1. Know Your Destination + End Goal

When I first started this flower farmer journey I had no doubt about the growing aspect, I KNEW I could grow things easily. The ratio and varieties were where I struggled to decide what to start with and honestly kept me up at night.

There are so many flowers to grow for so many uses, but trying to figure out which ones to start with is really daunting. I mean lets be honest, we are in this to make money and those first choices are critical to success.

Greens vs Florals: How much greens and filler compared to focal flowers should I grow? I knew what the most popular flowers were, what I wanted to grow and how to set up the best growing conditions but trying to figure it all out in the correct ratio for consistent sales was tough.

I spent time chatting with a few local florists and worked on creating a list of what they wanted to see from a local farmer for potential sales. I decided one of my first crops would be Dutch Iris – I wanted high quality blooms that people would be thrilled to see and then of course purchase.

What I didn’t have set up was all the selling aspects of the product and how fast that crop would come into harvest. I planted the bulbs and really babied those plants as they grew!

One day it finally happened. They started to bud up and bloom! Those first few flowers were like floral gold, beautiful and the start to my real flower farmer adventure!

I went back and talked to my local florists and told them they were coming, they said to let them know when I had more ready for sale. Well those flowers got the message of needing to bloom and really put on a show!

I harvested and harvested and was so happy seeing them take off! I had oodles of flowers and packed them in buckets ready for sale.

The florists I went to were like they are so pretty! We will take a few bunches. Wait WHAT? A few bunches? I had BUCKETS. Panic. Utter sheer panic. So I did the most rational thing I could think of and shoved as many as I could into our refrigerator in the garage. I stood there and thought to myself what do I do now?!

I had figured I would have a great profit on these first flowers and local florists in our rural area didn’t need them at the volume I had produced them.

i started calling more and more florists further away to try and sell more of them and when I had a few more orders I went out to count the exact number of what was left that’s when I discovered the worst part of the day – all of the iris in the back of the fridge had FROZEN!!!!!

I sat down and cried. Great first day as a flower farmer! That was the moment I realized I needed to have a different plan for sales. While it’s hard to have a florist predict what they will need in the season ahead of time, figuring out the number that’s needed to grow is tricky.

It always has a give and take, trends to follow and mother nature has her own plan with the growing conditions. Over 7 years later with annual income of over $500,000 in sales, it is safe to say we figured it out. Being flexible along the way was critical for our success. My goal is to help you save time and money so you don’t make the same mistakes I made!

2. You Need Space to Grow… Literally

One of my favorite quotes is “What you see depends on how you see the world”, from Doe Zantamata. Picture it; spring, fresh rain, a brilliant blue sky day, fresh cut grass, a nice tall puffy dandelion seed head in the garden bed. How do you see that dandelion? A weed? Seeds filled with potential? Or a moment in time where you have picked them and blown them? They do tend to take up a little space in the garden.

The biggest question I get is how much space do I need to become a flower farmer?

I am here to tell you it’s less than you realize because you don’t just plant things once, let them grow and ta da! Now you’re a farmer!! Nope.

This is a labor intensive process where you have to keep rotating those plants multiple times each season to have fresh product that looks good to keep up with demand.

You can start with a small space in your backyard (or front so the neighbors can see!) and with the rotations you will be able to produce more flowers than you realize!

Two key points to make here, I am talking about annuals!!! Perennials and hardwoods are a whole other style of growing.

I have planted so many trees, shrubs and other random plants to use for cutting all over the place and it has made my yard look really nice honestly.

The other thing to keep in mind is the fact that the greenery and filler floral you need will be more than you expect initially. Although this will be done in rotation like the other plants, gauging this is sometimes tricky… I always find we plant a little more of this to make sure we have enough.

If you are looking for a guide or ratio to figure out what to grow, we have found you need 30% filler, 20-30% greens, and 20% focal floral with the remaining 20% a seasonal shazam type of flower.

Each season has a focal flower that really stands out. These are the remaining 20% you should focus on having.

Figuring out your market – are you wanting to become a flower farmer to share with friends, run a cute little roadside stand, a weekly farmers market participant, a crafter who wants to dry and press their own flowers for wreaths and other fun crafts.

Or are you looking to scale up and become a large scale supplier?

Another option of course is to blend all of these options – give flowers to friends, run a little stand, supply other vendors who will become your friends and operate a flower farm with a florist component.

Grow your space to match what you need as you grow your business. So grow it all!!!

3. You’re Going to Need More Than 1,000 Seeds

Look at any inspiration of floral work and you see all these amazing flowers used in so many beautiful ways! All the pictures, all the fresh ideas, all the new things to try to grow!!! I always KNEW I could grow flowers – I had been doing it for years so I was excited (and a little nervous) to start growing on a whole other scale. Placing that first order was really intense because I wanted to make the right decisions.

I tried to make sure I had the right balance of colors, textures, and varieties that I could grow in cycles to constantly have fresh blooms.

I had read books, taken classes, and experimented with many aspects of growing so I was confident I was ready to go! I tried to make sure I had the right balance of colors, textures, and varieties that I could grow in cycles to constantly have fresh blooms.

I was so thrilled to order my first batch of seeds, making sure all the numbers were right and all the varieties were what I thought would be best. I had never placed such a large seed order so once it went through I felt proud and accomplished as a flower farmer.

The seeds came in and I started planting them in their trays.

I read about each seed and how it grew best, whether it should be tucked in the soil, placed on top of the soil, some with a dome for higher humidity, others without a dome, the right seed starting blend, accounted for germination rates – so much detail to make sure things were right!

It makes me often wonder how some of these plants made it on their own in the wild that’s for sure. When those first seedlings emerged I was SO PROUD!!!! Look! I did it! First step I thought to myself. There were plenty of other seeds that I learned weren’t going to germinate well and had to have plans for how to address this such as finding a supplier, buying plugs or determining if we needed to grow them.

When the time came to plant the little plants I wanted to experiment with the best way to grow them and fight the weeds. I experimented with a variety of weed barriers in order to make sure things were growing well with high-quality blooms that could be used for a variety of applications.

I planted all the little seedlings in their specific spots and spent time watering, fertilizing and sometimes just talking to them a little to cheer them on! (Yes I talk to the plants). The season progressed and I watched them grow and grow and get ready for harvest!!! I stood in that field feeling so proud and looked at everything I had grown when it hit me.

I had done it, things had grown, there were flowers to pick and I DIDN’T HAVE NEARLY ENOUGH. I had close to 1000 seeds planted and in the ground then realized as I stood there… Wow. I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I need to be planting. It’s not 1000 seeds, it’s thousands of seeds.

It was a real eye opening moment for me as a flower farmer that has stuck with me over the years. It has taken me so long to figure out what to grow, what the rotation should be, and how it should be set up, so many trials and errors!!!! That’s why I am so passionate about sharing this knowledge with others.

If I had known better initially about the numbers, it would have been so much different! Today, we grow thousands and thousands of plants in various rotations not to mention all the perennials we also cultivate. So those 1000 seeds laid the foundation for 1000’s to come. I would love to share more with you about our path to growing and help you avoid the pitfalls of those first years I had!

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