For all of you in the Slow Flowers movement – or any of you thinking about digging in – this is a must-have book for your library. All the nuts and bolts of the cut flower business are covered here.
Lisa Mason Ziegler, a seasoned expert in the field, knows her subject. Her passion for teaching others to grow cut flowers led her to become a sought-after speaker around the U.S.
In 2005, she started The Gardeners Workshop, an online garden store and educational platform that has gone international. A devoted field and garden grower, her expertise is in specialty cut flower farming and outdoor cut-flower gardens.
Lisa’s newest book, The Cut Flower Handbook: Select, Plant, Grow, and Harvest Gorgeous Blooms, includes step-by-step instructions for siting and making a three-season cutting garden are included, as well as critical harvesting methods to ensure abundance and beauty in the garden. Lisa shares her tried and true tips for growing 41 cool-season flowers and 25 additional warm-season varieties.
Each particular flower is described and accompanied by its specific “growing facts,” home garden success tips, Lisa’s favorite varieties, and often an “insider” flower farmer tip. For instance, about larkspur: “ The length of the stem and quality of locally grown larkspur will send florists off their feet! Because of high demand, I grew it in solid colors, with white, light blue, and dark blue being the best sellers. Once I was well established, my larkspur crop was sold out on standing orders each season.” To which I say, Amen!
Be sure to read the section on Ornamentals. It is so much fun and kind of crazy and guaranteed to add charming twists to your flower harvests. The names alone will make you grin: Spinning Gourd Vine, Love-in-a-Puff Vine, Hyacinth Bean Vine, Hairy Balls (I told you so), Pumpkin-on-a-Stick, and Striped Garden Egg. My plan is to grow every one of these wild-sounding ornamentals next year.
Lisa is a longtime Slow Flowers member and her business, The Gardener’s Workshop, is a sponsor of the Slow Flowers Podcast. Don’t forget to zip on over to Lisa’s podcast, #104 – 3 Perennials to Plant This Fall, just in time for autumn.
Book Details: The Cut Flower Handbook: Select, Plant, Grow, and Harvest Gorgeous Blooms, by Lisa Mason Ziegler (Author), Jessica Graven (Contributor). Published by Cool Springs Press, 240 pages, $30.00
