CUT FLOWER Farming

If you're considering growing flowers for sale, brush up on these five key things to know before diving in.

- AUSTIN GRAF

Flower farming. That's right. Flower farming is an actual thing, and while it might not be as mainstream as row cropping, cattle ranching or even market gardening, small-scale flower farmers are making it big!

If you love flowers, few endeavors are likely to be as rewarding as starting your own flower farm.But speaking as someone who has owned and operated a flower farm for several years, flower farming isn't all sunshine and daisies. I've made more mistakes than I have grown flowers, so I thought I'd share five pitfalls potential flower farmers should seek to avoid.

1. EVERYTHING ISN’T BEAUTIFUL

People often want to begin a flower farm for the aesthetic. Flowers are beautiful, and we associate them with vibrant and bright colors in showy landscaped gardens. Who wouldn’t want a yard filled with rows of beautiful flowers?

But flower farmers do not grow flowers in this way. Flower farms rarely have fields filled with rows of color, as flowers are often harvested before they reach their peak performance. Growing cut flowers is a business, and the flowers are cut out of your field in order to sell and distribute them.

If you are seeing fields with rows of color, you’re likely not selling as many flowers as you should be!

2. DON’T GROW TOO MANY FLOWERS

Every year I think about doubling the size of my flower farm, and every year I have to have a difficult conversation with myself. Expanding your growing space, I’ve learned, doesn’t always mean increasing production and profitability.

When you first begin your flower farming journey, it is so easy to think, “I will plant 7 acres and grow all the flowers.” This is a recipe for disaster.