For the past few years I've been trying to establish a cut flower garden. I've followed local flower growers on Instagram to see what they are growing, and when, and I decided on 2 flowers I wanted to try, Ranunculus and Anemones.
I was super surprised at how easy this flower was to grow. AND HOW MANY BLOOMS I GOT FROM ONE PLANT! Needless to say, this will become a staple in my cut flower garden from now on.
I pursued only a single variety, Black and White from Floret. My 20 tiny corms produced maybe close to 100+ flowers over 4 months. That's pretty astonishing success for my first time growing.
So how did I know what to grow?
When all else fails. look local! You will be quite surprised at how many flower farmers are within a 100 mile radius of Central Texas and the Hill Country. I started my research with more established farmers, such as Floret, by following their Instagram account. That opened doors really quickly to the local farmers; I was getting suggestions from Instagram. For around a year I hung onto every post or story added to their accounts. I became more familiar with the flowers and varieties they were growing, and what their favorites were. From there I knew what I wanted to try and had a better understanding of when appropriate planting times were for my area. The next step was sourcing the corms, and when to order.
How do you grow Anemones?
These flowers are an early spring bloomers for Central Texas, which means they need to be planted in the fall. Ordering your corms in time can be tricky. Popular vendors, such as Floret, will sell out within hours. Check sites frequently to know availability and shipping times. My order was placed in the beginning of October and reached me before mid-October. Finally, I planted my corms within the next week.
In between the time I ordered, received, I was working on prepping the planting site. As with all plants, you want your soil to be loose and rich in organic material. Add lots of compost to your soil to help provide nourishment through the growing season., as well as improve the soil itself
Once you are ready to put your plants in the ground you need to let the corms soak for several hours, in fact 24 hours. The day before you want to plant start soaking. I've seen many flower farmer also use a fish tank aerator to help get oxygen into the water but I didn't take things that seriously this first year. Maybe next year.
After you've soaked your corms, and they have plumped up almost double in size, its time to plant. Corms are similar to bulbs, in that they require deeper planting than most seeds. I had a pretty small area I intended to plant my corms, about 3' wide by 2' long. Each corm had a recommended spacing of close to 6" - 12" between corm. I stayed at most 6" and packed them in pretty tight,. I planted my corms around 3" - 4" deep. My bulb spade (you know the one with the measurements on the blade) came in handy for the first time in a very long time.
How long before you saw results?
Now with my corms planted, and rich organic soil all nestled around them, they needed a good watering to help settle the soil . I made sure that my drip irrigation lines ran close to where the corms were planted, so the soil stayed moist while they were waking up. After about 4 weeks I started seeing plants push through the surface of the soil! About another 4 weeks after that I had my first buds forming. By mid December I had flowers in bloom, ready to be cut, and I was beyond excited.
I knew I would get several flowers from one corm, but what I did not expect was how many. Turns out a single plant can produce 10 or more flowers. With 20 corms planted that could be close to 200 flowers for the growing season, in just a 3' x 2' space! Turns out, I got more than I could have thought. My entire winter I had fresh flowers in my house.
My plants have produced blooms for at least 4 months now. Peak season, for me, came in late February till end of March. I was able to cut a minimum of 10 stems each week. AND ANOTHER THING, these flowers have an astonishingly long vase life! 7 days on average, but upwards of 10 if treated well.
Why did I chose Black and White variety?
There are so many varieties to choose from, from so many different vendors. It is truly a word-of-mouth path I took on where to order from. Once I selected the vendor I had the struggle of "oh gosh, so many choices, what do I choose?". Blue and white are some of my favorite colors. White goes with anything, it has a clean appearance, and it so versatile. The beauty of the Black and White variety is that I do get blue as well! The stamen and center of the flowers can be a deep, intense blue. At first glance you wouldn't catch it, but after you take a closer look you pick up on the blue. Its really quite something.
What are your plans for the fall in 2020?
This fall I am definitely growing anemones again. I am planning on expanding my color palette, but have not made decisions yet as to what additional colors I will have. Possibly burgundy, purple, or red. Follow me to find out what I'll be doing in the future!
Read more about my cut flower garden plans from the fall of 2019 here where my first dedicated effort started.
Thank you for reading! I hope you found my recommendations useful. We'd love to hear from you!
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