The Flower Farmer

The domes­tic cut flower busi­ness has expe­ri­enced a renais­sance in the past decade, thanks in large part to the first edi­tion of The Flower Farmer: An Organic Grower’s Guide to Raising and Selling Cut Flowers, which helped thou­sands of small grow­ers start suc­cess­ful busi­ness­es. This new­ly expand­ed and thor­ough­ly revised edi­tion will be equal­ly as influ­en­tial for novices and expe­ri­enced grow­ers alike.

With the cut flower busi­ness grow­ing at record rates, demand is at all time highs, chal­leng­ing grow­ers to take advan­tage of new tech­niques to pro­long the har­vest. New sec­tions on uti­liz­ing green­hous­es, rec­om­men­da­tions for flower cul­ti­vars, and post-har­vest han­dling. Also updat­ed is the acclaimed resource direc­to­ry, com­plete with sources of seeds, plants and sup­plies, and expert infor­ma­tion on organ­ic pro­duc­tion under the National Organic Program.

For the begin­ner and back­yard gar­den­er, there is an exten­sive sec­tion on the basics — vari­ety selec­tion, soil prepa­ra­tion, plant­i­ng, cul­ti­va­tion, har­vest, and flo­ral design. For the com­mer­cial grow­er, The Flower Farmer includes infor­ma­tion about larg­er-scale pro­duc­tion, plus advice about sell­ing to florists, whole­salers, super­mar­kets, brides, at farm­ers mar­kets, and more. Also includes revised pro­files of suc­cess­ful grow­ers offer­ing behind-the-scenes insight into the oper­a­tion of some of the cut­ting edge flower farm­ers in the country.

Because of the exten­sive revi­sions and enhanced con­tent, this new edi­tion of The Flower Farmer is essen­tial read­ing for those already in the flower busi­ness, as well as those who dream of grow­ing flow­ers for enjoy­ment or profit.