Great list, April! You minght want to try Ammi Visnaga "Green mist" along with the other one...It has much sturdier heads atleast for me and I Love the greenish tinge to them.
Not sure what the blue eyed dasiy refers to....? I found my linaria too weak stemmed for good bouquets but that may have been a local condition. I know nothing about the daisy "May queen" The ones I prefer are a bit fancier. Plain daisies don't sell well at all here because almost everyone either grWws them or their neighbors do. My prefereance is HIghland white Dreams from Wayside. One plant can be divided into many by the second year. IN 5 years you will have masses of them with strong stems, long lasting flowers with a little ruffle around center. My customers also like Esther Reed, a
double ruffly shasta that looks more like a chrysanthmum.

None of the rudbeckias sell well for us here and I think Jeanne found that true of many of them also. I am just going to grow one bush of each for myself and an occasional bouquet but use my market growing space for something else. Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate is one of my favorite fillers or mixers in bouquets! I love it with the pinky toned sunflowers as well as most anything else! Also loved the Costa Snaps last year. The Azalea flowered ones like Bright Butterflies also sold very well. For sweet peas I Like a mix from Territorial called Waved Spencers. Also I Like King High Scent and King-sized Royal Blue, (Espcialy mixed together!)Thompson and Morgan is the only place I have found King sized Navy blue yet this year.

I like my Veronica "Sightseeing" mix but it took me two years before it produced.
Colorado Yarrow is yummy. Even more I like one called "Summer Berries" or something like that.

You might want to try some of the Benary Zinnias. They are bigger and more resistant to mildew and such.I also like one of the mixes like candy cane or whirligig to mix with the solid colors.

April,
That is a really nice list.
One comment I would like to make; and, I'll probably post more later:
Your choice of Rudbeckia, Indian Summer was an excellent one. You will not be disappointed.
This flower was chosen Fresh Cut Flower of the Year by the cutflower organization to which we belong.
It's the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG).

Trish
{{gwi:618980}}
Not Redbeckia. But.....
Aster Bouquets in Old Toolbox at Market 2006

Agrostemma 'Purple Queen' I absolutely love the flowers on this. We use it in our early bouquets. This needs to be planted out early before the heat. Ours was planted in filtered light which seems to help.
Ammi 'White Dill' Green Mist is also good. We grow Queen of Africa in the hoophouse. It grows 4-5' tall!!
Aster 'Daylight mix' We haven't grown this new one. Looks pretty.
Blue Eyed Daisy This is Osteospermum. Customers love this flower.
Bupleurum We grow this in our high tunnel for better height. Some growers do have success in the field.
Cosmos 'Sensation' 'Versailles' 'Picotee' Love the cosmos for late season bouquets.
Cramer's Yardstick *
Eucalyptus We grow this in one of our hightunnels. It's a heat-loving plant which we harvest at least 6 weeks after frost.
Grass 'Ruby Silk' *
Gomphrena 'QIS formula mix' 'Bicolor Rose' We grow all the colors, and sucession plant the entire season.
Gypsophilia 'Covent Garden Market' 'Gypsy Deep Rose' Gypsy Deep Rose is a bedding plant.
Larkspur (fall seeded) 'Sublime mix' 'Azure Blue' 'Chorus Violet' Fall seeding is a disaster for us here in the Midwest. We grow some in our hoophouses for early sales. And, we plant plugs in the field. Currently we have some lovely Blue Cloud that seems to want to take over a section of dianthus.
Lavender 'Lady' Grosso and Provence are better choices for cutflowers.
Leucanthemum 'May Queen' Customers love the clean, fresh, innocent look of daisies. We're growing a new one this season: Brightside.
Linaria 'Enchantment' This is best for containers or hanging baskets as it only grows to 14-16."
Lisianthus 'Echo': blue & champagne Lisianthus is tricky. We always buy plugs. And, we don't grow it in the field. For one reason, we are able to achieve better height in the hightunnel. Secondly, because it is growing under cover, we have harvestable stems early in the season on one end, and late in the fall after frost on the other end.
Nasturtium 'Alaska' 'Jewel'
Phlox 'Scarlet' Tapestry Mix is nice as well for an annual phlox.
Iceland Poppy (fall seeded) 'Meadow Pastels' This is one of the better poppies with a vase life of at least one week. Blooms for 3-4 months.
Polygonum 'Kiss me Over the Garden Gate' *
Rudbeckia 'Indian Summer' Selected ASCFG Fresh Cut Flower of the year.
Salpiglossis 'Royal mix' *
Scabiosa 'Olympia mix' We also grow the deep, dark purple scabiosa.
Salvia 'Cutting Salvia' 'Marble Arch Mix' 'Gruppenblau' 'Blue Bedder' I would grow Gruppenblau or Blue Bedder; but, not both.
Snapdragon 'Costa' 'Rocket' And, Spring Giant is also another good choice. We have grown them all.
Sweet Pea 'Royal' 'Old spice' 'Painted Lady' Old Spice is a highly fragrant heirloom. Painted Lady is the best pale-pink with mid-pink wings. You didn't list this one; but, Cupani Original is a really nice one. This is the original strain from which all others have been developed.
Sunflower 'ProCut Orange' 'Sunbright' 'Sunbright Supreme' 'Sunny' *
Tithonia 'Torch' This has to be handled carefully after harvest because the heads tend to bend in half. It also needs to be hydrated. We didn't grow it last year; and, we missed it. It is the best intense orange color we have found.
Veronica 'Sightseeing' If this is planted out early in the season, you will have some harvestable stems the first year. It is better the second year.
Verbena bonariensis These remind us of stick people. We love this plant.
Yarrow 'Colorado' If planted early in the season, you'll have stems to harvest later in the season. Same for Summer Pastel because they don't need vernalization.
Zinnia 'Oklahoma Mix' 'Cut and Come Again' 'State Fair Mix' All zinnias are cut and come again. State Fair Mix are muted/faded compared to the vibrant colors of Benary's Giant Blue Point. And, we absolutely love the Oklahoma in bouquets.

* Good choice. We currently grow them or have in the past, and consider them standard for cutflowers.

One final note: Yes, you can grow delphinium in Virginia. Also, I didn't notice any celosia or dianthus on the list.

{{gwi:618983}}
Zinnias at Market

Wow. Wow wow wow wow. Thanks so very much. I can't wait to look up the new varieties you mentioned and tweak my list based on the info you both gave. Trish, a rundown of every flower! What a great gift of information! Thank you so much.

I feel really grateful that I am able to consult with you all. It is SUCH a gift, really. Makes me feel more confident and hopeful and willing to try things.

And Trish, keep posting those pics. They're beautiful. We really should have a picture page.

Off to look things up and tweak things...

April,
Thanks to you too for asking such good questions, because the answers bennefit all of us. Thanks to you Trish, as always, for your very thorough answers, and the pics were a bonus. I truly admire April for her confidence in this venture, and the fact she's diving right into it with such enthusiasim. I wish I had a partner, (and a full wallet) that was willing to take a few chances. It just isn't going to happen here! I first have to prove there is indeed a market here before we spend too much money. Of course, we do live in a rural area that doesn't have the population to support a large operation. However, I truly do believe I could increase production by doubling what I have now, and still sell everything. We'll see how it goes this year. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know how much I'm enjoying all the good reading. Trish, do you find that growers bunches, such as the zinnias, sell as well as the bouquets of mixed flowers? Are they priced differently?
Cheryl

April,

A few that I did not see mentioned that you might also consider are:
Celosia HiZ and Cramers; Bells of Ireland; Campanula; Dianthus; Echinacea; Echinops; Gomphrena Flashing light; Purple Millet; Rudbeckia Cherokee; Statice; Amaranth; Calendula.

I second Trish's comments on Indian Summer, my FM customers now buy it over most sunflowers, because of vase life and look.

Also on one of my favorite flowers Snaps.
{{gwi:618986}}

Dreaming of Spring.

Bryan

We don't make many growers bunches for market these days. The zinnias in that other market photo were actually loose; and, we would use those in our European Hand Tied Specialty Bouquets. BUT ----if a customer wanted a straight bunch of zinnias (they do sometimes; and, that day I think they did), we sell them for the same price as our bouquets because we let them pick out the colors they want. Sometimes we'll take bouquets of Oklahoma zinnia mixed with salvia, or basil, or millet. These sell well. So many produce vendors have a bucket or two of growers bunches of zinnias and sunflowers. We always think that we need to offer something different from the flower farmers.
{{gwi:618375}}
Here we mixed zinnias, ammi, ageratum, triloba, and a few dahlias in "To-Go" cups loaded into bulb crates.

I second the thanks to all of you...I learned some new flowers to add to my list! You might think about strawflowers, verbascum - a perennial (Southern Charm and something Rose..can't remember), chocolate cosmos (I don't think you can get seeds for this yet though, need plugs), and solidaster (all the varieties, to extend your harvest).

More questions...is Oklahoma a better zinnia for cooler nights? My benaries never get very big in diameter...oh, and I do enjoy the smaller zinnias, like Old Mexico and Persian Carpet and Red Spider...they mix well with regular zinnias and sell well in mason jars by themselves!

And, why can't I get Ammi and Sweet Annie to grow? I have wild carrot everywhere... :) I like it, but wasn't going to buy more seeds...
Thanks,
Wendy
Ho

Hi April,

The ammi and Marble Arch salvia all produce a lot of stems per amount of space occupied. So will the yarrow in its second year. They're all great choices, but I think a 4x75' row is going to produce a lot relative to your other flowers - unless your bouquet style is going to be very airy, I would cut down the amount of Marble Arch salvia and yarrow by half and plant something "big and round" - asters, zinnias, etc. - in the extra space.
That's not too much ammi if you succession plant; you'll find that stems you don't pick as the flowers are opening make a great green filler after the flowers are finished.
Great list!

Chris

I don't believe there is such a thing as too much salvia. You can always dry it, and, in the fall sell bunches, or wreaths, or swags...........
{{gwi:618988}}

I've thought about your question, Wendy, regarding zinnias, ammi and sweet annie. Zinnias don't tolerate languishing in seedling trays. (Shirley, are you listening? This is a very good reason not to start seedlings too early.) We plant our zinnia plugs in the field two weeks after the seed has been sown. The zinnia seeds germinate almost before our eyes. It's probably a week longer for the ammi and sweet annie. If the ammi and sweet annie are growing fast; and, we know we can't get them planted out early in the season due to the field being too wet, we bump them up to larger 4" pots or deep 72s. There are alot of cutflowers growers in Oregon who do grow these crops. Hope this helps.......

Trish

Yes, Trish I am listening! I am rereading all the posts that answered the questions I had last year plus checking in for additional info. I am also transferring all info that seems pertinent to a word document. I plan to sort that info all out and print to put with my flower farming books. Hopefully, I will make less mistakes this year than last. I learned a lot so you just never know. Of course, I imagine there are always new mistakes to make, lol. I found out that I really dislike sunflowers that have pollen. I loved the Becky daisy. My glads had thrips sadly. I treated the corms so guess I just can't have glads (one catalog said glaminis are more resistant to insects - anyone with experience on this subject?) This may well just be another learning year but I do love this kind of schooling.

I saved my thrippy glads by using a bit of 3-way rose food time release with each one. IT has an insecticide that goes into the tissues of the glad and lasts about 3 months. This about how long they take to grow to bloom so I figure it is about out of them when they are cut but I Do not advertise these as organic. However, I have many people who woulldn't care on this one if they can have a beautiful home grown glad in their bouquet. I plan to do this again this year. And with doing this, I also remove any which look thrippy while they are growing. I had only a half dozen of so to remove last year and most were of one variety, so maybe I stinted on the thrip poison in that area. I figure that no one I knows eats gladiola and any remaining residue is slight by that time. IT is the only way I Can grow glads with our warmer summers we have been having. Thrips like the hot summers! Good luck!

Controlling thrip infestation: Several naturally occurring enemies feed on thrips. To avoid killing these beneficial insects, which naturally reduce thrips populations, insecticides should be avoided.

High nitrate levels invite thrips. One should always be cautious about over fertilizing crops during the growing season. Also, the choice of cover crops can affect the amount of overwintering thrips. Oats rather than wheat or rye is a better choice for cover crop in order to control thrips. Natural occuring fungal diseases can devastate thrip populations. This is another reason that the use of insecticides would be counter productive. Natural occuring mechanisms are always a better means in the long run. Also, a lack of soil calcium may invite thrip populations. Mark a date on your calendar, and, have your soil tested yearly. "Farmscaping to Enhance Biological Control" is very good a publication worth reading.

A large greenhouse grower in The Netherlands found that garlic plants are an effective way to repel thrips. He uses garlic planted in the greenhouse.

As owners of a small family farm, we are always mindful that we must be good stewards of this land that provides us with a bountiful crop each season. This is the least we can do in return for the opportunity and wonderful life we have been afforded living on the farm.

Trish

Well, I've researched and tweaked and incorporated feedback and suggestions, and I feel better about ordering now. And what I've decided is that I'm going to have an experimental bed or beds, where I just try out small amounts of flowers I am curious about. I'm feeling pretty excited, which is a nice break after feeling overwhelmed. Thanks for all the help, everyone. I'm looking forward to continued conversations....

flowerfarmer,

For some reason the images you have attached at the end of your posts don't show up on the forum on my computer and I sure would like to see them. Bryan's showed up, as have others - is there something I need to do or a special program I need to get them to show up? thanks.

Linda

Just an update in case anyone is still reading... I spent a lot of money and am practicing my deep breathing :). Actually, I spent under what I budgeted, but I've never spent that much on seeds before. Whew! And I keep coming across more things I want to add...
April

April,
You think ordering was overwhelming, wait until they all start coming in! I did that last year, and thought, oh my gosh, where I am I going to put all of these plants? Anyway, it all seems to fall into place.
Cheryl

I'm not sure ordering gets any easier. Seeds are one of those things, however, where we receive the greatest amount of return on the investment. We came in $500 under budget this year on our orders. And, then yesterday I found some new must, must have plants/seeds for this season. I cannot wait. I am oh so excited about some of the new things we're growing this season. Everything we order each season, however, comes directly from the profits of the previous season.

Trish