Donn, I'm one of those few NOT in the business. Like you, I just love flowers. I enjoy the peace I find working in my garden (when the weather is more temperate), and I especially enjoy arranging flowers. I do it for myself, for friends and school colleagues, as hostess gifts, and for competition. Last week I took a design into the nurses who give me my allergy shots. (I used a clean spaghetti sauce can, covered with foil for potted plants, purchased at the florist, and wet foam.)

I belong to a garden club, though I can only attend one or two summer meetings because they have daytime meetings. (Most of them seem to be retired.) I've learned a great deal from those members at shows in the last five years, as they've helped me see weaknesses in my designs and showed me what's good. I'm doing better. Last month I won a blue ribbon for a crescent design at the state show, and the next week I took 15 entries to our local show. All won ribbons (though not automatic), and five won blues. One of those received the Designer's Choice ribbon for best of 4 classes. (OK--I didn't mean to brag, but it shows that anyone can learn how to design, given time, effort, and guidance.)

We live on a grain farm and I have two curvy perennial beds, a hedge of peonies, a small terrace area next to the garage driveway, a raised triangle shade bed, and out back, a cutting garden about 50' x 14'. I grow a few veggies--some asparagus, 8 tomatoes, and 8 peppers, but the rest is flowers, grown in rows for easy harvest. Most are annuals, but some are glads, and this year I have 3 dahlias. The cutting garden is just really beginning, with 3 14' rows of zinnias, some snaps, annual baby's breath, and celosia blooming now. I'm still waiting for the larkspur in that garden, the Bells of Ireland, the cosmos, the asters, the glads, and the dahlias.

I admire the discipline of market growers. If it's too hot, I stay inside, or limit my outdoor time to early morning. I thought I was going crazy creating and transporting 15 different designs for our local show. How little that is compared to what these growers do for every market, some twice weekly. I don't see myself ever going into business, as I don't want my hobby to become work. I visited Clink's (Cathy L.) cut-your-own garden last year. Wow! She's gracious, knowledgeable, and determined, and she had beautiful flowers (with better weather last year.) I lurk a lot on this site for all that I can learn from these growers. Thanks to all of you for sharing your knowledge.

Hi To Two Flower Lovers,
My husband, oldest son and I run a retail market on our
farm property. We grow just summer vegetables and fall
crops for retail, mainly sweet corn and tomatoes being our
biggest crop acres wise. As far as cutting flowers go,
I only plant annuals every year on six raised plastic beds
300 feet long. I plant zinnias, sunflowers, blue horizon ageratum, neon amazon dianthus, three different kinds of celosia, snapdragons, lisianthus, gomphrena, statice, rudbeckia, blue salvias and cinnamon basil for fillers. I also tried Cramer's yardstick this year from Johnny's seeds, but so far it doesn't look very promising.
My sister-in-law comes most every morning from July until
there is nothing left to cut and make bouquets for the
stand. She usually makes around 15 to 20 each day and
maybe more for the weekends. It all depends on what is
out there in the garden and looks good. I would love to
do the bouquets myself, but I am picking corn early in the
morning and just don't have time to cut flowers. Thank
goodness my sister-in-law loves flowers. We used to be
dairy farmers until the early 90's when we switched to
retail sales of our own veggies. Sometimes I think cows
were easier.

Just love experimenting with foliage and flowers for my own pleasure. The bloom spike from Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy' with Eucalyptus and Canna Wyoming foliage, a handful of dark burgundy Loropetalum foliage wth electric-pink blooms, and a few Verbena bonariensis stems made a moody dark dramatic arrangement I've enjoyed this week.

I treasure the unusual like three Gloriosa Rothschildiana blooms all alone in a small clear glass vase. But I also appreciate the simplicity of Echinacea 'White Swan'... I cut it when petals are still furled to emphasize the green center. The variety of form and color in nature just fascinates.

I use a lot of tropical foliage from over 100 houseplants. Plus most of my outdoor gardening is done in containers now as it is easier on my aged knees and eyesight to care for and appreciate the plants up close. I choose foliage/flowers as I go on dawn water patrol each day...I always have 5 to 8 vases filled with my experiments.

Even though I don't have acres, or even a large garden anymore, I'm still trying plants new to me and delighting in each new fern frond and opening flower bud. I often press and dry for collage or decoupage so the pleasure continues through the winter months. josh

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad to see I'm not the only non-pro.

I guess this is probably the wrong time of year for a question like this (duh!). I'll repeat it in the bleak and bleary winter.

Hi Donn,

Just a small note. 3 acres of sweet cherries. 1/2 acre plus of lavaender, 600 plus plants of lilac, 600 rose and of cours growing.

Take care Tim