Glads usually sell well at my market, getting up to $1/stem. Our market is too late for tulips, and daffodails and other spring bulbs. They have usually bloomed before market starts.

I'm wondering the same thing. My first month, which is May, is slow until strawberries come on. I usually plant lettuce, spinach, lot of onions (both yellow and red), and peas (all 3 kinds, English, SugarSnap and Snow).

The following is based on growing in New Hampshire (Zone 5)but if you live in a higher zone there may be more options for early-blooming cut-flowers.

Dorinicum or Leopard's Bane is one of the first perennials to bloom in the spring. It produces tall, good-sized bright yellow daisy-like flowers and makes a great cut-flower. It's very reliable and comes back for me every year in NH. Larkspur would be another good early bloomer as it does best in cool weather.

As for Zinnias . . . it may be THE BEST cut-flower for size, color, and production. Yes, everyone grows it. Look for the unusual types. Baker Creek Seeds has some great varieties most other seed companies don't. Try to grow specific colors rather than mixes.

Snapdragons start blooming relatively early and continue throughout the season. It's my 2nd favorite cut-flower. Most other annuals will start blooming later than June, but once started they continue till frost.

Iris start early, are reliable and produce great flowers, so that may be a source for cuts.

Delphiniums start blooming here by mid-late June so that may be a good source.

Some of the Primroses make good cuts.

A number of Dianthus bloom early for smaller, but fragrant cut flowers..

Thanks Tommyk, I thought this question would be right up your alley. I'm in Zone 5 also, and am thinking about selling some cut flowers. Last year, we sold some sunflowers and giant cockscomb. Done rather well, especially with the cockscomb. We got them from the Amish in Rockville, and they shared the seeds with us. If you look it up on the internet, it will show 14" blooms. Ours weren't that big, but much larger than most.

Our cutflowers & bouquets make up almost 40-50% of our sales! We also sell container grown perennials and produce/herbs. We are not a huge farm . . . more of a large garden, but we are productive. I always stress the importance of good, organic soil . . . filled with life. That makes all the rest much easier.

My top flowers for cuts/bouquets: Zinnias, Snapdragons, Asters, Celosia, Marigolds, Rudbeckia and a few perennials, including Dahlias and Oriental/Asiatic Lillies, and odds and ends. We have found that we do not need a huge variety of flowers, just the most productive & impressive to sell.

I know this isn't a flower, but have you tried rhubarb? it sure sells well around here. Also bok choy did really well at our market and it's a snap to grow in the spring weather. Fast too.

I tried rhubarb, and evidently planted in the wrong place. I really need to find some of the 'old' varieties and try again. Finding time and money for the starts at the same time, along with the right conditions, is difficult. I did find a gentleman that has some really good rhubarb and he is willing to sell some starts of his plants, but I figure I need about 100 starts and he wants $5 each for them. When I have the money, it's not the right time to dig and vice versa.

I sell Bells of ireland in June. They like to be direct seeded early and people are just fascinated by them.They do take time to "clean". I pick a big armful and take them to a picnic table, where I strip all the side stems, saving those with well-developed bells, and pull off the leaves, then recut into fresh water, sorting into Big (1.50) and small (1.00/stem). Also glads (plant your first batch in mid-april). I have been trying to get larkspur started in the fall for overwintering, but have only had luck with the weedy purple ones that self-seed in my yard. June is usualy by best month because of beets(sold bunched with greens) and also sweet onions. These I start to pull before they die back whenever they have any size.