One of the big projects on the farm this year has been putting in a native perennial cut flower garden. This project combines several things I am passionate about: growing cut flowers, supporting healthy ecosystems, and sharing my knowledge with others. As a flower farmer, not only do I care about growing flowers, but also ensuring that we are supporting the environment where we grow our flowers, which will in turn help us grow better flowers. Native perennials are a great solution here because:

Trays of native perennials just after arriving at the farm

Native perennials are low maintenance.
Because native perennials naturally grow in our area, that means they also thrive in our native soil too! We can plant them directly into the ground without adding yards of compost or fertilizer. They are made to survive where we live, and don’t need much help from us to do so.
Native perennials tolerate the native climate better than non-native plants.
Summers here are hot and humid and the ground is saturated from rain most of the winter. This can cause a lot stress on plants. Native plants have adapted to these conditions and will survive much easier than those that are not used to the climate here in Tennessee. They also require little supplemental watering as they are thrive off the water they receive solely from rainfall during the year.
Native perennials support a healthy ecosystem.
Native plants are extremely important for supporting a healthy ecosystem and increasing biodiversity. They attract beneficial insects, pollinators, and birds. Many also serve as host plants and help sustain the nature lifecycle of these insects and birds. These beneficial insects and birds also help combat pests in the cut flower field. In addition to creating an important ecosystem, replacing lawns with native plants help reduce pollution by elimination the need for mowing grass, which helps to improve air quality.

Whichever way you look at it native plants are a huge benefit on the farm and an essential part in taking care of the ecosystem. I am excited to continue to share updates as these plants grow and share what I have learned through the process, hopefully encouraging even more people to grow their own native flower gardens.

The Process

We had a spot on the farm where we had tried to grow blueberries for the last five years, and it was clearly not the right location for those plants as they had hardly grown during that time. Additionally, the location was frustrating to keep maintained, as the blueberries where in the middle of a patch of grass that was too small for our riding mower. So in the spirit of staying low-maintenance, we decided to convert this space to a native cut flower garden. It had clay soil and received full-sun, and backed up to one of the wooded areas on the farm. I took out the measure tape and drew out the space on a sheet of graph paper and then took to the computer to do some research.

Silage tarp covering the location of the future native perennial garden

Going into this, I was not very familiar with what plants are native to this area, and additionally could also be used for cut flowers. So I began to do some research and put together a list of 16 plants that seemed to meet both of these criteria. Then I slowly began filling in my garden layout with these different varieties, grouping them together by bloom time and being sure to leave some space for paths through the garden so I could actually reach everything once the plants where full-size. I ordered plants through a few online nurseries and then waited for the weather to warm so they could be delivered.

In March, my team and I laid out a large silage tarp over the soon-to-be garden. We let is stay there around 6 weeks, until all the plants that had been ordered arrived. Then we took it off and rolled out two layers of WeedGuard Plus Paper Mulch, and then planted our newly arrived plants through the mulch. As the mulch breaks down, we will apply wood chips in the beds and along the paths to help keep the weeds down and to add some nutrients back into the soil. The majority of our plants came in 2 1/2” pots, so they are pretty small right now, but over the next year those plants will really start filling in the garden.