Cut Flowers Remain Trendy as Pandemic Wanes
September 29, 2022 
Erin Benzakein of Floret Flower Farm is featured in the Magnolia Network Series Growing Floret. The show follows Erin and her husband, Chris, as they grow their flower farm from 2 acres to 24 acres. Erin also published a book for professional and home gardeners called Discovering Dahlias. Photo: Chris Benzakein, Floret
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many people hunkered down and spent time beautifying their homes, inside and out. This led to a renewed interest in cut flowers. Industry experts thought cut flower sales would decrease as the world settled into its “new normal,” but that was not the case.
“Previously, we thought this was going to slowly taper off as people returned to their normal habits of going out to eat more, going on vacation, and using their income for other things. We thought this would slowly decline,” says Dr. Melinda Knuth, Assistant Professor of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University.
“However, due to current economic circumstances in the U.S. and the continued threat of COVID-19 and economic pressures, we’re seeing it sustained to a degree. It’s not tapering off. People are continuing to stay home. They want to beautify their spaces, and they’re not traveling as much this year,” she says.
Membership in the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers increased by more than 100% in the last four years, according to Education Director Rebecca Marrall. Knuth says she sees a boom in local production.
There are many new cut flower growers with a few acres of production, and they sell to local grocery stores, at farmers’ markets, or they provide flowers for local weddings. Knuth says that was more popular in California, Oregon, and Washington, but now it’s everywhere. Also, larger international growers are maintaining their market share and expanding, she says.
However, Knuth says it is difficult to recover from the Andean Trade Act, which was enacted in 1991. The Act opened a 13-year period for South American countries to export agriculture products into the U.S. with no tariff. The domestic market took a major hit because the imported products were much cheaper than domestic products.
“We’ve seen a substantial decrease,” Knuth says. “Domestic production used to account for nearly 100% of sales. Now it’s 20%.”
Growers are getting creative and finding new ways to recruit customers and educate them. For example, many cut flower growers offer educational resources to teach non-farmers how to grow a cut flower garden, Marrall says. These educational offerings include books, online courses, blogs, social media posts, and more. Agritourism is picking up with events such as “Pick Your Own Flowers,” farm tours, “Make Your Own Bouquet,” glamping, or spending a night at the farm.
Floriculture operations may also be on the rise due to popular culture, Marrall says. Erin Benzakein and her husband, Chris, of Floret Flower Farm are featured in the Magnolia Network Series Growing Floret as they expand their farm in Washington’s Skagit Valley from 2 acres to 24 acres.
Nicole Pitt of Flower Hill Farm says her sales have increased 25% since last year. Her bouquets are shown above. She attributes her success to her posts on Facebook and YouTube. Photo: Flower Hill Farm
Growers Thrive Despite Market Challenges
Nicole Pitt of Flower Hill Farm in Boonville, NY, says the pandemic “fast forwarded” her business by five years. She opened Flower Hill Farm in 2018, but the pandemic gave her the time, capability, and resources to grow the business.
Many growers recognize Pitt from her YouTube channel, Flower Hill Farm, which has more than 52,000 subscribers. She regularly shares updates on her farm, upcoming varieties, and how she overcomes obstacles in her business.
Pitt says there are several popular trends this year. Soft palettes are always trending for brides, but bold, bright colors are also popular. As the pandemic wanes, consumers are looking for a cheerful bouquet to brighten up their homes. The flowers requested the most are lisianthus, ranunculus, and sunflowers, she says. Pitt doubled her ranunculus order for next year due to this year’s high demand.
“Everyone wanted it,” Pitt says of ranunculus varieties. “They’re an unknown flower to most customers. For my average customer, they have never been seen before.”
Even though the economy took a downturn, Pitt says her sales are up 25% from last year. The U.S. government reduced imports during the pandemic, Knuth says, and there was a spike in consumption.
“We don’t have enough flowers to keep up with demand,” she says. “So many people were home, and they were looking to beautify their spaces, and one of the ways they did that was with cut flowers.”
There have been more weddings in 2022 than any other year in U.S. history — 2.5 million, Knuth says. There were the regularly scheduled weddings for 2022, in addition to rescheduled weddings from 2020 and 2021. The increase in weddings also contributed to the growth in cut flower demand.
Marrall says cut flower farmers and growers who had a direct-to-consumer business model had to rely less on face-to-face sales channels, such as farmers’ markets, pop-up events, and more. They pivoted and learned to integrate social distancing into their practices, including online orders, floral delivery, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscriptions, and socially distanced pickups.
Domestic growers have chosen to specialize in crops that allow them to differentiate themselves from large overseas growers who specialize in a high volume of crops that have a long postharvest life, Marrall says. Staples for cut flower growers in North America include varieties of zinnia, lisianthus, and dahlias.
Some growers are choosing to further develop niche operations in the specialty cut flower industry, such as crop-specific or mission-based operations. For example, Ardelia Farm in Irasburg, VT, focuses solely sweet pea cultivation. Southside Blooms in Chicago, IL, creates jobs for at-risk youth and young adults in urban environments, Marrall says.
Risks for New Growers
Knuth says this is not a bad time to get into the cut flower market, but notes that this is a boom period and sales will continue to fluctuate.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty in the next two to three years for whether this floral demand will be sustained,” she says of the cut flower market.
For large-scale growers, Knuth says a lot of inputs are required. However, for small-scale growers, the risks aren’t very high. The inputs do not have to be high for a small grower to be successful. Small growers could sell their cut flowers at farmers markets or a local grocery store, for example.
Marrall says aside from weather and labor challenges, which all growers face, the biggest obstacle for new cut flower growers is the steep learning curve.
“These growers often need to learn how to start, grow, harvest, and transport crops effectively while also learning how to start a business, which includes sales, marketing, legal and financial obligations, employee management, and much more,” she says. “It can be an overwhelming array of topics to absorb.”
Pitt of Flower Hill Farm says growers should ask themselves, “What are you waiting for?” She left her office job one year ago to grow cut flowers full time. There is a lot of dirty work, she says, but growers should dip their toes in if they are drawn to the cut flower market.
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