Description

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The bouquet-growing bible gardeners have been waiting for! Learn the ins and outs of growing gorgeous blooms at home with professional flower farmer Lisa Mason Ziegler of @gardenersworkshopfarm.

Whether you’re cultivating fresh-cut bouquets for yourself, family, and friends or for others on a small commercial scale, you’ll go from sowing seeds to cutting armloads of colorful, long-lasting blooms with ease. Lisa’s unique approach and easy-to-follow advice on multi-season planting and harvesting uses the natural warm and cool weather cycles present in almost all growing regions to maximize cut flower production.

This logical and nature-driven method is also a signature hallmark of her super-successful online flower-farming courses, and it’s one that translates equally well to both small urban backyards and large rural flower farms.

Growing your own cut flowers means you can avoid bouquets laden with pesticides (who wants that on their wedding day?) and you can skip the trips to your local flower shop or grocery store to pay big bucks for a bouquet that has racked up more airline miles than you could ever hope to. 

Included in this essential cut flower growing handbook are:
 

• 50 extensive flower profiles divided into their preferred season of growth. Cool-weather favorites include poppies, snapdragons, and bells of Ireland. Warm-season beauties include zinnias, sunflowers, and celosia. 
• Planting tips for a succession of blooms that carry over from one growing season to the next without any additional work from you.
• Illustrations showing how to pinch plants for more blooms, how to make your cuts, how to erect support netting to keep your flowers straight and upright, how to dig a planting bed, and more.
• Over 200 photographs of the best cut flowers for home gardeners to grow, the most effective methods for their care, and the most productive ways to organize them in the garden.
• Advice on caring for a cutting garden, locating the best planting site, starting plants from seed, making the harvest, prolonging the life of your cut flowers, and so much more!

The Cut Flower Handbook is the perfect balance of inspiration and education for anyone interested in bringing more beauty into their lives by growing cut flowers at home.

About the Author

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Lisa Mason Ziegler is an accomplished speaker and the owner of the Gardener’s Workshop, a thriving small cut-flower market farm. She began her career selling cut flowers to local florists and Colonial Williamsburg, a business that soon grew to include florists, supermarkets, farmer’s markets, a garden-share program, and a subscription service and later expanded into selling the tools, supplies, and seeds that she uses in her own garden. At the same time, Lisa has steadily built a speaking career leading presentations and workshops for garden clubs, master gardeners, commercial growers, and other groups centering on her simplified organic gardening methods. She is the author of Cool Flowers, Vegetables Love Flowers, and The Cut Flower Handbook. 

Praise For…

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“Lisa Ziegler’s love of flower farming shines from every page of this lovely book, and any gardener is sure to be caught up in her enthusiasm. More importantly, she provides the details that will make a flower business successful. I highly recommend this book!” —Lynn Byczynski, Author of The Flower Farmer: An Organic Grower’s Guide to Raising and Selling Cut Flowers; Founder, Growing for Market magazine; Owner, Seeds from Italy
 —Lynn Byczynski, Author of The Flower Farmer: An Organic Grower’s Guide to Raising and Selling Cut Fl

“The Cut Flower Handbook is everything you need to know to take the guesswork out of planning, planting, and growing beautiful cut flowers (and finally getting the timing right!). Concisely covered and beautifully arranged, Lisa Ziegler has created the most useful and practical resource for every budding flower grower!” Joe Lamp’l, Host of public television’s Growing a Greener World, Founder of joegardener.com and The joegardener Show podcast, and the Online Gardening Academy—Joe Lamp’l, Host of public television’s Growing a Greener World, Founder of joegardener.com and The

“Want to start growing cut flowers? Start here! Lisa covers it all.” —Antonio Valente, Specialty Cut Flower Grower at antoniovalenteflowers.com   
 —Antonio Valente, Specialty Cut Flower Grower at antoniovalenteflowers.com

“Page after page, and chapter after chapter, Lisa gives the reader just about everything needed to make it in cut flower farming.  Readers need to simply add determination and a little hard work to make the magic happen.  If something isn’t growing right, or you have a question, check the book.  The answer is probably already there.” —Dave Dowling, Cut Flower Specialist, Ball Seed  

—Dave Dowling, Cut Flower Specialist, Ball Seed

“Not only is this book chock full of practical information, it is well written and beautifully laid out with many wonderful photographs and drawings. You will love this book and use it every day!”—Dr. John Dole, Professor, North Carolina State University; Executive Advisor, Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers
 —Dr. John Dole, Professor, North Carolina State University; Executive Advisor, Association of Special

“The Cut Flower Handbook is a must-own for anyone who loves cut flowers. Lisa’s straightforward, step-by-step approach to growing and harvesting annual flowers is easy to understand and apply. Her new book combines the best of her previous two books, Cool Flowers and Vegetables Love Flowers, while adding valuable new tips and tricks along the way.” —Danielle Keeton, Northlawn Flower Farm
 —Danielle Keeton, Northlawn Flower Farm

“Lisa Ziegler’s message is simple: everyone can grow cut flowers. And she has the decades of practical experience to guide you from seed to harvest. The Cut Flower Handbook is essential reading for anyone interested in learning not just how to grow cut flowers, but how to grow them well year after year. The information and advice is clear and aimed at both new and experienced gardeners as well as those with big and small gardens. If you want to grow flowers, you need this book.” —Niki Jabbour, author of The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener and Growing Under Cover, co-founder of SavvyGardening.com 
 —Niki Jabbour, author of The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener and Growing Under Cover, co-founder of Sav

“More people join the gardening renaissance every season, and once they do so, it doesn’t take long for them to discover the joy of growing blooms, both for their own enjoyment and to share with others. The Cut Flower Handbook is Lisa Mason Ziegler’s generous gift to our community of gardeners and backyard growers, filled with practical flower-growing knowledge, encouragement, inspiration, and advice on flower selections for cool and warm seasons. Dive into this extensive handbook and learn from a pro! Your senses and empty vases will soon be overflowing.” —Debra Prinzing, author and founder of the Slow Flowers Society
 —Debra Prinzing, author and founder of the Slow Flowers Society

“This is the kind of book all flower growers will appreciate, from beginners to veterans. Lisa has used her experiences as a grower and writer to weave the hundreds of pieces of information needed to produce beautiful cut flowers into easy-to-understand solutions. Not only are the words useful, but the supporting photos and illustrations are also informative and excellent. A “must-have” for anyone dealing with cut flowers.” —Dr. Allan M. Armitage, Emeritus Professor of Horticulture, University of Georgia, author of Specialty Cut Flowers
 —Dr. Allan M. Armitage, Emeritus Professor of Horticulture, University of Georgia, author of Specialt

“A fascinating insight into intensive small-scale flower farming. Inspiring for all backyard farmers wanting to make the most of a tight space.” —Georgie Newbery of commonfarmflowers.com 
 —Georgie Newbery of commonfarmflowers.com