Flower Farming

This beautiful new edition of The Flower Farmer will help you start or expand your commercial cut flower business. Cut flowers are one of the most profitable crops you can grow, with growers across the United States reporting sales of $25,000 to $30,000 per acre. This book contains all the essential information you need -- planting, tending, harvesting, pricing, and selling flowers. It provides guidance on commercial production methods, and offers insights into the many marketing opportunities available to flower growers: farmers markets, florists, supermarkets, wholesalers, pick-your-own, weddings, and more. If flowers are in your future, you can't afford to be without it!

"Lynn Byczynski is the godmother of the organic flower movement. Little more than a decade after she wrote The Flower Farmer, the rest of the flower world is finally catching up with her visionary ideas and practices. This updated version brims with photographs, planting plans, and profiles of innovative cut flower growers, making it the definitive resource for anyone who raises and markets flowers as a commercial venture." — Flower magazine, Fall 2009

Click here to buy a signed copy of The Flower Farmer in our Online Store.

These articles have recently been added to Growing for Market Online

Wedding flowers profitable, but time-consuming; figure out the level of service you can offer brides Jun 1, 2010: Just the mention of doing flowers for a wedding will likely send most growers into a nervous sweat. When I said yes to my first wedding four years ago I had no idea how many details were involved.

LILYTOPIA! May 26, 2010: A spectacular display of lilies attracted throngs of flower lovers to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, in May 2010. Many of the varieties on display are new to the United States, and floral professionals had a chance to vote on the best of these beauties.

It’s easy to fall in love with lilacs May 1, 2010: Cold weather held back spring this year and when it finally warmed up, many plants that usually flower over the course of a month all burst into bloom simultaneously. We had forsythia, apples, peaches, viburnums, flowering almond, daffodils, tulips, spirea, crabapples, and lilacs making a riot of color on our farm. The air was sweet with a heady mix of fragrances.

The most gorgeous delphinium varieties Jan 6, 2010: In the August 2008 issue of Growing for Market, I provide details about how I grow delphiniums, despite the fact that I'm not in a particularly hospitable climate for them. I also include a list of my favorite cultivars. Click on the title above to see several photos of them — and if you're not already a Growing for Market subscriber, sign up today so you can read the article and get started with growing these beauties yourself.

Above: 'Guardian' blossoms are big and strong enough to float in a fountain or water garden.

The final flower of the year Sep 15, 2009: In late September, when all the summer flowers are looking tired, Helianthus 'First Light' is just getting started. This beautiful perennial is smothered with small, brown-centered sunflowers.

The secret to well-behaved paperwhites Nov 10, 2008: To prevent paperwhite narcissus from getting too tall and flopping over, give them a cocktail.

Too much of a good thing Jul 7, 2008: Some flowers are just so productive I can't possibly sell them all before they finish blooming. Here's my list of perennials that come and go so quickly that a small amount will suffice for most growers.

At right: Lysimachia clethroides is a bright, clean white for about two weeks in June — perfect for wedding flowers!

Ants on peonies? Here's the solution Jun 8, 2008: The question I get asked about peonies more often than any other is this: “What do you do about the ants?” The solution is simple: Cut when the buds are mature but not open, brush or shake off the ants, and let your peonies bloom inside. The peony in this photo is almost fully open, 48 hours after being placed in water as just a bud. Read on for the details on how to get rid of the ants on your peonies.

The first flowers of the season Apr 25, 2008: Narcissus are always the first marketable flowers of the year for me. As harbingers of spring, the first fragrance and color after the gray of winter, they deserve to be celebrated.

At left, a photo of the patch of Poeticus daffodils that carpet my front yard every spring. They are an old variety that has probably been on this farmstead for many decades.

Happy Valentine's Day Feb 12, 2008: The flower industry shifts into high gear for the biggest cut-flower holiday of them all. Understanding what's happening behind the scenes can help you understand your own flower business better.