I'm just a gardener, in the same climate you're in. I do cut flowers for myself, and I take some to my post office, just 2 doors up. This was so informative even for us everyday gardeners. Thank you for taking the time to make this video, I've saved to it's own folder on here. Also see you're so very close to that YT button 100K.
This was incredible! As usual! Yes, PLEASE do a video about you perennial flowers that are good for cutting. Thank you so much for all you share. You have helped me so much, and inspired me even more.
Danielle, you should write a book! Your advice about zones is so sage, and perhaps those zones need to be redefined. As you point out, there are microclimates everywhere (even in the same yard). And although I grow simply for pleasure and not for profit, as I age I also want more bang for my buck and have really drifted away from annuals to perennials and flowering shrubs and deciduous shrubs with interesting foliage. Very useful information for everyone 💚
Would love to see you do a deep dive video just on Lilies...different types, planting, sourcing bulbs, harvest and post harvest care. I love Lilies but for some reason they intimidate me.
I would love this too. I have never heard of succession planting lilies and would love to learn more, lots more! This video was so helpful. Thank you for being brave and going for it!
Wow! This is so incredibly helpful! I feel like you’ve given those of us in similar climates the “ok” to or not to grow certain things. Thank you so much for this invaluable insight! 💚
This is great information. I've seen on utube that young flower farmers are struggling mainly due to climate. They need all the help they can get. Also this really helps me in my quest to develop a beautiful flower garden organically. Many thanks for sharing.
Right?!? I think sometimes we (cut Flower farmers/growers) especially myself, since I'm also a content creator, feel obligated to grow certain things that are very popular in the cut flower world. But sometimes, deep down, I know I shouldn't, because it's either too prone to pests, to labor intensive to get good, long, stems, or some of the other issues Danielle talks about in this video, or I just plain don't like it, & I feel like videos like this help me to realize- thats OK!!!
Your garden is so beautiful that I am a bit relieved to know you do actually have pest issues like I do. Japanese beetles decimated my roses and attacked my dahlias earlier in the season. Now that the cooler weather is here, and the beetles are gone, both roses and dahlias are doing well. Your comment about later planting is worth trying. Thank you for all the great tips!
Extremely valuable information. I love this kind of content that is hard to find in books, don’t ever worry about telling it like it is. Ignore negative comments on TH-cam, it’s mostly teenagers hiding behind a screen, lol
APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE!!! Best information ever!!! So relevant, easy to understand, interesting and REAL!!! Especially for those of us who are not wanting to be flower farmers. Please do more like this! PRICELESS!!! I will be re-watching and creating a new plan for next year with a different mindset...one that makes so much more sense to me. 😊😊😊
Hello from the North Island of New Zealand. Thank you so much for making this video. You are a wealth of knowledge. I have been watching your videos for 2 years and have learnt alot from you. I grow flowers specifically for drying. I have been making flower wreaths, but next year I'm going to focus on dried bouquets. I always sit down with a notebook when I watch your videos to write down everything I learn. Thank you so much!
I'm looking for the OMG LOVE button to click for this video! Love hearing you share your experiences. I'd like to preorder my copy of your first book....autographed please. :) Where would you suggest purchasing lilies? You've talked me into trying them. Another video like this style about perennials would be FAB! The length doesn't bother me at all. I just make myself an extra large cup of tea to sip while I enjoy listening to a friend talk about her garden.
I know you posted this video months ago, but I want you to know that people are still viewing it and finding it INCREDIBLY helpful as we prepare for the upcoming season. You're amazing. I love learning from you! Keep up the great work!
I just learned so much!! Thank you, Danielle!! You are a thoughtful, thorough, and very engaging educator, and I love your videos. Even when you’re “just talking” you hold an armload of flowers or sit in a beautiful spot-the loveliness doesn’t go unnoticed. 💗
I love your longer videos. Your so pleasant to listen to and although I don’t grow for cut flowers I still learn so much and can even dream of how I could have a prettier garden. I look forward to watching your videos.
Thank you for taking the time to share your heart and soul with us. Your honesty is absolutely refreshing and I love your down to earth approach to growing, Such an inspiration!
I grow dahlias for me here in Jarrettsville, MD. I totally agree with the pest issues. My biggest pests are the leafhoppers by far, but just yesterday I spotted my first Japanese beetle, eating one of my earliest dahlia blooms! I do use Take Down and diatomaceous earth. I lost my Labyrinth last summer because I went away for 3 weeks and the pest damage was too great. For me, the dahlia season starts in June for a few varieties, but generally lasts from July to mid November. I leave them 6 inches underground with pine straw and cloche covering, and they're fine overwinter here in 7a. They get an early start, too, and especially this year with the warm winter we had.
Not to add to your already long list of things to do, I think the knowledge you are sharing in this video, and thru all of your others, is very much needed in the publishing world... We need book from you!! The advice you share, from your unique growing experience, is needed by so many of us that are trying to do the same. Unfortunately, all of the other books I refer to have so much irrelevant information and are not specific to just this scenario. And we are out here - struggling, looking for straight forward, proven thru practice, experience and advice to help at least guide us. From suggested planting times and types, to conditioning and heat tolerance in bouquet form, you are wealth of knowledge and I watch everything you put in video form. I constantly save your videos for future reference and do refer back to them often. I would love a book that I could just pick up, and flip to that relevant information/advice I am seeking 😍 Edited to add: Yes , to the importance of referring to climate vs zone!! As I am in that Southern area you refer to, 8b/9 in SW Georgia, and I find your advice more applicable that any other content I watch. Because we are so similar in climate challenges!! Thank you for not just focusing on Zone!
Finally, a video touching on what also amounts to sustainability! Thanks so much for having the courage to speak about your climatic realities and the ways that your particular market pressures require you to think creatively/differently than your flower selling neighbors. I loved the discussion of forsythia, ninebark, and Baptisia. I only wish more folks would be as brave! We don't all live in the Skagit Valley! We can't all successfully grow the same flowers! This is my first year watching cut flower growers' videos on TH-cam. I'm not a cut flower grower. However, I have grown hundreds of different varieties of flowers and veggies from seed over the past 15 years. I am essentially an ordinary person, who just started reading books and learned to grow from seed. I also live in a hot, super humid climate (zone 7a, northern DC burbs). For the past 3 years, I have experimented with more climate appropriate flower varieties without having to entirely embrace the native-only movement. As I watched hundreds of TH-cam videos from cut flower growers this past winter, I was disappointed by the homogeneity. No matter where they live-- everyone seemed to take inspiration from the same three individuals and consequently grow the exact same flowers and often even the very same varieties. As I watched the videos, I kept wondering is the market really the same everywhere? Or, perhaps these are the only varieties Johnny's, Ball, Florets, and Farmer Bailey sell? Do any cut flower growers actually think about which flowers might be more appropriate to their specific climate? The answer seems to be, no. If problems arise, just add shade cloth! This near uniformity of flower choices also seems painfully out-of-step with the sustainability and native movement that has overtaken regular flower gardening. I also love experimenting and thus love your videos for this reason too. As you've mentioned more than once: among the great challenges and rewards of gardening is constantly learning something new. I'm always learning from the experiences that you share with viewers. Have more confidence! You are by far the best educator among the flower growers on TH-cam when it comes to learning about the actual practice of flower growing and sharing real life experiences. (Trust me, there are only so many unboxing and soil blocking videos one can watch). As far as climate goes, it's been so hot in July here recently that I now plant even my culinary basil under my tomato plants or in pots, just to be able to move the plants into the shade in late July when temps hit 102 and the plants wilt in the extreme summer heat, even with drip irrigation and intensive additional watering (3x daily). This year, after watching one of your cool flower videos, I decided to grow ranunculus-- my first crop ever. Frankly, after studying all of the TH-cam videos on the subject, I wondered how was it possible to grow ranunculus in zone 7a, given the recent tendency of cold springs with a sudden 80-degree week long interlude of intense heat? I decided to grow my ranunculus in large pots, each in a slightly different area of filtered shade. I had a fantastic crop, the envy of my gardening obsessed neighbors. I also now know the best spot for propagating next year's crop. Also, the corms sown in the deepest filtered shade have just started blooming, so it's almost like a succession planting! Lilies: Absolutely love, but so, too, do the deer. I plant a flush of Asiatic lilies at the base of my driveway, just for the deer. I raise the remainder closer to the house, where the deer are less prone to appear. Love your suggestion of succession sowing. Dahlias: This year, I removed the mulch and tightly underplanted with French marigolds and nasturtium in the hopes of alleviating pest pressure. Don't know if it will work or if the nasturtium will survive the heat, but I thought why not give it a try? Foxgloves: In my experience, Foxys -- the cut flower growers' variety of choice-- have more disease issues than the Dalmatian and Camelot series. Why are Foxy so popular? Because they are dwarf? Also, Digitalis grandiflora/Digitalis ambigua (large yellow foxglove)-- a perennial-- planted in deeper shade than the other varieties is ultimately more successful, in terms of disease resistance and spikes per plant. Like all perennials, it needs a few years to come into its own. My large yellow foxgloves-- now 3-years old-- are shaded by a gigantic boxwood (used as a trellis for mini-pumpkins). This year, they are multi-stemmed... 10 stems from a single plant. Each stem is 3-4 ft tall, flush with 2" flowers. The flowers are slightly tinier than the flowers of the purpurea varieties. No signs of disease. I don't use pesticides, and rely only on compost and organic fertilizers. Strawberry foxglove, also a perennial, an early 19th-century cross of Digitalis grandiflora and Digitalis purpurea-- also shows the same type of disease resistance at the yellow foxglove, but its spikes are slightly shorter (2-3 feet), but the plant more sun tolerant, but prefers afternoon shade. Zinnias: I will miss your $5 garden. I just can't kick the habit. So few flowers have the same color punch in the late August humidity, where everything is just covered in a thick sultry haze. I also have problems with powdery mildew, particularly after the torrential, sustained rains of last July. This year, I expanded last season's initial experiments with shorter, more mildew resistant various F1 types, e.g., uproar rose, Magellan, Zahara, and Profusion series. Beyond uproar rose, none have the length required for cut flowers, but these varieties are more tolerant of temperature shifts, e.g., cold springs to oppressive heat and humidity in 60 days, and are less prone to powdery mildew than Benary Giants and the now-in-vogue Queeny Lime series. Unfortunately, the latter, for a regular gardener tends to fade into oblivion during the haziest, most humid summer days. The Magellans grow much taller at least for me than the seed packet indicates. They have beautiful, almost perfect, flowers. Gomphrena. Grew for first time last year. I love Audray Red (magenta in color). A great performer in humid conditions! Cosmos: also stopped growing many years ago. Reseeded everywhere, kind of like Rose Cleome. A laborious mess to dig up all of the volunteers. Grew this year for first time in 8 years... starts are all for neighbors, who are all suddenly madly in love with cosmos. . Delphinium. Similar experience. Too hot and humid in my zone. They hate long periods of high evening humidity. Only successes with Canterbury Bells came by winter sowing a heavily seeded container with fresh seeds during snowy, e.g., cold, winters. Then early planted resulting seedlings at front of a 16" high raised bed located under the eaves of my house, eg, shaded from early afternoon forward. Canterbury bells hate humidity. Have not experienced similar success growing under lights, but last year's failure may be because of loss of planting bed due to AC replacement. Grew in a much sunnier location last year, and plants disappeared as humidity intensified.)
Forgot to add... Snapdragons: you made me fall in love with them again. I grew them abt 10 years ago, but they were a shorter bedding variety. They seemed so dwarfy. They also were a very dark, almost black red. Encouraged by your videos, I decided to grow two different colored chantilly snapdragons this year In retrospect, I probably should have opted for a different type, given the humidity. After reading the helpful material on Johnny's website and realizing the error of my ways, I decided best to get the chantillys out as early as possible. I also was out of light/grow space inside. I figured if the chantillys failed in the cold or collapsed later in the heat, I could always replace them with zinnias or sunflowers. For these reasons, I hardened the chantillys off very early, e.g., beginning in the second week of March when air temps were still in the high 40s and low 50s. I brought them in two nights when temps fell into low 30s. I also pinched only a few, those damaged by moving the flats in and out of house during freeze threats. As soon as no freezing nights were predicted for 2 weeks, e.g., in the first week of April. I put the snaps into the ground. The chantillys are now in full bloom, 4-feet high and are just stunning. I grew the snapdragons very close together. Two to a 2.5" diameter planting hole, each planting hole is abt 6" apart. Because I grew tomatoes in the bed the previous year, I simply reused a flora flow orange drip irrigation mat that already was in place. The mats come with perforated planting holes. I had a limited amount of bed space for the snaps, so I ended up with two snapdragons in each planting hole, e.g., abt 1.25" apart. The two plants grown almost side-by-side are now supporting each other. I'm not using support netting. I never put it in place. As I said, the snapdragons were an experiment that I thought would not succeed. Marigolds: I have grown 20-25 different varieties over the years, mainly French marigolds and tall marigolds used to further nurture the soil in a very large vegetable garden in my backyard. In terms of the tall types, none of the ones you showed in passing in your video, e.g., the Hawaiians, and some of the other tall orange types from Baker's and Johnny's were showstoppers in my neighbors' eyes. The most popular always are the exotic Marigolds, or the ones that invariably look the least like marigolds. Burpees, for instance, has a variety called Mission Giant. I stumbled on them last year while thumbing through the seed rack at the grocery store . I had so many requests from neighbors for flower cuttings from this lowly marigold. Nobody could believe it was a marigold! Too bad it only comes in yellow! Unfortunately this year, the seed was no longer available at the grocery store and was obtainable online at Burpees only quite late in the season, e.g., only after I had made my seed purchases. . Lastly, phlox. I was so disappointed by your reports of disease problems. I haven't grown phlox for years and never in the humid conditions of my present residence. Almost every cut flower grower on TH-cam, moreover, sings the praises of cherry caramel phlox while invariably experiencing enormous problems germinating the seed. I didn't have the space this year to get involved in that project, but remained curious about whether phlox would thrive in extreme humidity. To experiment, I grew instead this year from seed some very short 10" phlox-- popstars-- that I planned to use to underplant some of my herb container plantings in order to reduce weeding. The popstars were on sale and I thought why not try to grow them as a precursor to growing the taller. more space consuming cherry caramel phlox next season? All of my neighbors are in love with the popstars (an early red-and-white wild color explosion). They are already looking forward to the cherry caramel phlox and a repeat of the popstars next year! They will be so disappointed to learn of the disease pressures.
I spaced my snapdragons at about 4-5” and I did pinch and I’ve never been happier with them. And I don’t feel like I wasted space, which I can’t say about previous years with wider spacing.
This is one of your best videos. ❤ I like your thought process in terms of pest management, which is probably the least enjoyable part of gardening. Last year, I spent a lot of money on gardening products and this year I’m leaning into what is easy, so companion planting and not growing certain plants. You make a great point that every growing environment is so unique. I’m about an hour away from you and our weather is inconsistent. Some years, we don’t get any snow and other years the humidity is unbearable. But in terms of indoor growing conditions, I live in an apartment and I don’t control the heat. It is very hot which I love but I can’t grow cool flowers under lights because it is way too hot and I’m going to have to rely on friends and family to store my dahlia tubers in their garage. Lastly, I think we are different year to year. Some years, I’m going to want to do something more labor intense and require babying, and other years that is not happening. Please do follow up videos and do let us know how your garden experiments work out. Even though your Halloween bouquets didn’t sell, you did share a video of it with us so that’s not a total waste. 😊
I LOVE THIS!! Thank you so much❤ As a second year micro flower farmer as well, I value your wisdom on growing things in a very small space. This seems to be the over riding theme for me this year. Learning what both sells here for me in the PNW and also what grows well in my environment. Instead of comparing myself to other farmers and not being successful at lisianthus in particular you REALLY helped me think about that in a new way. I want to learn more about growing lilies as well. They really like our area. I didn’t know they were so valuable too. Thank you again. You’re doing such an amazing job sharing. I also had emergency surgery last summer so I know how hard it is to just keep everything going while you’re recovering. I wish you a very speedy healing. We all love and appreciate you so much💐💗🌻
Wow…so much GREAT information! And appreciate hearing differing views. Got my notebook out and took tons of notes, sat down with a tea and put on my learning hat. Thank you for sharing! 🎉 Like someone else said, if you did I book I would absolutely buy it. And yes please please do a perennial video!
That was such a comprehensive and informative video! I don't think you should feel uncomfortable at all with knowing what your competition is and selling something that they don't sell. If everyone sells the same thing then there isn't anything special or unique and then customers just seek out the cheapest one they can find. I know how much work you do on your garden and as you said your time is also very valuable has to be taken into account for the cost of what you sell. That is just smart business practices too to also take account of what is just too time and energy consuming and expensive and if they are worth growing. I think you've done a good job of realizing this and narrowing down what grows well in your area, is profitable and sets you aside from the others. Thanks again for your information.
You have knocked it out of the park! With passion, experience, and knowledge you know your plants like nobodies business. A room with cut flowers brings an incomparable ambience of its very own - bravo to you and your garden!
What an amazing comprehensive video! I have no intention of growing flowers to sell, it is purely for personal joy. Yet I watched the whole video. You always give out a lot of valuable information, Danielle. And that's why I'm subscribed to you. I totally agree with you about insect pressure and rain issues. When you are trying to make profit, do what works for you and what sells. There is nothing wrong with sharing that. My lilies have a red beetle on them btw, they showed up this year.😮 Idk what they are going to do with the blooms, but they've been eating the lower leaves.
I generally don't comment on videos, but I have to say that I love your videos and your whole positive, kind, knowledgeable, and straight to the point presentation! I found this video so helpful; wonderful job! As others have said, I also would love to hear your thoughts on perennials for cut flowers, as well as what season they are blooming in. Thank you for all the time you put into sharing all of your experience and wisdom!
Danielle….although I garden in zone 5, this video and the information you shared is so helpful. I grow cut flowers not only for myself, but mostly to share with family, neighbors and friends. I worked in senior care for over 20 years ( recently retired) and have thoroughly enjoyed gifting flowers to residents. They bring so much joy and brighten their day. I love watching your videos! You are a gifted teacher. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. 🌸….the one thing I struggle with is having interesting greenery for my arrangements. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you for this video Danielle! I really appreciate all of your knowledge and experience. I am north of you in zone 5b/6a and this is my first official year of selling cut flowers at a farm stand. I was really hesitant to delve into this world of cut flowers but with the help of your videos I have learned so much and it gave me courage to try. I truly thank you. Btw I would love for you to make a video about the perennials and shrubs that you grow too!
Such a great video! And though I don’t share your climate (I’m Zone 5b), your expertise on being flexible and learning from each season is relevant anywhere. And, you’re just super great to listen to. :0)
Absolutely LOVED this video. More like this please. I prefer these informal, "off the top of your head" videos!! Thank you. I watched, took notes and plan to watch again.
This was a fantastic primer not only on growing and harvesting flowers that tolerate high ambient temperatures (post-harvest), but also on the business basics of why you build your bouquets with the flowers you’ve chosen to grow (ease of growing, pest resistance, heat tolerance, customer feedback, elevated floral aesthetic, unique flowers vs local competition, value for effort, etc.). I’m looking forward to the perennial version of this video. Keep up the excellent work.
So much great information,Danielle. You are an excellent instructor. I am a home gardener, but have been striving to grow more for my own bouquets. Your garden is also so visually interesting, and gorgeous. I move from a warm dry Southern California garden, to a midwest, Illinois garden, and have so much to learn, and you have helped so much. So far the big critters are more of a problem than anything. Squirrels always take down any sunflowers. We also have bunnies and occasiona l cisits from a groundhog.
So very helpful and packed with info. I had watched it twice and am sure i will go back and watch again at some point. I didn’t grow zinnias last year either because they always get powdery mildew so early. I felt so guilty because everyone says they are so easy and abundant, but i just did not enjoy dealing with it. Your video and insights made me feel so much better about cutting things out of the growing lineup. Thank you!!
Ahh your so sweet! You should never be worried or fear about sharing your knowledge. I have learned SO MUCH from you over the years. You speak from your heart and that's what has kept me watching from day one.
I love and a fan of your channel for 2years now! I love your content, generosity, sincerely, and honesty and all the listeners can feel it. Please don’t be scared of what people will think or comments. I love how you be yourself and really appreciate you share all the knowledge. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart ❤❤❤
I absolutely, no doubt about it, enjoyed this video! Despite living in western Canada, in a dry, hot summer locale, there is so much information to glean from your flower growing experience! I love your creative thoughts on your marketing edge. An excellent approach. Even though I only grow flowers for the love of it, who knows maybe you will inspire me to sell flowers too! . I would most welcome another edition covering more perennial flowers. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the shoutout! Happy to find you and excited to follow! This year I’m planting my last succession by the end of June. I did July last year, but felt like I missed a couple weeks of sales to florists. So we will see if two weeks earlier makes a difference or not.
Best video ever! My climate is very different (cool, coastal, Mediterranean), but you speaking of your real life experience was still so much more valuable than any generalized info from a book. Thank you! I cannot wait for your video on perennials.
Hi Danielle! What and informative video. I have learned so much from this video. Thank you for sharing your information on all of these flowers. So until next time God Bless you and your family and have a Blessed day and stay safe my dear and Special Friend.
This video was one of my favorites!! Soooo helpful. Super informative. I hope you do more like this! Also, kinda jealous you don't have the red lily beetle. How is thar even possible. They are a total menace.
Hi Danniel, you explain things so well, I know you love lilies. I accidentally discovered last last year that you root from cuttings. This might save you time and money for succession planting. ❤
Oh my goodness.. the knowledge you have and your memory are impeccable. You are a very good learner and a great teacher. Thank you for sharing the information.
Yes to the perennial video!! This was soooo valuable. I am similar climate to you. I am not a seller- just a home gardener who appreciates info on pests and your opinions- I have similar tastes as you too! I really appreciated the long video and I enjoy listening to you. Even though the video is long you are full of information and I think you get right to the point and you’re a great speaker Danielle. Because of you, my garden has evolved tremendously… This year I added Oriental Moon trumpet lilies at your suggestion and I’m waiting on the edge of my seat to see how they come out… I added a few other lilies… So many other things that you recommended… The blue Larkspur oh my goodness the blue Larkspur that’s my new favorite you should see it this year it’s stunning!! I’m the same as you with the delphinium… I grow it ornamentally and just for myself but once it gets hot it’s a real diva. I have ammi majus this year but I’m gonna go with orlaya next year at your suggestion and for the reasons you suggested… Thank you so much! I really appreciated you spending this time with us and teaching us… You’re almost to 100,000 I can’t wait for you to hit 100,000… You deserve it and MORE!
I have been watching your videos for two years now, and you are a familiar and trusted source of information for this new flower farmer. I know if I have a question about how to grow or harvest a flower, you will have a video with clear instructions on how to do it. Thank you so much!
Loved this video. Enjoyed hearing your experience over the years. I also have the cucumber beetle on my amaranth leaves. Based on some limited observation, I’ve found that if I wait until July to sow it, the bugs are gone and it looks a lot better.
I live in San Diego we do not have humidity but everything you have said is true here too. Thank you so much for your in-depth video. Please continue to do more like this.
Thank you for this. I may not be growing fir cut, but living close to your area, I appreciate the info on flowers that grow well in a hot, humid, wet area with lots if the same pests and diseases.
You always give the most detailed & helpful advice. Obviously, everyone's situation/climate is different & must be taken into account, but certainly great detail in this video. Thankyou. I'm a mostly home gardener in a cool climate in Australia so different situation to yours. I'm also not growing Ammi majus again. I found the flower heads too big & they dropped pollen everywhere. I must be a bit odd but l really dislike the smell of feverfew, while all the cut flower growers seem to use it lots. I grew dill for the first time this year. Wouldn't use fresh (the smell 😂!) but l love it dried. Very architectural. Catmint is very stinky too when cut. Love it in the garden. I think planting close together is a good idea & l will try for Saponaria, which l found gorgeous but very floppy. You mentioned not pinching Snapdragons. I would like to know of your experience with pinching or not pinching.
I’m a home gardener with the same climate as you. This information is invaluable. Thank you for sharing your honest experiences. I’ve not grown everything you mentioned, but I’ve experienced a lot of the same, such as mildew on my zinnias and success with snapdragons. This will be so helpful in planning for next year!
@@Sweetlady1916 I haven’t been able to fix the zinnia mildew issue. Sorry if I worded my comment in a misleading way. I don’t grow many zinnias anymore. I grew more snapdragons now.
Amazing information! I have no plans for selling flowers, but I still want excellent flowers in my yard. Like you, I’ve learned through trial and error throughput my 40-ish years of gardening. I’m at the stage now that I want my style, but I also expect excellence from my hard work. You’ve helped greatly, because your experience helps keep me motivated, but also reigns me In from buying frivolously before I study a particular flower. Great reminders given! Thank you for sharing the books too. May God continue to bless you with your dreams!
I love this kind of video. It's very informative. I'm not a flower farmer, but just as a home gardner. This helps me understand all these flowers better. Great job!
Here is a thought about earwigs: Plant Asian stir-fry mix seed next to your dahlias or anything you want to protect from earwigs. They act as bait/house plants for earwig, just like dill for swallowtail butterflies caterpillars. I am talking about Pak choy, Bok Choy, mini chinese cabbages, but not the usual salad mix lettuces we see in grocery stores. The difference is that the Asian greens tend to have sweeter and more juicy stems when compared to domestic salad mix, so the earwigs love it the most. I never grew dahlias so this is just a hypothesis you can test. But whenever I grow them in ground, I cannot get earwig to go anywhere else. You will find earwigs pooling at the base of the plant between their layers of stems. Asian greens also grows really well in humid conditions, so they should produce enough leaves for earwig to hide in/eat in your garden. Here are some of the Asian greens I grew and earwigs loved them: Baker Creek Salad Blend Siamese Dragon Stir-Fry mix. Parkseed 5215, PakChoi hybrid (Joi Choi), and Johnny's 2251.11 Tokyo Bekana. I could not harvest for meals at all - they are all eaten from the base of the stem to the leaves. I hope it helps!
You have clearly learned and documented what works well for you. And know your market and the niche you fill in that market. Wonderful! As I get older I want plants that give me more bang for my buck. We are removing any plants that existed when we bought our home and replacing with native or native adjacent plants and plants that provide flowers that return each year. Peonies, roses, daffodils, hydrangea, clematis, hostas, rudbeckia, yarrow, gladiolus, lavender, butterfly weed, liatris. In our woods, we have removed invasive honeysuckle and replaced with native shrubs and plants.
Great video as always…so informative. Looking forward to the same about perennials… Thank you oh so much Danielle for sharing your beautiful garden and for the motivation and inspiration you give me. My garden and world is all the better for having you, your videos, information, beauty and joy in it ☺️💚💚💚
Have you seen Florets new zinnias? Zinnias are making a comeback! So many more elegant colors out there now, they’re so easy to grow too. A definite favorite in my area
This video is phenomenal! I so appreciate your heartfelt and sincere presentation about your struggles and how you learn from them and move forward…I am trying to take all my mistakes in stride and be patient and not get so frustrated. I truly hate to ask as you are so generous with your time and knowledge, but I know NOTHING about conditioning cut flowers and was shocked to hear you mention using boiling water! Thanks for sharing your insight.
I mean this in a good way.... every time I see you set up the stand and how beautiful your bouquets are, and the premium flowers that are in them, I just cringed at the low $20 price tag. Now I understand when you say others are selling very cheap all around you. Those bouquets would easily make a $40 CSA in my area, although there is a lot of competition and new people coming in and out of the market that only do a so-so job at it. I agree on the marigolds. I actually left a CSA bc she made bouquets that focused on huge marigolds and to me, they are basically weeds bc I don't like the smell or the look particularly, even the large ones that are bred for cutting. Your stuff is beautiful and you put so much effort in that I just wish you were in an area where you could get more return for it. Thank you for all the great content, I've learned so much from you in the past few years and pass on your links when people ask questions.
This is so helpful. I learn so much from your videos. Even though I live in hot dry sunny central California I love the idea of seeing what works for me and what I enjoy working with. Before watching your videos I felt like I was doing something wrong if I didn’t follow the norm. And I love learning about growing cut flowers. When I retired I started growing cut flowers for my enjoyment and to give away to neighbors, family, friends. Thanks for sharing this information.
What an excellent video Danielle! Thank you so much for being brave and deciding to go ahead and do this video. You are an incredible source of practical knowledge and experience and I learn so much practical stuff from you! Thank you once again for being so generous with your knowledge and experience. Cant wait for your next video on perennials.
Thank you so much for all this information about heat tolerant flowers and foliage in bouquets. Your experience is invaluable as you learn to deal with your garden. Although I could not help thinking of a different way to sell your flowers and have all the ones you want to sell. I envisioned your having a drive that cut across the corner to the other street surrounded by your beautiful landscaped garden. By moving the stand back behind the drive and closer to the garage you could have cooling, heating, and lighting. You could get a garden shed, insulate it and make it look like it is part of the garden or a replica of your house. You could use it like "You Can't Eat the Grass" does. The ring doorbell in there stand allows them to monitor the inside when it needs bouquets and security. If I were a customer I would enjoy the convenience of the drive and look forward to seeing your garden as I walked into the stand. Maybe a fairy garden near it where a child could look forward to getting a free single flower inside. Lots of items could be keep inside even dried flowers and craft items. It would be an all season stand. In the winter months when it gets dark early you could have fairy lighting and holiday lights in the evening. Lots of possibilities. Also if I could be your customer, I would love it if you had a space for floral workshops and tours of your landscaped garden. I wish you the best in all that you do with your garden. There are so many possibilities out there for you.
I'm slowly working my way through your videos, and learn a lot with each one. Thanks for all the interesting and valuable information! The border in back of you is really lovely, so I'm hoping you've touched on it in one of your videos.
🥰 Love this video, I love how long this was, please do more. I have learned so much and i would love to have a flower garden as your. Please, put out a book on all your experiences , this has been soo helpful! Thank you!
So much useful information, and I love hearing the birds in the background.
I'm just a gardener, in the same climate you're in. I do cut flowers for myself, and I take some to my post office, just 2 doors up. This was so informative even for us everyday gardeners. Thank you for taking the time to make this video, I've saved to it's own folder on here. Also see you're so very close to that YT button 100K.
I have done the same thing; saved this video!
I agree. Just an average gardener looking for great tips in my climate. Would welcome more content like this. Love your videos. Thanks!!
@@susanharper7113
I agree, she really puts out the best info on pretty much everything.
@@MarigoldsintheGarden
I love the save button 😊
This was incredible! As usual! Yes, PLEASE do a video about you perennial flowers that are good for cutting. Thank you so much for all you share. You have helped me so much, and inspired me even more.
Danielle, you should write a book! Your advice about zones is so sage, and perhaps those zones need to be redefined. As you point out, there are microclimates everywhere (even in the same yard). And although I grow simply for pleasure and not for profit, as I age I also want more bang for my buck and have really drifted away from annuals to perennials and flowering shrubs and deciduous shrubs with interesting foliage. Very useful information for everyone 💚
I meant evergreen shrubs 😘
Would love to see you do a deep dive video just on Lilies...different types, planting, sourcing bulbs, harvest and post harvest care. I love Lilies but for some reason they intimidate me.
Yes. I’ve never been a Lily fan in the past, but now that I see them in such beautiful color they are quickly growing on me.
I don't think you should be intimidated by lilies. They are easy to grow. Just bung some in & see.
I would love this too. I have never heard of succession planting lilies and would love to learn more, lots more! This video was so helpful. Thank you for being brave and going for it!
Although I am not a flower farmer, I find this information so helpful in choosing which flowers to grow for my own enjoyment.
Wow! This is so incredibly helpful! I feel like you’ve given those of us in similar climates the “ok” to or not to grow certain things. Thank you so much for this invaluable insight! 💚
This is great information. I've seen on utube that young flower farmers are struggling mainly due to climate. They need all the help they can get. Also this really helps me in my quest to develop a beautiful flower garden organically. Many thanks for sharing.
Right?!? I think sometimes we (cut Flower farmers/growers) especially myself, since I'm also a content creator, feel obligated to grow certain things that are very popular in the cut flower world. But sometimes, deep down, I know I shouldn't, because it's either too prone to pests, to labor intensive to get good, long, stems, or some of the other issues Danielle talks about in this video, or I just plain don't like it, & I feel like videos like this help me to realize- thats OK!!!
Your garden is so beautiful that I am a bit relieved to know you do actually have pest issues like I do. Japanese beetles decimated my roses and attacked my dahlias earlier in the season. Now that the cooler weather is here, and the beetles are gone, both roses and dahlias are doing well. Your comment about later planting is worth trying. Thank you for all the great tips!
Truly amazing video, such a font of knowledge! When are you writing a book?! 😉
Literally just posted asking the same! I need a book so badly! Growing based on climate vs zone 😍
Extremely valuable information. I love this kind of content that is hard to find in books, don’t ever worry about telling it like it is. Ignore negative comments on TH-cam, it’s mostly teenagers hiding behind a screen, lol
I could not hit the "LIKE" button fast enough! Thank you for this video and being a wonderful teacher!
I have been looking for a video just like this one!! Don't second guess yourself your videos are invaluable to me
This is my favorite kind of video! I always love to know your experience with different flowers and what works and doesn’t work for you.
❤
Danielle, would you do a video on bugs ( with pictures of them)? I'm just not sure what I'm looking at. It would be so helpful.
Great idea! I would love to do that!
APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE!!! Best information ever!!! So relevant, easy to understand, interesting and REAL!!! Especially for those of us who are not wanting to be flower farmers. Please do more like this! PRICELESS!!! I will be re-watching and creating a new plan for next year with a different mindset...one that makes so much more sense to me. 😊😊😊
Hello from the North Island of New Zealand. Thank you so much for making this video. You are a wealth of knowledge. I have been watching your videos for 2 years and have learnt alot from you. I grow flowers specifically for drying. I have been making flower wreaths, but next year I'm going to focus on dried bouquets. I always sit down with a notebook when I watch your videos to write down everything I learn. Thank you so much!
I found this fascinating, and I’m not a cut flower grower.
I'm looking for the OMG LOVE button to click for this video! Love hearing you share your experiences. I'd like to preorder my copy of your first book....autographed please. :) Where would you suggest purchasing lilies? You've talked me into trying them. Another video like this style about perennials would be FAB! The length doesn't bother me at all. I just make myself an extra large cup of tea to sip while I enjoy listening to a friend talk about her garden.
Yes do another on Perennial flowers. This was fascinating
I know you posted this video months ago, but I want you to know that people are still viewing it and finding it INCREDIBLY helpful as we prepare for the upcoming season. You're amazing. I love learning from you! Keep up the great work!
I LOVE this video. Being realistic and sharing your experience isn’t negative, it’s necessary! Thanks so much.
I love this video, not only for the detailed information that you share but for your unique and inspiring perspective. Thank you! More, please!
I just learned so much!! Thank you, Danielle!! You are a thoughtful, thorough, and very engaging educator, and I love your videos. Even when you’re “just talking” you hold an armload of flowers or sit in a beautiful spot-the loveliness doesn’t go unnoticed. 💗
I love your longer videos. Your so pleasant to listen to and although I don’t grow for cut flowers I still learn so much and can even dream of how I could have a prettier garden. I look forward to watching your videos.
Your videos always help “somebody”. I’d venture to say they help many, including myself. Thank you!!
Thank you for taking the time to share your heart and soul with us. Your honesty is absolutely refreshing and I love your down to earth approach to growing, Such an inspiration!
I grow dahlias for me here in Jarrettsville, MD. I totally agree with the pest issues. My biggest pests are the leafhoppers by far, but just yesterday I spotted my first Japanese beetle, eating one of my earliest dahlia blooms! I do use Take Down and diatomaceous earth. I lost my Labyrinth last summer because I went away for 3 weeks and the pest damage was too great. For me, the dahlia season starts in June for a few varieties, but generally lasts from July to mid November. I leave them 6 inches underground with pine straw and cloche covering, and they're fine overwinter here in 7a. They get an early start, too, and especially this year with the warm winter we had.
Not to add to your already long list of things to do, I think the knowledge you are sharing in this video, and thru all of your others, is very much needed in the publishing world... We need book from you!! The advice you share, from your unique growing experience, is needed by so many of us that are trying to do the same. Unfortunately, all of the other books I refer to have so much irrelevant information and are not specific to just this scenario. And we are out here - struggling, looking for straight forward, proven thru practice, experience and advice to help at least guide us. From suggested planting times and types, to conditioning and heat tolerance in bouquet form, you are wealth of knowledge and I watch everything you put in video form. I constantly save your videos for future reference and do refer back to them often. I would love a book that I could just pick up, and flip to that relevant information/advice I am seeking 😍
Edited to add: Yes , to the importance of referring to climate vs zone!! As I am in that Southern area you refer to, 8b/9 in SW Georgia, and I find your advice more applicable that any other content I watch. Because we are so similar in climate challenges!! Thank you for not just focusing on Zone!
This is one of the best, most helpful, true cut flower videos ever. You are a great teacher and artist.
Finally, a video touching on what also amounts to sustainability! Thanks so much for having the courage to speak about your climatic realities and the ways that your particular market pressures require you to think creatively/differently than your flower selling neighbors. I loved the discussion of forsythia, ninebark, and Baptisia. I only wish more folks would be as brave! We don't all live in the Skagit Valley! We can't all successfully grow the same flowers!
This is my first year watching cut flower growers' videos on TH-cam. I'm not a cut flower grower. However, I have grown hundreds of different varieties of flowers and veggies from seed over the past 15 years. I am essentially an ordinary person, who just started reading books and learned to grow from seed. I also live in a hot, super humid climate (zone 7a, northern DC burbs). For the past 3 years, I have experimented with more climate appropriate flower varieties without having to entirely embrace the native-only movement.
As I watched hundreds of TH-cam videos from cut flower growers this past winter, I was disappointed by the homogeneity. No matter where they live-- everyone seemed to take inspiration from the same three individuals and consequently grow the exact same flowers and often even the very same varieties. As I watched the videos, I kept wondering is the market really the same everywhere? Or, perhaps these are the only varieties Johnny's, Ball, Florets, and Farmer Bailey sell? Do any cut flower growers actually think about which flowers might be more appropriate to their specific climate? The answer seems to be, no. If problems arise, just add shade cloth! This near uniformity of flower choices also seems painfully out-of-step with the sustainability and native movement that has overtaken regular flower gardening.
I also love experimenting and thus love your videos for this reason too. As you've mentioned more than once: among the great challenges and rewards of gardening is constantly learning something new. I'm always learning from the experiences that you share with viewers. Have more confidence! You are by far the best educator among the flower growers on TH-cam when it comes to learning about the actual practice of flower growing and sharing real life experiences. (Trust me, there are only so many unboxing and soil blocking videos one can watch).
As far as climate goes, it's been so hot in July here recently that I now plant even my culinary basil under my tomato plants or in pots, just to be able to move the plants into the shade in late July when temps hit 102 and the plants wilt in the extreme summer heat, even with drip irrigation and intensive additional watering (3x daily).
This year, after watching one of your cool flower videos, I decided to grow ranunculus-- my first crop ever. Frankly, after studying all of the TH-cam videos on the subject, I wondered how was it possible to grow ranunculus in zone 7a, given the recent tendency of cold springs with a sudden 80-degree week long interlude of intense heat? I decided to grow my ranunculus in large pots, each in a slightly different area of filtered shade. I had a fantastic crop, the envy of my gardening obsessed neighbors. I also now know the best spot for propagating next year's crop. Also, the corms sown in the deepest filtered shade have just started blooming, so it's almost like a succession planting!
Lilies: Absolutely love, but so, too, do the deer. I plant a flush of Asiatic lilies at the base of my driveway, just for the deer. I raise the remainder closer to the house, where the deer are less prone to appear. Love your suggestion of succession sowing.
Dahlias: This year, I removed the mulch and tightly underplanted with French marigolds and nasturtium in the hopes of alleviating pest pressure. Don't know if it will work or if the nasturtium will survive the heat, but I thought why not give it a try?
Foxgloves: In my experience, Foxys -- the cut flower growers' variety of choice-- have more disease issues than the Dalmatian and Camelot series. Why are Foxy so popular? Because they are dwarf? Also, Digitalis grandiflora/Digitalis ambigua (large yellow foxglove)-- a perennial-- planted in deeper shade than the other varieties is ultimately more successful, in terms of disease resistance and spikes per plant. Like all perennials, it needs a few years to come into its own. My large yellow foxgloves-- now 3-years old-- are shaded by a gigantic boxwood (used as a trellis for mini-pumpkins). This year, they are multi-stemmed... 10 stems from a single plant. Each stem is 3-4 ft tall, flush with 2" flowers. The flowers are slightly tinier than the flowers of the purpurea varieties. No signs of disease. I don't use pesticides, and rely only on compost and organic fertilizers. Strawberry foxglove, also a perennial, an early 19th-century cross of Digitalis grandiflora and Digitalis purpurea-- also shows the same type of disease resistance at the yellow foxglove, but its spikes are slightly shorter (2-3 feet), but the plant more sun tolerant, but prefers afternoon shade.
Zinnias: I will miss your $5 garden. I just can't kick the habit. So few flowers have the same color punch in the late August humidity, where everything is just covered in a thick sultry haze. I also have problems with powdery mildew, particularly after the torrential, sustained rains of last July. This year, I expanded last season's initial experiments with shorter, more mildew resistant various F1 types, e.g., uproar rose, Magellan, Zahara, and Profusion series. Beyond uproar rose, none have the length required for cut flowers, but these varieties are more tolerant of temperature shifts, e.g., cold springs to oppressive heat and humidity in 60 days, and are less prone to powdery mildew than Benary Giants and the now-in-vogue Queeny Lime series. Unfortunately, the latter, for a regular gardener tends to fade into oblivion during the haziest, most humid summer days. The Magellans grow much taller at least for me than the seed packet indicates. They have beautiful, almost perfect, flowers.
Gomphrena. Grew for first time last year. I love Audray Red (magenta in color). A great performer in humid conditions!
Cosmos: also stopped growing many years ago. Reseeded everywhere, kind of like Rose Cleome. A laborious mess to dig up all of the volunteers. Grew this year for first time in 8 years... starts are all for neighbors, who are all suddenly madly in love with cosmos. .
Delphinium. Similar experience. Too hot and humid in my zone. They hate long periods of high evening humidity.
Only successes with Canterbury Bells came by winter sowing a heavily seeded container with fresh seeds during snowy, e.g., cold, winters. Then early planted resulting seedlings at front of a 16" high raised bed located under the eaves of my house, eg, shaded from early afternoon forward. Canterbury bells hate humidity. Have not experienced similar success growing under lights, but last year's failure may be because of loss of planting bed due to AC replacement. Grew in a much sunnier location last year, and plants disappeared as humidity intensified.)
Forgot to add... Snapdragons: you made me fall in love with them again. I grew them abt 10 years ago, but they were a shorter bedding variety. They seemed so dwarfy. They also were a very dark, almost black red. Encouraged by your videos, I decided to grow two different colored chantilly snapdragons this year In retrospect, I probably should have opted for a different type, given the humidity. After reading the helpful material on Johnny's website and realizing the error of my ways, I decided best to get the chantillys out as early as possible. I also was out of light/grow space inside. I figured if the chantillys failed in the cold or collapsed later in the heat, I could always replace them with zinnias or sunflowers. For these reasons, I hardened the chantillys off very early, e.g., beginning in the second week of March when air temps were still in the high 40s and low 50s. I brought them in two nights when temps fell into low 30s. I also pinched only a few, those damaged by moving the flats in and out of house during freeze threats. As soon as no freezing nights were predicted for 2 weeks, e.g., in the first week of April. I put the snaps into the ground. The chantillys are now in full bloom, 4-feet high and are just stunning.
I grew the snapdragons very close together. Two to a 2.5" diameter planting hole, each planting hole is abt 6" apart. Because I grew tomatoes in the bed the previous year, I simply reused a flora flow orange drip irrigation mat that already was in place. The mats come with perforated planting holes. I had a limited amount of bed space for the snaps, so I ended up with two snapdragons in each planting hole, e.g., abt 1.25" apart. The two plants grown almost side-by-side are now supporting each other. I'm not using support netting. I never put it in place. As I said, the snapdragons were an experiment that I thought would not succeed.
Marigolds: I have grown 20-25 different varieties over the years, mainly French marigolds and tall marigolds used to further nurture the soil in a very large vegetable garden in my backyard. In terms of the tall types, none of the ones you showed in passing in your video, e.g., the Hawaiians, and some of the other tall orange types from Baker's and Johnny's were showstoppers in my neighbors' eyes. The most popular always are the exotic Marigolds, or the ones that invariably look the least like marigolds. Burpees, for instance, has a variety called Mission Giant. I stumbled on them last year while thumbing through the seed rack at the grocery store . I had so many requests from neighbors for flower cuttings from this lowly marigold. Nobody could believe it was a marigold! Too bad it only comes in yellow! Unfortunately this year, the seed was no longer available at the grocery store and was obtainable online at Burpees only quite late in the season, e.g., only after I had made my seed purchases. .
Lastly, phlox. I was so disappointed by your reports of disease problems. I haven't grown phlox for years and never in the humid conditions of my present residence. Almost every cut flower grower on TH-cam, moreover, sings the praises of cherry caramel phlox while invariably experiencing enormous problems germinating the seed. I didn't have the space this year to get involved in that project, but remained curious about whether phlox would thrive in extreme humidity. To experiment, I grew instead this year from seed some very short 10" phlox-- popstars-- that I planned to use to underplant some of my herb container plantings in order to reduce weeding. The popstars were on sale and I thought why not try to grow them as a precursor to growing the taller. more space consuming cherry caramel phlox next season? All of my neighbors are in love with the popstars (an early red-and-white wild color explosion). They are already looking forward to the cherry caramel phlox and a repeat of the popstars next year! They will be so disappointed to learn of the disease pressures.
So much great advice! Thank you for bringing up deer! I will give your companion planting with dahlias a try!
These are my favorite type of videos! Please do one on perennials 💚
An hour long video with one of my Favorite TH-camrs talking about cut flowers. I’ve never clicked so fast! Thank you!
I spaced my snapdragons at about 4-5” and I did pinch and I’ve never been happier with them. And I don’t feel like I wasted space, which I can’t say about previous years with wider spacing.
I found a head of Sweet William that broke. It sat on my counter for several days and still looked perfect. No water. Nothing. It’s bulletproof.
This is one of your best videos. ❤ I like your thought process in terms of pest management, which is probably the least enjoyable part of gardening. Last year, I spent a lot of money on gardening products and this year I’m leaning into what is easy, so companion planting and not growing certain plants. You make a great point that every growing environment is so unique. I’m about an hour away from you and our weather is inconsistent. Some years, we don’t get any snow and other years the humidity is unbearable. But in terms of indoor growing conditions, I live in an apartment and I don’t control the heat. It is very hot which I love but I can’t grow cool flowers under lights because it is way too hot and I’m going to have to rely on friends and family to store my dahlia tubers in their garage. Lastly, I think we are different year to year. Some years, I’m going to want to do something more labor intense and require babying, and other years that is not happening. Please do follow up videos and do let us know how your garden experiments work out. Even though your Halloween bouquets didn’t sell, you did share a video of it with us so that’s not a total waste. 😊
I LOVE THIS!! Thank you so much❤
As a second year micro flower farmer as well, I value your wisdom on growing things in a very small space. This seems to be the over riding theme for me this year. Learning what both sells here for me in the PNW and also what grows well in my environment. Instead of comparing myself to other farmers and not being successful at lisianthus in particular you REALLY helped me think about that in a new way. I want to learn more about growing lilies as well. They really like our area. I didn’t know they were so valuable too. Thank you again. You’re doing such an amazing job sharing.
I also had emergency surgery last summer so I know how hard it is to just keep everything going while you’re recovering. I wish you a very speedy healing. We all love and appreciate you so much💐💗🌻
What an excellent informative video. I’m glad you listened to your heart and posted this for us!
Wow…so much GREAT information! And appreciate hearing differing views. Got my notebook out and took tons of notes, sat down with a tea and put on my learning hat. Thank you for sharing! 🎉 Like someone else said, if you did I book I would absolutely buy it. And yes please please do a perennial video!
Please, don't be too anxious about explaining your choices, normal people will always understand. Your garden looks amazing 😍
That was such a comprehensive and informative video! I don't think you should feel uncomfortable at all with knowing what your competition is and selling something that they don't sell. If everyone sells the same thing then there isn't anything special or unique and then customers just seek out the cheapest one they can find. I know how much work you do on your garden and as you said your time is also very valuable has to be taken into account for the cost of what you sell. That is just smart business practices too to also take account of what is just too time and energy consuming and expensive and if they are worth growing. I think you've done a good job of realizing this and narrowing down what grows well in your area, is profitable and sets you aside from the others. Thanks again for your information.
You have knocked it out of the park! With passion, experience, and knowledge you know your plants like nobodies business. A room with cut flowers brings an incomparable ambience of its very own - bravo to you and your garden!
What an amazing comprehensive video! I have no intention of growing flowers to sell, it is purely for personal joy. Yet I watched the whole video. You always give out a lot of valuable information, Danielle. And that's why I'm subscribed to you. I totally agree with you about insect pressure and rain issues. When you are trying to make profit, do what works for you and what sells. There is nothing wrong with sharing that.
My lilies have a red beetle on them btw, they showed up this year.😮 Idk what they are going to do with the blooms, but they've been eating the lower leaves.
I generally don't comment on videos, but I have to say that I love your videos and your whole positive, kind, knowledgeable, and straight to the point presentation! I found this video so helpful; wonderful job! As others have said, I also would love to hear your thoughts on perennials for cut flowers, as well as what season they are blooming in. Thank you for all the time you put into sharing all of your experience and wisdom!
Danielle….although I garden in zone 5, this video and the information you shared is so helpful. I grow cut flowers not only for myself, but mostly to share with family, neighbors and friends. I worked in senior care for over 20 years ( recently retired) and have thoroughly enjoyed gifting flowers to residents. They bring so much joy and brighten their day. I love watching your videos! You are a gifted teacher. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. 🌸….the one thing I struggle with is having interesting greenery for my arrangements. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Love this format, your honest opinion/experience and your generosity. Thank you!
Wow, this video is a treasure trove of information for flower enthusiasts! 😍
Thank you for this video Danielle! I really appreciate all of your knowledge and experience. I am north of you in zone 5b/6a and this is my first official year of selling cut flowers at a farm stand. I was really hesitant to delve into this world of cut flowers but with the help of your videos I have learned so much and it gave me courage to try. I truly thank you. Btw I would love for you to make a video about the perennials and shrubs that you grow too!
Yes, that would be really interesting to me, too. 😊
Such a great video! And though I don’t share your climate (I’m Zone 5b), your expertise on being flexible and learning from each season is relevant anywhere. And, you’re just super great to listen to. :0)
Absolutely LOVED this video. More like this please. I prefer these informal, "off the top of your head" videos!! Thank you. I watched, took notes and plan to watch again.
This video is invaluable! I would love to see a video on perennial cut flowers. Thank you so much!
This was a fantastic primer not only on growing and harvesting flowers that tolerate high ambient temperatures (post-harvest), but also on the business basics of why you build your bouquets with the flowers you’ve chosen to grow (ease of growing, pest resistance, heat tolerance, customer feedback, elevated floral aesthetic, unique flowers vs local competition, value for effort, etc.). I’m looking forward to the perennial version of this video. Keep up the excellent work.
I want to watch this now but i got to go to bed, will watch with coffee in the morning 🇦🇺
Love this! I learn so much! Please do a walkthrough for foliage additions for arrangements. Thanks!
Loved this! Yes, please do more.
So much great information,Danielle. You are an excellent instructor. I am a home gardener, but have been striving to grow more for my own bouquets. Your garden is also so visually interesting, and gorgeous. I move from a warm dry Southern California garden, to a midwest, Illinois garden, and have so much to learn, and you have helped so much. So far the big critters are more of a problem than anything. Squirrels always take down any sunflowers. We also have bunnies and occasiona l cisits from a groundhog.
So very helpful and packed with info. I had watched it twice and am sure i will go back and watch again at some point. I didn’t grow zinnias last year either because they always get powdery mildew so early. I felt so guilty because everyone says they are so easy and abundant, but i just did not enjoy dealing with it. Your video and insights made me feel so much better about cutting things out of the growing lineup. Thank you!!
Ahh your so sweet! You should never be worried or fear about sharing your knowledge. I have learned SO MUCH from you over the years. You speak from your heart and that's what has kept me watching from day one.
I love and a fan of your channel for 2years now! I love your content, generosity, sincerely, and honesty and all the listeners can feel it. Please don’t be scared of what people will think or comments. I love how you be yourself and really appreciate you share all the knowledge. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart ❤❤❤
I always enjoy your videos they give great real life perspective. thank you for sharing your passion with us. Your gardens are inspiring and beautiful
So helpful! Thank you. And Grace😂😂😂. I was waiting for her to climb in your lap.
This video is excellent. For my purposes, it is so much more useful than garden walks and arranging bouquets. Keep it up for it is much appreciated
I absolutely, no doubt about it, enjoyed this video! Despite living in western Canada, in a dry, hot summer locale, there is so much information to glean from your flower growing experience! I love your creative thoughts on your marketing edge. An excellent approach. Even though I only grow flowers for the love of it, who knows maybe you will inspire me to sell flowers too! . I would most welcome another edition covering more perennial flowers. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the shoutout! Happy to find you and excited to follow! This year I’m planting my last succession by the end of June. I did July last year, but felt like I missed a couple weeks of sales to florists. So we will see if two weeks earlier makes a difference or not.
Thanks so much for the wonderful information! I will follow your advice!
Sorry to hear you were so nervous! I think it’s clear that you’ve had good intentions! I love your videos. I’ve been watching for a few years.
Best video ever! My climate is very different (cool, coastal, Mediterranean), but you speaking of your real life experience was still so much more valuable than any generalized info from a book. Thank you! I cannot wait for your video on perennials.
Hi Danielle! What and informative video. I have learned so much from this video. Thank you for sharing your information on all of these flowers. So until next time God Bless you and your family and have a Blessed day and stay safe my dear and Special Friend.
I really enjoyed the info. I’m just a home gardener not a cut flower gardener and I’m in zone 8a. In fact I enjoy all your videos.
This video was one of my favorites!! Soooo helpful. Super informative. I hope you do more like this!
Also, kinda jealous you don't have the red lily beetle. How is thar even possible. They are a total menace.
Hi Danniel, you explain things so well, I know you love lilies. I accidentally discovered last last year that you root from cuttings. This might save you time and money for succession planting. ❤
Oh my goodness.. the knowledge you have and your memory are impeccable. You are a very good learner and a great teacher. Thank you for sharing the information.
Yes to the perennial video!! This was soooo valuable. I am similar climate to you. I am not a seller- just a home gardener who appreciates info on pests and your opinions- I have similar tastes as you too! I really appreciated the long video and I enjoy listening to you. Even though the video is long you are full of information and I think you get right to the point and you’re a great speaker Danielle. Because of you, my garden has evolved tremendously… This year I added Oriental Moon trumpet lilies at your suggestion and I’m waiting on the edge of my seat to see how they come out… I added a few other lilies… So many other things that you recommended… The blue Larkspur oh my goodness the blue Larkspur that’s my new favorite you should see it this year it’s stunning!! I’m the same as you with the delphinium… I grow it ornamentally and just for myself but once it gets hot it’s a real diva. I have ammi majus this year but I’m gonna go with orlaya next year at your suggestion and for the reasons you suggested… Thank you so much! I really appreciated you spending this time with us and teaching us… You’re almost to 100,000 I can’t wait for you to hit 100,000… You deserve it and MORE!
I have been watching your videos for two years now, and you are a familiar and trusted source of information for this new flower farmer. I know if I have a question about how to grow or harvest a flower, you will have a video with clear instructions on how to do it. Thank you so much!
Loved this video. Enjoyed hearing your experience over the years. I also have the cucumber beetle on my amaranth leaves. Based on some limited observation, I’ve found that if I wait until July to sow it, the bugs are gone and it looks a lot better.
I love your honesty!! I've been feeling this way, but not a lot of others are saying it!
I’m not a flower farmer but your information is valuable to all! 🌼🐝
I live in San Diego we do not have humidity but everything you have said is true here too. Thank you so much for your in-depth video. Please continue to do more like this.
Thank you for this. I may not be growing fir cut, but living close to your area, I appreciate the info on flowers that grow well in a hot, humid, wet area with lots if the same pests and diseases.
You always give the most detailed & helpful advice. Obviously, everyone's situation/climate is different & must be taken into account, but certainly great detail in this video. Thankyou. I'm a mostly home gardener in a cool climate in Australia so different situation to yours. I'm also not growing Ammi majus again. I found the flower heads too big & they dropped pollen everywhere. I must be a bit odd but l really dislike the smell of feverfew, while all the cut flower growers seem to use it lots. I grew dill for the first time this year. Wouldn't use fresh (the smell 😂!) but l love it dried. Very architectural. Catmint is very stinky too when cut. Love it in the garden. I think planting close together is a good idea & l will try for Saponaria, which l found gorgeous but very floppy.
You mentioned not pinching Snapdragons. I would like to know of your experience with pinching or not pinching.
I’m a home gardener with the same climate as you. This information is invaluable. Thank you for sharing your honest experiences. I’ve not grown everything you mentioned, but I’ve experienced a lot of the same, such as mildew on my zinnias and success with snapdragons. This will be so helpful in planning for next year!
I've the same issue with zinnias and by accident found success with snapdragon. What did you do to fix the mildew issue?
@@Sweetlady1916 I haven’t been able to fix the zinnia mildew issue. Sorry if I worded my comment in a misleading way. I don’t grow many zinnias anymore. I grew more snapdragons now.
Amazing information!
I have no plans for selling flowers, but I still want excellent flowers in my yard.
Like you, I’ve learned through trial and error throughput my 40-ish years of gardening.
I’m at the stage now that I want my style, but I also expect excellence from my hard work.
You’ve helped greatly, because your experience helps keep me motivated, but also reigns me In from buying frivolously before I study a particular flower. Great reminders given!
Thank you for sharing the books too.
May God continue to bless you with your dreams!
We are all students of our garden. Nature has lots to teach us.
I love this kind of video. It's very informative. I'm not a flower farmer, but just as a home gardner. This helps me understand all these flowers better. Great job!
Here is a thought about earwigs: Plant Asian stir-fry mix seed next to your dahlias or anything you want to protect from earwigs. They act as bait/house plants for earwig, just like dill for swallowtail butterflies caterpillars. I am talking about Pak choy, Bok Choy, mini chinese cabbages, but not the usual salad mix lettuces we see in grocery stores. The difference is that the Asian greens tend to have sweeter and more juicy stems when compared to domestic salad mix, so the earwigs love it the most.
I never grew dahlias so this is just a hypothesis you can test. But whenever I grow them in ground, I cannot get earwig to go anywhere else. You will find earwigs pooling at the base of the plant between their layers of stems. Asian greens also grows really well in humid conditions, so they should produce enough leaves for earwig to hide in/eat in your garden.
Here are some of the Asian greens I grew and earwigs loved them: Baker Creek Salad Blend Siamese Dragon Stir-Fry mix. Parkseed 5215, PakChoi hybrid (Joi Choi), and Johnny's 2251.11 Tokyo Bekana. I could not harvest for meals at all - they are all eaten from the base of the stem to the leaves.
I hope it helps!
Wow! Thank you so much! I will definitely give this a try!
Oh my word! Best video I have ever seen on cut flowers. Thank you so much!!! Yes, sea hollies in my front garden draw a lot of photography traffic!
Please do such videos, garden walks with pros and cons of varieties and substitutes will be awesome as well.
You’re so generous to share your experience!
Can’t wait for you to write your own book Danielle! Thank you for sharing all your knowledge!
I really appreciate your take on these flowers. It was very helpful.
You have clearly learned and documented what works well for you. And know your market and the niche you fill in that market. Wonderful! As I get older I want plants that give me more bang for my buck. We are removing any plants that existed when we bought our home and replacing with native or native adjacent plants and plants that provide flowers that return each year.
Peonies, roses, daffodils, hydrangea, clematis, hostas, rudbeckia, yarrow, gladiolus, lavender, butterfly weed, liatris. In our woods, we have removed invasive honeysuckle and replaced with native shrubs and plants.
Great video as always…so informative.
Looking forward to the same about perennials…
Thank you oh so much Danielle for sharing your beautiful garden and for the motivation and inspiration you give me.
My garden and world is all the better for having you, your videos, information, beauty and joy in it ☺️💚💚💚
Have you seen Florets new zinnias? Zinnias are making a comeback! So many more elegant colors out there now, they’re so easy to grow too. A definite favorite in my area
Thank you, again! Love hearing your experience and perspective and love for flowers and sharing beauty.
This video is phenomenal! I so appreciate your heartfelt and sincere presentation about your struggles and how you learn from them and move forward…I am trying to take all my mistakes in stride and be patient and not get so frustrated. I truly hate to ask as you are so generous with your time and knowledge, but I know NOTHING about conditioning cut flowers and was shocked to hear you mention using boiling water! Thanks for sharing your insight.
I mean this in a good way.... every time I see you set up the stand and how beautiful your bouquets are, and the premium flowers that are in them, I just cringed at the low $20 price tag. Now I understand when you say others are selling very cheap all around you. Those bouquets would easily make a $40 CSA in my area, although there is a lot of competition and new people coming in and out of the market that only do a so-so job at it. I agree on the marigolds. I actually left a CSA bc she made bouquets that focused on huge marigolds and to me, they are basically weeds bc I don't like the smell or the look particularly, even the large ones that are bred for cutting. Your stuff is beautiful and you put so much effort in that I just wish you were in an area where you could get more return for it. Thank you for all the great content, I've learned so much from you in the past few years and pass on your links when people ask questions.
This is so helpful. I learn so much from your videos. Even though I live in hot dry sunny central California I love the idea of seeing what works for me and what I enjoy working with. Before watching your videos I felt like I was doing something wrong if I didn’t follow the norm. And I love learning about growing cut flowers. When I retired I started growing cut flowers for my enjoyment and to give away to neighbors, family, friends. Thanks for sharing this information.
Thank for your honesty. I love watching your videos.
Excellent, excellent, excellent! I took notes in both of my books. Thank you very much.
What an excellent video Danielle! Thank you so much for being brave and deciding to go ahead and do this video. You are an incredible source of practical knowledge and experience and I learn so much practical stuff from you! Thank you once again for being so generous with your knowledge and experience. Cant wait for your next video on perennials.
Thank you so much for all this information about heat tolerant flowers and foliage in bouquets. Your experience is invaluable as you learn to deal with your garden. Although I could not help thinking of a different way to sell your flowers and have all the ones you want to sell. I envisioned your having a drive that cut across the corner to the other street surrounded by your beautiful landscaped garden. By moving the stand back behind the drive and closer to the garage you could have cooling, heating, and lighting. You could get a garden shed, insulate it and make it look like it is part of the garden or a replica of your house. You could use it like "You Can't Eat the Grass" does. The ring doorbell in there stand allows them to monitor the inside when it needs bouquets and security. If I were a customer I would enjoy the convenience of the drive and look forward to seeing your garden as I walked into the stand. Maybe a fairy garden near it where a child could look forward to getting a free single flower inside. Lots of items could be keep inside even dried flowers and craft items. It would be an all season stand. In the winter months when it gets dark early you could have fairy lighting and holiday lights in the evening. Lots of possibilities. Also if I could be your customer, I would love it if you had a space for floral workshops and tours of your landscaped garden. I wish you the best in all that you do with your garden. There are so many possibilities out there for you.
I love this video and I love that you found your own way of growing flowers and share it with us! 😊🤗
I'm slowly working my way through your videos, and learn a lot with each one. Thanks for all the interesting and valuable information! The border in back of you is really lovely, so I'm hoping you've touched on it in one of your videos.
🥰 Love this video, I love how long this was, please do more. I have learned so much and i would love to have a flower garden as your. Please, put out a book on all your experiences , this has been soo helpful! Thank you!
❤