Well, the break’s over for this flower farmer. I don’t know how it happened, but it seemed like overnight the to-do lists switched from weekly to daily, and I’m already finding it hard to accomplish all that needs to be done in a day. Coupled with a few unexpected life events, it’s been a bit hectic the last couple of weeks, but I’m here, quietly chugging along. It’s March, after all, and there’s not much time to dwell on things out of our control. Things move into high gear now, in anticipation of spring planting, and I’m hoping March brings us better luck and lots of sunshine.

Mid-February is when I begin the process of soaking and sprouting both anemones and ranunculus for a mid-March planting. In 2024 I started them even earlier and had the first few hundred planted out in the greenhouse by early March. Interestingly, despite a head start of a couple of weeks the bloom time remained the same (first and second weeks of June). I won’t dive into the process here, since I didn’t intend for this to be a growing guide (and there are countless resources already available online).

I did write about this crop in a recent Instagram post, though, which briefly touched on my thoughts on its viability as a cut flower. Here’s what I had to say, in case you missed it;

“Won't be long now, before these lovely blooms grace us with their presence.But before that there is the soaking and sprouting and transplanting that has to happen and...oh, hauling buckets of water from our bathtub out to the greenhouse and tucking them in every night and uncovering them every morning. And then May arrives and it's the hot, searing sun beating down on the greenhouse and, well, they don't like that either so out comes the shade cloth. On, off, on, off. You get the picture.

They are the Goldilocks of this cut flower farm, and every stem is hard won. This isn't self-congratulatory by any means, just the simple truth shared openly. They're not inherently hard to grow, but time-consuming, layered. My question is: Will it be a banner year for a crop that's only proven mediocre so far, in terms of output? Time will tell, I suppose, what 2025 has in store for us.”

If I were to look at this crop from a clinical standpoint (let’s say I’m an accountant working with a grower), I would recommend cutting this particular crop from the grow list despite it being one of the most popular. There are a lot of reasons for that: one, the amount of labour that goes into growing these is really difficult to recoup. They get planted out when the ground is still frozen, and for at least two months need a lot of attention to ensure they don’t freeze at night or become too hot during the day. And since the water isn’t turned on until late April, that means hauling water by hand to and from our house at least twice a week, for irrigation. It’s estimated that most plants will yield 3-6 stems, even as many as 12, but I’m lucky to cut three stems per plant. Some plants will produce one or two, some none at all, and the odd one will throw out four or five stems (maybe just to string me along a little longer!). Coupled with the fact that ranunculus are expensive to purchase, it’s really difficult to fetch the suggested price-per-stem ($3-4) to make it worthwhile. So, why grow them?

There’s a question that gets thrown around a lot in the flower farming world, and that’s whether us growers should grow what we love or what sells. My thoughts on that subject lie somewhere in the middle. There’s no point growing something you love if no one’s going to buy it. On the other hand, if you focus growing only what your customer wants, you may find yourself quickly uninspired and resentful of the situation you find yourself in. There’s got to be some middle ground, a comfortable place where you grow what you and your customers love.

And I do love this flower just as much as my customers do, which makes it all the more difficult to decide on its future here at the farm. When the blooms come along in spring it’s easy to get swayed by their beauty and all the attention they garner, and forget that it’s a questionable crop from a business standpoint. I’m hoping that by closely tracking the numbers this spring I can get a clear, concise picture of where we stand, and in doing able enable me to make the best decision for the farm going forward. I’ve still got hope for this crop; fingers crossed it’s a banner year for them.

As I said on Instagram, time will tell what this season has in store for us. For now, I’m focused on season six and all the beautiful varieties of ranunculus and anemone that will arrive in just a few months for Spring & Premium subscribers!

I’ll be back soon with a week nine update.

~ Liisa