Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms

Erin Benzakein is a pioneering farmer-florist and advocate for locally grown flowers. Having learned her trade through trial and error (read: blood, sweat, and tears), she has bestowed an incredible gift upon flower farmers and home gardeners alike with her first book, Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden. The first thing you'll notice is how beautiful the book is. It's a work of creative art in its own right thanks to Michele M. Waite's gorgeous photos, and is well complemented by a clean, modern, and organized layout. In addition to its inherent beauty, it's also wildly substantial: Erin has packed over 300 pages of information between those beautiful covers! Basics are covered in the beginning. From garden planning and seed starting, to soil management and even tools. Next, you can browse by season for a tasks list, plant spotlights, and then projects including the author's signature natural floral designs. As a flower farmer-florist, you can bet this book will be in heavy rotation for both reference and inspiration. So far it's been equally at home on my lap by the fire and at my desk while planning for the growing season. For me, the seasonal organization is a lifesaver: I can quickly flip to whatever season I'm currently in to make sure I'm not forgetting any important tasks, or to gain a bit of inspiration. I'll also note how much I appreciate Erin's authenticity. For example, I was thrilled to see it printed on FSC-Certified paper. Well-used tools are photographed rather than shiny new props. You'll spy weeds and muddy farm boots, because, well, that's what farming and gardening entails. Thank you, Erin, for pouring your heart and soul into this work for farmers and gardeners around the world. I hope it inspires more people to get their hands dirty, and helps further our community's mission to cultivate a wider appreciation of, and demand for, local sustainably-grown flowers. (I received a courtesy copy from the publisher to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden is an absolute treasure for anyone passionate about flowers! From the stunning photography to the detailed, step-by-step instructions, this book has everything you need to create your own lush, seasonal flower garden. The author, Erin Benzakein, shares her wealth of knowledge in such an accessible and inspiring way. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced gardener, you’ll find practical tips on everything from selecting the right varieties for your garden to harvesting and arranging your blooms like a pro. What I love most is how the book is organized by season, making it easy to plan your garden year-round. The arrangements featured in the book are absolutely breathtaking and have inspired me to try new combinations in my own bouquets. If you love flowers and want to bring more beauty into your life, this book is a must-have. It’s not just a gardening guide—it’s a source of inspiration that will leave you eager to get your hands in the soil and start planting!

Can we all just have acres and acres of cut-flowers? Realistically, I know the answer... but hey, we can dream right?! This book is super encouraging, helpful and a great resource to the wide variety of cut-flowers. You learn everything from seeds to soil, watering to flower seasons, cutting flowers to showing them in a vase, preparing your garden to putting your garden to sleep (didn't know that was a thing), and most importantly, success to failures--those learning moments! I am really glad I ordered this. If anything, it's a beautiful book, it will look pretty on your coffee table.

Really comprehensive, well-written, and understandable walk through of everything you’d ever need to know if you want to get into the flower growing or arranging business at any level. Great pictures and visuals, including charts. And she even takes you through step by step calculations so you can translate your space and time into a realistic project with scope and space requirements that fit what you have and need. I’d recommend to everyone interested in growing flowers and starting a mini to medium business.

A very beautiful book!

Where to even begin?! This is an exquisite book. I love flowers and have desired to start a small cut garden for years. I have never tried from sheer overwhelm and never having a in depth guide to refer too. This books is so loaded with information, I feel like I have a mentor to hold my hand through this process. The book is such a joy to read and I find myself not only more educated but truly so inspired by all the beautiful flower varieties I have been introduced to on these pages. The author covers everything from start to finish to help you create a opportunity for year long blooms and includes many cost effective solutions to some of the pricier aspects. Key to me for a first time gardner who doesn’t want to shell out hundreds on the first try. The pages are a beautiful high quality matt and so elegant to look at. I cannot say enough about this book and I really believe that even a seasoned gardener will find inspiration and learn a thing or two from this industry expert

The author has done a wonderful job with this book and I appreciate everything contained within it. The information, photography and organization is top notch. The shipper (Amazon) however, is absolutely horrible. The book arrived with what looked like brown paste of some sort all over the entire cover and the back cover is smashed and torn. I purchased a new copy not used and was not made aware of any quality issues in advance of purchase. Amazon really needs to do better for the Authors they have the privilege of selling books for.

Beautiful book. Gorgeous photos.

The book is perfect for any gardener.

It covers soil amending, seasonal tasks, plants, maintenance and projects etc. Beautiful photographs to inspire you. Certainly has for me!

A very colourful book with great photographs of flowers in Washington State, USA. Still useful for growers in the UK as there are useful guidelines for a wide range of cut flowers. Experienced growers may not find much beyond the range of species that they already grow but they can still enjoy the colours.

Wunderschönes und lehrreiches Buch! Sehr zu empfehlen, wenn man am Anbau von Schnittblumen interessiert ist oder einfach Blumen im Garten ernten möchte!

Hermoso libro. La autora es Genial.