Each flower has their own care and temperament on a farm. We grow a wide variety of flowers and are always striving to try new varieties. Some have made the cut and we grow year after year, while some we decided were not for us. Many of the varieties we grow you cannot buy in your local grocery store or even florist shop. There are so many different varieties and variations of certain flowers, each creating beauty throughout the seasons. Our top 6 flowers that we feel we will always grow because they are gorgeous, plentiful, profitable, and versatile would be the following:
1 Zinnias! You either love or hate them, and on our farm we LOVE them! I love them so much that my wedding bouquet was pretty much all zinnias with some roses. They are really the workhorses of the farm and produce more than any other flower we grow. They can be temperamental in the spring when New England gets slammed with rainy days for weeks on end, but if you can get past that, they are amazing producers. They come in a range of different colors, which is great for wedding work. They can be elegant and make a statement in an arrangement. They can be used solo or mixed and come in a variety of textures as well. We grow about 18 different varieties and this year we have decided to grow our own crossed seed from the previous year to come up with new colors and textures for this season and hopefully next!
#2 Sunflowers:) Nothing says happy summer like a mixed sunflower bouquet. We love sunflowers so much that not only do we sell them retail and wholesale, but we also offer pick your own and a sunflower stroll during our peak sunflower season. We do succession plantings by seed every 2 weeks so that we have plenty for our roadside bouquets. They come in all different colors and textures. Some of our favorites would be buttercream and White Lite. They just add a different look to a bouquet. I was so happy that last summer so many brides wanted sunflowers in their bouquets. We grow them close together so that the blooms are not super large and overpowering, making them perfect additions to a bouquet or arrangement!
#3 Lisianthus! I would not know where we would be without our lisianthus beauties.These are by far the most elegant flowers on the farm and they come in all different shapes and sizes! We started growing these from seed over 25 years ago with my sister n law and they made the cut. They truly are so elegant and add such a beautiful dimension to our wedding work and even our buckets of blooms.
#4 Dahlias…These are a favorite flower for so many. Although they are not my personal favorite, I do recognize their importance and what they bring to the table in an arrangement. They are well known to be the diva’s on our farm because they can be a bit temperamental to grow at times, but they are well worth it. They are great fall workhorses, they look fantastic in our wedding work, along with our roadside bouquets. They can stand out by themselves in a bouquet and equally look fantastic in a mixed arrangement. I think for me they take up so much time in the fall and spring that it sometimes clouds my judgement. In the fall the dahlia tubers have to be dug up by hand, washed, dried, separated, packaged, stored all winter long in a consistent cool temperature, and then planted again in the spring. However, they truly are stunning in our fields and we will always grow them:)
#5 Marigolds… I bet you didn't see this one coming. Marigolds come in all different varieties and they have a unique smell. Some do not love the smell, but we do! They can range in color from bright orange, to pale whitish/yellow and can make your arrangement pop! Not all flowers we grow are for weddings, and this is important. Most of our flowers are for people to enjoy every day and many people love bright colors in their homes. Marigolds are not only bright and happy, but they come in all different shapes and sizes and can really add an extra element to your bouquets. The only downside for me with marigolds is that if you get a frost, they do not last long. However, last year we decided to dry them for our dried wreaths and they were gorgeous. This fall we will be drying as many of them as we can before the frost hits.
#6 Peonies… My mom always grew peonies in our yard when we were kids. She has them everywhere and in the spring, they are stunning! These beauties come in many colors and have such an amazing fragrance. They take a good 3 years to grow with many blooms, but they are worth it. We are still slowly increasing our peony fields each year and we will always grow them.