[Image: Old sunflower]The quality of cut flowers is determined by freshness, stem length and perfection. If flowers are cut daily, in the early morning or at dusk, they should be full of water (turgid) and have the best possible keeping quality.
Freshness The stage at which a flower was cut is very important. For a flower to have a long vase life for the consumer, it is cut by the grower at the earliest possible developmental stage.
Some standards:
- Roses - should be in a bud that is just slightly loosened up at the top. Immature roses that are very, very tightly closed will not open at all later and are unacceptable. Open roses are unacceptable because part of the vase life has already been used up.
- Spike flowers
(gladioli, larkspurs, snapdragons) - should have the lower 1/3 to 1/2 of the flowers on the spike open. Any more florets open is unacceptable, as vase life is gone (not going to last a reasonable amount of time in the home).
- Lilies
, flowers with clusters of buds - No more than one open flower, plenty (minimum 3) of other buds to open later.
- Sunflowers
- At least 3/4 or all of petals should be unfolded from the face of the disk. There should be no pollen; disks should not be fuzzy (indicates that flower is over-mature).
No wilting -- ever.
Stem length The longer the better (consumer can shorten a stem, but can’t make it longer). Nothing under 12" ever, except for flowers with nostalgia value like sweet peas.
Perfection
Leaves should be present on the top 1/4 of stem, absent from the lower part. No disease spots or insect damage. Good green color; not yellow.
Petals should be uncreased; not crushed from handling. No missing petals. Not deformed; no insect damage.
No skips on spike flowers (obvious place where a flower should have been is empty).
Stems should be reasonably straight (no bending of glads, snaps or larkspurs).
Quality and Pricing
Only flowers that are absolutely perfect are sold. Flowers that are very mature, broken, deformed or very short are thrown away. Flowers that are a little short or have minor imperfections can be made into mixed bunches (bouquets) and sold for a little less than the flowers in a straight florist’s bunch which are uniform, perfect and all the same kind. A reputation for quality is built on flower perfection and length of vase life.
Wholesalers regularly publish a printout for their florist customers. It’s a good way to estimate what you should be pricing your flowers at for florists and wholesalers. Ask a local florist for an old printout.
For direct sales (farmers markets, farm stands) get the best price possible. It should be less than the florist’s price to the consumer and considerably more than the wholesalers price to the florist. Mixed bunches (bouquets) usually go for $3 to $15, depending on the number of stems and type of flowers used in the mix (lilies and lots of sunflowers drive up the price). Florist's or straight-bunch (all flowers identical) prices are somewhat related to the size of the flowers. Large flowers like delphiniums, snaps and lilies can go for $6.50 to $10 per bunch of 10. Smaller or more common flowers (like zinnias) go for $3.50 - $5 per bunch. Sunflowers are occasionally sold by the single stem and command prices between $1.25 - $2 apiece.
Remember, if it’s much less than perfect, throw it directly in the garbage. While the grower may be annoyed by a farmers market customer who says they aren’t buying this week because last week’s flowers are still beautiful, they are paying a compliment on product quality.
The major floral holidays are Valentine's Day, when most field growers won’t have much in production, Mothers Day, when the grower sells a lot, especially if direct marketed, and surprisingly, the Saturday before the Fourth of July at a farmers market. The week after each of those holidays, most growers won’t be able to sell a thing, since all of the florists are sick of flowers. It may not be possible to sell a florist flowers the week of the holiday, since he’s been so concerned about having enough flowers to fill his orders that he is over-supplied already. His order went to the broker months before, and if a producer wants to sell him flowers that week, he'll have to be far ahead in his marketing as well. Generally, those w[Image: A good display]eeks around a floral holiday are a good time to schedule your vacation, since you may not be selling much.
If selling at a farmers market, remember that the display is everything. The more color and variety, the better. Keep all but the largest flowers near eye level. People come to the market for vegetables. There will be some regular flower customers, but a lot of folks will buy flowers as an impulse item, so the display needs to pull them in from a distance. Put out “smell me” buckets for fragrant flowers like freesia, stock and sweet peas, and give broken flowers to children. In large metropolitan markets, the flower vendor’s stall frequently includes a bouquet maker, who makes custom bunches on demand. Consumers tend to spend more when they direct the contents of the bouquet.