Much of the country is still dealing with the last winter storm that had us using terms like “polar vortex” and “record-breaking snowfall”, but for those of us who garden, we’re counting down the days until spring arrives! If you dream of growing flowers by the armful like me, today’s book review for The Cut Flower Handbook by Lisa Mason Ziegler is for you.
Select. Plant, Grow, and Harvest Gorgeous Blooms!
My thanks to Quarto for the complimentary copy of The Cut Flower Handbook. All opinions are my own.
Are you ready to learn the ins and outs of growing gorgeous blooms at home with professional flower farmer Lisa Mason Ziegler of @gardenersworkshopfarm on Instagram? If you follow her too, I’m sure the answer is a resounding yes! Her feed is full of helpful information. Lisa is “your friend in flowers” online and in the handbook.
About The Cut Flower Handbook by Lisa Mason Ziegler :Published: February 27th, 2024, Publisher: Cool Springs Press, Hardcover- 240 pages, Genre: Gardening/House/Home
Book Synopsis:
“Whether you’re cultivating fresh-cut bouquets for yourself, family, and friends or others on a small commercial scale, you’ll go from sowing seeds to cutting armloads of colorful, long-lasting blooms with ease.
Lisa’s unique approach and easy-to-follow advice on multi-season planting and harvesting uses the natural warm and cool weather cycles present in almost all growing regions to maximize cut flower production.”
Courtesy: Quarto
“Growing your own cut flowers means you can avoid bouquets laden with pesticides (who wants that on their wedding day?) and you can skip the trips to your local flower shop or grocery store to pay big bucks for a bouquet that has racked up more airline miles than you could ever hope to.
This logical and nature-driven method is also a signature hallmark of her super-successful online flower-farming courses, and it translates equally well to both small urban backyards and large rural flower farms.”
Topics Covered in Cut Flower Handbook Include:
- Planting tips for a succession of blooms that carry over from one growing season to the next without any additional work from you.
- 50 extensive flower profiles divided into their preferred season of growth. Cool-weather favorites include poppies, snapdragons, and bells of Ireland. Warm-season beauties include zinnias, sunflowers, and celosia.
- Over 200 photographs of the best-cut flowers for home gardeners to grow, the most effective methods for their care, and the most productive ways to organize them in the garden.
My Thoughts:
Don’t let the things you don’t have (a big plot of land, or a greenhouse) stop you. Lisa says for a cutting garden, a small garden is better. You'll learn step by step with Lisa. She begins with the basics and works you through the process all the way to how to correctly harvest and store your flowers. Here's an outline:
- The Cut Flower Concept gives you a three-season annual cutting garden.
- The Basics of Growing Cut Flowers include:
- Best bed location
- Bed preparation
- Seed Starts (indoors vs. in the Garden)
- Cool-Season Hardy Annuals- 41 of the best cool-season flowers to grow
- Warm-Season Tender Annuals- 25 of the best warm-season flowers to grow
- Planting Succession
- Harvesting How To’s
The Takeaway:
Courtesy:Quarto
In reading The Cut Flower Handbook, I realized there is a distinct difference between being a home garden flower grower and being a cut flower gardener.
I may never have a field of Sunflowers to harvest and sell at a little flower stand *although that would be dreamy) but, I can certainly utilize all the teachings found in The Cut Flower Handbook to increase my flower yield this year, and who knows? I just may grow enough beautiful blooms that I can make my wreaths and more.
I invite you to learn more about The Cut Flower Handbook and its author, including ways to purchase a copy by visiting Quarto.com. You can also follow all of us on Instagram.Me/Lisa/Quarto And be sure to check out my other recent book reviews and recommendations using the Books tab here on the blog.
I hope this book has inspired you to make a list of flowers you love seeing and would like to grow. The time to start seeds indoors is here! It’s almost spring! Please share in comments: Have you ever dreamed of growing flowers for bouquets? |
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