If you’ve been doing any sort of large scale farming for a while (vegetable or flower) you’ve probably heard of growing in soil blocks and soil blocking.
Soil blocks are what they sound like - compressed cubes of soil or potting mix that are used to grow plants in. Unlike the more traditional way of planting seeds directly into cells or pots, seeds are directly sown into these blocks of soil and are used by many farmers and gardeners to start seeds every year.
Read MoreHappy 2020! We hope that you are all doing well and are well on your way to planning your flower farm and gardens for next year.
As we start off the 2020 growing season, there are some varieties of plants that we’ll have to start earlier than most - plants that do the best with a long and cool establishment period that late winter and early spring brings.
These plants - hardy annuals technically - are hardy to much lower temperatures than tender annuals like zinnias and dahlias and sunflowers are. While a dahlia will turn into mush as soon as even a light frost hits, these hardy annuals will thrive in cool, even freezing conditions.
These are also the annuals that if planted late in the spring will go to flower very quickly - on short little stems with pathetic little blooms and very quickly die in the heat. Not really the tall, beautiful opulent flowers that you want to enjoy in the garden or cut for the vase.
Read MoreLooking at last year, dried materials were our most popular and most profitable section of our sales from flower farming - it was incredible!
But what’s interesting too is that lots of the materials that go into dried material arrangements and products would literally have been composted otherwise. And while I’m all for improving the soil through composting of organic material, there are still plenty of ingredients that can be used for dried florals and bring in money during the off season.
Wreathmaking workshops are very popular - ours always sell out very quickly! It’s a great way to celebrate the holiday season - people love creating wreaths and with the smell of pine and holiday music playing in the background it’s hard not to feel festive!
Read MoreOne of the most important and most basic skills a flower farmer can have is seed starting. As I’ve mentioned before, seed starting is the way that a flower farmer can economically and effectively obtain the quantity and variety of plants required for creating the volume and diversity of material to sell.
While it seems rather intuitive, seed starting can be a bit tricky depending on the species so I wanted to cover a couple basic concepts that are important to keep in mind when starting seeds.
Read More95% of all flower varieties that flower farmers grow (and yes, I totally made that up) are grown from seed. Whether annual or perennial, many of the materials are grown from seed.
Starting plants from seed is the only way to get the quantity and scale needed for flower farming. If you’re looking to plant hundreds or thousands of plants - especially annuals that need to be grown every year - then starting from seed is the way to do it.
From a little paper packet come rows and rows of flowers which go on and fill armloads and buckets of beautiful blooms that go on into bouquets, centerpieces and all sorts of arrangements all season long, filling the homes and providing beauty for the events of our customers and clients.
Read MoreIf you haven’t already read my post on trialing florist chrysanthemums, you might not know just how passionate I am about mums.
I really am though. Coming at a time of year when I’m usually burnt out and ready to give up on the season, they are a welcome burst of fresh floral excitement at a time of year when everything else is winding down for the season. They come in the perfect fall colors too - rust, burgundy, gold, dusky purple and rose and light pinks that are incredibly elegant and rustic.
Read MoreChrysanthemums had always been a controversial topic in our house.
I don’t think we could ever really justify growing mums for cut flower production due to the fact that they were so ubiquitous and cheap from the wholesaler in the fall - and having to not go through disbudding and staking for production would always be a plus to reduce the amount of labor for producing flowers.
We decided to compromise, and I ended up purchasing some plants this year to run a trial. They took a long time to get going, but eventually they started blooming at the end of September - and I was able to assess them as far as productivity, appearance, and productivity.
Read MoreWhile you may have read my previous post on fall perennials to start from seed, I wanted to go a little bit more in depth about our favorite flowers to grow for spring blooms - and flowers that should be in your repertoire as a flower farmer.
There are a lot of flowers to grow for spring - many delightful and beautiful and delicate blooms explode into color in the late spring/early summer time period, many of which are beloved by brides, floral designers and customers alike.
A solid spring of cut flower material and sales is important to flower farmers - after a long and cold and dark winter without much to cut and sell, you want to be ready to hit the ground running when spring comes around. Customers are ravenously hungry for flowers and color and anything fresh and alive, and if you can supply that demand you will start off the season with a good flush of flower sales.
Read MoreSedums are one of the most underrated and least frequently grown plants that flower farmers grow.
I think it’s a shame because sedums are one of the easiest perennials to grow, tolerating even the most harsh and unfavorable conditions while still getting bigger and better every year with little to no care whatsoever.
If you’ve been suffering with trying to grow finicky flowers like lisianthus and poppies and ranunuculus, you will find growing sedums to be very relaxing, carefree and allow you to spend your time on other things like tying sweet peas and staking dahlias. They literally require no care whatsoever aside from planting, are incredibly easy to propagate and maintain, and will provide you with a nice fall crop that is a break from the constant march of zinnias and dahlias all season long.
Read MorePineapple lilies sound like some sort of bizarre made-up flower until you see them in person.
But once you see them, you’ll never forget them. Big, strappy, tropical foliage in a large rosette with large flower stalks erupting from the center that beg for you to look at them. They look unreal - as if they were some sort of alien species that had invaded earth.
Best of all? They are actually pretty hardy plants. With good drainage and either mild winters or excellent insulation (through either mulch or snow cover) they will come back year after year, bigger and better and with more stems and flowers.
Read MoreOne of the fastest and frankly, easiest ways to expand your garden is to start plants from cuttings.
Most of us are familiar with starting plants from seeds as well as dividing plants. Plants such as swiss chard and sunflowers grow easily and quickly from seed, while plants such as irises and daylilies can be divided in the fall and spring to create new divisions of plants.
But there are some plants, such as mint or oregano or ivy that don’t really grow from seed and can’t really be divided into new plants. How exactly can you propagate them?
The answer is with rooting cuttings from your plants.
Not all plants root easily from cuttings, but there are a few common plants that are incredibly easy to root, including:
Catmint (Nepeta)
Sedum (Sedum/Hypotelephium)
Mint (Mentha)
Rosemary (Rosemarinus)
Sage (Salvia)
Wormwood/Sage (Artemisia)
Pachysandra
Vinca
As the season winds down, we’re getting ready for next year.
The funny thing about flower farming is that good flowers can be planted the same season - but great flowers need to be planned out 6-12 months ahead of time.
One of the things we are doing this year is expanding our perennial offerings for florists and wedding design, so we are in the midst of propagating a lot of hardy perennials for production next year.
It might be easier to just buy in plugs, but of course as you know flower farmers aren’t necessarily the most logical people. I actually prefer to propagate our perennials myself because I get a thrill out of seeds starting and cuttings rooting, and it’s cool to be able to say that I propagated hundreds of plants from one original “mother” plant.
Read MoreAs we try to be more conscious stewards of the earth and of our land, we are trying to reduce our carbon footprint by limiting our use of plastic whenever possible.
As flower farmers don’t think we’re quite at the place where we can eliminate plastic entirely - there are some items that just don’t have a good alternative or replacement yet (such as drip line). And so much of what we do involves plastic. Whether it’s irrigation, season extension with tunnels and greenhouses, packaging, seed starting, and so much more, there’s a lot of plastic in our livelihood.
We cannot escape plastic. However, there is a lot that we can do to eliminate the majority of our plastic waste on our flower farm. Here are a couple things that we have done that may inspire you:
Read MoreInevitably every gardener is going to try growing dahlias at some point in their career. Whether it’s for showing in the local Dahlia society exhibition, cutting for arrangements or enjoying in the garden, dahlias are invaluable for their vigor and of course their amazing flowers.
And if you’re growing dahlias, no doubt you’ll be interested in growing the famous (or infamous depending on your personal opinion!) Cafe au Lait dahlia.
The one dahlia that everyone seems to love - retail customers, floral designers, gardeners, dahlia enthusiasts and casual observers all agree that its a spectacular dahlia. In fact, the only people that seem to dislike Cafe au Lait dahlias are flower farmers for a few very specific reasons - but we’ll get into that later on.
Read MoreSeptember is a perfect month - it usually means that the flower farm is putting on one final display and show before the first frost.
We’re usually slammed with business too - the cool weather means that many people schedule their weddings for this time of year, and florists are making orders left and right while we are also booked for some of our biggest events of the year.
The farm is producing as well - with big fluffy perfect dahlias and roses and zinnias along with stems and branches dripping with nuts, seedpods and fruit, and all of the plants are big and luscious and perfect and plentiful. It’s this big display of autumnal abundance that makes for excellent materials and allows the most fabulous designs this time of year.
Even if you’re crazy busy like us this time of year, there are some tasks that you should take care of to help yourself later on in the year and even into next year.
Read MoreCastor Beans are as beautiful as they are deadly
Ricinus communis is a popular plant for British borders and home gardeners over the world. Although four to eight seeds can kill an adult human, there’s a lot to love about this plant.
First and foremost is the fact that they are one of the most coveted and favorite materials for our local florists. Seriously, we sell out of every single stem that we can offer (minus the ones we keep for ourselves of course!) and we can never grow enough.
Secondly, castor beans offer a look and presence in our personal garden that is unrivaled by any other plant. It’s broad leaves offer an exotic and striking look that you can’t really get with most other plants - and the fact that it also has the potential to be so dangerous just adds to its appeal and mystique.
Read MoreYou see, there are a lot of flowering plants that not only can survive the cold weather, but in fact love it. Peonies for example, need a very cold and wet winter in order to grow big and lush blooms (which can be a problem in our growing zone that tends to be warm and dry during the winter)
Yes, right now is the perfect time to plant these lesser-known flowers. Some, such as delphinium only actually will germinate in cool weather, preferring to sprout during periods of freezes and thaws since the swings in temperature helps to trigger sprouting.
Read MoreSo, you’ve decided that you want to become a flower farmer?
Congratulations! Being a flower farmer is honestly one of the most impactful and wonderful things I ever decided upon in my life.
We had always been avid gardeners and Steven had a background in floral design, but it wasn’t until back in 2013 we realized that there was actually a way to grow enough flowers to supply enough to sell at farmer’s markets and design for weddings.
I’ve learned so much and experienced so much since then that it almost seems like I’ve been flower farming for a lifetime.
It’s not all armloads of dahlias and picking flowers with the sunset behind you though. There’s a lot of downsides and a lot of hard work that flower farming entails - all of the stuff that you can’t see on an Instagram post or from a grand wedding or large arrangement.
Read MoreBroomcorn is one of our favorite floral materials to grow in the garden and in arrangements, especially in the fall and is also one of our annual favorite grasses to grow!
Broomcorn is not actually a corn but is an ornamental sorghum - distantly related to sugarcane and big bluestem grass interestingly enough.
It usually grows as a single corn-like stalk, soaring upwards above our heads and growing quickly into a towering stalk of strappy foliage and bamboo-like stems, creating a jungle-like effect in the garden.
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