Getting Started with Crop Planning: Choosing the Right Flowers for Your Farm
The first year of flower farming is filled with excitement, dreaming, and a healthy dose of planning. From deciding on a business name to sowing seeds and selling blooms, it’s a journey full of steps that can feel overwhelming. But before you dive into those seed catalogs and place that tempting $600 order, there’s one critical question to answer:
What do you want to grow, and why?
Choosing your end product is the foundation of successful crop planning. Whether you’re envisioning bouquets for farmers markets, flowers for weddings, or even dried arrangements for the holidays, having a clear idea of your final product will guide your crop choices, marketing efforts, and overall farm strategy.
In this blog, we’ll walk through three key steps to help you define your product goals and align them with your farm’s first-year vision:
Deciding the length of your growing and selling season.
Identifying your target market.
Defining your final product and exploring secondary product opportunities.
With a little focus and intentionality, you’ll be well on your way to a thoughtful crop plan—and the beautiful flowers to match.
Thoughtful planning connects your farm's vision to every season, from overwintered blooms to fresh plantings.
Season Length: Defining Your Growing and Selling Timeline
One of the first decisions to make is how long you want to grow and sell flowers during the year. For most flower farmers, especially those growing in the field, the season is shaped by frost dates, days to maturity, and available infrastructure.
Start by asking yourself:
Do you want to sell flowers year-round, or only during specific seasons?
Are you interested in specializing in certain crops, like dahlias or roses, that may have more defined seasons?
How much time can you realistically commit to the farm during your first year?
Each season offers its own opportunities and challenges:
Spring: Spring flowers like tulips and ranunculus are some of the first blooms after a long winter. They can be expensive to grow but serve as a great way to attract customers eager for color and scent after the cold months.
Summer: This is the peak growing season with plenty of daylight and warm temperatures. However, it comes with challenges like heat, pests, and potential customer dips during vacation months.
Fall: As home gardens fade, demand for flowers often spikes in fall. Frost protection and managing burnout can be hurdles, but customers are eager to grab the last blooms before winter.
Winter: Off-season offerings, like dried flowers or holiday wreaths, can extend your sales season without the need for fresh crops.
Tip for Your First Year: It’s tempting to dive in headfirst and grow flowers from spring through fall, but trust me—flower farming takes energy, and burnout is real. Start with one or two key seasons that excite you and feel manageable, then expand as you gain experience and confidence.
Pro Tip: Planning for secondary products like dried flowers or everlastings can help maximize your crops and extend your selling season without overextending your workload.
Seasonal flowers like tulips can capture attention in spring and build customer loyalty for the rest of the year.
Target Market: Who Are You Growing For?
Defining your target market is one of the most important steps in planning your flower farm. Your target market is the group of people most likely to buy your flowers, and understanding who they are will help you decide what to grow, how to market your products, and where to sell them.
Start by asking yourself:
Who do you picture buying your flowers?
What are their values or preferences? (e.g., eco-conscious practices, supporting local businesses, unique seasonal blooms)
What sales outlets will they gravitate toward? Farmers markets? Online orders?
As you build your business, your target market will evolve. In the beginning, your focus might be broad as you experiment with different sales outlets and customer types. Over time, you’ll refine your approach based on what works best.
Understanding Your Local Market
Spend time observing your community. Who are the people you’re likely to sell to? In our small town, many customers are retirees with a love for eco-conscious products and the charm of local businesses. We also have nearby cities with younger customers looking for treats to brighten their day, as well as a thriving wedding market in our tourist areas.
Why It Matters:
Knowing your audience affects more than just what you grow—it shapes how you present your farm. For example, if your customers value sustainability, you might highlight your growing practices. If they’re busy professionals, you’ll want easy-to-purchase options, like an online shop or bouquet subscriptions.
Pro Tip: Get Specific!
The more you know about your ideal customer, the easier it will be to connect with them. Consider factors like:
Demographics: Age, income, lifestyle
Psychographics: Why they buy flowers—self-care, gifts, decor
Preferred Sales Outlets: Farmers markets, online, pop-ups
Defining your target market helps you build a farm that serves their needs and aligns with your vision.
Appealing to your ideal customer starts with thoughtful presentation and a product that speaks for itself.
Final Product: What Are You Selling?
Now that you’ve thought about your season length and target market, let’s dive into your final product. While flowers are your ultimate offering, the way you package and present them determines how they connect with your customers.
Your final product isn’t just flowers; it’s the experience your blooms create for the people who buy them. Are they meant to brighten a customer’s home, bring joy to a wedding, or last forever as a dried arrangement? Each product comes with unique requirements and expectations.
Aligning Products with Sales Outlets
Your sales outlets directly influence your product offerings:
Farmers Market Bouquets: These should be eye-catching, long-lasting, and accessible. Incorporate flowers in various bloom stages for immediate impact and extended vase life. Think vibrant, cheerful arrangements with approachable price points.
Curious about selling at farmer’s markets? Check out our detailed blog for tips on setting up your booth, connecting with customers, and making the most of market day. Read More.
Event Florals: Luxurious blooms like garden roses, ranunculus, and dahlias are perfect for weddings and special events. These flowers are used at their peak and designed to make a statement, even if they’re not expected to last beyond the event day.
Subscription Bouquets: Flexibility is key here. Subscription bouquets allow you to use a mix of premium blooms and filler crops based on what’s abundant each week, providing value while managing inventory.
Thinking about offering bouquet subscriptions? Learn how to create and manage a CSA program that delights customers and ensures steady income for your flower farm. Read More.
Off-Season Products: Everlasting arrangements, holiday wreaths, or dried bouquets keep your farm on customers’ minds year-round. These items also maximize crops harvested during peak season.
Looking for ways to extend your season? Check out our guide to creating stunning holiday wreaths that your customers will love. Read More.
Tip: When planning your crops, consider what your ideal customer will want at different times of the year and how your offerings can shift with the seasons. For example, spring subscriptions might feature tulips and ranunculus, while summer shifts to sunflowers and zinnias.
Creating the Snowball Effect
One of the best ways to optimize your crops is to let one product flow into another:
Event Florals to Subscriptions: Grow extra blooms for events, then use the surplus to delight your subscription customers with premium stems.
Everlasting Flowers: Grow crops like strawflower, gomphrena, or statice for use in boutonnieres, bouquet fillers, and later as dried flower products.
Subscriptions to Pop-Ups: If you have leftover blooms after harvesting for subscriptions, use them to stock pop-up events or farmer’s market displays.
Ready to dive into pop-up sales? Check out my blog on Bootstrap Farmer for tips on hosting successful pop-ups, connecting with customers, and moving extra blooms. Read More.
This approach reduces waste, ensures nothing goes to waste, and helps you increase profitability by tapping into multiple sales outlets.
Key Takeaway: Start by deciding on the main product you’re most excited about. Whether it’s kitchen-table bouquets or dreamy wedding florals, focus on quality and let your product lineup grow naturally as your farm evolves.
Your final product defines your farm’s identity. From dreamy bridal bouquets to everyday blooms, every arrangement tells a unique story.
Planning for Success
Starting your flower farming journey with a clear vision for your products is one of the most important steps you can take. By aligning your crops with your goals, target market, and sales outlets, you set yourself up for a season that’s not only productive but also meaningful to you and your customers.
When you know what you want to sell—whether it’s vibrant market bouquets, dreamy event florals, or off-season dried arrangements—you can plan your crops accordingly. The varieties you grow, the quantity you need, and the timing of your planting all connect back to your final product. Every seed, bulb, and tuber you choose brings you closer to your vision.
Take the Next Step:
Download the worksheet linked below to map out your product ideas and take the first steps toward a focused crop plan.
Need more crop planning inspiration? Dive into my blog for tips on crop planning basics. Read More.
We are looking forward to sharing more blooms with you soon.
Jessica & Graham
