Cut Flower Garden Plan Part One : Sunshine & Flora Flower Farm

In this video I share my 2023 Garden Plan! This is part one, which goes over my main cut flower garden, my cottage garden, and my pumpkin bed that is also succession planted with sunflowers!
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Sunshine & Flora, Locally Grown Fresh Cut Flowers
Zone 5A, Northwest Iowa
PO Box 146
Holstein, Iowa 51025

[@conniefuller3892]

You are amazing!!! I'm so glad I found your site. I am planning my flower garden for 2024. Last year was our first year at our new home in Maine 5A . currently lots of snow with our last frost middle of May last year. We are retired and excited to garden. We started mostly thinking vegetables. My grown daughter was interested in flowers so I decided to grown a couple of beds for her if she came up. Planted two beds of zinnias and one cocmos... I fell in love!!!! I discovered Floret Farm through my daughter and saw her making market bouquets. But her video disappeared. I love your videos and I want to try making and selling at farmers markets... Which I will research. I will grow for the joy and being retired if I can pay for more plants that would be amazing. Thank you for making these videos and I'm so excited to plan my garden... I love dahlias but have not grown for cut flowers so your note on buy for cut flowers and zthe zinnias shading probably saved me lots for $$$$. Thank you please continue....

[@SunshineFlora]

Thank you for watching - best of luck to you and your daughter this year. What a great thing for the 2 of you to do together!

[@violetgracie3184]

Thanks!

[@marykennedy3351]

Wow, you're so organized. I'm just overwhelmed at this point. I'm growing everything you've named in this video and more, and I'm having a hard time planning where to put it all. I've bought so many seeds you'd think I lived on an acre. Not even close!🤣 I just want to walk out on my back porch and see a jungle. I wish there was an app that helped you design your yard for space. I'm only doing it for fun this year to make a huge cottage garden with cut flowers. My husband says I'm nuts bc I'm taking out pretty much all of the lawn. 🤣 Excited to see all of your progress.🥰

[@SunshineFlora]

Best of luck to you - sounds like a fun project!

[@taylorswf23]

I saw the thumbnail and thought: “ah! This is the plot featured on Garden Answer!” It is a gorgeous space, very well utilized 😍🤩

[@SunshineFlora]

Ooh! 😊😊😊

[@isabellentxawm6773]

Can't wait to see what your garden will look like this year. Happy growing from Wisconsin

[@SunshineFlora]

Thanks! You too!

[@eyrerosecottage1970]

How exciting!

[@annelefevre9457]

Amazing what you can do w/ a downtown lot. I bet it is wonderful when the flowers are blooming. I’ll be excited to watch you plant and growthe flowers.

[@Birdflowerfarm]

Love your plan! Can't wait to see that, and your hoop! My plan looks like that in my head, but on paper it is all scribbles, lol. Having a lot of space, I just figure I will find a place for 'extras'

[@kenkouches7603]

Great planning! I wish I had the discipline like you! Looking forward for the next video!

[@lynlalalala]

I appreciate your channel sooooo much! 💕💕💕

[@SunshineFlora]

I'm so glad!

[@rosebud447]

I love your photoshop plan! That is useful to know how much you will need.

[@SunshineFlora]

It really is!

[@ajwiebe9652]

I’m loving your plan and your detail. I’m new to your channel and am learning a lot. Look into your corn idea of planting one row. I’ve always heard you need several rows for good germination. .

[@judymckerrow6720]

Great plan ! Good luck Christina! ❄️💚🙃

[@ginny.harrison]

Wonderful video! Thank you for sharing, it keeps me motivated.

[@SunshineFlora]

You are so welcome!

[@alisonburgess345]

Great video Christina - you're growing a great array of flowers! Looking forward to seeing how you go this year 🎉

[@SunshineFlora]

Thanks so much! 😊

[@rachaelbrown1726]

Enjoy how organized the info you share in your videos. I've learned a lot from them. Love watching the transformation of your space. It's like a magical secret garden. Saw you on Garden Answer too 😀. Thanks for all the info!

[@SunshineFlora]

You are so welcome!

[@lorrainecourtney4589]

That diagram is amazing 😊

[@marthaduffy8386]

So exciting.....can't wait to see the part 2 video..I wonder if your corn will pollinate properly if you only have 1 row, usually corn needs a few rows in a square shape to pollinate properly in the wind. You will probably have to hand pollinate to get full ears of corn. Have you ever researched how corn should be planted to get good pollination? I hate to have you waste planting space if it won't produce what your expecting, unless you just want stalks for decorating in the fall.

[@SunshineFlora]

Good thought…..I better plant a few rows to be safe!

[@daledave00]

Love your channel 😊

[@SunshineFlora]

Thank you so much!

[@jillsimpson8716]

So exciting!!! Thank you for all your knowledge and inspiration. Itching to get started, but I feel I will never have the space to grow all the flowers I want. Restraint is so hard.

[@SunshineFlora]

I hear ya - hard when you want to grow everything!

[@RuthanneR1]

I love seeing your garden plans. Two thoughts as I watched. One. Which varieties of flowers do you have to rotate locations to keep healthy soil and healthy flowers? Two. Where you have the question mark by the sunflowers on the west side of your greenhouse, are you going to have the same problem with sunflowers shading out your dahlias? Have you ever tried cress as bouquet fillers in place of the basil you tried last year?? I absolutely love it! Just a consideration. It would grow nicely in that spot and should not shade out your dahlias. Again, these are just thoughts that I'm offering. Take them or leave them. No offense will be taken.

[@SunshineFlora]

I am definitely growing cress this year! I think if I planted that area with sunflowers it would be a succession planting that would be later on so the dahlias would already have height. Although I would rather put something else there….just need to figure out what I need more of. I also amend my soil a lot so have not had an issue with planting the same thing in the same spot a couple years in a row. Tulips I definitely rotate. You want to be on a 7 year rotation with those

[@dianejacobs9672]

Christina you might want to really watch for squash bugs if you’re planting squash/pumpkins in the same place as the year before. Wish I had room for a hoop house. Good luck!!

[@SunshineFlora]

That is something I luckily have not had yet!

[@lisakgra]

Absolutely love your organization, wish I could do this on the computer how ever lack of skills force me to use grid paper. This is my first year growing cut flowers so seeing your layout really helps thank you. Can’t wait for your second installment, especially the hoop house plans! When do you plant out your lisianthus?

[@SunshineFlora]

Hopefully mid April for the Lisianthus! 🤞

[@kelleyspiller5330]

Love the daffodil/sunny/pumpkin combo! Last year, I popped my stock in around my tulips. Any other ideas for multi planting small spaces?

[@SunshineFlora]

That’s the main area I am multiplanting. But you never know - maybe I’ll come up with another space! Ha

[@SleepyKittens]

crabgrass is an annual grass... you probably have quack grass, rhizmous weed

[@patriciacole8773]

Can you use some of the hydrangea leaves and raspberries leaves for filler? I also recommend orach mountain spinach leaves as filler. And I’m hoping crimson clover stems are good for cutting. They’re so cute. I like your videos. I’m planting bronze fennel and I have mint I am considering for filler.

[@SunshineFlora]

My raspberry plants are super pokey - unless I cut the stems early? Not sure…..hmm…

[@Smartlady56]

When you do get to the planting stage this spring, could you show how you support your plants? I assume you use the mesh? Thanks.

[@SunshineFlora]

Yes and yes

[@mekeshasturgill9378]

Love the idea of color coding your plan. Is this standard photoshop? I've attempted to replicate a plan for our farm and cannot figure it out. Any tips on learning to plan using this program?

[@SunshineFlora]

Yes it’s in photoshop. I use this because that’s what I use everyday editing at my photo studio. Maybe watch some you tube videos, or it would be easy to hand draw and color code. There may be other programs out there simpler than photo shop too you could try

[@SleepyKittens]

Having a compass on your diagrams/layouts would help.

[@kathilemmons1955]

What do you use for irrigation?

[@SunshineFlora]

Drip in some areas, hand water others

[@nikkiholton6318]

Awesome design. Which rudbeckia didn't get tall enough for you that u want to remove?

[@SunshineFlora]

I LOVE Sahara, but it didn't get tall enough. Cherry Brandy was borderline.

[@nikkiholton6318]

@@SunshineFlora darn. I have both of those growing right now ....they take forever

[@miguelsalty]

I was looking at your previous videos on the farm and wanted to ask how far apart do you plant your zinnias?

[@SunshineFlora]

9 inches

[@miguelsalty]

@@SunshineFlora thank you

[@chavigupta7517]

Hey, just a question. Are you not concerned about crop rotating? I see that many spaces you are utilising just the same as last year. Is that something you would be doing next year?

[@SunshineFlora]

Not super concerned about it because I amend the soil so much. I do rotate where my tulips go

[@chavigupta7517]

@@SunshineFlora yeah, I thought you did rotate tulips. But about the amending, my understanding is that when you have the same crop growing on the same space, it will give pests and diseases of that crop chance to strengthen or something, as you aren't breaking the cycle. But of course, you are working a new land, with limited space too. So you do you. I have newly started watching you, so excited to see how the year goes for you. 👍

[@cherigeitz7798]

Do flowers require crop rotation?

[@SunshineFlora]

I am not overly familiar with that although I do know that tulips need to rotate every 7 years

[@chavigupta7517]

@@SunshineFlora hey Christina, I hope you know tulips need to rotate every year, and only after seven years(even heard three) you again plant them in the same spot. Maybe you meant that, but i just wanted to make sure.

[@SunshineFlora]

@@chavigupta7517 yes definitely know that. Gotta keep those safe for sure!

[@chavigupta7517]

@@SunshineFlora great. I know how expensive tulips can be!

[@delphine88313]

Hope you don't have problems with mice because I heard they love corn and sunflowers.

[@SunshineFlora]

Grown both for years and have not had issues

[@delphine88313]

@@SunshineFlora Thats great

[@susancanning1760]

Snapdragons.?

[@SunshineFlora]

Love snaps!