do you prefer? Narrow it down to a fairly limited color palette in a range of shapes — full and rounded, spiky and wispy fillers — to get the most from your garden.

Sarah Raven, a British floral designer and cutting garden pro, compares the process of planting for a bouquet to planning a wedding party: you need a big, bold flower for the bride; a smaller, less showy flower in the same color for the bridesmaids; and a gatecrasher in a strong contrasting color to give the whole bouquet a little zing. Some of her favorite pairings include purple with acid green, and hot pink with deep maroon or bright orange. She also advises planting three types of foliage to complete an arrangement.

Seeds vs. plants

Long-stemmed annuals, such as cosmos, zinnias and bachelor buttons, are perfect candidates for a cutting garden because they can easily be started from seed and are prolific bloomers: The more you pick, the more they produce. (Plants from the nursery will do that, too, but the selection will be more limited.) Popular annuals such as gladiolas and dahlias can be dug up at season's end and stored to replant for next year.

If you want an early-season bouquet, you'll need to dedicate some space in your garden. Many spring bloomers grow from bulbs and, along with perennials, will require a permanent place to grow.

Perennials lend variety to your assortment, but their bloom times are shorter. Perennials that flower for a very short period, such as daylilies and petunias, aren't suitable for bouquets.

The right site

Flowers for cutting prefer a site that's sheltered from wind and gets at least six to eight hours of full sun a day. A level site makes watering and harvesting easier. Raised beds are ideal because the soil will warm more quickly, which means you'll be planting and picking sooner.

If you don't have room for a dedicated cutting garden, you can incorporate flowers into your existing beds. Be sure to consider bloom times and use some judicious pruning when you need to.

Caring and feeding

Water regularly and mulch with straw or compost to conserve moisture. Stay on top of weeds when they appear. Use a balanced fertilizer to feed plants. To keep them coming, deadhead unpicked flowers so they won't go to seed and stop producing.

Pick early and often

For the longest lasting flowers, pick early in the morning before plants feel the midday heat. Before you start to cut, fill a tall bucket with water, then immediately submerge each stem. Before arranging your flowers, strip leaves from the part of the stem that will be below the waterline. Re-cut the stems on the diagonal and arrange them in a clean vase filled with cool water. To extend the life of your DIY bouquet, change the water and re-cut the stems every few days.

Be creative

You don't have to stick to flowers and green. Look around your yard for branches, berries, seedpods and even succulents to include in your arrangements.

Debra Prinzing, author of "The 50-Mile Bouquet" and "Slow Flowers" often uses herbs in her bouquets. "I love herbs for their role as foliage, especially Thai basil, cinnamon basil, mints of all kinds, [and] variegated sage," she said.

She also suggests adding woody salixes and ornamental grasses, as well as raiding your vegetable garden for kale leaves or a snip of a vine from a cherry tomato plant.

Rhonda Hayes is a Minneapolis-based garden writer. She blogs at www.thegardenbuzz.com.