Whether you’re a flower farmer selling fresh arrangements to clients or a home gardener creating lovely bouquets for inside the home, you need to grow fillers and foliage as well as beautiful flowers.
Fillers and foliage are the backbone of all floral designs. They provide a scaffolding on which to arrange your favorite blooms in all their assorted colors and shapes.
Growing fillers and foliage can actually be easier than growing the flowers themselves. Depending on your gardening zone, many popular fillers and foliage are perennials.
Here at my farm in zone 6b, feverfew is one of my favorites. It’s a perennial filler that’s airy, makes a bouquet look and feel full and holds up well at the farm stand.
Another filler that’s used quite often and blooms in late spring is yarrow. Like feverfew, it’s a perennial. Once planted, you can harvest it for many years to come. Depending on where you plant it, yarrow may require staking or netting, particularly if growing in an open area such as a field.
As for foliage, oh my! There are so many different kinds you can grow to provide balance and a lushness to finished arrangements. Foliage lays the foundation for all types and styles of bouquets, especially those you design for weddings.
Hostas (blooms and leaves), ferns and sedum are tremendous assets to bouquets. Of all the perennial foliage you could grow, I highly recommend these three.
The end of June is fast approaching, and you may still be hustling to get all your crop in the ground. I’m certainly still planting and seeding here on my farm. Typically, everything should be in the ground by the end of May. But hey, life happens, Mother Nature brings lots of rain and during times like these, we must rely on fillers and foliage to pull their weight in the creation of stunning floral designs.
May your days be filled with bountiful harvests of blooms, fillers and foliage so you can always offer your customers the highest quality products and service. And remember, at K. van Bourgondien, you can find everything you need for successful flower farming.
Happy Gardening!
-Pamela Anthony
Beehind Thyme Farm & Garden