Simplest Terms

Streamlining Flower Farming

Hello, flower enthusiasts! I hope you’re all doing well today. Recently, a farmer inquired about the most productive and efficient kinds of plants that we grow here on our farm. This question got me genuinely thinking about what flower farming would be like if we approached it from a very basic perspective, starting with just one plant. Is there one flower we can grow year-round, and can we build up layers of flowers on top of that to meet intended purposes or uses? Let’s dive into this fascinating thought experiment.

The Year-Round Flower: Lilies

If we had to trim our operations down to just one flower that we could grow year-round, it would be lilies. Lilies are particularly interesting as they come in numerous new hybrids, many of which are pollen-free and in various colors, including bi-color and tri-color varieties. There is incredible innovation within the lily market, especially with varieties not yet available outside the Netherlands. This makes lilies an exciting and viable option for year-round growing.

We can plant lilies in stages and grow them in a basement grow room during winter under lights. They thrive throughout the spring, shoulder seasons, and obviously, summer. With lilies alone, I could be a year-round flower farmer.

Adding Variety: Tulips and Beyond

If I were to add a second flower to the mix, it would be tulips. Tulips offer a vast harvesting window from mid-December all the way through June. They are particularly reliable as we can plant them in successions, and their hydroponic forcing method is both clean and low-cost. This makes tulips an excellent companion to our year-round lilies.

As a third layer, I am particularly obsessed with Alstroemeria right now. Alstroemeria can be elevated beyond the supermarket misconceptions. They boast a long growing season, blooming from May until the frost hits, and they also perform well under unheated cover, extending their blooming period. They are resilient, with rodent deterrence, minimal disease, and pest pressure. They are also super productive, spreading and easily dividable, and they require minimal water.

Alternatively, I could choose roses as my third layer. Roses are super producers for us, blooming from May into October and grown undercover to remain frost-free. They are more cold-hardy than dahlias and better adapted to our climate’s temperature swings. Roses are naturally resilient plants that produce abundantly week after week.

Mums: The Final Layer

As a fifth flower, mums make a perfect addition. Our greenhouse is full of mums that start blooming in October and continue until December. They require protection and some heating to thrive, but they are a reliable source of flowers during the colder months.

Tying it all together:

With these top five flowers—lilies, tulips, alstroemeria, roses, and mums—we can easily maintain year-round flower sales while offering a variety of shapes and colors in our bouquets. This approach allows us to simplify operations while still providing fresh, beautiful flowers all year long.

This exercise in streamlining our flower farming reveals much about the efficiency and potential of different plants within our operation. If you have any questions about which flowers have the longest season, the biggest impact, or are the most efficient in terms of resource inputs like water, labor, and space, feel free to reach out. Many of our flowers, like mums and lilies, are grown in pots, while tulips are hydroponically grown. Alstroemeria and roses, however, are grown in the ground.

We are always interested in new ideas and streamlining operations. What flowers would you choose to narrow down to and why? Let us know your thoughts and experiences!

Best,

Linda