Here are some of my mistakes that I made in year one of flower farming. This was a year to figure out what grew well in my soil and climate in addition to figuring out what flowers were worth selling.
1. I grew too much foliage and filler. Of course I took advice before I gave anything a go. I was told to make sure I had a mix of flowers and fillers, and I realized when I needed flowers, I had only greenery and varieties that no one wanted. Half of what I grew I didn't end up using. For year two, I've kicked the varieties I didn't use out and replaced that space with what I know I wanted more of. I guess there was no way of knowing this ahead of time.
2. Labeling! Specifically, I did not label my dahlia, so I had no idea what was coming up and where they were. This was important to tell others what I had available/ future possible orders; so in that case I was scratching my head as to where my Cafe au Laits were. This year everything is labeled once if not twice!
3. Understanding each flower is different. Some varieties grow best in cooler weather. Some need light to germinate while others require darkness. These key details caused some of my crops to fail. One crop that I specifically was upset about was annual phlox varieties.
4. Don't fall down the social media rabbit hole. I fell into this trap many-a-times and constantly compared my farming and flowers to farmers with a lifetime of experience. Huge no-no for mental health. Now I only go onto my medias to answer messages or post something, then a quick scroll and I'm off of there! It's important to remember that these people are posting the best moments of their farms, when in reality they face normal challenges just like everyone else does.
5. Shade and plant spacing really do make a huge difference. It should be common sense, but... lol in year one, my dahlia were planted in a 4 ft wide space with 3 rows going. I didn't realize what the best dahlia layout was yet. This caused crowding, and some of the little guys in the center never made it up. In early spring, the sun is at a different angle and the trees don't have leaves yet. There was an area that I created thinking that it would be ok for the season, but after the leaves came back it was a full shade area, so the annuals that I planted there were sad.
It's inevitable that mistakes will be made. By sharing my mistakes maybe this can help out others learning to garden and farm!
Best,
Allie