Cutting and Arranging Flowers

New Jersey’s harvest season arrived early this year with yarrow, the first cutting flower at Cherry Grove Organic Farm in Lawrenceville, NJ, taking the trip up to Summit Market along with a record-breaking amount of snap peas. The sun, rain and lack of destructive weather forces this spring has made it possible to plant the zinnias, snapdragons, gomphrena, tomatoes and everything else more quickly than usual.

I drive up the graveled driveway past the woods with the Shabakunk Creek on the right, and the cherry tomatoes and herb garden on the far left. Mae and Hazel, the two pointers, know it is me, and start barking and running alongside my car, muddy and smelling of wild animals. If the dogs are here, the whole farm crew is also on the farm, and flowers in tall white pickle buckets will line the tables in the barn. The black-eyed susans and difficult cockscomb are set apart because I never could understand how they go together; I have come up against my limits at the farm over the years.

For the past eight years or so I have worked at Cherry Grove Organic doing the CSA (community supported agriculture), markets, and flowers. The heat, dirt, butterflies, buzzing of insects, barn swallows and life-affirming smells of flowers, garlic and onions keep me returning each year as my schedule allows. More recently, I bunch flowers on Saturdays July through August.

Harvesting and arranging local fresh cutting flowers takes practice and attention. Every flower has its tell as to when it is ready to be cut. If you intend to cut flowers yourself, ask the staff at your local farm about the variety you are harvesting. If a flower is almost ready, like a sunflower that only gives one bloom a year, cutting it a little early might keep it from getting gobbled by insects.

To keep plants producing, leave two to three inches of stem with some leaves at the base of the plant.
The cut stems should be about the length of your forearm from the elbow to the tips of your fingers. Be careful not to crush surrounding plants as you cut. Always use sharp shears and snip quickly to avoid crushing stems. Place your cut flowers in cool clean water as soon as possible. You may want to bring a bucket out to the field with you.

To make a bouquet, keep all the flowers at the same level, matching up the bottoms of the main blooms or where two side shoots stem out. For small flowers, 35 to 40 stems make a bouquet. Prop up flowers that look lost or have slipped when your bouquet is finished. Trim ends with sharp shears and promptly place in clean water.

If you are planning to harvest flowers and produce this summer here are some great resources:

Benzakein, Erin, Julie Chai, and Michèle M. Waite. Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest & Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms, 2017.

Chezar, Ariella. The Flower Workshop: Lessons in Arranging Blooms, Branches, Fruits, and Foraged Materials, 2016.

Newbery, Georgie. The Flower Farmer's Year: How to Grow Cut Flowers for Pleasure and Profit, 2014.

Ziegler, Lisa M. Vegetables Love Flowers: Companion Planting for Beauty and Bounty. Quarto Publishing Group USA, 2018.

- Ellen M., Ewing Branch