Tulips and early season bulbs
Narcissus, Tulips, Anemones, Leucojum, and Ranunculus are a fantastic start to the season, but none of them are cheap bulbs so picking them at the right time, and getting them sold is imperative to a good start to the season.
For each of these I'm going to give a series of photos and some tips to show at what stage you need to catch them.
Narcissi: Some of the first to flower, these can be great as bunches of spring, or for adding into bouquets. They need to be cut before they are at full bloom, to get the longest vase life from them. Narcissi will leak a sap from the stems once cut that can cause other flowers to die if they share the same water. To avoid this, condition the narcissi in a separate container before arranging with other blooms.
Tulips: Usually grown as an annual crop, these should be pulled, rather than cut, to get a longer stem.
Here’s my video about how to do it
It's important to pick tulips up to twice a day if the spring has warm temperatures. They need to be picked as soon as they have colour, but before they are open. They continue growing after they've been cut if placed in water, so wrap them in newspaper to keep the stems straight.
Anemones: These start their season as short stems, and then get longer as they get warmer and wetter.
The buds will start out with a swan neck, and then as they develop, will straighten out.
Leucojum: These are large, late, snowdrop-type flowers (known as snowflake) are excellent for adding movement in early bouquets. They can have up to 5 flower buds on each stem, but need to be picked before they are all open for longest vase life.
Ranunculus: Buds start to appear several weeks before flowers, and need to be left to loosen out before picking, so that the true beauty of their many petals can show. Note this happens a lot quicker in single varieties of ranunculus than the elegance and pon-pon types.
Key Focal Annuals
Your key focal annuals are likely to be the work horses of your flower farm, particularly in the first few years before your perennials establish, so it's really important to cut them at the key moments to establish your reputation as a quality flower grower.
In this section, we'll cover Cornflowers, Sweet Williams, Scabious, Sweet Peas, Sunflowers and Cosmos. Obviously there are many many more, but we're hoping this will give you an idea what to look out for.
Cornflowers: For me here in Surrey, my first overwintered Cornflowers will start flowering in the 3rd week of May.
That week, there will be the initial flowers on short stems, probably 20-30cm right in the middle of the plant. If I cut these as soon as they colour up, then the other stems around the outside will be flowering within a week. These get cut, with all the frilly side buds, and can often be 50-60cm in length. At this point you'll probably be keeping up with cutting the flowers, but by a week later, you'll cut every bit of colour, and then turn round 10 minutes later to find more blooms coming out. (and you'll remember our advice not to plant too many!) If you do get orders for all of these, and keep up with them all, it will look like you've completely finished off the plants, and they will be cut down low, but amazingly within 10 days they will have produced more side shoots, - shorter this time, but you will be able to cut single stems for another 3 weeks.
Sweet Williams: Up until April, you'll be wondering if you're going to get any flowers, but in the space of 2-3 weeks, these will bud up during May, and by the end of the month, or into June, you'll suddenly start to get colour.
Scabious: A fantastic flower for adding a pop of colour, and like Cornflowers, if you've planted too many, you'll never keep up. They need to be picked hard, with really long stems . This may mean cutting off side buds, but don't worry there will be plenty more.
Sweet Peas: Sweet peas are a lot of work, and will need picking at least 3 times a week. Cutting them is a balance between length, and number of florets in bud, as the stem length will grow as more blooms open fully
Sunflowers: These amazing annuals are a wonderful staple of my flower field, but if you don't choose the right varieties, and don't pick them at the correct stage, they won't last the 10 days that your customers will get from their supermarket flowers and expect from you.
Cosmos: These have been work horses of my late summer flower field since I started, and yet I hear people tell me time and time again that theirs don't last. These need regular and deep picking, again ignoring side buds. The varieties are key.
Filler flowers
Unlike the focal flowers, the fillers of Orlaya, Ammi major and visnaga, Amaranthus, and Dill need to be in flower before you pick them. They will often flop if parts of the flower are not showing. However the longer the flower has been open, the more pollen will be visible and drop. Again, all of these need to be cut hard into the plant for them to produce more side stems for flower in future weeks.
Orlaya
Ammi majus
Ammi visnaga
Dill
Amaranthus
Dahlias
If your field is anything like mine, then Dahlias are the key crop from August to October. They are slightly more forgiving than some of the bulbs, as you can get away with cutting them every 3 days, in most circumstances. As they are an excellent money-maker, here is the information about how to get the best from them.
Dahlias need to be picked when they've opened fully, but before the petals have reflexed back, to give them the longest vase life
This ball variety, Jowey Linda, shows a flower that isn't open yet on the right, with those that are perfectly open on the left.
Testing New Varieties
When you’re growing new things, often there is no information on the stage to cut, how to condition and how long they’ll last in a vase. Even if there is some information, it’s often been given by someone growing in very different conditions to your own.
Claire’s British Flowers Book contains great information on conditioning a wide range of UK grown flowers. However, the best way to get acquainted with the requirements of different varieties is to test them yourself. Cut them at different stages, watch how they react, note how long they take to open, how long they last once cut. Every new variety we grow is tested, cut and put in a vase, left in the warmest room in the house and monitored. Only when it’s shown itself to be suitable for use will we sell it.
Every stem that leaves your hands is an advert for your flower farming business. Quality control is about the decisions you make, it’s the way you can make sure that customers come back for more and tell others how brilliant your flowers are. If they’re sad and droopy, brown around the edges, or if you’re not sure they’ll last well, the only place for them is the compost! If they look fabulous, they will appear on social media, in photographs and in the testimonials of satisfied customers.