Flowering in the South
Survey Results + Profiles of 5 flower farmers who cope with temperature, humidity, pest and weed pressure, and other conditions across the Southern US
In a recent fall, the Hensley's team, with help from the Slow Flowers community, ran a short survey on growing cut flowers in the Southern states. Several dozen growers answered, with the largest share from the Carolinas and the rest spread across Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi.
Among other things, growers ranked their ten most important flower crops. The results appear below from most to least popular, followed by other crops respondents named. We also asked which growing problems trouble Southern flower farmers most and which months are busiest.
Here, and in a companion webinar on Southern cut-flower growing (see the resources), we look more closely at the particular challenges of a region that covers roughly a third of the country's land area.
SURVEY RESULTS
Top-10 cut-flowers for the South
| 1. Sunflower | 6. Lisianthus | |
| 2. Dahlia | 7. Snapdragon | |
| 3. Zinnia | 8. Anemone | |
| 4. Ranunculus | 9. Marigold | |
| 5. Celosia | 10. Gomphrena |
Other popular flower crops
Astrantia, Ageratum, Cosmos, Delphinium, Dianthus, Eucalyptus, Larkspur, lily, daffodil, Orlaya, Poppy, Tulip, Mint and other herbs, peony, Nigella, Gladiolus, Bupleurum, Foxglove, Veronica, Campanula, Yarrow, Phlox, Millet, Lavender, Rose, Sweet Pea
Most-cited cultural problems
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Pest pressure
Most active growing months
April through October, peaking in spring and fall.
MEET THE FLOWER FARMERS
Afterward, the Hensley's team followed up with several respondents about their seasonal routines, crop choices, marketing, local climate challenges and sustainable practices.
- An owner-growerof a north-central Florida flower farm
- A husband-and-wife team of a south Georgia family flower farm
- An owner-grower of a Charleston-area micro flower farm in South Carolina
- An owner-grower of a Virginia Eastern Shore flower farm
- An owner-grower of an east Alabama flower farm
1 • FULL KEEL FARM
— Florida flower farmer
The Florida grower farms with her partner in north-central Florida on about half an acre. She is the main grower while her partner works off the farm. From the start they chose to grow specialty cut flowers for wholesale, selling directly to florists in nearby cities. Their small space and the strong demand for local flowers made that a natural fit, since Florida has few growers selling wholesale directly to florists.
Her graduate training in soil and water science has helped her understand her farm's soil chemistry. She also helped start a Florida flower growers' group on social media.
CLIMATE & CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
She points out that in warm climates, growers must consider how temperature and day length interact. China aster, for example, is very hard for her to grow: when the plant needs long days to stretch its stems, temperatures are already too high, so it blooms too early on short stems. It is worth checking whether a crop's day-length and temperature needs both line up with your conditions.
Winters are usually mild but bring a few very cold nights, so the farm keeps a plan for freezes into the mid-20s °F and occasionally the high teens, with backup heat and row cover. In spring and summer, heat becomes the bigger issue. Being inland rather than on the coast, the farm sees hotter days and nights than its hardiness zone might suggest.
CROPS
The farm works all year but only harvests from about February through June and from mid-September to late November. The owners deliberately chose not to cut through summer, because quality drops, usable stems fall off sharply and demand slows with fewer weddings and events.
The season opens with ranunculus and delphinium, then snapdragon, foxglove, strawflower, and statice. Most warm-season annuals grow in the field, except celosia, which thrives in the high tunnels. She starts lisianthus from seed instead of buying plugs. With strong light and warm temperatures, she finds it easy and gets seedlings to transplant size in about eight weeks, compared with the twelve or so weeks, sometimes with heated greenhouses, that growers elsewhere may need.
She plans to drop ranunculus because winters have been too warm. Experience has shown which crops tolerate wide swings; delphinium survives hard cold snaps and also performs well in the tunnel during warm spells.
Drainage is a problem: the water table is high, and sandy soil sits over a natural hardpan. In dry spells the soil holds almost no water, but in wet weather a perched water tableforms. Heavy summer storms can leave several inches of standing water, and extreme rain once wiped out most of the farm's early spring crops.
To deal with standing water, the farm added two high tunnels of roughly 1,500 sq fteach , raised the beds with several inches of topsoil and compost, and dug the aisles into drainage channels. Dahlias are grown in fabric grow bags, which do well in summer because the soil around the tubers can dry through the bag's sides even when the field floods.
MARKETING
After a first season of retail bouquets, the grower decided to sell only to florists. Farmer-florists and mixed retail-wholesale farms are more common in her area, but she saw an opening for a farm focused on florists alone. She now grows larger amounts of fewer varieties so she can supply more florists each week, including regular deliveries to a second city.
SUSTAINABILITY
— Florida flower farmer
Paper pots for seed starting
Paper-chain pots now hold most of her seedlings. Although the system has drawbacks, it lets her plant entire beds very quickly during hot weather, pulling the chain of seedlings through a transplanter in just a few minutes per bed.
Beneficial insects
Her main targets are thrips, aphids and other soft-bodied pests. Assassin bugs and minute pirate bugs have proven to be strong predators in her climate, and the farm now has a resident population of beneficial insects that shows up each spring before any new releases are made.
Irrigation
She relies mostly on drip irrigation but recently added a portable overhead line, a long movable pipe with sprinkler risers. New transplants get overhead water for their first week or two, then switch to drip.
Fertigation
To reduce nutrient runoff, the farm injects water-soluble fertilizer into the drip lines. Small, frequent feedings help because heavy rains wash nitrogen away quickly, and the amount, type and rate are adjusted as the season goes on.
2 • WILMOR FARMS FLOWERS
Started in 2015 by a husband-and-wife team, this family farm in south Georgia sits on land that has been in one family for many generations. It has grown from a hobby plot to about three acres and a diversified, sustainable business. The owners admit they started by simply scattering seed and then wondering what to do with all the flowers, learning as they went. One partner, trained in horticulture, runs a landscaping company full time; the other left a nursing career to farm full time, and their children help make it a multigenerational farm.
— Georgia flower farmer
CLIMATE & CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
As the farm moved from hobby to family income, deer became a serious problem, so the owners put up a deer fence. After researching options, they chose an affordable tall polypropylene deer fence and have since enclosed nearly the whole farm. It is durable and easy to put up; one partner installed much of it alone, though two people make the job easier.
Despite the heat and humidity, the couple describe themselves as relentlessly optimistic. The working conditions can be discouraging, and they have made plenty of mistakes, as every flower farmer does. The hardest part is that a mistake may take a full year to correct.
CROPS
Sunflowers are a high-volume crop here, planted in many successions through the season. Normally sunflowers produce very large heads, but those crowd a bouquet sleeve, so the farm spaces plants tightly to get smaller faces that suit mixed bouquets. Most other annuals are chosen to support sunflowers as the focal flower, including cosmos, plume and cockscomb celosia, stock, amaranth, ageratum, marigolds, zinnias, gomphrena, basil, and mahogany hibiscus. Celosia 'Flamingo Feather' is a favorite for adding interest to bouquets.
The perennial Rudbeckia triloba is another dependable bouquet choice thanks to its branching habit. Their advice to new growers is to start with perennials early; they wish they had invested in them sooner and now add more every year.
— Georgia flower farmer
MARKETING
Every bouquet is wrapped in kraft paper sleeves stamped with the farm's logo. Their mixed bouquets sell mainly at two local farmers markets and at a natural-foods grocery store in a nearby city. That account began when the store's floral manager found them at a farmers market and then guided them through the supplier requirements. Meeting all of those standards gave the owners confidence in their product.
They value knowing the store staff they see on delivery days, who are enthusiastic supporters. Delivering to a regional distribution center to reach more stores might mean losing some of that personal connection.
They stay committed to their closest farmers market and bring flowers to a larger city market a few times a month, where they have loyal customers. When the farm is not at market, shoppers know they can buy its Georgia-grown bouquets at the grocery store.
SUSTAINABILITY
Soil health
Their soil program centers on planting cover crops and adding organic compost to each planting. They also use erosion control, grow a wide mix of flowers and rotate crops.
Mulching
The owners rely on a biodegradable, plant-based mulch film that is black underneath and white on top. Planting nearly everything through it has saved a lot of labor. Landscape fabric caused problems for them, while the white surface keeps roots cooler in the heat, and after the last harvest the film is simply tilled in.
Compost
Before the mulch goes down, each bed gets a layer of organic compost and one application of an organic general-purpose fertilizer. They aim to use OMRI-listed amendments, though the farm is not certified organic.
Labor
Providing a safe workplace and paying a living wage are priorities for the owners.
3 • ONE WILD ACRE
The Charleston-area grower and her family moved to a little over an acre on an island near Charleston in 2017 to grow more flowers than their tiny former yard allowed.
CLIMATE & CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
— Charleston-area flower farmer
Winters are usually mild, with nights in the 40s °F, though one recent winter was unusually cold with a late-December freeze. By March, highs reach the 70s, and then come hot, humid summers that are hard on both flowers and the people working them. Many local flower and vegetable farmers step back in July and August, not stopping work but skipping markets and heavy harvests. Spring and fall are also the busiest tourist and wedding seasons, which shapes the farm calendar.
Spring is her biggest season. The weather is pleasant for planting cool-season flowers, and those crops need little irrigation over winter. Irrigation runs on a timer, and harvested flowers go into an air-conditioned room separate from the house, since she has no cooler. She cuts early in the morning or in the evening, and an outdoor shower has been a welcome addition in the hottest months.
CROPS
Her farm is entirely field-grown on residentially zoned land, and her annual lineup includes cosmos, sunflowers, zinnias, celosia, globe amaranth, and basil. She has added spring bulbs and corms such as anemone, ranunculus and daffodils, which in warm years sometimes bloom in time for Valentine's Day, and she is considering tulips for early spring.
She plants in four rounds: fall and late winter for early spring flowers, early spring for summer crops such as cosmos, zinnia and lisianthus, and late summer for fall. Often she grows the same crops but shifts the color palette with the seasons, using whites and brighter pinks in spring and summer and oranges and rusty colors for fall."
MARKETING
She sells directly to customers through workshops and pop-up events at local coffee shops and a natural beauty shop. Without a cooler, she usually cuts each morning for that day's orders. Most sales come through social media, with customers picking up at the farm, and she hopes to start a subscription to make her schedule more predictable.
Bouquets are kept hydrated with compostable wraps and compostable bags. The outer wrap is kraft paper stamped with the farm logo, which avoids stickers and the waste they create. Colorful ties come from a local weaver's leftover yarn.
She is adding cutting-garden starts and seed-grown dahlia plants, sold at local plant sales and through a partnership with a regional horticultural society. She also teaches a spring seed-starting workshop and visits garden clubs with seed kits and packets, sending each student home with a tray of deep-rooted seedlings ready for the garden. Selling plants appeals to her because it connects her with home gardeners.
SUSTAINABILITY
Soil
Each fall she spreads generous amounts of compost and uses cardboard topped with leaf mulch to smother weeds.
4 • CHATHAM FLOWER FARM
— Virginia Eastern Shore flower farmer
The Virginia grower and her partner own a historic farm on Virginia's Eastern Shore, within reach of the Hampton Roads cities. They grow cut flowers, lavenderand herbs and run a barn studio for flower and art workshops. Being a destination farm is central to their brand, and they want guests to see that the farm is more than a market booth.
CLIMATE & CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
Several seasons in, she notes that the updated USDA map moved their area into a warmer hardiness zone. The coastal location is mild, and she has seen changes, including a recent summer drought lasting months and hotter-than-usual temperatures. It has been instructive to see which plants thrive and which struggle, and recent first frosts have come weeks later than usual.
CROPS
They are streamlining toward a boutique farm, valuing quality over quantity. Her goal is to specialize in premium flowers for wholesale buyers while still serving the community that has always supported them. Production is split roughly evenly between perennials and annuals, with perennials such as yarrow, larkspur, hollyhock and cornflower among their dependable bouquet flowers.
The year falls into three main production windows: ranunculus and peonies first; then Oriental hybrid lilies, gladiolus and annual cuts; and finally dahlias with sunflowers, celosia, and amaranth planted in succession into fall. Sunflowers and dahlias are the farm's main field crops, grown in the thousands.
MARKETING
— Virginia Eastern Shore flower farmer
Teaching customers about seasonal growing is part of the plan. Retail customers are mainly subscription members, market shoppers and wedding clients, and a driveway flower stand brings people to the farm.
She has sold to a wholesale florist supplier in the Washington, DC area, especially when she has large amounts of one crop such as gladiolus, and hopes to sell wholesale again to promote glads as a fresh, modern-looking flower.
SUSTAINABILITY
No-Till & Cover Crops
Because weeds are severe, the farm is no-till and grows through black landscape fabric. At season's end the fabric stays on the beds: they roll it back, tarp the bed and lay the fabric down again. Some beds get cover crops of crimson clover or a cover crop blend of rye, field peas, vetch and crimson clover.
A biodynamic vegetable grower suggested planting a band of cover crop several feet wide around tarped beds to keep weeds from creeping in from the edges.
Irrigation
They have moved to overhead irrigation, soaking the flowers well and then skipping a day.
5 • NOURISH BLOOMS
— Alabama flower farmer
This Alabama grower and her family grow, arrange and sell cut flowers on about half an acre near Auburn. Flower sales fund much of a local nonprofit that provides fresh produce to families facing food insecurity, along with a wellness clinic for children and families. A part-time physician with a large family, she runs the farm with help from her older children and a few part-time workers. She has two high tunnels and several low tunnels made from conduit and row cover.
CLIMATE & CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
Like most Southern flower farms, hers faces heat and humidity for much of the season, along with big temperature swings. Ranunculus and anemones usually miss Valentine's Day, but one warm year they bloomed early in the unheated high tunnels.
She plans to try starting summer annuals such as zinnias in a high tunnel to gain a few weeks and harvest by late May. While many growers slow down in summer, her farm sells at the weekly city market, one of its biggest outlets from late May through August, where it moves all its summer annuals, including zinnias, celosia, cosmos, amaranth, sunflowersand more.
She plants dahlias late, a method she learned from another Southern flower farm, to avoid the heavy pest pressure of May and June and harvest from late summer on. Since adopting it, her pest problems have dropped sharply.
The risk is an early frost. One year frost came in mid-October, leaving only about a month of dahlia sales for a lot of work. In a typical year with a later frost, she cuts dahlias into November.
CROPS
When she started in 2018, she followed advice from well-known flower-growing authors, including one who wrote Cool Flowers. That book shaped her first season of hardy annuals planted near Thanksgiving, which survived a hard frost under plastic. She direct-sows as much as possible and also took an online flower-farming course, following that guidance closely as she learned.
Summer harvest starts at dawn, ideally while it is still below about 80°F (27°C). She has applied for a small-business grant to turn a shipping container into a cooler; for now, flowers are kept in air-conditioned indoor space until processing and design.
MARKETING
Since flower sales support the nonprofit, most income comes from direct subscriptions, small events and weddings, and farmers market sales. Supporters can also join a "Bloom Buddies" program by prepaying for subscriptions, coming to special events and joining farm tours and workshops.
She sometimes sells directly to florists when one crop floods in. When an unseasonably warm February sent her ranunculus and anemones into heavy bloom, she contacted local florists.
— Alabama flower farmer
SUSTAINABILITY
Weed suppression
Black woven ground cover controls weeds well but can get too hot for warm-season annuals. After having to pull it up for those crops, she plans to try mulching on top of the fabric to keep it cooler.
Irrigation
In one very rainy season she did not need to irrigate at all, but the summer before, a couple of dry weeks stressed her flowers. Her drip system often malfunctions in heavy clay, so she is considering overhead watering.
Soil
All of her amendments are organic, usually a load of mushroom compost plus compost tea for soil drenches and foliar sprays.
With rocky clay soil and a minimal-till approach, she builds beds with a layer of cardboard, then organic matter and compost, creating something like a raised bed above the surrounding ground.
FIGURING IT OUT FOR THE SOUTH
These five farms in five Southern states, each with its own climate, confirm something true of flower farmers everywhere: growing flowers takes hope and persistence. They stay resourceful in the face of conditions they cannot control. Their stories show the importance of adapting, learning from trial and error and, above all, sharing what you learn. As the Alabama grower puts it, the goal is to give life, bring beauty into the world and give back to the environment, and we agree.
MORE RESOURCES
-
Flower Growing in Southern States • Webinar
In this webinar on growing flowers in the demanding climate of the Southern U.S., a panel of experienced cut-flower growers from Florida, North Carolina and Texas share their farm stories, regional challenges, lessons learned and favorite varieties.
