Coral - a lot of what you sell will probably be annuals that you will start in early spring. Zinnias, cosmos, snapdragons, and statice come to mind, but there are lots more, as you can tell from The Flower Farmer.

As far as what you could get going right now, my suggestion would be Sweet Williams. They are a biennial and if you start them this month, they will be giving you lots of blooms next June. There's no way for me to know how many you'll be able to sell, but one one-hundred foot row will give you gobs of blooms. They make great cut flowers and I sell them at our farmers' market, and to a local florist.

I hope others will chime in to help you with your other questions.

ThinMan

Sounds like you're starting off on the right track, Coral. The soil test is a must, IMO. I sell 90% perennials in my bouquets, and those you do want to start as soon as you can. You can start them from seed now or plant nursery stock if it's not blistering hot, it depends on where you live. I sell mixed bouquets of peonies, delphinium, Ladies mantle, roses, feverfew, nepeta (catmint), phlox, rudbeckia, and astilbe to name a few.
Good luck!
Martha

Hi there,
I am a newbie also as far as growing flowers for market is concerned. We just started late this spring and are beginning small. But, I am in zone 5 too and can tell you some of our plans/thoughts.

I am starting perennials from seed, now. This is experimental for us. If anyone has input, I'd be glad to hear it on this subject also!
We do not want to spend the extra money on plugs, and since seed is relatively inexpensive, we think this is worth a try. RIght now I have more time than money. :)

We are starting seeds of campanula, lobelia, baby's breath, poppy, yarrow, globe echinops, swt williams, etc. and hope to have plants to go into the field by early fall. We are also trying out rooting perennial phlox and monarda. With some luck (or whatever!) they will survive winter and be nice plants next spring with some flowering. Be SURE you are planting varieties good for cutting though! If you have the extra cash available and your hoop house is up and working, you might want to look into delphinium and lisianthus plugs from some place like Gro N Sell or Germania. If we had a hoop house, that is what I'd do early in the spring and you should have flowers by June.

We are preparing spots now for peonies to be planted in the fall. You should also be able to plant other woody ornamentals this fall. We are starting cuttings of hydrangeas and willow to plant in the field as summer comes to an end.

Supposedly in zone 5 you can fall sow some annuals that withstand the cold temps. This is mentioned in both "The Flower Farmer" and "Specialty Cut Flowers" We will be trying 2-4 100ft rows of fall sown larkspur (depending on how optimistic and energetic we are!) and perhaps bupleurum (never grown this stuff, but seems popular).

Yes, I think you can get your soil ready for planting this fall. I would suggest you contact a local county extension office for how to ammend your soil. Having a good idea of what you'd like to plant will help them.

I do think an acre on your own is ambitious, but that doesn't mean it is too ambitious. =) There are so many contributing factors: weather, weeds, access to soil ammendments, timing, etc. that I think you do need to just get started and see how it goes. We are two people doing the flower farming part time, and we decided on half an acre next year. Part of our concern over doing more is having more flowers than we can cut and market. Hopefully we all find our balance eventually. :)

We are finding weed control to be a major problem in the few rows we tilled this year. Much of our time is spent weeding and mulching..and boy is it hot and humid.

Good Luck! Keep up posted!

Hi!

Thanks for the replys! sorry i've just come back from a trip to tofino. right now i just have time to let you all know that i haven't abandoned this post. i'll get back to you soon with some updates!
:) calida

Hi: If you are near Victoria, I may have some plants for you, if you are willing to dig them up...perennial statice, heliopsis, alstreomeria, asters...let me know
Maplea

While perennials will provide flowers without having to replaint every year, their production is limited to a short period . . . the mainstays for our cut flowers are the annuals: Zinnias, Snaps, Celosia, Asters, marigolds, rudbeckias, scabiosa and some dahlias (I know perennial, but not in our area)

One perennial I highly recommend would be lilies (Asiatic & Oriental). Reliable, magnificent, and big sellers at big prices. The Asiatics will bloom first then a short while later the Orientals. They tend to bloom at once but is worth the investment.

We cut about 1 week apart so we get about 4 loads of flowers over a 4 week period for 4 consecutive Farmers' Market Days.

Perennials can make a great addition to the bouquets. I use Peony, Delphinium, Sweet William, and Dames Rocket in the early spring. Later, I will use Yarrow, Daisies, Feverfew Cup and Saucer Campanula and Iris. After that, my garden will produce Phlox, False Sunflower, Veronica, Sea Holly, Loosestrife, Coneflower, Liatris, Vervain and Solidago. In the fall sedum makes it into almost every bouquet. Brown Eyed Susan, Obedient Plant, Mums, Hydrangea, and grasses finish off the fall perennials.

About half of my space is perennials and half annuals. The initial cost and labor and the space taken by the perennials is outweighed by the variety and ease later when established.

Patty

With your soil pH that acidic, you may want to get some lime broadcast in before Winter. It can take up to 6 months before it is available to the plants.

To answer your question about starting with an acre of flowers the first year, I think that is way too much, especially if you have very little experience. My opinion is that a half acre would be plenty the first year, and then after you get a season under your belt you can judge whether you're ready to expand. I had so much to learn my first year, there would have been no point in trying to do more than I could mentally handle, let alone, physically tackle! Start smaller. Grow as you learn.

Good luck!! It's a ton of work but so rewarding!

Hi everbody,
I am a newbie to doing cut flowers and i need some advice on what would be good to grow to sell to florist here in alabama? I know gerber daiseys and tulips are some but i need to know what some more annuals or perennials that would be good to grow, i was told hydrangas would be good too.

Thanks
Greg

Greg - walk into the Florist showrooms and see what is in there.
No one has mentioned branches. Yikes !!!, talk about easy. Designers like them for structure. Weigelia, viburnum, willows, etc.