Which annuals make the best cut flowers?

My wife and I would like to grow cut flowers for shutins, nursing home residents,etc. I have about 5000 sq ft of our gardens that we can set aside for this. What I would like to know is which annuals should we grow in row culture for cut flowers? longest lasting blooms? Any info or opinions would be appreciated.

My number one choice is zinnias. They last forever in a vase, have a pretty long bloom time, come in a million colors and keep growing til frost. The only problems with them are they are prone to rust and they take forever to bloom from seed. All in all, my # 1 favorite flower.

I also grow cosmos, california poppies, bachelor buttons (annual, not the perennial type) for annuals, and tons of perennials are great in the cutting garden:

lillies of any variety, any rudbeckia or echinacea, shasta daisies, scabiosos. Hard to grow them in rows, tho. Good luck. Sounds like a fun project.

I have a book named 'Cutting Gardens' which not only talk about growing the flowers, but what to do to them when cut to keep them fresh, and for how long each will stay fresh. I'll look for the exact title and author and post back here.

Stoppy... I have some baby's breath, and some bachelor buttons if you would like. Just let me know!

Stoppy... I seem to have packed up that shelf of books (prep. to moving) so I'm not certain that's the EXACT title, but it's close.

Stoppy, lisianthus are just great for cutting & they last for up to three weeks in a vase. I know they take a really long time from seed. I have to start mine in Jan.

Darius - "Cutting Gardens" is the correct title. We will pick up a copy.
To everyone -- thanks for the inputs and more ideas are certainly welcome.
On the perennial side we are already looking at what needs dividing in our garden that can be moved to row culture for cutting.
I would like glads -- are there any sources for field size corms? The same for dahlia tubers?

stoppy... we had a gladiolus co-op last year and got 2500 Jumbo and #1 corms wholesale @ 20 cents apiece from http://www.djgrowglad.com/cgi-bin/shop.pl/page=dj-glads2-r.html/SID=1031750700.28528

The minumum to get wholesale pricing is 500, and the price decreases with volume increase. I think sbarr and I are getting some this year... maybe you could email her and ask if you could throw in with us?

Lenjo raises quantities of dahlias.

I like the 24 inch Snapdragons & 24 inch zinnias for all summer color & bouquets. You can plant them between iris & daylilies with ease. Deadheading increases branching and blooms. Cleomes are fun too for bouquets, but I don't care for the scent indoors.

Larkspur (the annual one) and strawflower are great for cutting, too. So are coreopsis, but they often need to be staked. Most people don't think of them as such, but the mealy-cup sage (like Blue Victoria) are excellent cut flowers.

Tithonias work great, as well as some of the smaller sunflowers. And my absolute favorite, sweet peas. The look is only part of it, the aroma is the best! Not overpowering, either, just a faint trace through the house.

Any of the tulips would work well; since you have a lot of space, you can get some of the ones that bloom once and are discarded for just a few cents each if you make a large order. Or some of the ones that will bloom again, if you want to plant them under some of the perennials.

I know the cutting garden is going to be absolutely superb!

I like the blue feathery look of Speedwell. If you deadhead, it blooms all summer & into the fall.

China asters are one of the best cutflowers, Just love them.

I like Corn Cockle _ it blooms like crazy, is a very long lasting cut flower and can have two seasons. You can plant it for bloom in spring/summer and also fall blooms. It will reseed well, too.

While you're planting for cut flowers don't forget fill in stuff like lemon basil, veronica,baby's breath, etc.,it really makes the bouquets stand out!