Succession-Planting Flowers: Tips From 3 Flower Farms

Among the many ways to run a productive market farm, succession planting forms a common thread. A universal practice among produce growers, the succession approach involves planting at regular intervals throughout the season to ensure continual harvest. Succession planting has always been part of the fabric of optimizing production on flower farms, as well.

Debra Prinzing, Author & Founder of Slow Flowers
Photo: Missy Palacol Photography

Our Flower Farmer Contributors

Thanks go to our flower farmer contributors for sharing their sage advice here. You'll be inspired by these field- and greenhouse-tested practices from across the country!

• Jeanie McKewan of Brightflower Farm, Stockton, Illinois
• David and Lina Brunton of Right Field Farm, Millersville, Maryland
• Bethany Bernard of The Flower Peddler, Bridgeton, New Jersey
• Josh McCullough of Red Twig Farms, Johnstown, Ohio
• Stacey Denton of Flora Farm & Design Studio, Ashland, Oregon

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NOTE

All images used with permission and courtesy of the contributors. All rights reserved.

If you're new to farming, each season you grow cut flowers will deepen your appreciation for succession planting. If you're an established grower, you probably have your preferred methods of planning, implementation, and recordkeeping. At Johnny's, too, we've modeled the tools in our Grower's Library on what works for us. To help you put the principles of succession planting to work, we've developed calculators, checklists, and other resources. For succession flower farming, a good starting point would be Johnny's 7-Day & 14-Day Interval Planting Charts for Flowers.

While these planning tools are essential to our first-hand learnings, we also love learning from folks out in their own fields and greenhouses, personally sowing, planting, and harvesting fresh, local, and seasonal flowers. To learn more about succession planting, we engaged directly with flower farmers this past winter. Our timing was ideal to talk about best practices, lessons learned from prior seasons, and new insights for producing even more flowers this coming season. We spoke with Slow Flowers members in Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and Oregon, who together represent a good cross-section of zones, ecoregions, and cultural conditions.

The two big take-aways we heard from each of these farms are first, to find a method that works best for you; and second, to become habitual about your approach. Let's dig into the details…

When it comes to planning your flower year, start with what and when. Know what you want to grow and pencil in when each flower, herb, foliage, or grass crop will be harvested. That way, you can segment your flower year into the seasonal phases that work for you.

From analog to digital tools, scheduling is universally the most important item on the Succession Checklist. By way of example, here are several approaches to scheduling and planning the flower year into seasonal phases.

FLORA FARM • Oregon

Growing Zone: 8b • Ecoregion: Oak Savanna Foothills

Stacey Denton of Oregon's Flora Farm has divided her year into two key seasons: overwintered cool-season annuals followed by heat-loving warm-season annuals.

"Since my primary field is less than an acre in size, I increase my yields — and thereby my profits," she explains, "if I can get two crops from the same bed through succession planting."

Here is a sample of Stacey's planning chart for succession planting management on her ¾-acre flower farm.

Stacey's chart illustrates how a compact enterprise like Flora Farm relies on "double-cropping."

RIGHT FIELD FARM • Maryland

Growing Zones: 7a/7b • Ecoregion: Chesapeake Rolling Coastal Plain

At Right Field Farm, the Bruntons keep a big wall calendar. Many of their notes directly reflect practices learned from Lisa Mason Ziegler of The Gardener's Workshop.

David and Lina Brunton, owners of Right Field Farm in Maryland, rely on a number of reminders to know what to plant when, but their wall calendar is ever-present as a daily reminder.

"The easy one that we use all the time is a big wall calendar, something that we adapted directly from Lisa Mason Ziegler of The Gardener's Workshop," David explains. "The wall calendar chronicles the life of a plant from seed to harvest, and it works better for us than any kind of database or spreadsheet — although we use those, too."

When sowing seeds, they write down the tray number, the variety, the bump-up date (if required), plus dates when a start hardens off and when it's planted. In a perfect world, David and Lina also jot down the first harvest date.

"Another number we're going to try recording this year is the count for every stem we cut. I think that will help when we're deciding what to plant next year," he adds.

After trying out a variety of different labeling materials, the Bruntons now rave about the efficiency they've gained by using little brass tokens with numbers stamped on them. Outdoors, each row is also numbered, making quick-referencing a cinch. "Having some agreed-upon way to indicate where you're supposed to plant or prep or harvest or weed is nice," David admits.

A system using small brass tokens helps Lina and David Brunton efficiently match their succession plans with the correct plants and plots in the field, as well as coordinate maintenance and recordkeeping.

6 Planting Seasons at Right Field

A bed of Agrostemma (Corn Cockle) in full bloom at Right Field, transplanted to the field in early spring after overwintering from a late-fall sowing the prior year (Zone 7a/7b).

Here's a video on Overwintering Agrostemma in an Unheated Tunnel at Johnny's Research Farm (Zone 5a)…

Right Field Farm phases its plantings over 6 "seasons" throughout the year:

1. The first phase begins with sowing long-season annuals over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend in January. This usually amounts to "a few trays of seeds under lights in the basement," David points out.
2. The second phase, which David describes as spring annuals, includes many of the same flowers overwintered from the prior fall planting: Agrostemma, bachelor's buttons, snapdragons, stock, Rudbeckia, Scabiosa, bells of Ireland, and Cerinthe. Because these are generally frost-hardy varieties, the spring annuals are often transplanted first.
3. That makes room in the sowing area for the first succession of summer annuals, including "workhorses" like zinnias, Cosmos, Celosia, and sunflowers. These are all planted in 4 successions, but only the sunflowers are direct-sown outdoors: "We've adapted the first of Johnny's Sunflower Succession-Planting Programs. We direct-seed 3 varieties in the same plot at the same time, all with different blooming times. It's worked great for us, and we pack them in close and don't over-feed because we like smaller sunflowers for our arrangements," he says.
4. Next, the fourth phase: a mid-summer sowing of perennials and biennials, including Echinops, Eryngium, lupine, columbine, and Echinacea, for blooms in the following spring through summer. "That timing gives the plants enough time to get established in the ground."
5. David and Lina take a planting break in August, followed by a September planting of cool flowers and spring bulbs. "Our farm adds more perennials every year. Each fills its own seasonal slot, from early hellebores, branches, and spring bulbs, to peonies, then summer bulbs and corms like tuberose, gladiolas, and dahlias."
6. The sixth and final phase of succession planting that can't go unnoted involves cover crops. Right Field plants rye for cover during winter to prevent erosion and add organic matter; a mix of varieties including cowpeas during the spring; and buckwheat in the summer.

BRIGHTFLOWER FARM • Illinois

Growing Zone: 5a • Ecoregion: Rock River Hills

At Brightflower Farm, Jeanie McKewan tracks her succession planting programs on Google Drive, which allows crew members easy access and reference on both desktop and mobile devices. She pairs her Google docs with a master map of her fields and rows for every section.

At Brightflower Farm, Jeanie McKewan use Google Drive to access files from both her desktop and her smart phone, making it easy for crew members to reference even while outdoors.

Based in the Illinois Driftless Area, just 10 minutes from the Wisconsin border, Brightflower Farm is in its 13th season of growing a diversified mix of cut flowers and plants for customers that include several Chicago-area Whole Foods outlets and wedding and event florists in Chicago and Madison markets.

Jeanie credits now-retired flower farmer Joe Schmidt, cofounder of Fair Field Flowers in Madison, Wisconsin, for many of her successful techniques. "It all starts with a seeding log of all the flowers I will grow," she says. "For each variety, we have: 1) a sowing date; 2) the number and 3) size of flats; and 4) the number of seeds per cell. We then record 5) the germination date; 6) planting date; and — if I can stay up to date with my record-keeping, I'll note 7) how much we harvested."

Jeanie creates a spreadsheet from her master plan, and brings it out to the sowing bench to document each day's activities. "I bring that back to my computer and update the log," Jeanie says. She turns the seeding dates from black to red type, an at-a-glance trick for knowing what's already been sown.

Paired with the Google documents is a master map of all the fields and rows within each section. "We mark what is planted in each row and the date planted."

Most of the farm's flowers are sown in seedling flats, then transplanted to the field, rather than being direct-sown. "I believe you have better luck with sowing in flats followed by transplanting, because you're putting a stronger, larger plant into the soil — plus, they have a jumpstart on outpacing weeds."

RED TWIG FARMS • Ohio

Growing Zone: 6a • Ecoregion: Loamy High Lime Till Plains

At Red Twig Farms (Zone 6a), the McCulloughs primarily start their own seedlings, with sowing beginning in early February.

“My goal is to achieve about a 2-week window between sowings,” says Josh, who also gauges his sowing schedule by germination rates listed on the seed packets.

Josh and Lindsey McCullough own Red Twig Farms, located in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. The couple began their 5½-acre farm as a division of McCullough's Landscape & Nursery, Josh's parents' business. They have since spun off as an independent cut-flower farm specializing in woody branches (twig dogwood and willow) and peonies. With the addition of a 20x36ft² high tunnel and several caterpillar tunnels, Red Twig recently added spring bulbs (ranunculus and anemones) and seeded annuals to their production plan.

"We want to adapt to the markets and be more than a two-season business," he explains. Red Twig Farms ships 90% of their branches to out-of-state customers, while wholesale cut peonies and annual flowers go to local florists and DIY brides. At their seasonal Farm Store on the McCullough's Landscape & Nursery grounds, they sell flowers to the community.

Josh primarily starts his own seedlings, beginning sowing in early February. "Last year, we planted snapdragons, Celosia, Eucalyptus ('Baby Blue' and 'Silver Drop'), Delphinium, and Dianthus. "I look at the germination information for the individual packets and schedule (sowing) on our calendar," he explains. "My goal is to achieve about a 2-week window between sowings."

Since Red Twig Farms is relatively new to growing flowers from seeds, Josh says they've started with a few popular varieties, including the 'Madame Butterfly' snapdragons, 'Queeny Lime Orange' zinnias, and a number of sunflower varieties.

BRIGHTFLOWER FARM • Illinois

Growing Zone: 5a • Ecoregion: Rock River Hills

Jeanie McKewan extends cut-flower availability at Brightflower Farm (Zone 5a) with February and July sowings of stock (Matthiola incana).

For more information on primary aspects of successfully growing stock for cut-flower production, including general instructions and recommendations for site selection, culture, how to select and prepare seedlings for double-flowered vs. single-flowered blooms, transplanting, pinching, pests and diseases, and harvesting, see our Stock Production Guide…

While for many, succession planting is a weekly or biweekly ritual (think sunflowers and zinnias), Jeanie at Brightflower extends her stock (Matthiola) availability by planting "spring" and "fall" successions. With a lovely, clove-like scent and pretty color palette, this cold-hardy crop with a rapid growth cycle lends itself nicely to shoulder-season production.

"Our spring planting is on the first of February, while our fall planting is on the first of July." The second planting continued to generate farm income into the holiday season. "Last year, I cut stock in the final week of November, which allowed us to deliver Mason jar arrangements with fresh stock, mums, greenery, and winterberry to grocery customers in early December," Jeanie says.

FLORA FARM • Oregon

Growing Zone: 8b • Ecoregion: Oak Savanna Foothills

In line with her planning chart (see above), Stacey schedules sweet peas for sowing in mid September for early spring harvest the following year, with a final harvest date toward the end of May, at Flora Farm (Zone 8b).

In contrast, Jeanie at Brightflower Farm (Zone 5a) can expect to begin harvesting her sweet peas around the end of May, according to her records.

For more information on primary aspects of successful sweet pea production, including general instructions and recommendations for site selection, soil requirements, irrigation, trellising/support, germination, transplanting, direct seeding, pinching, training plants to the trellis, pests and diseases, harvesting, fall harvest, and overwintering, see our Sweet Pea Production Guide…

Depending on how much acreage is available, you may need to address issues around the frequency of sowing, such as these, raised by Stacey of Flora Farm:

• Am I tending my soil fertility by rotating plant families and adding compost/amendments between crops?
  
  "Short crop rotations demand a lot from the farm organism," she notes.
• What's my method of turnover, from one crop to another — e.g., mowing and tilling or hand-pulling, followed by tilthing/forking and planting?
  
  "I need to plan to have the resources (machines, farm hands, time for decomposition), available at this extremely busy time of year (May and June)," she says.
• How long is my harvest window for my cool-season annuals? Can the later heat-lovers I'm planting afterwards take light frost?
  
  "In my climate, heat-lovers that are planted out past the first week of July have trouble maturing a sufficient quantity of flowers to make the effort of planting and maintaining the crop worthwhile," Stacey explains. "Things that can take light frost, however, such as Cosmos and Tulsi basil, are good choices for following the cool-season annuals that are later to finish out."
• Can I have even more success with succession planting by using low tunnels in the field?
  
  "I have found my successions are approximately 2 to 4 weeks earlier when grown under low tunnel cover."

The best reason to keep accurate records is to forecast what particular variety, and when, you'll harvest in the future, Jeanie of Brightflower says.

"Noting the dates when I start harvesting gives me important data to quote, especially with designers and their brides. Each year, for instance, florists will ask, 'Are you going to have sweet peas at the end of May?' And I can look up to see that I started cutting my white sweet peas on May 31st last year. Or, that I started cutting 'Coral Charm' peonies on May 22nd, so I can say, 'I should have them for your May 25th wedding this year.' "

Noting the quantity harvested each year allows you to compare against the quantity planted. The percentage germination rates fluctuate by variety, so these comparisons help Jeanie know when to increase the percentage of seeds she sows accordingly.

At Red Twig Farm, the McCulloughs label the crop and variety when sown, making note of the best start date. "Record-keeping is important to us," Josh says. "We're noting different soil and ambient temperatures. We even track how we amend the soil."

The Flower Peddler • New Jersey

Growing Zone: 7a • Ecoregion: Inner Coastal Plain

Bethany Bernard of The Flower Peddler relies on her smart phone as a planning and recordkeeping tool.

“… My phone is kept with me at all times. As I'm going through the season, I take notes. And then my phone will alert me when it's time to do it again.”

Bethany Bernard and her husband Dan Vohringer of New Jersey-based The Flower Peddler grow cut flowers on 10 acres, serving wedding and event florists, DIY wedding clients, and customers at four farmers' markets.

Bethany relies on her smart phone as the best planning and recordkeeping tool. "I don't live off of coffee and spreadsheets," she jokes. "I have a calendar that I write in, but it's on my phone. My phone is kept with me at all times. As I'm going through the season, I take notes. And then my phone will alert me when it's time to do it again."

Bethany & Dan come and go from the field with armloads of "workhorse" Rudbeckia, zinnias, and sunflowers.

Because of limited greenhouse space to start seedlings, Bethany uses 3 planting methods: 1) direct-sowing; 2) planting pre-ordered plugs; and 3) seeding in trays for transplants.

"We direct-sow sunflowers, Cosmos, zinnias, annual grasses, and grains. We do some seeding for transplants in our basement — sweet peas and asters, for example." She refers to the previous years' notes and photos, all of which are stored on her phone, to plan and order when plugs should be delivered. "I do that for the entire season, and tell my broker which plugs I want delivered at that same time next year."

A Note about Experimentation

Last season, the Bruntons of Right Field Farm (Growing Zones 7a/7b) thought they'd try planting biennials a little bit earlier than usual. The result was that "around the middle of October, we had a bunch of Dianthus begin to bloom — which wasn't what we intended. So, we went back to the calendar to see when we had sown dianthus in our seed blocks," David explains. "Lo and behold," the record showed "it was in mid-June, which turned out to be too early if we wanted those dianthus to overwinter, but not quite early enough if we wanted a big fall crop. All that was evident from the calendar."

Whether it's to chronicle what did or what did not work out, the notes you take today can put you on the track to a favorable result next time.

In Growing Zone 5a, Jeanie McKewan at Brightflower Farm can achieve 5–7 successions of snapdragons, with a first sowing date in January and the last in May-June.

For more information on primary aspects of successful snapdragon production, including flowering periods in association with light and heat levels, assigned groups, and varieties, along with general instructions and recommendations on life cycle, site selection, culture, spacing, pests and diseases, and harvesting, see our Snapdragon Production Guide…

Brightflower Farm • Growing Zone 5a

Any flower that is "day neutral" is a good candidate for multiple plantings, Jeanie says. "I can do five to seven snapdragon sowings over the season. We track it by date; for example, we start snaps in January and our last sowing is at the end of May or early June."

Right Field Farm • Growing Zones 7a/7b

David and Lina prefer to grow long-season annuals from seed. Recurring hits include Eucalyptus, lisianthus, Campanula, and David's personal favorite, Icelandic poppies.

Flora Farm • Growing Zone 8b

Keep in mind that mowing and cutting perennials back hard can also provide you with a tool to manage bloom succession. Some of Stacey's favorite perennials include the following.

• Scabiosa atropurpurea and Rudbeckia hirta. FYF (first-year flowering), beginning in mid-July. Mowing after seed pods begin formation leads to another harvest window in September. Subsequent years' flowering begins a few weeks earlier (late June), but second fall harvest after mowing/pruning is comparable.
• Achillea millefolium and Veronica. FYF. Cut back hard after first bloom in May for a second flush in late summer.
• Heliopsis. An FYF perennial that blooms in June and will produce a second flush of blooms in late summer, if cut back hard after first flush.
• Monarda 'Bergamo'. Although an annual, Monarda 'Bergamo' will begin flowering in early July from a February seeding and will produce a second flush of blooms in September, if cut back hard after first flush.

Chronicling your floral activities may feel like too much admin-type work, when you'd rather have your hands in the soil. But devising a system of planning and recordkeeping is one skillset that sets a successful course for any flower farm, regardless of size.

The best advice I've learned from these conversations is to JUST START. Whether you use a mobile or desktop device, a conventional spreadsheet, an app, index cards, or an old-fashioned paper calendar, it's not so much the method that matters as the discipline.

You'll find what works best for you, and thank yourself next season and in many seasons to come!

Learn More About Succession Planting

• Succession Planting • Methods for Providing a Continuous Supply • Article
• Succession Planting • Interval Chart for Flowers • Charts
• Succession Planting • Recommended Flowers • Table
• 3 Methods for Succession-Planting Sunflowers • Charts