Market Farming

[Laurie Hodges <lhodges1 AT unl.edu>]

Lots of things will grow "wet" and you'll carve out a niche for unusual cut flowers.

A few possibilities:

Pussy willows, curly willows, and all other willows.
Camassia - a spring blooming bulb native to northwest US.
Various ferns like: sensitive fern (fronds and sporangiaphores ("seed" heads)
Equisetum
Forget me nots (M. sylvatica)
rushes (Juncus species, winter and summer)
miniature cattails
sedges - green and dried
Pickerel weed flowers (will close at night-- warn your customers)
Joe-Pye Weed
Swamp milkweed (Asclepia incanata -- beautiful pink flowers, also there are white cultivars-- see Johnny's catalogue)
Primroses  -- all sorts
All the mints make great green foliage for bouquets and love wet ground. I like spearmint best for it's lighter green color.


Many flower books have lists in the back of the book categorized by habitat. Check some out at the library or bookstore.

Think creatively. Notice what is wild and beautiful. Use raised beds when needed. Go for it!

At 09:34 AM 4/11/03 -0700, you wrote:

Hello, All.  My name is Rose, I'm 55, I live in rural upstate New York.  I'm
starting my cutflower business and this is the first year of production.
I'm a little short in the planning cycle, as we only just decided to stay
put and not move.

My soil is moist for most of the year; it never really dries out.  The
spring is moist-to-wet.

QUESTION:  Any good cutflower candidates for NYS, Zone 5, that are
especially good for moist and wet soils?

I need to do some serious planning for next year.  I've ordered seeds for
this year, but most are for our vegetarian lifestyle and only a few
cutflowers for experimental purposes.

Thanks,

Rose


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L. Hodges