My Favorite Cut Flower Varieties (not your average list)
Butterfly Ranunculus “Ariadne”
My first season of flower farming, I chose high yield varieties that were productive and easy to grow. They gave me a sense of accomplishment and success, but after cutting stem after stem of yellow sunflowers, for example, I got burned out on them pretty quickly. I started neglecting them, missed my succession times “accidentally”, and soon I was looking at a row of blooming, wasted flowers. Most flower farmers might find this weird, but for sunflowers in particular I realized I loved having them in the field to gaze at and give some vertical interest, but the process of harvesting them was utterly annoying. They had a tendency to topple over in the car, could only be bunched in 5 stems, had to be sowed by the hundreds each week to keep up a steady supply, and had to be harvested when mostly closed in order to have the best vase life. To me, it was a LOT of work for one stem, when I was watching other varieties happily pump out blooms for weeks without putting me on a hamster wheel of succession planting.
Since that first season, I’ve slowly collected varieties that I truly love growing. This means choosing varieties that have certain qualities that work well with my lifestyle (I’m a mom to two little girls, I live 20 minutes from my field, and I’m a one woman show).
My must have criteria for returning cut flower crops:
They aren’t taxing the soil (for example, sweet peas are heavy feeders and I know I’ll have to amend that bed heavily)
They gain value each season (they get longer stems, put out more blooms, etc)
They don’t require too much work (bonus points if they self sow!)
Don’t require too much water during the summer (hi, neverending California water drama)
Are low maintenance or provide a function in their dormant state (aka when they’re not blooming)
And here is the ever-evolving “All Star” list. The varieties I can’t live without! Are there other varieties I LOVE growing? Absolutely. But these are my must haves.
Favorite Cut Flower Varieties:
Solidago: Hands down my favorite filler. I have a hedgerow of solidago that has about three flushes per year, attracts beneficial insects, birds, and pollinators to the field, and provides food via seeds during the winter.
Yarrow: Super drought tolerant, gives multiple flushes throughout the year, and also provides great soil protection in the winter during big rains.
Larkspur White Cloud: I direct seed this stuff and it has a long bloom window. It can be used as a spray or broken into smaller pieces, and does well in a boutonniere.
Hellebores: Always the first thing in my garden to bloom, zero maintenance the rest of the year other than mulching every once in a while.
Delphinium: This one is slowly creeping its way onto my all star list, but I need one more year to confirm. Same with foxglove and geum, stay tuned.
Silene: Reseeds itself and blooms nonstop throughout the season. It’s super neutral in color so works with almost any palette, and can be used in bloom or pod stage. Also very pretty dried.
Butterfly Ranunculus: My favorite spring flower that I cannot live without. At a time when most blooms are round and chunky, butterfly ranunculus is single petaled, shimmery, and so very dancy. She also blooms longer than my regular ranunculus and tolerates the heat about 2 weeks longer. The harvest window is much more forgiving, as the buds continue to open on the spray. Difficult to source and a bit more work than some of these other varieties, but I could never live without the butterflies!
Cosmos: Nothing will ever replace the airy cosmo, and I’m willing to die on this hill. They are easy, drought tolerant, and bloom till frost. I just wish they liked spring better, mine always struggle until it hits September-ish.