Book Review: Specialty Cut Flowers

Everything That You Ever Needed to Know About the Science of Growing Cut Flowers For Market, But Were Afraid to Ask.
 

SPECIALTY CUT FLOWERS
The Production of Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, and Woody Plants for Fresh and Dried Cut Flowers.
By Allan M. Armitage and Judy M. Laushman.
Illustrated. 586 pp. Timber Press. $39.95

Americans buy over one billion dollars of cut flower bouquets every year. They buy flowers for many occasions and many reasons, all year round. Many of the flowers for sale in this country, especially carnations, roses and other traditional bouquet flowers, are imported from other countries. However, the trend toward "alternative" specialty cut flowers such as cosmos, snapdragons, sunflowers and zinnias, has created a profitable opening for small, local flower growers.

If you are serious about growing specialty cut flowers for profit, it is very important to identify which types of flowers will both grow and generate lots of sales for your farm. There are thousands of varieties of flowers to choose from, each with different needs: some like to be grown in greenhouses, others outdoors, still others will require staking, trellising or other labor-intensive growing methods. At the bottom line, all that will matter is that you were able to grow a beautiful flower, harvest and handle it correctly and market it, successfully.

The second edition of Specialty Cut Flowers, by Allan M. Armitage, a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia, Athens and Judy M. Laushman, the executive director of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers, is a book that will help guide any grower, whether a novice or a veteran, through the maze of flower variety selection, propagation, growing, harvest and beyond.

The book begins with general information about cut flower production and post-harvest handling. It contains gems of information that are often overlooked by producers eager to break into cut flower sales. For instance, the importance of cooling flowers after harvest to slow their deterioration and increase their vase life is emphasized: "For the producer, growing cut flowers without a cooler is like having a restaurant without a kitchen. Warm temperatures cause increased water loss, loss of stored food, and rapid reduction of vase life."

The bulk of this book is dedicated to examining cut flower varieties and cultivars in detail. The information is organized alphabetically by flower variety, starting with Achillea (yarrow) and ending with Zinnia, with dozens of varieties in between. The propagation and environmental requirements as well as the field and/or greenhouse performance, harvesting and post-harvest handling requirements and common pests and disease problems of each variety are discussed.

Some of the variety descriptions also include comments about the flower from real-life cut flower growers. These comments are a highlight of this book, and are sure to help other growers decide which varieties to try on their own farms. Comments such as "The [Allium] caeruleums had quite a strong oniony smell-true, only when you cut the stems-but enough to scare even our most adventurous florists away." really do encapsulate the nitty-gritty, day to day practicalities of a flower variety much better than facts and figures do.

However, facts and figures are necessary to the science of cut flower production, and this book does an excellent job of relating them. Not only is the information present, it is well-researched and documented as opposed to anecdotal and/or fanciful. In fact, each varietals' description has a list of recommended reading, often from horticultural journals and other academic publications, to go along with it.

This book is illustrated, though mostly with line drawings. There are color photographs of some of the flowers described in the book, but these photos are all bundled together between pages 64 and 65 of the book as opposed to being placed next to the description of the flower that they illustrate.

Although it's probably not within the mission or scope of this ambitious text, it would have been nice if it had included comments from florists or other flower buyers, both wholesale and retail. This information would surely help growers decide which varieties to grow. More grower comments and more color illustrations alongside the plant's descriptions would also be helpful in this respect.

This book does an excellent job of presenting facts about how to grow specific varieties of cut flowers. It is by no means "light reading" but is a reference text that is sure to be well-used and treasured by any cut flower grower who is serious about producing fine quality flowers.

~Tammy Biondi

Tammy Biondi is a former suburbanite who moved to the country in order to dedicate herself to the farm and garden life. She grows and sells organic plants and vegetables and uses the knowledge she gains from her professional experiences to make a beautiful and bountiful home garden for herself and her family.