#417: Timing Disasters - Lessons Learned the Hard Way
Want more flowers with less work? Timing can make all the difference! Lisa shares four important lessons learned over nearly 30 years of flower farming, from when to start seeds and harvest blooms to installing support netting and preparing garden beds. Discover how doing these simple jobs at the right time can save you weeks of extra work and frustration!
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The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Growing A Beautiful Life, The Cut Flower Handbook, Vegetables Love Flowers, and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!
Timing Disasters: Lessons Learned the Hard Way
When should you start flower seeds, harvest cut flowers, install support netting, and prepare your garden beds? After nearly 30 years of growing cut flowers, I've learned that getting these four jobs done at the right time can make the difference between a productive flower garden and weeks of unnecessary work.
Some gardening jobs are forgiving. Others have a surprisingly short window of opportunity, and once that window closes, the consequences can follow you for the rest of the season.
And believe me, I've learned some of these lessons the hard way!
Recently, I came close to missing our opportunity to prepare garden beds for fall-planted cool flowers. That experience reminded me how much easier flower gardening becomes when we recognize which jobs need to happen right now, rather than putting them off until later.
Whether you're growing a backyard cutting garden or running a flower farming business, here are four important timing lessons that can help you grow more flowers with less frustration.
1. When Is the Right Time to Start Flower Seeds?
Starting flower seeds at the right time is one of the most important steps toward growing healthy, productive transplants.
Start too late, and you may miss an important planting window. Start too early, and your seedlings may outgrow their containers before outdoor conditions are suitable.
Why starting seeds too early creates extra work
I know how tempting it is to start warm-season flower seeds in the middle of winter. You have the seeds, you're excited about spring, and you're ready to get growing!
But those little seedlings don't know that you're still weeks away from being able to plant them outside.
Here on our southeastern Virginia flower farm, we typically begin starting seeds for warm-season tender annuals during the first or second week of March.
That's the schedule that works for our climate and growing methods. Your timing will depend on your location and the flowers you're growing.
We use soil blocking for seed starting, and most of our transplants spend approximately three to six weeks growing indoors before being planted in the garden, depending on the variety.
If we start those seeds nine weeks before planting instead, the seedlings may run out of growing space long before it's time to transplant.
They can become stretched and leggy, turn yellow, develop spots, or otherwise struggle.
Suddenly, a tray of beautiful young plants becomes a tray that needs constant attention.
For commercial flower farmers, that extra plant care takes valuable time away from other work.
Sometimes the best decision is to compost struggling seedlings and start a fresh tray. Young, healthy transplants can outperform older plants that have spent weeks under stress.
The lesson: Calculate your seed-starting dates based on when you'll actually be able to transplant, not simply when you're eager to start gardening.
Why planting windows matter for cool-season flowers
Starting seeds too late can be just as frustrating, particularly when growing cool-season hardy annuals.
I call these Cool Flowers, and they have specific growing windows that allow them to take advantage of cooler temperatures.
For many gardeners in the lower half of the United States, fall planting is especially valuable for these flowers.
Missing that opportunity can mean losing some of the benefits that fall planting offers, including earlier blooms and a longer growing season.
The best planting schedule depends on your climate, frost dates, and the specific varieties you're growing.
Learning those planting windows is one of the most valuable skills you can develop as a flower gardener.
And if you're eager to grow something while waiting for warm weather, cool-season hardy annuals may offer opportunities to garden during a different part of the year.
2. How Often Should You Harvest Cut Flowers?
One of the most valuable habits we developed during our years of commercial flower farming was maintaining a consistent harvesting schedule.
For most of our selling years, we harvested flowers on Mondays and Thursdays.
Twice a week worked well for our farm and our markets. Some varieties could have benefited from more frequent cutting, but our routine kept the cutting gardens productive and manageable.
Here's the important part: We harvested whether or not we had orders to fill.
Why regular harvesting keeps flowers coming
Many branching annual flowers respond to regular cutting by producing additional growth and blooms.
Remember, an annual plant's natural goal is to produce seed.
As flowers mature and begin developing seeds, the plant moves toward fulfilling that purpose.
By harvesting blooms at the appropriate stage and removing older flowers, we can encourage many cut-and-come-again varieties to continue flowering.
That's why a cutting garden needs regular attention even when you don't have an immediate use for the flowers.
What I remove during every harvest
I like to think of our harvesting routine as giving the garden a clean cut.
During a harvest, we remove:
- Flowers that are ready to be cut and used.
- Blooms that have passed their ideal harvest stage.
- Damaged flowers.
- Older blooms that were missed during the previous harvest.
This keeps the garden from becoming filled with spent blooms that need attention later.
Not every flower needs to become a bouquet. Sometimes removing an old bloom is simply part of maintaining a productive cutting garden.
Why harvesting less often can mean more work
Since we stopped selling flowers commercially, our harvesting schedule has changed.
We now harvest primarily for teaching, and at times we've harvested only once a week.
And you know what happened?
We created more work for ourselves!
Instead of moving efficiently through the beds collecting usable stems, we spent extra time removing flowers that were already past their prime.
When we were selling flowers without a cooler, I also learned that finding buyers for early-week flowers worked better than trying to hold everything until later in the week.
The lesson: Establish a regular harvesting routine and stick to it, even when you don't need flowers for an immediate order.
For many cut-and-come-again annuals, consistent cutting leads to a more manageable garden and continued flower production.
3. When Should You Install Flower Support Netting?
Oh, flower friends, this is one lesson that can affect your entire harvesting season!
Flower support netting is one of the most useful tools we use in our cutting gardens.
It helps keep plants upright during wind and heavy rain and supports the development of long, straight stems.
Those straight stems are important for making bouquets, creating floral arrangements, and selling flowers commercially.
But support netting needs to be installed before the plants grow too tall.
How high should flower support netting be?
My general rule is to position support netting at approximately half the plant's expected mature height.
For example, if you're growing a flower variety that typically reaches 48 inches tall, aim to position the netting around 24 inches above the ground.
Install it while the plants are still below that height, keep it taut, and allow the stems to grow naturally through the openings.
I like to think of this support point as the plant's hips rather than its shoulders.
That's where you want the brace!
When installed at the appropriate height, the netting supports the plants without interfering with efficient harvesting.
Why installing netting later can create problems
I've experienced what happens when this job gets pushed down the to-do list.
Sometimes our early spring flowers, including snapdragons, grow so quickly that we miss the ideal installation window.
At that point, raising the netting above the plants isn't necessarily a good solution.
Netting positioned too high can interfere with harvesting while failing to provide the support the stems need.
Instead of reaching easily into the plants to cut flowers, you end up fighting the netting every time.
Sometimes I choose to leave the netting off rather than install it too high. That means accepting the risk of bent stems, but it may be preferable to creating a harvesting obstacle that lasts all season.
Make netting installation part of planting
We're considering making support netting installation one of our first jobs after transplanting and watering.
By putting it in place while the plants are still small, we won't have to worry about another urgent garden task pushing it aside.
The lesson: Install support netting early, at the proper height, and let the flowers grow through it.
A little preparation can save a lot of frustration during harvest season.
4. When Is the Best Time to Prepare Garden Beds?
This final lesson comes from a very recent experience on our farm.
A lightning strike caused significant damage to equipment and electronics around our home and business.
Dealing with repairs and replacements consumed much of my attention during September.
Meanwhile, preparing our beds for fall-planted cool-season flowers kept slipping farther down the priority list.
Before I knew it, our planting window was approaching, I was preparing to leave town, and heavy rain was in the forecast.
I realized we had a very small window to get those beds ready.
Why soil moisture determines when you can prepare beds
Preparing garden beds when the soil is too wet can damage its structure.
Working wet soil can cause compaction and clumping, creating conditions that make healthy root development more difficult.
Here in southeastern Virginia, this is particularly important during fall.
As temperatures become cooler, saturated soil can take much longer to dry.
Once the weather changes, we may not get another good opportunity to prepare our beds until spring.
That's why I watch soil conditions closely when we have an important planting deadline approaching.
How to tell if your garden soil is ready to work
I use a simple test to help determine whether our soil is dry enough for bed preparation.
Here's how I check it:
- Pick up a clump of garden soil.
- Squeeze it gently in your hand without packing it tightly.
- Hold your arm straight out and drop the clump.
- Watch whether the soil breaks apart when it lands.
If the soil crumbles apart readily, that's a good sign it may be workable.
If it stays together in large, wet clumps, I know it needs more time to dry.
This is a practical field test rather than an exact measurement, and different soil types behave differently.
But it's a useful way to evaluate conditions before beginning garden bed preparation.
How we got our fall planting beds ready just in time
Fortunately, we had several warm, dry days before the forecasted rain.
I checked the soil every day, hoping it would become workable.
Finally, the day before I was scheduled to leave town, conditions were right.
Steve and I rearranged our schedules and got to work!
We formed the beds, installed our irrigation, and laid biodegradable film.
We didn't finish every detail, but we completed the essential work that needed to happen while the soil was ready.
And then the rain came.
Had we waited, our fall cool-flower planting plans could have faced a major delay.
The lesson: Watch soil conditions and weather forecasts closely, and prioritize bed preparation when the soil is ready.
Some gardening opportunities don't stay open very long!
Four Gardening Habits That Save Time and Work
The biggest benefit of understanding garden timing isn't simply having a better-looking flower garden.
It's avoiding the extra work that comes from trying to catch up after an important window has passed.
Here are four habits worth building into your routine.
1. Plan seed starting around your planting dates. Determine when each flower should be transplanted outdoors, then calculate when to start its seeds. Healthy, properly timed transplants can save considerable work.
2. Keep a consistent flower harvesting schedule. Regular cutting helps many branching annuals continue producing and prevents spent blooms from accumulating in your cutting garden.
3. Install support netting while plants are small. Position it at the appropriate height before stems grow through it. Proper support makes harvesting much easier later.
4. Prepare garden beds when soil conditions allow. Watch the weather, check soil moisture, and take advantage of suitable conditions before seasonal planting windows close.
You don't have to do everything perfectly.
The goal is to recognize which garden tasks are time-sensitive and give them the attention they deserve.
Frequently Asked Questions About Flower Gardening Timing
When should I start flower seeds indoors?
Start flower seeds based on your intended outdoor planting date, local climate, and the needs of each variety. On our farm, many seeds are started in soil blocks approximately three to six weeks before transplanting. The appropriate timing varies by crop.
Can flower seedlings be started too early?
Yes. Seedlings started too early may become overgrown, leggy, discolored, or stressed before conditions are suitable for transplanting. Properly timed, vigorous young plants often establish more successfully than older plants that have struggled in their containers.
How often should I cut flowers from my cutting garden?
Many cutting gardens benefit from harvesting at least twice weekly during periods of active flowering. Some varieties require more frequent cutting. Regularly removing market-ready and spent blooms helps keep the garden productive and manageable.
Does harvesting flowers encourage more blooms?
For many branching, cut-and-come-again annual varieties, regular harvesting encourages continued growth and flowering. However, single-stem varieties and some other flowers will not produce additional blooms after cutting.
When should flower support netting be installed?
Install support netting while plants are still small, before they reach the planned support height. A useful guideline is to position netting at approximately half the variety's expected mature height, allowing stems to grow through it naturally.
How do I know when garden soil is dry enough to prepare beds?
Gently squeeze a clump of soil and drop it onto the ground. If it crumbles apart readily, it may be workable. If it stays together in large, wet clumps, wait for conditions to improve. Consider your soil type and avoid working soil when it is excessively wet.
Why is timing important when growing cut flowers?
Flower gardening involves several tasks with specific windows of opportunity, including starting seeds, transplanting, harvesting, installing support netting, and preparing soil. Completing these jobs at the appropriate time supports healthy plant growth, improves garden efficiency, and reduces unnecessary labor.
The Biggest Lesson: Do Today's Job on Time
Here's what I want you to remember, flower friend.
You don't have to get everything right.
Even after nearly 30 years of growing cut flowers, I still find myself learning these lessons.
Sometimes circumstances beyond our control change the schedule. Sometimes another urgent project takes priority. And sometimes we simply underestimate how quickly our flowers are going to grow!
The important thing is learning to recognize when a gardening job needs attention and when trying to catch up will only create more work.
Start fresh seedlings when the timing is right.
Keep your flower harvesting schedule.
Install support netting while the plants are still small.
Prepare your beds when the soil is ready.
And don't spend all your energy chasing yesterday's unfinished work when there's an important job waiting to be done today.
Good timing means less rescue work, fewer frustrations, and more beautiful flowers.
That's a lesson worth learning, flower friend!
