There’s a bit of a misunderstanding when it comes to flower farms and their aesthetics. Some of you know from experience that a working farm, whether for flowers, vegetables, or livestock, is often not picture-perfect. They get muddy. Have equipment and tools and supplies that aren’t color coordinated. Soaker hoses and PVC tubing are visible. Plants are growing into what they will become. This is quite different from what many in the public expect when they think of flower farms, in particular, because of the orchestrated social media, magazine, and book photos, or films that portray beautiful, neat, never-ending rows of vibrantly blooming flower fields. Take, in point, a recent call we received.
A person called the farm requesting to photograph for a special event with our flowers. It was explained that flowers aren’t left to bloom in the field, but, rather, are harvested just before or directly after blooming (for some varieties), and so the backdrop of vibrant color and beauty they wanted for their photos isn’t possible. They were actually upset with us because of the perception they had about flower farms.
There are flower farms that operate to sell seed and breed their own varieties. These farms let their flowers bloom in the fields because they are not selling the flowers. However, even these farmers must carefully orchestrate and time their crops to display beautifully for those colorful, awesome spreads seen in books and magazine articles. It takes planning, timing, and months of preparation to have what is seen in the picture to look so amazing. We, just like so many others, thoroughly appreciate the beauty and skill involved in those photographs. They really are beautiful.
On the other hand, a flower farm that operates to supply cut flowers for floristry, as is the case for Hawk and Sparrow Flowers, does not want their crop to bloom in the field. By the time a flower has bloomed in the field, it is too late for selling. The quality of the bloom and its vase life is not what you would want to purchase, and is not up to our standard for harvesting to sell. Take, for example, the sunflower and the tuberose.
Pictured at top is a row of our sunflowers currently growing for market and our floristry service. The flower in the foreground could have been harvested the day before, the one directly behind it and slightly less opened is perfect for harvesting that day. Flowers continue to open (age) after they’ve been harvested. To slow this process, we put them into a 36 degree cooler after cutting them from the rows. That way they stay freshest and have the longest vase life for you. If a flower is allowed to stay in the field long enough to open even halfway, and to be pollinated, they are not sold for you to enjoy. At least not from this farmer. You wouldn’t enjoy the quality and vase time you’ve come to expect from us.
Now, there are some flowers that need to bloom a bit more while they are planted, like the tuberose, pictured below. With the tuberose, you want at least two buds on the plant to bloom before it is harvested so they stand upright. If you cut the stem without a bloom or only one, it will fall and droop. A double tuberose, which has a flower within the flower, is one I’m still experimenting with. I haven’t yet dialed in how to get them to continue to bloom once harvested, but I also don’t want them to be pollinated in the field and sacrifice quality. It’s all about timing.
In the meantime, we’ve planted another 500+ sunflower seedlings this week. Sunflowers, celosia, mums, amaranth, weeding rows and beds, our first dahlia CSA, and getting ready for our on-site farm flower shop to open September 1 are keeping us busy these days. Looking forward to sharing it all with you!
Stay cool out there,
Lis & Tim
Cut flower farm in progress
