By Marcia Kirinus, NC State Extension Master GardenerSM volunteer of Durham County
This is the second entry in an ongoing series chronicling my journey as a flower farmer. If you missed the first installment, you can catch up here.
I started the flower farm as a Master GardenerSM final project. It was a quick and enjoyable lesson in properly laying out an existing blank space in the landscape and transforming it into a productive growing area. It turns out I’m a pretty good grower, and the flowers were lush and plentiful. However, where my skillset fell short was on the business end – getting the flowers out to the market. I lacked the drive or desire to hustle in that way. I graduated from the Master Gardener training program, and my project seemed like it was over. I didn’t have a market but I had a lot of flowers. In the fall of 2023 when I should have planted for this spring’s market, I didn’t. I wasn’t focused on going to market. At this time last year, I had so many flowers that I was gifting them to neighbors and cemeteries. This year, I have a few snapdragons that I covet for weekly bouquets.
Left: The farm lush with flowers in April 2023. Right: the farm today 2024. A lack of planning and planting in the fall of 2023 leaves it bear today. Image credit: Marcia Kirinus
When the owner of our local coffee shop approached me to sell bouquets starting in April in her shop, I hesitated, as I had not planned or planted in the fall of 2023 for a spring garden in 2024.. Committing meant I would need to realign my focus to get flowers to the market, and I had to figure out how I would do that. Despite my lack of preparation, I committed.
Luckily for me, I did plant heavily at my house last fall, and since mid-April, I have been supplying the coffee shop from my front and side yards. So far every week I am able to provide 16 bouquets ranging in size. But the supply is dwindling as we go into summer and it makes me nervous. In response, I have planted warm season annuals and many fall natives at the farm to continue the supply chain. It’s an uncomfortable feeling when you look out at your flowers and you can see where the gap of supply might fall. It seems it will start on Mother’s Day and continue for a week or two unless the farm flowers really kick in. I am also ordering my cool season seed for 2025, which I will sow in August 2024 for spring 2025. I don’t want to get stuck without spring flowers ever again.
Flowers growing in the front and side yard that make up the spring bouquets until the flowers start blooming in the farm this summer. Image credit: Marcia Kirinus
My bouquets sell well. People are receptive to the unique variety of the fresh flowers and in two days they are mostly sold. Each bouquet is different in size and makeup. There are short ones with sweet peas and large ones with Alliums and foxgloves. There are luscious peonies and delicate white Ammi. It takes me a long time to get them ready, and if I were working for someone else, I would have been fired long ago. But I keep at it with a mix of joy and dread about getting them together and to market each week. I’m learning something new, and in my retirement, this aspect of the farm is the most enjoyable. Besides growing, tending, and harvesting the flowers, there are other things to consider. There is a whole post-harvest science I had to learn. Here are some of the highlights:
Harvesting Cut Flowers
From left to right: Harvest buckets of Columbine, Amsonia, Chinese Fringe tree, Ammi, Euphorbia, Larkspur, Snapdragons, False Solomon’s Seal, Red Clover from the front and side yard. Image credit: Marcia Kirinus
Each flower needs to be harvested at its peak moment for maximum vase life. The criteria differ from flower to flower, and I appreciate how different they can be from each other. For example, a peony should be in the ‘marshmallow’ stage – soft but not fully open. If they are already open, their vase life is only a few days. Other flowers like zinnia need to be fully open, as they won’t open in a vase. Some blossoms should be 3/4 open, like foxgloves and snapdragons. Larkspur and poppies should be ‘just cracking color’. Then there are those that will not survive unless harvested as tight buds, such as iris and lychnis.
The length, strength, and straightness of a stem are equally important. It is impressive how a flower might seem perfect in the landscape but has little to no value in the vase. A crooked stem messes with the overall symmetry of a bouquet, so these are best left in the landscape to enjoy. Bachelor buttons, for example, have ‘weak necks’. I read this and wondered what that meant. After picking a few, I understood. They have a weak area right at the base of the bloom (the neck) that thins and twists. The flower will collapse at that point if it is not delicately handled. Sunflowers also have this problem.
Another lesson learned is that harvesting quality flowers is a three-day process. If, for example, they go to market on Friday, they should be watered heavily on Wednesday evening so the stem and petal have high turgidity after cutting. Early on Thursday morning before the sun hits, they should be harvested and ‘conditioned’. That means they go directly into a clean bucket with water that has a pH of 3.5-4. There is an entire science devoted to post-harvest care of flowers, with vast amounts of papers written on best practices. I read quite a few. I bring the pH down to 3.5 – 4 with citric acid. Luckily, we are a household of scientists and bakers, so pH paper and citric acid are standard fare.
Research also shows that after hydration, they need a preservation solution that can provide energy to buds which continue to develop and open. The development of the buds requires food in the form of carbohydrates, which are normally stored in the leaves and stem. If a flower is cut, the stores of carbohydrates might not be sufficient to open the flower fully. For this reason, it is placed in a preservation solution. The solution is sugar and water. Added to this is a little bleach that will kill any bacteria and fungi that might be on the stem. Bacteria quickly shortens the flower’s life in the vase. Since this is my first foray into this world, I can only go by what the experts recommend. I make these solutions and follow their protocols. What I do know is that many people compliment the bouquets on their longevity in the vase.
Flower Arranging 101
The process doesn’t get easier post-growing; it’s just different. Arranging has its own demands, and everyone has a different arranging style. Youtube University, where I learn many new tricks, combined with the knowledge of a generous florist friend, helps me develop a style. What I learned is that there is an overarching American style and a European style of arranging. The American flower arrangement is a 2-D bouquet that lays flat and is meant to go up against a wall. The European version is a round, 3-D arrangement, and sits in the middle of a table, looking good from all angles. There is no right or wrong style here; it’s just a preference.
The Greens in a fresh Bouquet
It’s no small task to get good greens in your bouquet. Sometimes the arrangement is better with lacy ferns, and sometimes you need a big brush of green as a background. What I find is that the clunky flowers like snapdragons want a delicate green, whereas the delicate flowers like sweet peas ask for a solid, uniform backdrop. I like the looks of nine bark and witch hazel for this. But these are trees, and the harvest ends up being a pruning session. You can start to see how time adds up in making these ‘arrangements’.
The Fillers in a Fresh Bouquet
Foraging from your landscape because of a poorly planned planting schedule in the farm takes a toll on the ‘fillers’ in the yard. The fillers are the flowers that give your bouquet grace and movement. I’ve exhausted the Ammi, Amsonia, and Euphorbia. Thankfully, I have a slew of Red Huskers Penstemon coming into flower. I also look at the wild places like open fields and woods edge with a critical eye and can spot lively grass that would add bounce to any bouquet. I now travel with a bucket of water and clippers.
The Focal Flower
So far, I’ve been lucky with snapdragons, giant Alliums, Acanthus flowers, and foxgloves from my yard to be used as focal flowers. As the season progresses and I exhaust my landscape, my generous neighbors have offered me their flowers. I am fortunate.
The Price
How do you price a bouquet? Mostly it seems you count stems. One dollar, one stem for the common flowers like cosmos and zinnias. Focal flowers like snapdragons and peonies are extra. They range from an extra two to four dollars apiece. Other considerations would be the quality of fillers and greens, which are mostly added as support stems without monetary value unless they are really special. So a $10 bouquet will have 10 common flowers or a focal flower at $4 and six regular flowers. That is how I’m told they should be priced, but when you are putting the stems all together, it’s hard not to add another here or there for balance.
Wrapping it up
I wrap my bouquets in brown craft paper. It sounds simple and easy, but I challenge you to try it and repeat it consistently over and over. The idea behind the wrap is to protect the blossoms from mechanical damage while being handled. But the paper cannot get wet, so it needs to ride high on the collar but not so high that you can’t peek into the wrap to see what’s inside. It’s a balance: high and dry, but not too tight or too loose where the paper slips down into the water.
There is so much to learn on this journey. I hope you come with me.
Resources and Additional Information
- NCSU Current Management and Research on Cut Peonies: NCSU Cut Peony Webinar
- 2018 Association of Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG) Dahlia Cut Flower Trial Report: NCSU Dahlia Cut Trial Report
- Virginia Cooperative Extension on Starting a Cut Flower Farm : Getting Started in the Production of Field-Grown, Specialty Cut Flowers
- PennState Extention on Great Cut Flowers for Your Home Garden: Great Cut Flowers from Your Home Garden from Penn State
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