Claire, Plantpassion
Bud, Bloom and Blown
Before you can start cutting flowers, you need to know in depth about the stages of each flower, and who the likely customer is for them.
1.‘Bud’ is the stage that flowers have traditionally been cut at for sale at a wholesale market. Flowers in bud are easier to bundle together, and so can be more compact for travelling, reducing freight costs. Flowers in bud will last the longest, so are often sold in supermarkets in bunches, and are made into bouquets at this stage, so that a week or more of vase life can be promised. This is the stage that letterbox flowers are sent through the post before they open up.
2. ‘Bloom’ is the stage where the flowers are opening up. This is where they start to show their beauty, but the heads are now larger and more delicate. This is the stage that event flowers will be at when made into their displays. They will be looking full of promise and will be ready to wow.
Apricot Parrot and Ballerina Tulips in bloom
3. ‘Blown’ is the stage where flowers are fully open and are starting to "go over". This is when they look at their most stunning, and are often pictured in photoshoots and paintings at this stage. This is ideally where event flowers will be by the end of the event. However they don't hold at this stage for very long, a few hours or a day or 2 at most, plus they are hard to move without damaging.
Photo by Emma Davies for The British Flowers book, Floristry Caroline Davy
Some flowers progress through the stages from bud to blown very quickly when they are on the plant, particularly if weather conditions are warm. They need to be picked constantly. If you are at your fields with teams assigned to pick every day, this is fine, but if you are not tending to your flowers full time, then this can be more of an issue, and you may miss the first stages.
Tools and equipment for cutting
Cutting flowers is a hugely repetitive task. With most flowers and stems you are likely to be cutting 200-400 stems per hour. So it really pays to make sure you use the best equipment to ensure that you don't develop repetitive strain injuries.
We all have our favourites - the above picture is Carol's cutting tools.
Snips, scissors, and secateurs
Niwake tools, both snips and scissors are incredible sharp and easy on the hands, there are also carbon steel scissors available, but they need regular sharpening.
Secateurs are needed for cutting larger stems. Felco are the professional standard. Ensure you have the right size and hold for your hand.
no 2's are for larger hands
no 6's are for smaller hands
no 9's are for larger left-handed hands
no 16's are newly available In the last year for lefties who have small hands (like me)
Sharpeners are an important tool, whether you use a whetstone or other method. It's important that your cutting tools are sharp. Look back to module 3 for Paula's video about sharpening tools.
Stripping leaves - One glove is usually what I need for stripping, but for spinier flowers, there are special tools that either "fold" round the stem, or clip over them. Or just tape your fingers to protect them.
Buckets for collecting flowers - We've all been lucky enough to take part in bulk buys for Dutch buckets. These sturdy square based buckets are easy to use, and don't fall over when being transported. If you are using normal buckets, ensure that they can be held upright in your vehicle.
Cleaning solutions - Buckets need to be clean. Water and a good scrub with some Ecover detergent or equivalent. An occasional squirt with bleach if they are returned smelly (but changing the water regularly prevents that).
Grading
As well as the differences between bud, bloom and blown, there are also grades of flowers.
Grading is the process of sorting of flowers into sizes and qualities.
This might distinguish between the blooms that go off to be made into wedding bouquets, and those that are going to be made into market bouquets.
This will include things like
length of stem
clarity of colour
size of flower head
straightness of stem
uniformity
The Ranunculus in the top photo are a complete mix. There are single flowers, smaller length stems, and also larger headed flowers. The smaller stems need to be a posy grade, the single flowers can be used for events, but won't last for a retail bouquet, the larger blooms are great, and should be the top grading.
These Achillea below - the Stems on the right are all small but perfectly formed, great for a market bouquet, or adding an extra touch of colour in a display. The one on the left is a florist’s size bloom head, and could be sold as a single stem.
Resting Times
A barn full of resting flowers
Most flowers and foliage will need some time resting in water to ensure that they recover from being cut, and have hydrated as much as possible. This will ensure that they have the longest vase life possible.
For commercially grown flowers, this resting in water isn't always done before the stems are sold. Often it is cheaper and easier to pick and distribute flowers out of water, and then rely on the florists to condition and rest the flowers in water later.
As growers, if we are selling locally, this is something that we can do differently, and ensure that our flowers are fully hydrated and rested before sale.
So how long do flowers need?
This often depends on a variety of things
The time of year that the flowers are picked
The time of day the flowers are picked
The temperature - the cooler the temperature the more hydrated the stems are on the plants, so they need less resting time.
Generally though, allow at least 2 hours in water in a cool dark place. If the day is warmer, or stems have been picked in the heat of the day, they will need conditioning for longer. Foliage and herbs are best left overnight in water in a cool dark place.
How to maximise vase life
I'm often asked how I get the longest vase life, and actually I think that the most important things to help are:
The right varieties
Growing them correctly
Picking them at the right time
You will notice that we as growers have control over all of those, whereas a florist at a market has to hope the grower has done the work for them.
You can also help the flower to stay well conditioned by:
Re-cutting the bottom of the stems if they have been out of water for any time.
Ensuring buckets are washed and cleaned but left to dry naturally to prevent any mould.
Removing leaves from below the water line.
Keeping the stems cool but not cold, and out of full light.
Keeping the stems away from sources of ethylene, e.g. bananas and fuel.
The vast majority of flowers will be at their best just by following the advice above, but some of them can be helped by searing the ends.
Searing
This isn't a practice that I do often, as I don't have electricity at the barn, and boiling a kettle on a gas stove is great for coffee, but not convenient for flower searing. However some florists swear by dipping the end of flowers in hot water for a few seconds, and then plunging them into cold water. This is supposed to seal the ends of the stems, ensuring water stays in them for longer.
Spring flowers seem to benefit most from this - including Cerinthe, Hellebores, and Poppies.
How long can you store flowers?
There are 2 parts to this question:
How long can you store flowers?, and
How long should you store flowers?
If your flowers are picked in bud, then it will be at least a week, probably more before they will be fully open. By keeping them in the cool and dark, they will keep for longer, so an airy barn, a cool room, or a cool store are ideal for that. BUT, at what stage do you want to sell to your customers? What will your customers want, and if you store flowers for longer than that, will you be meeting their ideals?
I always aim to sell my flowers within 48 hours of picking them. That ensures that I can guarantee that my clients have the freshest, best quality blooms available. They will be fresher than anything that they can get at market, and that means that they'll last longer in the vase for them in their homes, which will earn me their ongoing custom.
Often, particularly in peak season there will be flowers that haven't been sold in that window. These are used as marketing items. Pictures are taken, bunches are given out to local charities and old peoples homes. Extra flowers are given to current customers (always letting them know that they are not going to last as long as the others).