J
Jennie Love
Guest
Recently I was remembering back to 2009 as I was going into my second growing season as a flower farmer. I just had a tiny community garden plot that year that totaled a grand 1,682 square feet. But from that garden, I managed to grow enough flowers to go to two farmers markets a week that year and to do my first handful of weddings. I remember how hard I worked on mapping out that garden because Every. Single. Inch. mattered. It was there that I put in my first perennial bulbs for cut flower production.
Since space was precious, I was conflicted about adding perennials. I also wasn’t sure how long I’d be in that particular garden plot; I wanted very much to find a larger space to farm (and did the next year). But, because I’m a plant nerd who covets unusual stuff, I decided that year to take a leap of faith and place my first big order for perennials from North Creek Nurseries. I remember their minimum order requirement was $300 back then, and I was sweating bullets writing the check in their office when I picked up the plants. I have to confess that I laugh at myself now, looking back, knowing how invaluable that purchase was for my business and how small that expense was in the grand scheme of this farm’s history. I’ve probably spent more than $30,000 on perennials by now!
I decided to put together this quick list of my five favorite perennial bulbs for cut flower production because bulbs are usually a bit more affordable than, say, fancy peonies or big shrubs. Bulbs are a good place to start if you’re just dipping your toes into cut flower production and you want to add some perennials. They generally can be planted fairly close together and will produce for many seasons.
Five Favorite Perennial Bulbs for Cut Flowers
1. Narcissus
This one is probably not much of a surprise as so many of flower farmers now grow specialty narcissus. And for good reason. They are deer-proof (hallelujah!), fragrant, nostalgic harbingers of spring that let many flower farmers enter the market place earlier than they might otherwise be able. They tolerate being planted under deciduous trees so you can use otherwise marginal space for flower growing. They naturalize and multiply if you give them space and put them where foot/machine traffic is light so they can just do their thing. They store well for a long time if picked in goose-neck stage and kept in a cooler. And bulbs are typically readily available and affordable. The only downside is the sap the cut stems ooze. But just be sure to wear gloves when harvesting and don’t mix the freshly harvested bunches with any other flowers in your buckets. After 24 hours, you can mix narcissus stems into mixed bouquets or arrangements, just don’t cut the stems again so sap doesn’t start oozing again. Three of my favorite varieties of narcissus are ‘Prosecco’, ‘Acropolis’, and ‘Obdam’.
2. Muscari
I have to make a confession. I’m utterly obsessed with these dainty, diminutive darlings that come in sky blue, white, blush and navy. I also have to confess that they aren’t a good crop for all flower farmers. They’re really only useful if you are a farmer-florist such as myself or if you are selling to event designers. Topping out at 8” usually, the stems of most muscari are far too short for anything other than delicate wearables or short vase designs. But they are so very useful if you are indeed designing boutonnieres, corsages, bud vases and other littles. They come into bloom right in the heart of spring wedding season, and I’d be lost without them. Bulbs are CHEAP! And they naturalize if you make sure to put them somewhere they won’t get stomped on when they aren’t in bloom. You can also easily grow them in crates. One crate can hold about 80 bulbs if you pack them in. Try some and I’m betting you’ll join me in my obsession!
3. Leucojum
Another spring favorite that is phenomenal to have if you’re a farmer-florist or selling to designers is Leucojum aestivum, or Giant Snowdrop. Cute white bells dangle from tall, straight stems, making you think it’s an oversized lily of the valley (it’s not). They are incredibly easy to work into spring bouquets where they add a real touch of elegance. L. aestivum pair perfectly with Icelandic poppies, tulips, and hellebores. Their bloom period is pretty long for a spring bulb since they shoot up several stems per plant. Bonus: they naturalize like bunny rabbits when they are happy. At this point, I have more than I know what to do with, but I’m not complaining! They’re just as endearing left in the landscape as they are in the vase. One important note about leucojum is that they too ooze sap like narcissus so handle them the same way as I described above.
4. Fritillaria
Ah, the much sought-after Fritillaria! In particular, Fritillaria persica, has been making waves in the designer world for the past few seasons. Stems can fetch as much as $28 each in the New York City market!! Holy moly!! But the bulbs are pricey (up to $8 each depending on your supplier), can be short-lived if you don’t know how to treat them, and usually only put up one nice stem their first year in the ground. All of which makes the cost of this particular fritillaria as a cut flower high. However, if you can get them to perennialize at your farm and you have a high-end clientele, you’ll have yourself a real golden goose. The trick to keeping F. persica happy is to plant the big fat bulb on its side in very well-draining soil. The bulb is very prone to rotting and there’s a hollow spot in the tip of the bulb that catches too much moisture if you plant it straight up and down. Laying it on its side helps circumvent rot. My F. persica bulbs are five years old now and they’ve actually started to self-seed around their beds so I’ve got lots more than the 100 I started with originally.
There are two other Fritillaria species worth noting, though I don’t grow either as a perennial. F. melegaris is a diminutive cousin to F. persica, beloved by designers for the checkered pattern on its nodding bell-shaped head. Bulbs are cheap and it’s worth treating them as an annual if they don’t take hold as perennials for you. And F. imperialis is a stately, exotic-looking bloom that may tempt you as a cut, but its skunky smell usually puts most people off.
5. Formosa Lily
My new favorite perennial, blub or otherwise!!! I have to thank Mandy and Steve at 3 Porch Farm, long-time flower friends, for introducing me and many others to the fantastic Formosa Lily (Lilium formosanum)! Super easy to grow from seed, Formosa Lily is a stately and robust perennial that blooms in late August and early September, just when a clean white bloom is most welcomed after the tiring dog-days of summer. If you can resist cutting all the flowers, you’ll be rewarded with really striking seed pods later in the fall too. If that wasn’t enough to entice you, this lily also seems adapted to grow well in part shade, which is where mine have naturalized freely over the past two years. After getting established for a season or two, plants start sending up several stems each. The fragrance is a very light perfume that does not overpower the nose like many lilies, but does frequently lure people to lean in for a sniff.
—
Did you notice the list didn’t include tulips? That’s because we do not perennialize our tulips here at Love ‘n Fresh Flowers. They are grown as an annual and we plant fresh bulbs every autumn so we get the most vigorous and vibrant blooms possible.
My favorite bulb supplier for narcissus, leucojum, fritillaria, muscari and tulips is Dutch Grown, which is based right outside of Philadelphia.
if you’d like to learn more about using perennials for cut flowers and foliage, check out this past blog post and this one too!
The post Perennial Bulbs: Five Favorites for Cut Flower Production appeared first on lovenfresh.
Continue reading...