We all know that the holiday season brings joy and cheer, but for flower farmers, it also poses a unique challenge—how can we take advantage of the holiday sales season when there’s not much growing on the flower farm?

Late November is a time of shopping frenzy and fantastic deals. From Black Friday to Small Business Saturday, this time of year is an awesome opportunity for you to get in on the action.

Now, you might be thinking: How do I take advantage of Black Friday as a flower farmer when nothing is blooming this time of year?

Let me tell you: That’s okay and don’t let that stop you!

In this blog post, I'll give you five tips to make the most of Black Friday and holiday shopping so you can help create consistent income for your flower farming business year round.

Today, I want to talk to you about something that is often overlooked but incredibly important for the success of your flower farming business: your personal brand. In this blog, we'll explore what a personal brand is, why you need one, and how it can benefit your flower farming venture. I'll also provide you with some actionable steps to help you create and put your personal brand into action.

You've always loved growing flowers. You love the way they look, the way they smell, and the way they make people feel. And now, you're ready to take your love of flowers to the next level by starting your own flower business.

So you found the space to grow, amended and prepared the soil, and decided what to grow. But now what? Where do you find your customers? How do you keep your income consistent? And how do you maintain a work/life balance?

The truth is, becoming a flower farmer is much more than just knowing how to grow and cut flowers. It's also about being an entrepreneur. You need to know how to market your business, sell your flowers, and manage your finances—and your time.

So, you've decided to start a flower farm—that’s exciting! As you start taking the first steps towards making your love for flowers as a full-time business, it won’t take you long to run into this million dollar question: How many flowers should I grow on my flower farm?

Like most big questions like this, I’m sorry to say that there isn’t a cut and dry answer. The number of flowers that’s right for you depends on a variety of factors—and some of those factors are out of your control.

But while there is no magic formula to tell you exactly how many flowers you should grow, I want to help give you the information you need to help make the best decision for you.

One of the ultimate late-summer/early-fall showstoppers on the flower farm is the dahlia. Dahlias are loved by flower growers and flower buyers alike because of the huge variety of colors, shapes, and sizes they come in.

Hello to all the budding flower enthusiasts and aspiring flower farmers out there! Imagine a field filled with rows of vibrant dahlias in full bloom – a result of your dedication and hard work. If you're ready to step into the world of flower farming, dahlias provide an excellent starting point. The choice of varieties, however, can significantly impact your first season.

Dreaming up and planning your roadside flower stand design is one of the most fun parts of being a flower grower and seller. If you’re already a flower farmer then you already know that it’s a lot less glamorous than social media makes it look. But your roadside stand really can be one of the Instagram- or Pinterest-worthy things on your flower farm.

So you’re scrolling through Pinterest and seeing dreamy roadside stands packed full of beautiful blooms and the healthiest looking produce. And you start getting your own roadside stand ideas and imagining how to design your own.

Sound familiar?

Roadside stands can be a great, convenient way to sell your flowers on your terms. But maybe you don’t know where to start. Or maybe you already have a roadside stand, but it’s not the Pinterest-worthy stand attracting customer after customer.

This guide is meant to help you understand how to open a flower stand and ensure you’ve checked off all the boxes before opening for business.

I recently placed our fall bulb and corm order for our flower farm. I was looking to try a few new varieties of ranunculus and discovered Cloni ranunculus. When I saw the price of just one corm, my first reaction was…

They must be the most gorgeous ranunculus!

Dang, I need to see what these ranunculus are all about!

Picture this—it’s a sunny day and your flower stand is brimming with colorful blooms. Customers are stopping by to grab some for themselves while you’re working out running errands. You stop back at the end of the day and find your flowers gone but your cash box and online bank account don’t add up. Someone took flowers without paying for them.

Flower subscriptions are a great way for flower farmers to generate income, build a loyal customer base, and grow their business. Learn more about how flower subscriptions can work for you and your flower farm.

Discover how flower farmers can thrive in the lucrative flower subscription business, even without season-long blooms. Learn how to navigate challenges, offer seasonal blooms, and build trust with customers. Read more to maximize your flower business success.

I knew in the beginning peonies would have a place at Muddy Acres Flower Farm. 7 years later and they are one of the only 5 flowers we grow. And for good reason. Once they are planted, they require minimal labor. They get better year after year. The demand for peonies is unmatched. They can be shipped across the country and the price per stem is seductive. These qualities make for a dream product.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you may know that I’m a huge advocate of feedback. It’s so valuable to help create trust with your customers and build a successful business. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see that I include polls, questions, and other interactive posts in my story frequently. Why? Because I love hearing my followers' opinions, questions, and thoughts.

My tailgate slowly opened to reveal the goods inside. I felt like I was hustling gold chains in NYC except it wasn’t gold chains. I had tulips that resembled limp spaghetti noodles with a bulb dangling from the bottom. The florist, her staff and the bank tellers from across the parking lot were rummaging through my stash and building piles to buy.

So you’ve decided to finally start your flower business, but you’re still months away from actually having your first bouquet ready to sell. You’re not nearly ready to start marketing yet, right?

Wrong!

It’s never too early to start creating excitement, and more importantly, building a community of future customers.

Growing flowers for profit is a rewarding and sometimes challenging journey. But my flower farming goal is to work smarter, not harder. And that’s one of the reasons I love dahlias and the multiple ways it can help bring money into my business.

Dahlia tubers. The blooms are the queen of the late-summer garden and the tubers are a critical income stream for flower farmers in the dead of winter when their field is dormant. But as you log hour after hour planting, digging, washing, dividing and storing, you start to wonder…is all the time and effort worth it?

So you’re ready to jump head first into growing your own cut flowers and you’ve reached the most exciting part so far: deciding which flowers to grow. But when choosing seeds, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed by the options and just choose the flowers you think are the prettiest. It’s also easy to feel like you need everything — especially when you’re a beginner. 

But what’s more important than having a wide variety of flowers is having types that are are easy to grow, produce a high yield and are still beautiful.

Can we start breaking the unspoken rule we inherited from our grandparents and start talking about making money? I think it’s beyond time to expose the underground world of numbers, sales and profit and utilize this data to show what is possible.

Now that I got that off my chest, let’s get into what this article is all about - how I generated over $250k in sales in one year from my flower farm, Muddy Acres Flower Farm. And did I mention that I had just one (incredible) very part-time employee?