Speaker: Allan Armitage, Professor Emeritus of Horticulture, University of Georgia
Recorded introduction: Narrated by Bethany Harris
Moderator: Bethany Harris
Duration: 16:37.4 (997.418 s, measured)
Series: Cut Flower Symposium
Webinar Date: July 23, 2026
Recorded Introduction
Prerecorded speaker introduction, narrated by Bethany Harris. The introduction plays twice in the recording, from 00:00:00,240 and again from 00:00:30,640. Both passes are preserved below.
Bethany Harris: Dr. Allan Armitage is Professor Emeritus of Horticulture at the University of Georgia and one of the most influential voices in the flower world. He’s written 17 books, including the beloved reference, Herbaceous Perennial Plants, and a field guide to specialty cut flowers. He’s introduced more than 20 garden plants and lectured on nearly every continent. He’s built UGA’s famed Trial Gardens, and today he opens us up with an introduction to cut flowers and cut flower resources.
The recorded introduction restarts.
Bethany Harris: Dr. Allan Armitage is Professor Emeritus of Horticulture at the University of Georgia and one of the most influential voices in the flower world. He’s written 17 books, including the beloved reference, Herbaceous Perennial Plants and a field guide to specialty cut flowers. He’s introduced more than 20 garden plants and lectured on nearly every continent. He’s built UGA’s famed Trial Gardens, and today he opens us up with an introduction to cut flowers and cut flower resources.
Opening Remarks from North Carolina
Allan Armitage: Good day everybody. I hope you can hear me because I’m not sure you’re going to see me. But I’m on holiday here. I’m in actually North Carolina. And I decided, what the heck, if you have people like Rich and Bethany on your tail, you better say yes. And so I said yes. This is great. And so I’m taking a little break and hopefully we’ll get this done.
But anyway, I’m here just to introduce things. And with luck, I’ll give you a little bit of introduction to what I’m doing. That’s me, by the way. And I am wearing my hat. And maybe I don’t know how to get me on the screen, but you don’t need me anyway. But anyway, I do want to say a couple of things. I only have a very short few minutes with you. And so a couple of things.
Lanie Riner, GGIA, and Showing Up
First of all, Lanie Riner is fabulous. She was one of my students way back when. She made the class better all the time. She made the industry better. She is just absolutely terrific. And so I can’t say enough good things about the people at Georgia. And I’ve been very instrumental in stuff. And I’ll talk about a few things, instrumental meaning being part of. But, you know, the saying that things get done by people who show up. So show up.
When Lanie says GGIA, it is a fabulous organization. I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t be part of it. And I’m going to try to spend some more of your money today and talk about other organizations you should be part of. But GGIA is certainly, and again, I’m not making any money here, believe me, but GGIA is just… It’s a no-brainer. If you’re in the industry, I don’t care what you do, whether you’re a cut flower grower or you have a greenhouse, just get there. Okay, enough of that.
The Idyllic Life of Flower Farming
So I’m going to talk a little bit about the idyllic life of what you do here. The idyllic life. Hold on, don’t do this to me. Okay, I’m a flower farmer. So let me talk a little bit about flower farming in general.
This is a photo. You can see the sunflowers, and you can see the zinnias, and… In the back you’ll see some other perennials and all. This is from Lisa Mason-Ziegler. You might know her. She has some great books and all, but there’s a ton of people out there to help you. I hope that this little introduction will give you something that you can… Sorry, I’ll get this eventually.
Cut Flowers in America Are Doing Just Fine
So this whole idea of being a cut flower grower, Lanie said some of the droughts and whatever took a few out. I want to tell you, cut flowers in America are doing just fine, thank you. I’m going to talk a little bit about some of the national organizations as well. There’s a ton of cut flower growers. And I know that around you, you sometimes think you’re the only one. You’re really not the only one.
There’s just people who are doing this perhaps in their backyard. People are doing it in 10 acres. Where we are in Athens, Georgia, just outside of the Three Porch Farm. We go there. It’s a great place. And there’s a lot of small growers as well.
This Nicole Pitt is somebody you should know. If you don’t already know who she is, get on her website. She’s always talking about cut flowers and other things. So let’s just see what’s happening here.
A Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Farmers
I’ve been involved in almost every aspect of this North Carolina, or North American, specialty cut flower evolution. I watched up close. And… This whole life of a flower farmer. I’m told that many of you are veterans. You’ve been doing this for a few years. And some of you are just starting out.
Yeah, that’s a good thing. But let me put all this cut flower farming in perspective, because this is what I do. I roam around the country. People actually ask me to talk about stuff. And greenhouses or… And I’m not just cut flowers, but we are just a brotherhood or a sisterhood of farmers. And whether you’re a greenhouse person or whether you’re a landscape person or whether if you’re dealing with plants, you’re a farmer.
Anonymous Comments from Cut Flower Growers
So let’s just read some comments about being a cut flower farmer. I’ve culled these from various conversations. And those of you who have been in the trenches for years, you’re going to smile. You’re going to nod your head. But you might find these comments useful for others because you are a teacher. So this is comments from cut flower growers over the years. All shall remain anonymous.
There is nothing easy about this business. You’ll work harder than ever before. It is arduous work, long hours, times you want to throw the towel in. And listen, forget about taking a holiday. You’ll always be needed on the farm. But what else is new? If you’re a farmer, that’s life. And again, these comments are from people that are doing just fine, thank you.
Start Small and Expand Slowly
But the most important thing is start small and expand slowly. Use common sense. Know your abilities, and particularly the time constraints of you and your staff. Now your staff might be your husband or your wife or your kid or your grandkids or your grandmother on her hands and knees and can’t get up, but… Know the constraints, because when that lovely patch of seedlings you put out is really cool, becomes a field, it is easy to be overwhelmed.
Please start small. I can’t overemphasize that. If I got one thing that was true for everybody who said, sometimes they started too big and it got away from them very quickly.
Equipment, Structures, and Your Bank Manager
Learn about equipment maintenance and structures. It is a given that the heater will fail on the coldest night. And the plastic tunnels will be blown away with the wind. It’s a given. So make sure you know how to get the heater fixed. Put the tunnels back in. It’s just, it’s farming.
Get to Know Your Bank Manager
Here’s one of your better friends. Get to know your bank manager. You will likely be spending some quality time together. Farming costs money. Now again, I hope somebody is supporting you. Maybe you have this property that somebody, your parents, your family, that’s great. And maybe you don’t need loans for anything. But perhaps you do.
Perhaps you want to get a greenhouse that actually stands up during the winter. Or perhaps you want to get, as every cut flower grower should have, a refrigerator to put cut flowers in, once harvested but yet not delivered. You have to have somewhere to store the flowers you do. So farming costs money.
And as one of my people who said it’ll take at least three years before you actually make any money. Now, I know that all of you, if you’ve been here for 10 years or whatever doing your thing. You know this. And that money will likely go right back to the farm. Okay.
I can’t see anybody, so I’m hoping you’re still with me, but now we got that out of the way, and since you not only understand but have lived these comments, let’s just assume you’re crazy. Okay? You are crazy flower growers. So let’s get going.
Where to Find Resources
One of the things that Bethany asked me to do is just put some resources for you out there. So first, let’s find some resources.
GGIA has already been mentioned. Just do it. I just don’t want to hear from you. If you’re in this business, that means you’re in the business. You got to be somewhat serious. If you’re just out there poking a few sunflowers in the ground, have fun. Go to the farmer’s market and that’s great.
But if you’re going to do this, I won’t even say for a living, but at least for a profitable hobby, let’s start with the best resource for serious growers, GGIA and specialty cut flower growers.
The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers
It’s the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. They have quarterly. They have people… they have things you can put behind you at the flowers market. It just is the best. And I don’t want to hear about how much money it costs. You’re going to be investing money.
There’s useful material, listservs, sources for seeds and plugs, equipment, cut flowers of the year, farm visits. There’s one in the Three Porch Farm later on in the fall. It’s just so much more. Oh, and by the way, this has over 2,500 members. So you’re not alone.
And so then the coolest thing about the listserv is you say, hey, who’s got some decent sunflowers or what do you recommend? And it’s on there. So get on it, please. And just go to specialty cut flowers at ascfg.org is the link.
Cut Flowers of the Year
And here, for example, cut flowers of the year. So there’s 2026, 25, 24, all the way back to 2000. And these are based on trials, not just somebody who happens to have some seed for sale. So again, I’m not going to go over any of these, but just so you know, that’s available to you.
You don’t know what celosia you need to put in. Let’s try Shimmer because people think it’s pretty good. Don’t know what zinnia to put in. Let’s try Queeny Lemon Peach. It’s cool.
So there’s a herbaceous cut. Herbaceous, woody, bulb, and foliage. So that’s herbaceous, woody, bulb, and foliage. Okay, cool. They got a geranium for foliage because it’s really a variegated foliage. It’s really cool.
But anyway, so there’s a website down there as well. I think Bethany, Rich, you guys will put this on your place.
Books, and the 1993 Cut Flower Reference
There’s other reliable resources as well. And there’s a ton of excellent books. You can get these again online. Here’s Lennie Larkin’s and here’s John Dole and Lisa Ziegler and Lynn Byczynski. These are great ones. And of course, I happen to like a few others. And I’m not making apologies because I’m here to tell you what’s out there. And I happen to have done a few of these.
But here’s the granddaddy of them all for cut flowers. This is still one of my most popular books, believe it or not, 1993. Revised 2003 and still one of my best sellers. And I say that because you can’t get it anywhere else but through, I say you can get it on through Amazon and all, but it’s very expensive. It’s out of print and I happen to be able to keep them in print. So that’s cool. Just don’t get anything I’m talking about, but if you want resources, they’re out there.
An App, and the Newest Book
Here’s an app. It’s called Armitage’s Great Garden Plants. And on the app plants for cut flowers. So this is done for anybody, cut flower growers, gardeners, landscapers, etc. So it’s there. It costs all of $4.99. It’s a bad hamburger. And away you go. So you put it on your phone, iPhones, yada yada, and away you go.
The Newest Book, and the Discount Code
And of course, here’s the newest. And I’m going to talk about this one a little bit. I’ve only got five minutes left. So this specialty cut flowers with my colleague Kelly Garcia. It’s a relative newbie for your garden. And again, all of these can get on my website. I truly am not here to sell anything. If you don’t do it, that’s fine, but you probably should at least get some of this.
But the cool thing here, if you go onto my website, allanarmitage.net, there’s free shipping if you put the discount code walkabout. And I know Bethany and Rich will have that up for you as well. This deals with all sorts of things. I’m just going to finish off this thing saying what you can do.
Yarrow, One Reference Entry Walked Through
Here are some excerpts from a single perennial, just yarrow. Okay, so this is what the kind of the book looks like. Quick reference, all these cool things. Historically, yeah, yeah. So all of these things are there.
It says, for instance, some important things. When to harvest, the pollen must be visible before cutting. Really important, otherwise they just don’t have any shelf life. Here’s some useful selections, for example… Here’s Parker’s Gold, or Moonshine, or Coronation Gold. These are all great selections and there’s new ones out there. This is just the yellow forms. These are much better than the colored forms. And I say that, they may not have as much sex appeal, but boy, they last longer, and they’re a great cut flower.
And again… So spacing and all those other kind of things are in this little book. And you should, if you like this thing, feel free. It’s something you throw in the back of your pickup. We tried to make it so it was tough and ready to do. It’s small. It’s just something you can take with you.
A Cold Treatment, and More Yarrow Choices
And the whole thing about a cold treatment, you’re not going to get yarrow to grow unless you put them through the winter. But you know this. So this just allows you to get some more information.
So again, it also allows you for choices of yarrow. And there’s a whole slew of them. And these are the yellow ones at the top, and here’s some of the colored ones down the bottom, which are some of the best for cuts. And so I think you’ll like this.
A Sowing Calendar, and What Comes Next
Another excellent resource for those of you who like to do seeds. This cut flower sowing calendar is there for you. That’s just an excerpt of it. You know, how you can do it, when you do it, how you do it. And this is also available through the website allanarmitage.net, just go this and it costs 10 bucks or something and you get this on your email.
Okay, so now we are done. You guys are going to talk about disease management, heat, drought. You’re going to talk about lisianthus, which is just one of my favorite flowers. I think Katie’s going to talk about that. Again, one of my fabulous students. You can’t go wrong there.
And you’re going to get various messages from well-known organizations. There’s no end to what we can grow, but there’s definitely a finite number we can market, sell, and make a profit with.
Do Your Homework Before You Plant
Do your homework before you plant a single plug or seed. Assuming you have done so, choose wisely. Your most profitable markets are early season crops and late season. For summer flowers, summer is summer. People are all over the place. They’re all the way. The market is much less in the summertime, early and late. But there’s lots of good stuff out there.
People love sunflowers. They love lisianthus. They love celosia. Perennials like yarrow, which is early, and columbine, which is early, and asters, which are late. Yada yada. They’re all there. So just make some choices. You can’t grow everything. Grow, I can’t overemphasize, start small, grow a few things at work.
Make sure you’ve already talked to the people you’re going to market plants to, whether it’s your farmer’s market or your florist or your wholesaler or whoever. Talk to them way before you ever get into this thing too much. It’s a great place to be. Cut flowers are popular. The lifestyle of a cut flower farmer is fabulous. Don’t worry about any holidays. People do this because they want the lifestyle, not just because they want to be farmers. So, I’m afraid my 15 minutes of fame are used up.
It Is All About the People
But one last thought. The plants are important. Information is valuable. But it’s really all about the people. Truly, you can’t get anything done without the people who are supporting you, maybe loving you, are ready to listen. It’s all about the people.
And hopefully, I’m not just talking about your staff. I’m talking about your family. I’m talking about anybody who is involved in this. And I say with Riches and the Bethanys and the Lanies, it’s all about the people. And I just can’t stand it. I have such a great time.
That last one is of my colleague and Kelly Garcia. She’s the one that co-authored that book with me. She’s fabulous, but you’re all fabulous. So that’s what it’s all about.
Setting the Table, and Signing Off
I am going to leave you for the real meals that you’re about to be served. I hope I have set the table. Bethany, Rich, Lanie, etc., and all the people involved in this, I’ve set the table. I hope I haven’t been negative. I don’t mean to be. I just want to make sure that those questions at the very beginning and those thoughts are answered. But all the chefs are waiting. So, best success.
Stay in touch. I’m always here if you need me. And my email even. I don’t give this out often, but you’re my guys, you’re my people. You can email me anytime you want if I can help. So, with that, I will say, The end. And I will say thank you. And I will stop sharing and I will let the real people get to the real information. All the best. Look at me. All right.
Closing from the Moderator
Bethany Harris: Dropped his website and the promo code walkabout into the chat. So check those resources out.
Transcript processed for UGA Center for Urban Agriculture / Cut Flower Symposium Archives
Source: Corrected SRT (Stage 1), GTBOP_Transcript_2026-07-23_ArmitageCutFlowerIntro.srt (333 blocks)
Updated 2026-08-08 in the post-pipeline correction pass, applying the closed audio verification sweep. Eighteen [VERIFY] markers removed, eleven words corrected, three block-split addresses joined tight. Both completeness proofs re-run against the corrected SRT and clean: normalized character stream identical at 12,883 characters, exact token stream differing only in the eleven enumerated seam repairs.