Add a Pick-Your-Own Bouquet to Your Business
Thinking about adding something special to your flower farm business? How about a way to build your agritourism by creating a “Pick-Your-Own” bouquet element to your biz? Here are a few of my professional suggestions to get started:
Pick–Your–Own Cut Flowers Options for Any Flower Farmer
Annuals
Sunflowers – Plant every 1-2 weeks. Single stem, “one and done” cut flower varieties like Pro Cut, Vincent, and Sunrich. Also, Sunfinity Sunflower (seed or plugs) and Sunfinity Double Sunflowers (liners only) are branching sunflowers that rebloom for 8-10 weeks. They are worth the higher cost.
Celosia – Crested, Plume, and Spicata types. Varieties include Chief crested, Pampas Plume, Cramer’s Amazon, Pink Candela, Karume crested, Sylphid series.
Zinnias – Benary's Giant series and Oklahoma Mix. Plant every 3-4 weeks to have fresh flowers all season.
Aster – Matsumoto type. Plant once, the week after your last frost date.
Blue Horizon Ageratum – Plant after the last spring frost. They continue to bloom all summer if they are kept harvested and fertilized.
Gomphrena – QIS and Audray series. Heat-loving plants. Plant after danger of frost. They continue to bloom all summer if they are kept harvested.
Statice (Limonium) – Hipster series. Plant after last frost date. Strawflower (Helichrysum) – King series. Plant after last frost date.
Cosmos – Versailles and Double Click series. Plant after last frost date. Plant every 3-4 weeks.
Marigold – Coco series and Xochi. Plant after last frost date. Plant every 3-4 weeks. Plant extra the last week of July for Día de Muertos flower sales in October.
Tubers, Corms and Bulbs
Dahlias – Ball flower form. Planted after last spring frost. Keep them watered several times a week. Not winter hardy colder in zone 7 or colder.
Gladiolus – Succession planting every two weeks from last frost date to first week of July. Water several times a week. Not winter hardy in zone 6 and colder.
Liatris Spicata – Buy a case of them and store them in the cooler, succession planting every two weeks from last frost date to first week of July. The second year they will all bloom in late July. Hardy down to zone 3.
Perennials
Peony – Sarah Bernardt, Kansas, and Monsieur Jules Elie.
Achillea (Yarrow) – Coronation Gold and Moonshine.
Campanula Glomerata – Freya variety.
Sedum – Autum Joy.
Baptisia – Decadence series.
Phlox paniculata – David, Garden Girls series, and Super Ka-Pow series.
Note: Be sure to plant Bulb and Perennial crops in a separate area from annual crops for easier field management.