Timeline for producing Northwest cut flowers,
herbaceous perennials and shrubs

Beginning entrepreneurs rarely understand the time commitment involved in growing the plants commonly sold through a wholesale nursery, or at a retail garden center. While its possible to grow a plant from seed, cutting, or division, and carry it all the way through to sale, most managers choose to enter the schedule at an intermediary time in order to reduce the time delay of initial propagation. A plant in a container is not money in the bank, or possibly better yet, the stock market. It's imperative to remember that return on investment only comes when the plant is sold.

For the majority of plants sold at a garden center, there is generally an industry expected size at maturity. For example, most shade trees are sold in 15-20 gallon pots when they are 1-2 inches in diameter, 6 inches up from the base of the stem (1). While it is possible to keep a woody shrub or tree for a longer period of time and sell it as a large specimen container plant, these are the exceptions, rather than the rule.

Pofits and cash flow
As in any other small business, nurseries and garden center managers have to attain a certain level of yearly cash flow in order to stay solvent. A business will fail if it does not have sufficient resources to buy raw materials, pay workers on time, or wait until accounts receivable arrive. Cash flow however, is not the same as profit. In order for a plant producing nursery or retail garden center to show profits, cash flow has to exceed, by some percentage (margin) the amount of money it takes to stay solvent. While projected paper profits can look very good on a computer monitor, a small business can still quickly fold until a certain level of income arrives (2). In the world of selling plants, a shortened production timeline is the best way to achieve both a healthy cash flow and hopefully a lucrative profit margin.

Cut flowers
In the floral trade, cut flowers include must include the following (3):

In northern climates, outdoor grown flowers can be cut from April right up until the first fall frost. For small acreage flower growers, local niche markets are best. Options include both retail and wholesale florists, road-side stands, and Farmer's markets. The U.S. Department of Agriculture maintains a web site (4) that lists the wholesale prices for cut flowers in Seattle, WA.

Annuals for cut flowers
Annuals grow from seed, flower, and then die all in one year. When started as seeds they often germinate in as little as 7 days. In order to ensure a continuous supply of flowers throughout the spring and summer, annuals can be started every 1-2 weeks either outdoors or in a greenhouse. Growing cut flowers is a labor intensive job that does not require extensive land holdings. In a 1995 publication (5) by Lynn Byszynski, the author outlines a plan where ½ acre of well managed annual flowers grown in Kansas can gross $15,000. Popular annual species would include:

Annuals are generally divided into two categories: those that are suitable as bedding plants for mass planting, and those that can also be grown as cut flowers for the florist trade. Besides the more common outdoor production of annuals, greenhouse production is also possible. For a complete description of indoor growing techniques consult Alan Armitage's book entitled: Specialty Cut Flowers (8).

Perennials for cut flowers
The perennials more commonly used for cut flowers are listed below. There are many other perennials that can be used as well (9).

Perennials are plants with a life span of more than two years. In general perennials do not start flowering until their second year of production. Cold temperatures are often required to break dormany or initiate flowering (6). Perennials are widely forced in greenhouses to provide flowers during the winter months. The U.S. flower market has been experiencing severe import pressure from South America in terms of roses orchids, carnations, and florist chrysanthemums. Demand has shifted from the higher priced U.S. grown cut flowers towards the cheaper imported cut flowers from Columbia, and Peru. The market for cut flowers peaked in 1997 (10), and has since been declining. Imports now make up 60% of the total cut flower market. U.S. flower producer have since shifted production towards flowering potted plants, bedding and garden center plants, and foliage plants. For a complete list of perennials that are used for cut flowers consult with reference 9.

Bulbs for cut flowers
Bulbs are grown both as herbaceous perennials as well as cut flowers. The most commonly used ones in the Pacific Northwest are listed below.

Bulbs are planted in the fall and flowers are harvested the following spring. Generally harvesting the flower prevents the bulb from flowering again the following year.

Herbaceous perennials
In general most garden perennials are started from either seed or plugs in year one, allowed to over-winter, and are then sold as blooming plants in the spring of their second year. In the past perennials were propagated and then transplanted into the field. The following year they were dug up by hand from the field and sold in bags to customers. More recently they have come to be largely grown in containers for ease of handling by both the grower and the customer (11). Typically growers will start with small plugs (small established plants started from seeds by a propagator) which are established into containers of various sizes (4", quart, 1 and 2 gallon) in the spring. Plants are allowed to grow into the fall and then through the winter to vernalize (meet their chilling requirement in order to bloom). Winter protection may be required to protect the pots over the winter (12). Some growers pot up plug plants in the winter and sell juvenile plants (non-flowering plants in their first year) in the spring. While juvenile plants can spare the grower the time and expense of over-wintering, their lack of flowers can discourage sales unless color-full tags are included in the pots.

Some of the commonly sold perennials:

Deciduous and evergreen shrubs
Shrubs are commonly propagated and sold in the Pacific Northwest. While there are growers who grow them in the field the bulk of the production have now moved into containers. Shrubs are propagated using hard-wood, soft-wood, or greenwood cuttings (13). After rooting, the plant material is potted up into containers and grown for another 1-3 years depending upon the desirable size and species sold. Flowering deciduous shrubs, which are usually sold after they have attained a size of 3'-4', typically require 1-2 years in a container. Evergreen shrubs are often held for 2-3 years in a container. Commonly sold shrubs in the Pacific Northwest (14, 15):

References
1. Root ball size standards. American Standard for Nursery Stock ANSI 60.1, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

2. Going with cash flow. 1998. Jay Golt. In: The Street-Smart Entrepreneur. Published by Addicus Books, Omaha, NE.

3. Specialty cut flowers, a commercial growers guide. 1992. Alan Stevens and Karen Gast. Kansas State University. This is a 34-page PDF file.

4. Wholesale cut flower price reports. Seattle WA report. Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

5. The Half-Acre Flower Plan. 1995. Lynn Byszynski, Flairplan Publications, Lawrence Kansas.

6. Sustainable cut flower production. 2000. Lane Greer, agriculture specialist, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas.

7. The Flower Farmer. An Organic Grower's Guide to Raising and Selling Cut Flowers. 1997. Lynn Byszynski. Chelea Green Publishing Company, White River Junction, Vermont.

8. Specialty Cut Flowers, the Production of Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, and Woody Plants for Fresh and Dried Cut Flowers. 1993. Allan Armitage. Varsity Press/Timber Press, Portland, OR.

9. Perennials for cut flowers. Leonard P. Perry, Extension Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Science, University of Vermont.

10. Floriculture and Nursery Crops Situation and Outlook 2003. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Trade and Market Economics Division.

11. Herbaceous Perennial Production, A Guide from Propagation to Marketing. 1998. Leonard Perry. University of Vermont Extension Service. Available from: Northeast Regional Agricultural Extension Service, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, New York. 220 pages. Publication: NRAES 93.

12. The Greenhouse and Nursery Handbook, A Complete Guide to Growing and Selling Ornamental Plants. 2000. Francis Jozwik. Published by Andmar Press, Mills, Wyoming.

13. Rooting for you: Plant propagation with stem cuttings. Dick Bir and Ted Bilderback, North Carolina State University.

14. Directory and Buyers Guide, 2003-2004. Oregon Association of Nurseries, Wilsonville, OR.

15. Landscape plants, images, identification, and information. Patrick Breen, Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University.

First posted: December, 2004.