As a flower farmer, we are always thinking about how to sell our flowers. It’s not enough to just grow beautiful flowers, because beautiful flowers that remain unsold are a very expensive hobby - you have to be able to sell your flowers.
This can of course take many forms - directly to the consumer, sold via consignment or a middle party that markets and sells your flowers, or in the form of design work or services. But as a business owner, you need to be able to sell your flowers in order to sustain your business.
And although some people might think of profit or sales as scary or unfamiliar words, they should not be. You should be making a profit off your flowers when you are selling the because that’s the only way you’ll be able to continue to run your business and provide flowers for the world
Tulips are one of the most beautiful and venerated blooms of spring and for good reason. Coming in a rainbow of colors, they are some of the most spectacular and boldly colored blooms of the entire year and are also one of the first flowers to bloom (along with daffodils).
Although tulips are generally treated as an annual (with the exception of a few varieties) they can be a good spring flower for the flower farmer to grow!
I wanted to introduce you to the 10 typical flower farm business models. Although there are some other models out there, most will fall into one of these six categories (with many taking on multiple business models in order to diversify the services and products they offer). And of course there are other models out there that may not have become mainstream enough to take notice, so this may evolve over time as the demand for local flowers continues to grow, but this should be a good start!
While tulips often get the focus and attention of spring flowers, daffodils should not be forgotten in the spring lineup!
A truly perennial spring-flowering bulb, daffodils are a great addition to any flower farmer especially for early spring sales. Some of the first flowers or plants to bloom in spring, they are as beautiful and graceful as any flower out there.
Here are some tips for working with daffodils and working them into your flower farm business
There are two big questions I get from a lot of flower farmers
What do I plant to ensure it all goes together?
How much of each do I need?
These are great questions to ask, and really get to the heart of the flower farmer’s business. It’s important to ensure that you have enough volume of material in order to supply your sales and income streams, but it’s also important to know that information (And actually, the majority of flower farming’s stresses can be attributed to these two questions!)
When talking with new flower farmers and growers, a big question is how do you decide what flowers to grow?
There are many species of flowers to grow, with hundreds of varieties and cultivars to try out. Each flower variety has its own merits and negatives, and it can honestly be quite a bit confusing trying to determine which flowers you may want to grow. It’s kind of like falling down the rabbit hole - your head starts practically spinning so fast with the possibilities that it can make you dizzy.
Thinking of starting a flower farm?
Great! Because there has never been a better time to do so, and it’s also never been easier.
Now you may have already started your flower farm and are doing just fine - hats off to you. But there are also some of us (me!) that needed a justification or reason to start a flower farm. After all, it can be quite the laborious and complicated venture. Or perhaps we wanted to ensure that we’re doing the right thing and that we’re aligned towards a certain reason or goal for our flower farm.
When it comes to putting together a flower farm or flower garden, the first and foremost thing that you’ll want to create is your plan. Your dream, your blueprint, your vision.
It’s important. Without this vision, you won’t know where you’re heading, you won’t know what you’re wanting to accomplish, you won’t know what you’re supposed to be growing or designing or what the whole point of this all is.
Okay, so when I first started out flower farming, I made a lot of charts. Charts for seeds to be purchased, charts for seeds to be sown, charts for planting dates and succession dates and sales and clients. This was OK the first year, but it quickly got larger and larger and what started off as a fun and exciting business project suddenly started requiring spreadsheets, lists, charts and diagrams
When it comes to plants and winter, it’s helpful to know what happens as far as plant physiology and how it can effect your plants - especially hardy annuals and biennials.
There are a few factors that determine how cold some varieties of flowers can endure.
First of all, not all hardy flowers have the same level of cold hardiness. Some, such as Icelandic poppies and dianthus and orlaya can endure temperatures down to -5 F. Others, such as scabiosa can endure temperatures down to only 15 F, while nigella endures temperatures only a bit below freezing at around 23 F (and of course there are exceptions to these temperatures, but more on that in a minute)
The number one issue I believe with flower farmers is that you don’t believe in yourself.
Not that you can’t grow flowers. Chances are that you’re doing that already, and you’re doing it pretty damn well.
Not that you’re not a flower farmer or a professional, because chances are you’re also doing that too.
But it’s a very deep rooted thing that goes to the core of your being that you’re not good enough - that your business isn’t good enough - and that you’re scared of what may happen if you think you’re good enough.
flower growing guides
Over the years, we have grown lots of flowers - both for personal gardening pleasure as well as for our floral farm and design business. Growing flowers can be tricky, especially if you’re growing for a business- so we wanted to share our expertise on how to grow an abundance of flowers all season long.
How to Grow Castor Bean (Ricinus) in the Garden and for Floral Design
The Glory of Zinnia Haageana (Aztec, Jazzy and Other Small Zinnias)
How to Grow Daucus (Chocolate Lace Flower, Queen Anne's Lace)
8 Easy Perennials to Take Cuttings from for Flower Farmers to Grow
12 Spring Blooming Bulbs to Plant for Cut Flowers (Anemones and Ranunculus)
How to Grow Orlaya for the Cutting Garden (and Floral Design)
Sedums 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.
Inevitably 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.
Castor 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.
Broomcorn 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.
When it comes to zinnias, most people think of the large three to four inch zinnias like the Benary Giants, or at least the two inch zinnias like the Oklahoma series - all of the species Zinnia elegans.
Yet, most people don’t know about the tiny single-flowered varieties of the species Zinnia haageana variety that are around half an inch across to one inch at best.
They’re seriously tiny. And each flower is so miniscule with little skinny stems that it would take a lot of them to even fill up a small mason jar. I was never convinced that they would be worth growing, so I had ignored them for the past couple years.
If you’ve hung out with me or have read any of the ebooks, you’ll know that I’m a big big fan of the Queen series of zinnias.
A mid-sized zinnia, the Queen series consist of four varieties
Queen Red Lime
Queen Lime with Blush
Queen Lime
Queen Lime with Orange
Each of these varieties have a wonderful ombré gradient on their petals, fading from a soft lime green to another color (with the exception of the Queen Lime which is pure soft lime green) which makes them visually incredibly stunning - and when designing with them makes them an excellent flower for bridging between different color spectrums.
Benary Giant zinnias are the gold standard when it comes to zinnias. Great in form, comes in a variety of colors, and absolutely massive when it comes to their size - a good four feet tall (if not taller) with large 3-4” flowers that are absolutely stunning.
Also known as the Blue Point zinnia (which were specifically bred and marketed as a florist zinnia), the Benary Giants are some of the most commonly grown zinnias for flower farmers.
However, it’s not all great necessarily. My main issue with the Benary Giants is that they’re not consistently double for some of the colors - the Salmon color being the most inconsistent (which of course the salmon colored varieties would be!) and the seed can also be expensive (100 for $6)
I’ve noticed a lot of people asking recently about the best or favorite zinnias to grow.
Zinnias are kind of a hot-button topic for most people - even if you hate zinnias and won’t grow them, you’ll have a very definitive reason as to why - but most people, especially flower farmers love zinnias and grow boatloads of them all season long.
However, not all zinnias are created equal (in my opinion at least)
The most popular zinnias for flower farmers seem to be the following:
Benary Giant (or Blue Point) series
Queen (Queen Red Lime, Queen Lime, Queen Lime with Blush, Queen Lime with Orange, Queen Lime Mix) series
Oklahoma series
Zinderella series
So, you’re probably like us and purchased seeds of the Zinderella series of zinnias.
I mean, how could you not??
They look so amazing, like something out of a dream.
I had this image of fluffy, cupcake/scabiosa shaped zinnias in my mind. They look like little magical fairy landing pads to me - something that truly looks magical!
Cosmos are one of those garden plants that everyone seems to have grown at some point. Whether the usual wild pink variety of bipinnatus , the gold and orange sulphureus, or the fancier varieties like the ‘Double Click’ or ‘Cupcake’ series, all gardeners seem to fall in love with cosmos at one point or another.
A very easy plant to grow, cosmos are one of those garden plants that seemingly need little attention in order to thrive. In fact, they really seem to grow the best with neglect!
That’s not to say there’s not an art to growing them - especially if you’re going to be growing them for floral design.
The relationship between a floral designer and a flower farmer or grower is one of the best and most special relationships there are. They’re like peanut butter and jelly, Spongebob and Patrick, Shrek and donkey, Oprah and Gayle, Pinky and the Brain - iconic friendship duos that share a special bond and appreciation for flowers that surpasses all expectations.