Timing in Zone 9A
My first year flower farming I began to prepare beds in January. I patiently waited until my last frost date and began to plant seeds. I started the calculations and realized I would not be harvesting until early May. Also, worth mentioning is that by May its around 90 degrees in the afternoons. This posed many problems if I was to be a year-round flower farmer.
I was able to Harvest from Mother’s Day until around the end of August. The flowers and I both were burned out. I was struggling to keep up with the weeds and watering. Almost every day in July was above 95 degrees. I continued replanting & harvesting with big gaps between harvests (sales) and got very discouraged how I could make this work.
By my second year I had a new plan. Thanks to a 20-year veteran flower farmer, Lisa Mason Ziegler and what she calls “Cool Flowers”. This was a huge piece to the puzzle. Basically, by planting Cold Hardy annuals in the fall you could have gorgeous early spring blooms. I knew there were cool veggies so to speak, that I would plant in the winter. Cabbage, kale, broccoli, vs the summer choices, peppers, tomatoes, squash. Up to then I was basing my planting on schedules for farmers in much colder zones with little success. I learned I could not trust the info on the back of seed packs for my zone.
Photo: Edible NE Florida “Slow Flowers” March 2018- My First Ranunculus
That second fall I was ready for my cool flower experiment. I had a long list of new flowers to try. Calendula, Sweet Peas, Ranunculus, Anemones, Bupleurum, Straw Flower, Snapdragons. With each flower came its own special requirements. Some needed to be started indoors under lights, some in a greenhouse, spacing, and days to maturity. I created a spreadsheet to print and use a reference. Luckily, there are some great resources out there. I was able to piece together a plan. Because Lisa is in Zone 7 in Virginia, I still had to adjust what works for her since I am in hot & humid zone 9a with little frost. I was so nervous that first winter as we dipped into the 20s. In my mind from always taking plants in for the winter they would surely turn to mush and die. Every morning sure enough the cool flowers were still green and thriving. The experiment was a success! I had flowers through April. This opened the option to have flowers for sale during peak seasons like Valentines Day, Easter, and Mother’s Day. Also, it was much cooler, and there were no bugs eating me alive while harvesting, I really like to garden in the winter.
First Cool Flower Experiment
I hope this helps you to grow some of your own. Timing is an important factor to consider when choosing what to plant. Planting at the right time and providing the ideal conditions will ensure you get the most blooms. Included below is a list of Cool Flowers vs Warm Season Flowers. Happy Planting!
Cool Flowers
Ammi
Anenome
Bachelors buttons
Buplerum
Calendula
Columbine
Corn Cockle
Delphinium
Dianthus/Sweet William
Digitalis/foxgloves
Larkspur
Lisianthus
Lupine (p)
Orlaya
Ornamental Kale
Perisan Cress
Phlox
Ranunculus
Rudbeckia
Scabiosa
Snapdragons
Straw Flower
Sweet Peas
Yarrow (p)
Eucalyptus (p)
Dara
Warm Season
Ageratum
Amaranth
Basil
Celosia
Cosmos
Dahlia
Gladiolous
Gomphrena
Gypsophia
Marigolds
Sunflowers
Zinnias
Salvia
*(p)= perennial in zone9a