This episode is an interview that Lisa recently did on The Flower Podcast with host Scott Shepherd. Scott and Lisa covered a broad range of topics, including: The importance of evaluating your season & your goals regularly How perfectionism is a hindrance to success (70% is good enough!) Making every effort to start your business with cash (debt-free) Take the time to get to know your market & what your clients want Always eat the ugly frog first! If you haven't listened...

This episode features a takeover of our popular weekly live Q&A session on Instagram, called Ask a Flower Farmer. It was guest-hosted by Dave Dowling of Ball/ColorLink, a former flower farmer and the instructor for our online course: ⁠⁠⁠Flower Farming School Online: Bulbs, Perennials, Woodies, and More⁠⁠⁠. Dave is always happy to share his knowledge with our listeners!  Topics Covered Watering Tips for Sunflowers & Lilies Growing Limelight Hydrangeas Tips for Fall Planting...

Whether you're new or improving your farm, these insights can help. The journey can be tough, but with commitment and adaptability, the rewards are worth it. Take the time to learn and experiment—your efforts will pay off. 1. Find Your Markets Understanding your market is the first step to successful crop planning. Consider factors like demand and pricing, which can change quickly, making thorough analysis vital. Identify Your Customers: Know your target audience, whether florists,...

Hey, friends! It's Lisa Mason Ziegler, and today we're diving into the topic of time management in flower farming. Let’s explore how to make the most of your time while building your flower business. Key Points to Consider Everyone Has the Same 24 Hours: Remember, everyone has the same amount of time each day. It's all about how you choose to spend it. Effective Time Management is Essential: Flower farming involves juggling many tasks like planting, harvesting, and marketing. You need...

Sales & Pricing in Your First Season of Flower Farming Welcome to flower farming! If you're new to this industry, knowing about sales and pricing is crucial. This podcast covers strategies for your first season, including pricing transparency and customer loyalty. The Importance of Pricing Transparency Pricing transparency is key for your flower farming business. It's about being clear with customers and aligning with industry standards. Asking customers what they would pay can harm...

Marketing in Your First Season as a Flower Farmer Hello, friends! Welcome back to another episode of Field & Garden, where I help anyone, anywhere, learn how to grow cut flowers. Today, I'm excited to share some valuable tips on marketing and selling flowers, especially in your first season. This is such an important topic, and I hope to inspire you to take action!  Getting Ready for Your First Season Let’s dive into how to market your flowers before you even have them! This is...

Lisa shares her 2025 plan to downsize her growing space and encourages those with smaller spaces to optimize their production in the following areas: bed spacing and maintenance, soil health, weed prevention, intensive planting techniques, and succession planting.    Mentions Podcast: Seed Talk with Lisa & Layne Free Phone App: The Gardener's Workshop Live Shop Lennie's Online Course: Profitable Flower Farming Products: Bio360, Flower Support Netting Irrigation...

Lisa lays the groundwork for you to succeed out of the gate, rather than suffering through failures to find your way to a great cut flower garden. Whether you're new to the cutting garden concept or you've been unsuccessful starting one in the past, listen in for the three key factors that will lead you down the path to gorgeous cut flowers! Mentions Lisa's Book: ⁠The Cut Flower Handbook Lisa's Online Course, ⁠Flower Farming School Online: Basics, Annual Crops, Marketing, and...

Discover essential insights into the world of flower farming, where passion meets perseverance! This episode dives deep into the heart of flower farming, unraveling the layers of determination, business acumen, and preparation needed to thrive. From the first-hand experience of someone who started their journey 25+ years ago, learn about the highs and lows of stepping into the unknown, the resilience required to overcome the myriad challenges, and the critical importance of a strong...

Today’s episode features our popular weekly live Q&A session on Instagram called Ask a Flower Farmer. This one was hosted by Lisa Mason Ziegler, a flower farmer with over 25 years of experience, author, online instructor, founder of The Gardener's Workshop, and self-proclaimed "head bottle washer." During this session in early May, she fielded questions on the following topics... Topics: buckwheat cover crop, weed suppression & prevention, harvesting strawflowers, how to store...

Today’s episode features a takeover of our popular weekly live Q&A session on Instagram, called Ask a Flower Farmer. This one featured guest host Lennie Larkin, author of Flower Farming for Profit and owner of B-Side Farm in Oregon. She is also one of our course instructors here at The Gardener’s Workshop. In this Q&A Lennie fielded questions about bouquet pricing, floral design, how to research your local market, and more. Topics: Tiered pricing for bouquets, principles of floral...

In this episode, Lisa visits Emma Mobley's flower farm in Suffolk, VA. Emma shares her journey of transitioning to flower farming and discusses her new business model, focusing on spring and fall blooms. Listen as she reveals her selling strategies, challenges, and what the future holds for End of Nowhere Flower Farm. Note: video version of this podcast available on our YouTube channel Mentions Website: ⁠End of Nowhere Flower Farm Find Emma on ⁠Instagram⁠ or ⁠Facebook⁠ ⁠Discover our...

Today’s episode features a takeover of our popular weekly live Q&A session on Instagram, normally called Ask a Flower Farmer. This one, however, we called Ask a Florist, and it featured guest hostess Ellen Frost of Local Color Flowers in Baltimore, MD. Ellen is a floral designer who creates exclusively with flowers and foliage purchased from local growers.  She is also one of our course instructors here at The Gardener’s Workshop. In this Q&A Ellen fielded questions about floral...

I had a wonderful time visiting Torrie Anderson's place, The Flower Farm at Youngs Mill, back in June. Located just a couple of miles from my farm here in Virginia, Torrie is one of my dedicated students who has truly embraced the lessons and made remarkable progress! Now in her third year of flower farming with her husband and four children, join me to learn about Torrie's journey and hear her plans for the future. Mentions Website: The Flower Farm at Youngs Mill Find Torrie on...

This episode features a takeover of our popular weekly live Q&A session on Instagram, called Ask a Flower Farmer. It was guest-hosted by Dave Dowling of Ball/ColorLink, a former flower farmer and the instructor for our online course: ⁠⁠⁠Flower Farming School Online: Bulbs, Perennials, Woodies, and More⁠⁠⁠. Dave is always happy to share his knowledge with our listeners! Here, he answers questions about snapdragons, baptisia, ranunculus, peonies, larkspur, lisianthus, and so much...

These are the top 5 mistakes I see folks making related to Cool Flowers, don't be one of them! 1. Not knowing your first & last frost dates, along with your lowest expected winter temperature 2. Not preparing your garden beds ahead of time 3. Not knowing how each seed prefers to be started (indoors or outside, direct sow vs transplants) 4. Not providing the right environmental conditions seed sprouting and optimal seedling growth (light, temperature, air, and water)  5....

If you are a Southerner or a Northerner you may think the Cool Flower concept doesn't work for you, but nothing could be further from the truth! When you find your planting time sweet spot you will be the envy of all your grower friends, and your customers will think you are nothing short of a miracle worker! As a Southerner, I spent years at the farmers market watching customers love on my sweet peas and tell me why they can't be grown here - Ha! Meanwhile I hear from my northern...

Stepping away and looking at the big picture, it is easy to see why and how we have been skipping over spring crops. Some of us go to extremes to get warm plants blooming sooner than they should be and others are still planting this family way too late to reap the rewards that well-established plants give. Warm-season plants are familiar, which makes them seem easier to grow. I want to fast forward to where this journey of embracing seasonality with cool-season hardy annuals can...

Why Grow Annuals? I stumbled into growing annuals. I initially began planting perennials but I quickly saw the errors of my way-- I was going to run out of space, QUICK! As my business was gaining more demand than flowers I had-- I became a little crazy figuring out how to make the most of my total property of 1.17 acres that also had my home and outbuildings. I already had a nice stand of hydrangeas in our landscape and thought-- bingo, use it all. But then I needed a consistent...

This episode features a takeover of our popular “Ask a Flower Farmer” live Q&A session on Instagram. Daniel Schavey of Petal Pickers Flower Co. in Greenville, SC hosted this one. Daniel is an 8th-year flower farmer growing in zone 8a and an alumnus of most of The Gardener’s Workshop’s online courses. Here, he answers questions on topics such as Mother’s Day flowers and pricing, ordering plugs vs. starting from seed, purchasing and saving ranunculus corms, and so much more! Other...

Take control now, because if you don’t, nobody will! Resist distractions, structure your workdays to get the tasks that matter done, grow more of less, endlessly market your business, and streamline everything! Mentions Lisa's Favorite Hat to Beat the Heat! Lisa's Book, Cool Flowers ⁠Shop the TGW Online Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for all your seeds and supplies!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Field and Garden Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is...

In this episode, Lisa and our newest TGW instructor Lennie Larkin offer a look inside our online course, Profitable Flower Farming. Mentions Online Course: ⁠Profitable Flower Farming with Lennie Larkin⁠ ⁠Shop the TGW Online Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for all your seeds and supplies!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Field and Garden Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

In this episode, Lisa and guest Lennie Larkin discuss her journey into flower farming, her move to Oregon, and the creation of her educational business. They also delve into the challenges of profitable flower farming, the future of the domestic cut flower industry, and introduce Lennie's new online course published by The Gardener's Workshop. Mentions New Online Course: Profitable Flower Farming with Lennie Larkin Shop the TGW Online Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for all your seeds and...

This episode features a takeover of our popular weekly live Q&A session on Instagram, called Ask a Flower Farmer. Guest-hosted by Dave Dowling of Ball/ColorLink, also a former flower farmer and the instructor for our online course: ⁠⁠Flower Farming School Online: Bulbs, Perennials, Woodies, and More⁠⁠. Dave is always happy to share his knowledge with our listeners! Here, he answers questions about lilies, ranunculus, peonies, lisianthus, calla lilies, and so much more. Other...