During our high-production years, we sold our cut flowers to florists, grocery stores, farmers markets, and in subscriptions. Want to know what our all-time favorite must-have flowers are? The ones I think EVERY farmer should grow? Read on!
#1: Sunflowers
But not just ANY sunflowers, they should be single-stem pollenless sunflower varieties. My best seller was Procut Orange, but we like all the Procut colors for different parts of the season. I also recommend the Sunfill variety, particularly the green color, as a fabulous filler for bouquets! Did you know that you can control the height and bloom size of sunflowers by planting them closer together?
#2: Zinnias
Not just any zinnias, they should be Benary’s Giants in seasonally-appropriate colors! We love the colors and flower forms of the newer Zinnia varieties, but Benary’s Giants were our bread and butter producer year after year. It’s a good idea to grow pastels and lighter colors at the beginning of the season, then primary and darker colors later in the season. Even though Zinnias are a “cut and come again” type of flower, did you know that they’re actually great for succession planting?
#3: Celosia Plumes and Cockscomb
I love all of the varieties! Both the celosia plume shapes and the large “brain” shape of cockscomb add great variety to late summer bouquets. Did you know that there are branching varieties and single-stem varieties? You may have noticed that the seeds for some varieties are a lot pricier than others. Those are hybrid varieties that were bred to last longer in bloom before going to seed, so there is a wider window to cut them.
#4: Snapdragons
Snapdragon is a great upright flower that comes in a broad range of cheery colors. Did you know that there are different varieties of Snapdragons that bloom at different times in the season? This allows you to plan for a much longer period of snapdragon blooms! I did a podcast with Dave Dowling on this subject and it’s a great resource for learning more about the different groups of Snaps and how they can fit into your crop plan. It’s Field and Garden podcast number 98, which you can find on our website or wherever you listen to podcasts.
#5: Bupleurum
This one is a real crowd pleaser! The variety I grow is “Green Gold,” and that’s a really good name for it. In the spring it can be especially hard to find greenery to add to bouquets and arrangements. Bupleurum is there to save the day! EVERYONE loves it. We grew as much as we could every year.
Those are the top 5 must-have flowers that I think every flower farmer should grow. Are they on your list too? If you’d like more information about growing these flowers please search the blog on our website. We sell seeds for all of these flowers as well, so you can also find helpful growing tips on the seed product pages in our online shop.
Want to turn your passion for growing flowers into a thriving business? Lisa’s Online Flower Farming School teaches all you need to know! Click Here to learn more.
About The Author: Lisa Mason Ziegler – a leader in the cut-flower growing industry, author, accomplished speaker, virtual course instructor, and owner of The Gardener’s Workshop. Learn more about Lisa and The Gardener’s Workshop here.
