Insights from Middlesex County Flower Farmers

Winter is when Flower Farmers start dreaming!  Seed catalogues arrive, optimism blooms and every patch of soil feels full of possibility.  But anyone who grows cut flowers knows not every pretty bloom earns its place in the garden or the vase.  Here in Zone 6, timing, weather and attention to detail decide which flowers thrive.  Flower farmers have learned through experience which blooms consistently perform and which quietly get crossed off the list.

I asked five local Flower Farmers three simple questions:

• What cut flower will you never grow again?
• Which one always earns a spot in your fields?
• What’s the best part of growing cut flowers?

Their answers reveal surprises, patterns and the simple joys that keep farmers returning to the soil season after season.

Flowers That Didn’t Make the Cut

Agrostemma (Corn Cockle) – Hard Scrabble Blooms
Agrostemma is a delicate early bloomer with airy, romantic petals but in Zone 6, it’s just too fragile.  Rain, wind or sudden temperature swings bruise the blooms easily, making them unreliable for cutting.  Sometimes beauty isn’t enough to earn a place in the vase!

Regular Sunflowers – Harris Flower Farm
Sunflowers are iconic but not all varieties are ideal for bouquets.  Harris Flower Farm no longer grows regular, pollen-producing sunflowers for cutting.  They can be messy, tall and inconsistent in flower size – perfect for the field, not the vase.  Instead, the farm grows sunflowers bred specifically for cutting: uniform heads, manageable height and pollen-free blooms. These varieties perform predictably and look polished in arrangements, proving that the right flower for the right purpose makes all the difference.

Ornamental Basil – Infinite Cosmos Flower Farm
Ornamental basil adds beautiful fragrance and texture to summer bouquets but it can be a tricky crop to manage.  Infinite Cosmos Flower Farm decided to stop growing it because it proved finicky in the field and difficult to keep hydrated in bouquets.  While lovely, it just didn’t hold up consistently for cutting.

Branching Sunflowers – The Wandering Bee Flower Farm
Branching sunflowers still have plenty of charm, especially in the garden, but they’ve proven too unpredictable for the cutting field.  The stems can be finicky, petals tend to drop and they rarely behave in a vase the way you hope they will.  While they may still show up in landscape plantings, they’ve earned a permanent spot off the cut flower list.

Cactus Zinnias – Wortley Flower Farm
There’s something about their narrow, unraveling petals that never quite feels awake. Even at their peak, they carry the look of something already fading. In the garden, they’re curious and wild, but in the vase, they never hold the presence our customers are looking for.

Flowers That Always Earn Their Place

Dahlias – Hard Scrabble Blooms
“Always dahlias.”  These tuberous beauties do need some special care but nothing else offers their sheer diversity.  From waterlily and ball forms to massive dinner-plate blooms in an extraordinary range of colours, dahlias are endlessly versatile.  Once you start growing them, it’s hard not to collect every variety – they’re simply addictive.

Lisianthus – Harris Flower Farm
Lisianthus is a flower worth the patience.  When Harris Flower Farm first discovered them, only a few plants were affordable and large-scale plugs weren’t readily available in Canada.  An unexpected opportunity, a fire at a nearby greenhouse, meant they could secure hundreds of lisianthus plugs at once.  That summer revealed just how exceptional home-grown lisianthus can be: stunning quality, incredible variety and remarkable vase life.  Today, they continue multiple successions of lisianthus, always marveling at how much better their blooms are than commercially sourced ones.

Cosmos – Infinite Cosmos Flower Farm
With a farm name like theirs, the choice is obvious: Cosmos.  While they might not make every flower farmer’s “must-grow list” because of a slightly shorter vase life, cosmos deeply resonate with people.  Their whimsical stems dance above the focal flowers in a bouquet, adding casual cheer and effortless movement.  Sometimes a flower earns its spot simply by making people smile.

Ranunculus – The Wandering Bee Flower Farm
Ranunculus are an early-season standout.  With their lush, blousy blooms and surprisingly long vase life, they’re endlessly versatile – just as comfortable on a kitchen table as they are anchoring a special-event centerpiece. They have a way of making every bouquet feel a little more elevated.

Pastel Zinnias – Wortley Flower Farm
Pastel Zinnias bring a magic to bouquets!  They always remind us of mesmerizing, ruffled parrots perched among the stems. Zinnia’s are hardy, productive and endlessly generous – the more you cut, the more they give!  If you’re looking for a nice pastel Zinnia be sure check out the Amber Drift Cutting Mix bred by local grower: Hawthorn Farm!  Their colours drift through soft honey, pale apricot, mellow gold and the faintest blush of pink.

The Best Part of Growing Cut Flowers

Hard Scrabble Blooms
The seasonality.  Growing cut flowers is a constant reminder to live in the present and appreciate what is in bloom right now. Flowers arrive and fade quickly as the next season presses forward, yet everything appears in its own time, exactly as it should.

Harris Flower Farm
Seasonality.  We do wedding design work with our flowers and I love that I can look back at a bouquet and usually guess the wedding date within about two weeks. The flower choices and seasonal elements give it away every time.  Each bouquet becomes a snapshot of that day, with its own unique mix.  The flowers tell the story, I just put the pages together.

Infinite Cosmos Flower Farm
Seeing that instant smile. There’s science behind why flowers reduce stress, boost mood and foster connection. Getting to grow that feeling is the best part.

The Wandering Bee Flower Farm
Being outside, breathing in fresh air and experiencing the changing seasons through flowers.

Wortley Flower Farm
Growing flowers keeps you rooted in the present.  You can’t rush a bloom but you can notice the small shifts in the field, the readiness and the exact right moment to cut.  Also, arranging flowers brings instant gratification.  We just love making something beautiful from what we grew.

From Field to Vase

Every flower farmer carries a mental list of what’s worth growing and what isn’t. That list evolves with every season, shaped by weather, experience and the quiet lessons only flowers can teach. When you support local flower farmers, you become part of that story! When these flowers leave the field and enter our homes, we become part of that story too – connected to the season that grew them.