Louisiana falls in an odd area for successful production of bulb flowers. It’s too cold here to grow some of the more tender bulbs like anemone or freesia in the field without frost protection in all but the mildest years. It is not cold enough or dry enough to produce some of the big sellers like lilies and giant alliums as perennials. Bulbs require irrigation and good care for the entire time that the foliage is above the ground, then can be ignored and go unirrigated after they die down and go dormant.
Anemone (A. coronaria ‘de Caen’ or ‘St. Brigid’)
Grown the same as the ranunculus in an unheated greenhouse with a 5"-6" spacing. Soak corms in water and leave them sitting in a net bag in the refrigerator until the first sign of roots appear. Anemones bloom in early spring, about a month earlier than the ranunculus. Cut flowers all the way down to the base. Anemones require especially good drainage, or they will develop a fungal disease that rots the crown. Also like the ranunculus, they are not perennial here, but corms can be bought for about 17 cents and you’ll easily get 30-40 cents per stem and several stems per plant.
Brodiaea (B. lactea) Queen Fabiola
Producing a lovely, clear-blue corymb of flowers, stems of these western wildflowers are only about 12"-15" long. Blooms in late spring after most other bulbs have finished. Plant bulbs 3" apart. It may be difficult to judge when to cut. By the time the whole set of buds has colored up well enough to be attractive, the first one or two open flowers will begin to fade. Groom out spent buds when handling. Brodiaea makes a good filler flower in mixed bunches.
Calla (Zantedeschia aethiopica)
The white calla is much more successful than the coloreds, which are a different species and tend to succumb to fungal diseases. The first blooms are generally very early and ruined by frost, so provide frost protection or grow near a tree or overhang to block frost. Cut when the flower first unfurls completely. May be cut low or pulled by hand. Place your foot at the base of the plant and yank straight up. Pulled stems are not only several inches longer but resist the curling that cut stems may exhibit. Expect several flowers per plant. Colored callas are grown in full sun and bloom much later in the summertime.
Crocosmia (C. x crocosmiflora)
Available through spring bulb catalogs, crocosmia (also called montbretia) is winter-hardy throughout Louisiana. Bulbs bloom in late spring in red, orange or yellow. Dried, spent flower stems have some value to florists because of their interesting zigzag shape. Flowers will be very fine the second year after planting, then will require division to keep the bed from deteriorating. Very fast increasers, just replant the large corms and toss the small ones or grow on in a nursery bed.
Drumstick allium (A. sphaerocephalum)
Bulbs are usually available for purchase in both spring and fall. The drumstick allium is probably the only allium that successfully perennializes in the southern cut-flower plot. Allium giganteum commands a high price, but the Deep South rarely provides enough cold temperatures for stem elongation. Alliums bloom in mid-spring, all in a span of about 2-3 weeks. Dries well.
Lilies (Lilium asiaticum, L. orientalis)
True lilies are the queens of the cuts, but there are a few rules for growing them this far south. Bulb size plays a part in the number of buds that develop, and the more buds, the more value. Buy the top-size bulb or the next size down. Naturalizing mixes sold by some bulb companies are usually too small and will only produce 1 or 2 buds per stem. Though billed as garden perennials, they are not perennial in the South. The only Asiatic lily that is truly perennial here is the old-fashioned red Enchantment, no longer available from bulb suppliers. Expect to get one single year out of all of the rest of them, two years with a few. That being the case, buy in bulk at the best possible price, say $.50/apiece, make your profit from one crop and pull and discard the bulbs. Plant bulbs in fall, spaced 5" apart. Asiatics bloom in April; Orientals (the big fragrant pinks) in early June. If you’re hoping they’ll bloom next year, only cut 2/3 of the way down the stem. If grown as a one-year crop, cut to the ground; they won’t need the foliage to nourish the bulb if bulbs end up in the compost pile. Cut when the buds are well-colored and try to judge (experience will teach) to cut the day before the first, lowest bud opens. Lily petals are easily creased and damaged and are harder to get to market intact if flowers are open.
Ranunculus (R. asiaticus)
Grow in a cold, unheated greenhouse. Frost cloth stretched over wires in the field would probably work as well. Plant the odd spider-like roots with the “legs” pointing down, about 4" apart in November or December. They will begin to bloom in mid-spring. Ranunculus produce branched flowers, so cut accordingly (sacrifice breaks for longer stems). These brightly colored flowers are good sellers; people will buy them quite short at a farmers market. They aren’t fragrant. In many vivid colors, they have a silky, delicate look, even though they are actually quite tough.
Freesia (F. x hybrida)
The only ones hardy enough to perennialize in the field are the white freesia, and the whites are the only color that does not have the characteristic fine scent. In the field they begin to bloom in late February/early March, so they occasionally get toasted by freezes and are probably better grown in an unheated greenhouse. This is a branching stem, but the flower in the first joint of the stem will be short. Cut to the first joint if you have a market for short stems (like the farmers' market); otherwise, take the whole stem when the first flower opens. A freesia flower consists of a line of buds; cut when the first, lowest of the cluster opens.
Dutch iris (Iris hybrids)
Professor Blauu is the probably the most com[Image: Asiatic Lilies]monly available variety. These very nice flowers will mature and finish blooming through the whole bed in just two weeks, so be prepared to sell bucketfuls at once. Plant 3" apart. They’ll bloom in mid-spring and usually are blooming for Mother’s Day. Cut when the buds are peeking about half way out of their green sheath and starting to unfurl a little at the top. Cut as low as you can without damaging the foliage because these are perennial bulbs that should bloom well for many years if you leave some foliage to nourish the bulb. Dutch irises have a short vase life for individual flowers but multiple buds on each stem.
Grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum)
Not typically thought of as a cut flower, grape hyacinths are best used for forcing in containers. It’s necessary to have a good bit of cooler space to force them. Bulbs can be ordered for about 16¢ apiece. They are grown in pots or deep flats. Planted nearly touching, they go into the cooler (low 30s) until the flower shoots emerge in about 13 weeks. They will have very pale, floppy foliage and look a bit strange but will green up when they go out into the sun outside. It only takes about 10 days more for the flowers to color up and begin to open. For cuts, yank the flowers straight up out of the bulb for a stem about 10" long. Don’t bother to plant the leftover bulbs; most Gulf Coast winters are too mild and moist to reliably rebloom them. Either sell as a flowering potted plant or as cut flowers (each bulb will produce 2 or 3 stems). As a pot with 5 or 6 bulbs, they wholesale for about $5 per pot. Pot them up November 1, remove from the cooler February 1 and sell for Valentines Day. A grower could sell dirt for Valentines Day if it was wrapped prettily enough.
Gladiola (Gladiolus hybrids)
Glads come in full size or pixies, and both sizes are very nice to work with. Plant 3"-4"apart in fall or spring as corms are available. They bloom naturally in late spring and early summer. Worth about $.50 per stem, there is a considerable national summer supply which ruins the price with local florists. In spite of competition, they are still a good seller at farmers' markets. Glads have two problems. They lodge (lay flat) in windy weather and will produce curved stems due to geotropism. They are also seriously attacked by thrips. Thrips damage first shows up in the leaves. Foliage begins to look dried out because of the many tiny marks where the thrips have sucked the sap out of the cells. A worse problem is what they do to the flowers. The tip of the sheath that surrounds each individual flower will become brown and papery. To see an example, look at glads in almost any grocery store floral department. Either spray weekly with malathion or put a granular systemic insecticide directly on the soil and water it in. Cut when the lowest, first flower opens. Since they are a geotropic flower, keep the cut stems always in an upright position. If they lay down for very long, they will grow in an upward direction and create an awkwardly curved stem.
Liatris (L. spicata)
Buy large corms and plant at least 6" apart. Liatris is a prairie plant, so it likes drier conditions than we normally have. It may perform well, or it may not. Liatris comes in a rosy pink or white. Plants make a low, bushy rosette. After cutting the large first stem, it forms side s[Image: Tuberose field]tems that may be big enough for florist’s bunches. Blooms in early summer.
Narcissus
Both long-stemmed daffodils and paperwhite narcissus may be used as cut flowers. Do not place stems in buckets with other flowers because they exude a thick, viscous sap that plugs up the stems of other species. It doesn’t seem to be a problem when the individual stems are later placed with other flowers for mixed bouquets.
Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanicus)
Another atypical cut, plant these in the fall 4" apart for a nice, light-blue spike for bouquet work. A 15"-18" stem may be obtained by cutting low. Yank the stems for a longer length. These bulbs make a good perennial planting, with stems getting taller every year. Bulbs multiply quickly. Spanish bluebells may be planted in shade and still flower reliably. It’s a good line flower for market-mixed bunches. Cut when the bottom flowers begin to open. Catalogs offer white and pink Spanish bluebells, but they are much shorter than the blues and not worth pursuing as cut flowers.
Tuberose (Polyantha tuberosa)
A waxy white, intensely fragrant 4-foot flower, tuberose can grow throughout the state. In commercial production, clumps of bulbs (rather than singles) are planted and fertilized heavily and regularly to keep flowering stems emerging. Clumps produce lots of low foliage which produces absurdly long, narrow, flowering stems. Choose the single-flowered variety instead of the double The Pearl. The extra petals of the doubles simply brown more and reduce the vase life of the stem. After the clump begins to bloom, sidedress every 3-4 weeks with ammonium nitrate.