The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers’ Virginia Grower Intensive I recently attended was certainly true to its mission statement, “Grow/Share/Learn/Tour.” From the first Q&A session to the last flower farm tour, I learned that flower farming is serious business.

As a first-time attendee and a floral designer, not a grower, I arrived feeling a bit out of my element. However, the first attendee I met is both a grower and a designer, so we quickly found common ground. In fact, many people in the business of growing flowers are also floral designers. Since my first experience buying fresh flowers from a local grower four years ago, I have committed my business to sourcing only locally grown flowers and foliage to use in my floral design work.

The main reason I attended this event was to learn how to grow flowers and foliage in high tunnels that offer a vertical production environment, so I could take advantage of an opportunity I have been offered to grow at a friend’s produce and Christmas tree farm 10 miles from my home in Fredericksburg, VA.

Attendees at the ASCFG Virginia Grower Intensive during a field demonstration.High tunnels are also called cold frames or hoop houses, although hoops have rounded tops while tunnels are pointed at the top, like a house roof. The Grower Intensive presentations and farm tours provided me with the information I was seeking. Seeing flowers growing in high tunnels on two of the farms we visited was just the motivation I needed to pursue the opportunity I now have. I learned which flowers and foliage do well in tunnels, and how critical the timing is for sowing, planting and harvesting.

The experienced growers who presented, and others who attended, were generous and honest in sharing both successes and failures in their growing journeys. I was able to take detailed photographs while touring the farms as a visual reference for my growing plans. Many flowers from bulbs, corms and tubers can be grown in high tunnels, and there was an excellent presentation on growing those in both field and tunnel by Dave Dowling from Ednie Flower Bulb Inc. in Newton, NJ.

Another presentation on field growing of hardy annuals in the fall for early spring harvest by Lisa Mason Zeigler from Gardener’s Workshop in Newport News, VA, was so compelling that I have already started growing seeds I purchased from her, using the precise methodology she shared in her presentation and her book on the subject.

There were two presentations that directly addressed the floral design focus of my business. The first was an efficient technique for bouquet building for larger markets. The farmer-florist who gave that demonstration, Gretel Adams from Sunny Meadows Flower Farm in Columbus, OH, also provided information on wholesale and retail pricing. Another presentation on establishing and maintaining successful farmer-florist relationships was given jointly by a florist and a flower farmer, Ellen Frost from Local Color Flowers in Baltimore, and Laura Beth Resnick from Butterbee Farm in Pikesville, MD.

As a floral designer, it is such a meaningful and rewarding experience to buy directly from the people growing the flowers. My customers can see and smell the quality and I feel good about supporting smaller, local flower growers. With support from the ASCFG, I may in fact be joining their ranks.

Kathy Wirtala, is owner and designer at Virginia Flora in Fredericksburg, VA. She can be contacted at [email protected].