Profitable, Small-Scale Flower Farming

This article was originally published in the Summer 2017 issue of Heirloom Gardener. Revenue information was current at the time of publication, but may have changed during the intervening years.

When Lynn Byczynski first authored an article on flower farming for Mother Earth News back in 2002, she estimated that “an acre of well-grown and marketed flowers is worth approximately $25,000 to $30,000 in sales.” Eighteen years later, cut flowers continue to be one of the highest-grossing crops you can grow per acre. Using small-scale, high-intensity production techniques, my farm, Floret, has been able to gross $55,000 to $60,000 per acre in good years, even when we’ve sold the bulk of our flowers at wholesale prices. By offering wedding flowers and design services, we’re able to include an additional $25,000 to $30,000 worth of value-added revenue to our farm each year.

But before you get too starry-eyed by these figures and start plowing under your corn to plant zinnias and cosmos, remember a