Last June, Flatland Flowers expanded operations to include cut flower bouquets. This is a project I had been dreaming of for the past few years, but never quite came together. With quarantine in the spring of 2020, we were able to focus and create the space to make this dream a reality.
We began by creating a small (35′ x 12′) garden space in our backyard. We removed the struggling turf, tilled the soil once exposed, then spread 12 bags of composted cotton burrs and manure on top. We mounded the compost in to three beds, each two foot wide and 35 feet long. The compost was thoroughly watered to build up moisture in the mounds, and then covered with a plastic landscape barrier. We created a 6″ plant spacing template which was used with a torch to burn holes in the plastic barrier.
I grow ProCut Sunflowers, which produce a single bloom, and can be harvested at 50 days. My planting area is run in two planting cycles – half of the garden is preparing for this month’s harvest, while the other half is beginning to grow for the following month.
Check out the images below which show the stages of bud to bloom. This whole process takes about 5 to 7 days.
