Books We Recommend
These are the books we love and think you will, too. They are valuable resources for starting a cut flower garden and for floral design work.
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Cut Flower Garden
This book is the closest you can come to a Flower Farmer’s bible. If you haven’t already joined the Floret fan club, this is your invitation to dive in. What are you waiting for?
A Year in Flowers
This book from Erin Benzakein and a prompt NYT bestseller. As a successful market gardener and pioneer of the flower farmer movement, Floret Flowers knows a few things about making pretty arrangements out of the flowers you have grown in your garden.
Handpicked
We love the author’s simple floral aesthetic and flair for unique vessels. She may have you rethinking everyday items in your home as potential flower vases.
The 12 Month Gardener
A lot of what I’ve learned about extending our season here in zone 6a started with this book. Read it to learn how to grow salad greens through the winter or get a head start on spring flowers.
A-Z Guide
If you want a quick reference on how to grow pretty much any plant, this is the book. Hint: if your Latin is not up to snuff, keep Google within reach. Like many serious flower resources, the A-Z list uses the Latin names of flowers.
Plant Propagator’s Bible
From seed starting tips all the way to grafting demonstrations, this book tons of information on how to propagate a multitude of plants. If you want to start a boxwood hedge from cuttings or would like to know how to ‘stratify’ a seed, this book gives you the low down.
Seed Sowing & Saving
This book has some tips on starting plants from seed, but the thing I’ve enjoyed the most is all the tips on how to save seeds from the plants you grow. There’s also a pretty large section that’s dedicated to the specifics of seed saving and sowing for a lot of common vegetables and flowers. If you want to know how to save seeds from your flower garden or even how to come up with a new variety altogether, this is a good resource.
The Zinnia Breeder’s Handbook
Zinnia breeding is a hot topic right now, and rightly so. These workhorse flowers are much more versatile in bouquets if we can get a wider range of colors, especially in softer shades. This book is so helpful if you just starting out and includes a section on zinnia genetics which is both fascinating and necessary if you’re going to be successful.
Dahlia Breeding
Dahlia breeding is also having a moment. Who’s going to come up with the next Café au lait? There’s a lot of great information in this book if you’d like to try your hand at breeding dahlias.