IT’S FINALLY SUMMER, with perfect weather, sunny skies, vacation days galore and everyone’s garden is coming into full brilliance.
Numerous people this week have asked me how I produce such large, long stem cut flowers.
I have survived a torrent of jobs and injuries this year, along with the normal maintenance required at my clients’ yards and gardens. And it is this normal maintenance that I want to write about today, for summer is a fantastic time for most everyone’s flower beds.
Dahlias are in bloom, gladiolus are beginning to bud, the oriental lilies are popping, snapdragons are bursting forth, liatris spikes tower above the other flowers, while zinnias, roses, marigolds and the like are a profusion of massive color.
So with all these flowers in abundance, why not properly harvest them and bring them indoors, arranged in magnificent floral displays?
The key to this quest is found in both disbudding and properly conditioning, which insures long, free stem flowers that last for days.
So what is disbudding, and why is it so crucial for cut flower production?
Disbudding is exactly what it implies: the removal of buds from the stem.
I want to stop right here and say that everyone needs to understand my version of a popular saying, “you need to spend flowers to make flowers!”
Better size, length, strength
With disbudding, this is the key — you remove side or terminal-tip buds in order to drastically increase the size of the remaining flowers and the length and strength of the stem.
All flowers in a floral shop are disbudded, which is why they are so much better than most of yours.
To determine how to properly disbud a plant, you need to first distinguish what type of flower it is.
Plume type flowers, such as gladiolus, astible, snapdragons, celosia, delphiniums and lupine, require one to remove the terminal-tip buds, it is the very top of the plants flower stalk.
Removing these few buds at the end has several advantages.
First, these buds seldom develop or open, so no loss there.
Next, the tips of these flowers tend to meander around, curving here and there, so disbudding keeps the flower stalk straight.
And as with all disbudding, the size of the remaining flowers is increased, along with the length and thickness of the flower stalk.
Flowers that have multiple large buds, such as lilies and floribunda roses, require you to remove (disbud) the very last bud, which is at the very tip.
These buds seldom develop to maturity and through the disbudding of the remaining side, flowers fully open.
This is especially crucial in floribunda roses.
Now for the rest of your blooming botanical wonders such as dahlias, peonies, grandiflora roses, marigold, zinnia, carnation, mums, rudbeckia, sunflowers, asters, calendula and echinacea, removing all side buds is the name of the game.
The sooner the better
By removing the side buds, the terminal-tip bud greatly swells and can be almost double it’s otherwise normal non-disbudded size.
All disbudding should be done as soon as the buds are visible.
The sooner one disbuds, the better, because remaining bloom size and stem quality are directly proportional to how soon the stem is disbudded before it flowers.
Now, as we just recently discussed for conditioning your cut flowers, cut them as early in the morning as possible.
Early morning is best, just past sunrise.
When harvesting cut flowers, the ground should be good and moist, and the cut flowers should be immediately placed in a full vase of cold water.
When harvesting cut flowers, as many leaves (and thorns) as possible should be promptly removed before submerging them in water.
The flowers should be placed for at least 12 hours (if not 24) in a cool, dark, well-ventilated spot.
Then, the flower stem should be recut (angle) and placed in vases with lukewarm water, which transfers up the stem much more easily.
Do not use preservatives, sugars or other mixes, these just plug up the water intake tubes.
Recut the base of the stems everyday or two in order to cut off the callus, then flush and rinse the vase.
Refill with fresh water so bacteria does not fill up the transfer tubes as well.
All right then, go become your own florist, and stay well all!
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Andrew May is a freelance writer and ornamental horticulturist who dreams of having Clallam and Jefferson counties nationally recognized as “Flower Peninsula USA.” Send him questions c/o Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or email news@peninsuladailynews.com (subject line: Andrew May).
