My wife and I have a vision to convert 3-4 acres of our land into a small flower farm. Mostly for visual purposes and our bee hives, but also for the fun and small business reasons. The flowers would complement the 4 acre orchard that we have already started. I'd be ecstatic to be breaking even after 4-5 years. We both enjoy working outdoors and have hired help when needed for big projects around the place.
We have tried and failed on lavender over 3 seasons. Even the hardiest varieties won't reliably survive our 5B Nebraska winter given our local conditions (rich soil and in a valley so 5-10 degrees colder in the winter). We have tried amending soil, mulch, etc. No luck.
Our daylilies on the other hand grow like weeds with very little attention. So we have decided to not fight nature and go with daylilies! We are going all-in with 4-5 rows x 300 plants/each to start with. I'm thinking weed fabric plus 2" of mulch for weed control, plus 5' of grass between rows for easy Polaris and water trailer access.
Several questions:
1. Are there any 'local' or regional experts that we could go to for advice? Consultant type, for a site visit, etc.
2. We would eventually like to sell them, so what types and how many of each would one recommend?
3. Potential sources to get 1200-1500 fans without having to split up the order into too many pieces.
My wife is the expert, so hopefully I don't sound too novice. Thanks for the advice!
