2021 was an exciting year for flowers in our family! We moved into our new house with an empty lot next door that soon became home to our new flower garden. The biggest flower garden we've every grown! All this space allowed us to grow enough flowers to share with people on and off the farm. With all the extra room, it allowed me to grow plenty of flowers I'd never grown before. Naturally I fell in love with some of those new flowers and found some of the others to be a bit of a handful. Here's are few of my new favorites:
My Favorite Cut Flowers of 2021
1. Snapdragons. Believe it or not, this was my first time ever to grow snapdragons! I was a little worried because they germinate soooo tiny and they just seemed so fragile, especially when it was time to transplant them outside. Those little babies are tough, though! When the snapdragons shot up nice and tall and those first buds started to bloom, I was swooning. I could never get enough of these whimiscal beauties so I'm planning to grow A LOT more in 2022. Like A LOT.
2. Sunflowers. Yet another commonly grown flower that hadn't made it into my garden until this year. As someone who prefers cut and come agains, I was a little hesitant to grow single stemmed flowers knowing I'd have to succession plant a lot to keep up with them. But boy oh boy was it worth it! The variety I grew was ProCut Orange from Johnny's Seeds and they were so sweet and so bright and brought so much joy to our neighborhood. I had a few bumps along the way but I learned a lot about growing sunflowers and am going to take all I learned into 2022.
3. Bee Balm. I had never even heard of Bee Balm before I started digging into flower farming. Bee balm is actually an herb and it grows incredibly well in our area as a biennial (but is actually a perennial). Its soft green leaves and dreamy purple flowers swept me away as soon as they started to bloom. This was another flower I just couldn't get enough of and I love that the plants just keep blooming all season long! Not to mention bee balm is a hardworking pollinator that attracts bees, butterflies, and even hummingbirds (or so I've heard)!
4. Gomphrena. These cutie little flowers are also called globe amaranth and they are so fun! Their purple, pom-pom like flowers add an exciting pop of color and excitement to any bouquet. The most amazing thing about the gomphrena was that one day they just EXPLODED with buds and blooms and they never stopped producing flowers until I pulled them up mid-Autumn. Any time I needed extra filler in a bouquet I could count on the gomphrena.
5. Zinnias. Admittedly, I've grown zinnias for several years now. This year, though, I tried a few specific varieties including Queen Lime with Blush and WOW. These zinnias were so bright and unique, unlike anything I've ever grown. The thing I love most about zinnias is that there are so many shapes, sizes, and colors to choose from. They are a staple flower to any cut flower garden and I'll never give them up.
My Least Favorite Flowers of 2021
There are a handful of flowers I grew this year that I won't be growing in 2022. It's never because they're not beautiful or because I don't love them. Choosing to forego a certain flower usually has to do with the kind of performance it shows within the context of my own gardening habits and preferences. Here are 3 flowers that didn't make the cut.
1. Carnations. I was honestly very excited to try my hand at growing carnations. Some people said they were quite easy to grow, others said they took a lot of work. I figured I wouldn't know until I tried, and I tried hard. In order to have a decent growing season, I had to start the carnations really early and I had a hard time keeping up with their growth and the attention they needed indoors. When I finally transplanted the carnations outside it still took months before they bloomed. Even then, they just didn't thrive. The flowers were pretty and they smelled divine, but they're just too much for me to care for with the space and resources I have.
2. Honeywort. These flowers are so delightful to the eye. The greens and purples and blues all blending together really make them seem like a work of art. As soon as my honeywort started to bloom I loved them. There are two reasons, though, why I'm not growing them in 2022. Honeywort are a bit particular when it comes to harvesting which means taking extra time to harvest them just right. I do most of my harvestig with my littles running around so right now I'm preferring flowers that are quick and simple to harvest. They also weren't very popular among my you-pick customers. Maybe because of their greenery or maybe it was their location of the garden. Either way, they didn't get enough love. :(
3. Rudbeckia. I definitely plan on growing rudbeckia again, but not this year. I grew them in 2021 as a cut flower from seed. They were pretty but it took them a long time to bloom and they didn't thrive in my garden. My plan is to eventually incorporate rudbeckia into my perennial cutting garden. I think they'll have a lot more to offer in that environment so we shall see!
What are your favorite and least favorite cut flowers to grow? I'd love you hear your thoughts in the comments.
