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Thank you! That’s so neat that you left nursing went to be a florists and now farming! Way to go. Yes, 5 babies is a lot, but farming has been a lot of fun as well.

Thank you! That is so encouraging for you to say. Thanks for watching.

@@frenchcanadian1007 thank you! That really is so encouraging to have you follow along on the journey!

Thank you! I’m excited for 2025 as well. Lots of plans and the babies are growing so that is helpful! Thanks for your encouragement. It’s just like my mom said…just do the next thing.

@@faithannetoo it’s very easy and works really well. I love having a full tray of germinated bells ☺️

oh that is really encouraging....thank you for the kind words. I will add those videos to my list. Thank you the feedback is really helpful.

Tulips grow better in cold climates so you are good there. Tulips grown for cut flower purposes are treated like an annual. I actually pull the whole bulb out of the ground and then cut off the bulb and compost it to get the longest stem length. You can't reuse the bulb because it needs to be rejuvenated by the leaves which you have now cut off. Trust me...people try to reuse the bulbs, but only leaves or small flowers will regrow...nothing that you could sell.

Oh! So lovely to meet a fellow flower farming, homeschooling mama. That is so exciting. I'm sure you will do great! Way to go to expand into farmers markets.

I'm glad you found it helpful!

Yes, good point about natives. I have added a few more to my perennial in the last few years. But yarrow is such a workhorse and so resistant to weather and pests. It really is such a great cut flower.

I'm glad you found the content helpful. a Quality video is on my list. Thank you for the feedback.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yes, I do enjoy discussing the business aspect of farming. I am pretty low key...I track everything now through Quicken as far as income and expenses. I might actually change that, but I find Quick Books so expensive as a small farm, and I don't need payroll or any of those part of it. I am actually exploring changing to accounting directly through my Novo business account that I use for my business bank account.

@@abundantbloomsflowerfarm good to know. I’m trying to understand much of this s I get ideas of how I am going to proceed with my plans. I know they are online companies who will do your accounting etc for you, I want to know more about that too.

Hi there! Thank that is so sweet. I love hearing where you are from. I lived in TX for a few years when I was in the military. So fun to have you here!

Oh I am so glad that you found me. Yes! I agree...I do not feel like there is a lot of content out there on selling to florists and that is the goal of my channel!

Great Point... Dahlias are not high on my list because this past season I did not grow very many of them...I think I have 25 of them (that is changing a little for 2025). Zinnias I also do not grow lots of, but I do grow some. Zinnias were #10 on my sales list. I grow 2 successions of zinnias only 65x3 feet (the length of my rows in that section) and I only grow a few colors. My thought process on this is that West MI is FLOODED with zinnias and so I try to grow other flowers like perennials and woodies that are different from other flower farmers...all while seeking to have some to sell to my weekly shops.

That one is Kansas! It's a great color.

Most of my nigella is 18-20 inches tall. I do clear cut the flower right at ground lever to get all the stem length I can. BUT, I have found that some varieties are shorter than others. I grow Mrs. Jekyll Dark Blue and the Mrs. Jekyll White (I think) those are the tallest ones. The white has been taller even than the Dark Blue. But I have grown the darker blue nigella (I cant remember the exact variety) and that one is definitely shorter. So I would say maybe try a different variety. Also they do like cooler weather so you could try planting them in very early spring or even in the fall. I plant mine at both those times and they overwinter here in zone 6a just fine with no protection at all. Cosmos: Yes, they do not have a long vase life and I do sell these mostly to even florists, but some of my shops also love cosmos and use them as well. You do have to harvest them before they are pollinated for the best vase life. I have never grown Mahogany Splendor, but I have heard other people that do that really like it for fall arrangements. I have ninebark in those same colors so I just lean on my woodies for that need in the fall. Thanks for watching and for your thoughts!

I was wondering the same!

Thank you! Zinnias I don't grow a lot of because I am surrounded by flower farms that do grow a lot of those and I want to differentiate myself from other flower farms. I do grow some though...mostly specialty colors like the queen series and I grew some of florets this past year. Zinnias were #10 on my list...so I did sell a lot of them. Sunflowers: my favorite varieties for the farm is the precut series, but some of the specialty colors are not as good as the Procut Gold DMR, or the Procut Orange. ProCut White Lite is also really beautiful, but they do weaker necks than the gold or orange. If you want to learn more about how I grow sunflowers and more about them I do have a good blog post just about sunflowers as well. You can check it out below. www.abundantbloomsflowerfarm.com/blog/how-to-grow-sunflowers

Welcome from across the pond! So fun to have you. Glad you enjoyed the "tour"

I will add that to my list....Thank you!

Oh thank you! Sounds like an exciting opportunity for you! I hope it all goes well for you and your kids. Thank you for the encouraging feedback. I want to give back to this great community and offer what I have learned over the past years.

Oh that is so fun! I can't remember if I mention in this video that I was in the Air Force. I know being a military spouse has a lot of challenges. I would just encourage you to dabble away and no matter where you end up your knowledge will go with you!

@abundantbloomsflowerfarm absolutely! He has 6 more years then retirement however what I find the hardest is planting things directly in the ground knowing I may have to leave them behind one day

@@goatlovefun Oh yes...I would have a really hard time with that...I don't think you can add that to your household goods 🤣...We planted over 900 shrubs this last season...not to mention all my perennial....we are never moving 😍

Thank you. The actual % is 7.5%....so not huge...last year it was 25%....which is crazy to me...I sold double the amount of flower this year, but my sunflower sales actually dropped due to my crop failure mostly. I sell to about 5 brick and mortar shops that buy between 20-50 stems every week all summer....so that adds up to a lot over the season. Most of my event florists don't buy sunflowers (unless they have an even that needs them...then I can sell 200 or more for that event...that only happened once this summer though). They really seem to like the variety...this year for the first time I grew precut white light and that was a really big hit...I am growing more of that next year, and that can be used in wedding more as well.

@@abundantbloomsflowerfarm We had a lot of sunflower crop failure too, just not enough rain this year! Good insight, we sell to wedding and event florists so makes sense why we don’t have many sunflower sales!

Thank you! Yes I do have my hands full with all the kids...it's a busy time of life, I could not do it without my husband who is such a great partner both in the farm and with the kids. I firmly believe quality and relationships are SO important!

Oh yes, that is fun! I love Michigan...Great Lakes...Great Times (old slogan I know...but I still love it.). I see you are not to far away from me.

Oh, that is a good point. I am a BIG fan of Johnny's seeds as well. In my opinion their website it the best for seed information. They also do really great trial and studies...the website and research as so much to offer. Oh..I have never grown the Potomac Lavender...but I have seen it several times....it is very beautiful!

I agree! Quality is Key and knowing what that even means is really important. I always love hearing from florists..it is such an important part of being a flower farmer who sells to florists to know their needs and perspective on the flowers as well.

Oh, that is so encouraging, thank you! We were just in Ontario this fall!

Oh thank you! That is so encouraging. I do not pinch snapdragons (sometimes they get pinched by accident though). This is because I sell to florists and I want one really tall stem large. If you sell retail I know a lot of people do pinch snapdragons.

Hello from Portland Oregon. I’m a 70+ yr old gramma, growing flowers in my backyard. I want to set up a self-serve stand in my driveway and sell to the local neighborhood . Your information is on target for me; although I want to keep my business small I’m hoping to contribute to my granddaughter’s college fund. I would love to learn more about quality in flowers. What do you look for, best cutting time and post harvest care. Glad I found you and thanks for sharing your expertise!

These are great questions. I am working on a video that will come out soon that will answer your second question. This is a link to a blog post that I wrote. I think it will partially answer your question for now…but I am working on creating a resource specifically to answer how to make your first florist connection. www.abundantbloomsflowerfarm.com/blog/why-i-sell-flowers-to-florists

@@abundantbloomsflowerfarm thank you for the link, I look forward to the video.

Thank you! I'm so glad it was helpful.

@@ladetrucker oh! That is so sweet of you to say….yes sometimes I wonder how I do it all too 💪. Just like Elizabeth Elliot says…do the next thing. Thank you for your encouragement! And…it was an honor to serve our country! Thank your son for his service as well.

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

@@janasharooni5203 your welcome! Thanks for watching!

@@janasharooni5203 your welcome!

@@bcj that’s a great topic to do a video on…especially since I recently Bought a planted to help me be more efficient. Watch for a future video.

Oh that is hard when people are selling peonies so cheap. I know there are places that have that issue for sure. I would agree....don't try to do something that has already been done....look for the gaps in the market and start with low investment, high return items....like self seeding things. That can work with some crops. I find it really great with bupleurum as well (also very sought after by florists).

Oh Your welcome. Thanks for letting me know it was helpful....Wow Poland, so fun to know where you are watching from.

Thank you. I hope to be back with more videos in the future. Thanks for watching and cheering us on!

@@twosistersflowerfarm thank you ❤️