FLORAL STANDARDS: A Practical Guide for Harvesting and Delivering Professional Quality Products

Seattle, WA. Together, the flower farmers of the Seattle Growers Market (SGM) have accumulated more than 200 years collectively as cut flower growers who supply the commercial floral marketplace. This invaluable experience is now compiled in their first-ever publication, FLORAL STANDARDS, which identifies best practices and product specification sheets for 230 top floral crops. FLORAL STANDARDS is now available as an eBook, reaching floral enthusiasts worldwide!

Since 2011, SGM has cultivated a national reputation for offering a diversity of fresh, seasonal, and high-quality products for florists, shops, studios, and other customers in search of local and domestic botanical ingredients. Its Member-Owners include 19 Washington and Oregon flower farms, and the Market also distributes the products of several additional West Coast growers.

Initially published in 2024, FLORAL STANDARDS brings together proven advice from flower farmers and Market staff on selection and harvest stage, criteria for post-harvest crop treatment, stem length, stem count-per-bunch, and other important considerations. The book’s goal is to help farmers ensure product vitality and provide the best vase life for individual crops desired by the floral professional—from Abelia to Zinnia. Harvest stage instructions are also included for drying more than 60 plants.

The compilation of FLORAL STANDARDS took place over several years, starting in 2020. Initiated by a desire to create “specification sheets” for 230 of the many products grown and marketed by SGM. Led by longtime board member and founder Diane Szukovathy, Member-Growers invested hundreds of volunteer hours to document their successful approaches to selection, care, harvest, and post-harvest, as well as advice for packing, shipping, and supplying customers ranging from wedding and event designers to mass-market retailers. They researched vase life for numerous varieties, noting recommended cultivars for commercial growing and singling out grower favorites.

The 336-page, full-color book is illustrated with 425-plus images of floral products (images reveal correct bud size and other attributes for optimal harvest stage). Also included are specification charts for top crops, including bulbs and tubers (allium, daffodil, dahlia, and tulip); vines (clematis, grape, hops); chrysanthemum, ferns, peony, poppy, rose, scabiosa, sweet pea, ornamental grasses, as well as woody trees, fruiting branches, and conifers.

“FLORAL STANDARDS is an essential reference for experienced and aspiring flower farmers, as well as for avid flower lovers and gardeners. It contains priceless expertise and is filled with proven production and harvest know-how that will assist and guide other growers to achieve success as flower farmers,” says Aaron Gaskey, SGM Board Chair. While the book covers crops that grow successfully in the Pacific Northwest, its value reaches far and wide, providing practical and helpful information to flower farmers and floral enthusiasts worldwide.

Learn more about the book here.