5 Signs Flower Farming is Right for You (and How to Start!)

Starting a flower farm is more than just a business; it's an invitation to cultivate beauty, foster community, and work hand-in-hand with nature in one of the most fulfilling ways.

At Sierra Flower Farm, we've embraced the challenges and rewards of each season, from the vibrant blooms to the hands-on work that nurtures both plants and purpose. While flower farming does come with its share of obstacles, for those drawn to this path, the rewards—lush fields, a connection to the land, and the joy of each new season—far outweigh the hurdles.

Curious to learn more about what flower farming entails and if it’s right for you? Join us as we explore the inspiring journey of building a flower farm, guided by our experiences at Sierra Flower Farm.

Here are five signs that flower farming might be your calling:

• You crave a connection to nature
• You're passionate about environmentally-friendly agriculture
• You’re a creative soul with an entrepreneurial spirit
• You thrive on variety and physical activity
• You cherish community and human connection

1. You crave a connection to nature

Do you love being outdoors and getting your hands dirty?

Manicures will be traded for the ever-chic dirt under your fingernails. Flower farming is a way to connect with nature if you love being outdoors and don’t mind muddy knees and green-stained hands.

There is nothing like babying seedlings in winter to watch them become thriving plants in late spring. The rambling vines of sweet peas in spring, followed by wispy cosmos in summer never get old. Witnessing the transitions of the various seasons will have you looking at blooming branches and faded seed pods in a new light.

Do you appreciate the beauty and fragrance of fresh flowers?

Unlike flowers that have traveled miles, harvested prematurely, and then stored for weeks, homegrown cut flowers are alive and animated. They twist and twirl in the vase, and quirky stems can make for extraordinary floral designs.

Not only are flowers fresh from your cut flower patch lovely to look at, but they also have incredible scents! The sweet pea rows wafting scent at dusk is a special treat! You can purchase a few varieties in stores, but unless they come from a local flower farm, the whole olfactory experience is missing. Locally grown flowers are something special to treasure, from field to vase.

Do you find peace and fulfillment in nurturing living things?

Flower farming requires a nurturer. Working with nature has many positive aspects and beauty, but it also has its share of cold, windy days, sweltering heat, and sneaky spiders. You need to be comfortable working with the various elements of nature, from the weather to the creatures that will find refuge in your flower field. The best part is that you will also be rewarded for your hard work as you nurture.

Working in the field brings a sense of calm and peace. On stressful days, focusing on tackling one necessary task is uplifting. Various studies have even shown the benefits of gardening, both physically and mentally, from reducing anxiety, increasing energy and benefiting our cardiovascular system. (1)

2. You're passionate about environmentally-friendly agriculture

Are you interested in learning more about organic and regenerative growing methods?

Growing on a small scale creates a personal connection between you and the patch of earth you care for. The flower production field is often intertwined with personal space since becoming a flower farmer in your backyard is becoming increasingly popular. We cultivate cut flowers right out our back door, which is one reason we prefer to utilize organic products and practices in our operations.

Over the years, in our growing endeavors, we have observed how much the soil wants to be alive and how badly plants want to grow. Nurturing the soil and growing in it has created a welcoming environment for beneficial insects, creating a robust ecosystem that doesn’t rely on synthetic chemicals. Cut flowers bring a lot of biodiversity into the growing space, and the biodiversity of a flower farm makes using earth-friendly practices more feasible.

We followed the core principle of regenerative agriculture: to leave our growing area better than we found it. 

Depending on your desired product, sales outlets, and scale, you may be interested in taking the principles of regenerative agriculture further by paying a regulatory agency to be certified, such as USDA Organic or Certified Naturally Grown. This may be especially helpful if you want to grow and sell to large grocery chains.

Related: Why Organic Matter is Key to Sustainable Soil Management

Do you have a desire to minimize your carbon footprint?

Minimizing waste is essential in our flower farming operation. We have compost piles to create a full circle of returning what we harvested from the earth. Even in the floristry aspect of our business, we opt to avoid single-use plastic and instead utilize biodegradable and more sustainable tools that can be composted or reused.

Not only do our customers appreciate our sustainable approach, but it also helps our farm's profitability by allowing us to reuse many of our supplies and equipment. Investing in quality supplies from the beginning that we use year after year makes a huge difference, such as propagation trays that don’t break down in less than one season’s use. 

Outside of growing and floristry practices, focusing on our local market has also reduced our carbon footprint, especially compared to the global cut flower trade. We are not relying on energy-consuming greenhouses but instead embrace the seasonality of our flowers and work within that realm. 

Little by little, with a growing collective of flower farmers, we can make a positive impact by minimizing the carbon footprint of the cut flower industry. As the grower, you can decide how to take your patch of earth and breathe life back into it, which is a humbling yet powerful position.

3. You're a creative soul with an entrepreneurial spirit

Do you enjoy artistic expression through floral design?

An value-added skill that pairs wonderfully with growing cut flowers is floral design. Floral design can be as simple as a bouquet or as lavish as a hanging installation at a wedding. Though there are core principles for designing, overall, it is open waters for you to express yourself artistically.

Related: 

Are you excited by the prospect of running your own business?

Transitioning from being a hobbyist gardener to starting a flower farming business requires innovation and dedication. As a flower farmer, you must fulfill multiple roles: grower, businessperson, marketer, floral designer, etc.

Many flower farmers grow great flowers but need more skills to turn that talent into a successful business. The key to a successful flower farming business is embracing and being excited about growing and running a business.

Can you be open to the risks and rewards of self-employment?

Being a business owner who deals with nature takes a lot of guts. Deciding to become self-employed means long hours and inconsistent income. With flower farming, your income is seasonal unless you offer value-added items such as dried flowers during the off-season. The many responsibilities of day-to-day operations require you to wear various hats. This demands an openness to critically assessing your approaches and performances, which can be more challenging than it sounds.

4. You thrive on variety and physical activity

Have you lost interest in a sedentary desk job?

The labor of a flower farm is excellent for someone looking to earn income while staying active. Flower farming can also be a fantastic side hustle that complements another full-time job, especially if that job involves sitting at a desk.

If you have a home garden, you may realize the amount of physical activity even a tiny plot can demand. Cut flowers demand a higher price because they are pretty labor-intensive. Standing and sowing seeds in winter, preparing the growing beds throughout the season, trellising, planting, weeding, harvesting: your body will have aches and pains in ways you never imagined.

Do constantly changing tasks and environments energize you?

Each day is a new adventure as a flower farmer. With endless and varying tasks, something interesting is always happening in the field. Throughout the growing season, the day-to-day tasks change, even weekly, depending on the weather and events you have scheduled. 

Being a flower farmer is excellent for someone who excels at pivoting in tasks and thrives on the unknown and last-minute changes.

Are you capable of hard physical labor and being on your feet or are you able to get help?

Bending, crouching, walking, standing - you will have some achy feet! Flower farming is labor-intensive but rewarding. There are various methods and tools to help lessen the time and physical demands, but the bottom line is that you will work your body.

Flower farming is an excellent fit for someone, or a few people, who can handle the physical demands of growing, arranging, and selling cut flowers. Between repeatedly sowing seeds, standing in the greenhouse, squatting while planting dahlias, or standing during harvesting and arranging designs, the various tasks of flower farming will keep your body moving!

5. You cherish community and human connection

Do you value building relationships with customers and vendors?

Ultimately, we grow flowers for others to appreciate. If customers don’t enjoy them, we can’t sell them.

Flowers have been a vessel for human connection for centuries. On someone’s best day or worst day, flowers have a way of sharing the giver's heart or expressing emotion when there are no words to express those feelings well enough. As the flower farmer, you become an extension of those expressions. 

Building lasting customer relationships requires a flower farmer who genuinely cherishes community and human connection. Flower farming doesn’t mean you are isolated in the field. Instead, the field can bring community. 

Are you passionate about sharing your love of flowers?

To take on the role of a flower farmer, enduring the physical demands and the rollercoaster of successes and challenges takes passion. That passion is a significant factor that sets you apart from the sea of cut flowers in buckets at the grocery store or florist studio.

Humans are drawn to the hero’s journey and like to support businesses when they feel connected to them. They want to share your passion by learning from or supporting you.

Do you want to be part of the local agriculture community?

There is something special about belonging to a community of fellow growers and ranchers. Working with nature is volatile in many ways; there are great ups and downs that the people in your local agriculture community can understand. There are times when this is needed. During frustrating times or crop failure, having others to learn or purchase from as a backup is invaluable. 

Knowing you are not alone in the long work days or with piles of laundry is a comfort. Collaborating and innovating with each other is especially helpful when you are too close to the situation to see a solution or opportunity. As a flower farmer, you can also help grow your local agricultural community by encouraging and welcoming others. 

How to Start Flower Farming

Develop a business plan for your farm.

Having a business plan sounds more intimidating than it is! If you have a background in business and want to create a complete business plan, that’s great! If you don’t, you can create a more informal business plan.

At its core, a business plan is your roadmap to building and running your business while determining its future goals. Penciling your product, conducting market research, and creating a budget are the building blocks for starting a sustainable business.

Choose your niche (cut flowers, dried flowers, etc.)

Some growers cultivate a smattering of flower varieties, and some focus on specific varieties, such as dahlias and peonies. Growing edible or dried flowers is also increasing in popularity. Leaning into your current skills, interests, and market demands can all help you navigate choosing a niche.
You can opt for the cut flower farmer approach, which focuses on growing and selling flowers wholesale, or the farmer florist approach, which involves growing the flowers and selling finished designs.

Some questions to ask yourself:

• What attracts you to flower farming?
• Are you interested in floral design?
• Do you have another career and flower farming will be a side hustle, or are you planning on making it your total income?
• Do you have another skill that could complement flower farming and create a unique niche for you to offer?

Acquire land and necessary equipment.

The great part about flower farming is you don’t need a ton of land to have one!

The amount of land needed to start a flower farm will depend on your business goals and product offerings. You can use the land you already have, even in a small backyard, or rent land. Co-op farms are also becoming more prevalent, allowing growers access to land, infrastructure, and community. No matter which approach you choose to acquire land to grow, you want to ensure it has accessible water.

Necessary equipment will be based on your planned product offerings. You can go as lean as some well-prepared growing beds and seeds that do well direct-sown, such as zinnias and sunflowers. The amount of equipment you will need will depend on which varieties you decide to grow. For example, if you are growing sweet peas, you must have vertical trellising and drip irrigation since they require consistent water. 

One piece of equipment I find invaluable is our floral cooler. A walk-in cooler doesn’t have to be invested in upfront; however, a small floral cooler or industrial refrigerator allows the flexibility to hold flowers for days, weeks, and with some varieties, even months, which has been crucial for us, especially with our event work offerings.

Learn essential growing and harvesting techniques.

Research the varieties you want to grow and start understanding soil health, disease, and pests. Knowing how to succession sow varieties will enable you to harvest flowers consistently throughout the season.

Understanding the harvesting and post-handling of cut flowers is essential. Learn about the best harvesting stages and how to condition the cut flowers properly. Some flowers, such as poppies, benefit from being conditioned in boiling water first, while others, like zinnias, prefer not to be kept in the cooler. Poor handling may result in low-quality products, ultimately reducing sales. 

Build your customer base and marketing strategy.

New flower farmers often focus solely on growing crops without considering what to do once they harvest all the flowers. As a result, they may find themselves with a field full of blooms but no buyers!  

Before being inundated with flowers, you should market and build your customer base. Develop a marketing strategy and a plan for distribution. Establish a website, maintain a social media presence, and connect with local businesses, florists, wholesalers, and wedding venues. Begin sharing your flower farm’s narrative, fostering anticipation and customer engagement.

FAQs

How much land do I need for flower farming?

The amount of land you need to start a flower farm will depend on what you are looking to accomplish and sell. 

A flower farm can be started with minimal space. Flowers produce prolifically and can be planted closely. We started ours with 1600 square feet and now have half an acre of cut flower production. 

To keep the flower farm manageable as a first-year flower farmer, you should keep a quarter acre or less of annual flowers, especially if working alone. Most cut flower farms in the United States are five acres or less, showing you don’t need a ton of land to flower farm successfully.

What kind of equipment is required?

The equipment required to start a flower farm will depend on your approach to growing. You only need soil, seeds, water, buckets, clippers, and rubber bands at a base level. 

Starting varieties from seed may require a propagation house, or indoor space, and some seed-starting supplies unless you plan on growing cultivars that thrive with direct sowing.

You may need additional equipment as you expand and sell more flowers. 

What are the initial investments involved in flower farming?

Time will be your biggest initial investment, followed by seeds, tubers, bulbs, and plugs with supporting supplies, such as seed starting supplies, irrigation, and trellising. Buckets, quality clippers, and rubber bands are the basic investments for harvesting and selling flowers. 

Creating a website, obtaining insurance, acquiring necessary business licenses, registering a Doing Business As (DBA) name, and obtaining growth licenses are some essential initial investments, dependent on the state. Some will be one-time costs, while others will be annual or monthly fees.

Creating a budget and deciding how much you can comfortably invest to start your flower farm will help you decide which initial investments are necessary while keeping you from making too many impulse purchases.

How do I get certified as an organic grower?

To become a certified organic grower, you must apply through the USDA and fulfill its requirements, which include inspections and paying a fee. 

For a small-scale grower on a budget, it is worth looking into Naturally Grown Certified. This label has similar requirements as the organic label, but instead of the USDA inspecting and certifying, it is a peer-reviewed non-profit organization. 

How can I sell my flowers locally?

Contact local businesses, farmer market managers, florists, or wholesalers. If you are on a busy street, a flower stand or offering a U-pick are other great options, as agritourism is currently in demand. 

Related: Finding Your Cut Flower Market

What are the most profitable flower varieties to grow?

Dahlias, ranunculus, and peonies demand a higher price per stem than many other varieties. Even though more labor-intensive, dahlias are our most profitable and highest-in-demand crop for selling cut flowers and extra tubers that grow well in our climate.

For a local flower farmer, focusing on selling the best varieties from a local grower's niche will reduce competition and increase profitability. Cosmos, zinnias, dahlias, and sweet peas are particularly sought after from a local grower.

Can flower farming be done part-time or as a side hustle?

Yes, flower farming is scalable and can be done part-time or as a side hustle!

Many people have decided to start flower farming while maintaining their full-time occupations. Growing cut flowers is scalable and flexible, so it can fit into your life. This approach requires patience, self-control, and careful planning, but it can be done successfully.

(1) Cardiovascular health study: https://ucanr.edu/sites/Mariposa/files/323411.pdf

Mental health benefits: https://health.osu.edu/health/general-health/health-benefits-of-gardening

https://today.tamu.edu/2022/05/18/the-positive-effects-of-gardening-on-mental-health/

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2073/2023/11/The-Health-Benefits-of-Gardening.pdf

Written by: Jessica Chase, Sierra Flower Farm, Photography by: Graham Chase, Sierra Flower Farm