2024 Cut Flowers of the Year Winners Announced by ASCFG
The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG) announced it has selected varieties of cut flowers in four categories — Bulb, Fresh, Foliage, and Woody — as its Cut Flowers of the Year for 2024.
Varieties are nominated based on their ease of culture, productivity, and marketability. Many of them are noted as top performers in the ASCFG’s Cut Flower Trials program. The ASCFG’s nearly 3,000 members vote for their choices based on their experience growing and selling each species or cultivar.
Fresh Cut Flower of the Year
Snapdragon ‘Potomac Appleblossom’
Snapdragon Potomac Appleblossom | ASCFG
Featuring ribbon-candy spikes adorned with sugar pink and white blossoms, these delicate hues create a lovely contrast against the glossy dark green foliage. One Zone 6 grower reports, “‘Appleblossom’ has the best stem strength and length out of every snap cultivar I’ve trialed, plus the colors are lovely and blend well with many other colors. They are insanely productive, throwing multiple flushes throughout the season.”
Another reports that the “Potomac series changed the snapdragon game — in Zone 7, a mine produced through 90-degree summer heat and overwintered through weeks of single digits, shooting out fresh blooms in spring. ‘Appleblossom’ is probably the most versatile and elegant of the series!.” This Group 3 to 4 cultivar does best during the main season, from mid-spring to mid-fall. It grows close together for long, single-stem production and further apart for multiple flushes. The variety does well in the field, tunnels, and greenhouses.
Woody Cut Flower of the Year
Viburnum ‘Brandywine’
Viburnum ‘Brandywine’ | ASCFG
The deep green, glossy foliage turns to dark purple-red in the fall and has multi-season uses. Foliage holds up well in water and can be harvested from early June to October. The flower buds are born in pearl-like clusters and make charming additions to early June bouquets. Additionally, the fruit turns beautiful shades of blue and pink in September. One grower sums up its advantages as follows: “I love the full seasonality of the Brandywine Viburnum. I love the pinkish spring flowers, the leaf coloring, and the two-tone berries.”
This native of Eastern North America is cold hardy in Zones 5 to 9 and tolerates wet sites on the farm. While a pollinator is not required for fruit set, growing another related Viburnum nudum variety nearby will likely increase fruit set.
Cut Bulb Flower of the Year
Daffodil ‘Cheerfulness’
Daffodil ‘Cheerfulness’ | ASCFG
Daffodil ‘Cheerfulness’ is very fragrant and great as a cut flower. Multiple blooms per stem combining white and shades of yellow make for a cheerful display in the spring. An ASCFG member shares, “Lovely scent, very fragrant, long enough stems, and a cute accent flower for design work! This variety is sure to stand out”. Versatile daffodils can be forced as one cut-and-done flower in greenhouses or tunnels, or grown as a long-lived field perennial. The plants are cold-hardy to Zone 5.
Cut Foliage of the Year
Thornless Raspberry ‘Joan J’
Raspberry ‘Joan J’ | ASCFG
One grower raves “I can’t imagine not having this in the field. It’s a favorite source of greenery for mixed bouquets. It’s prolific, easy to grow, trouble-free, and very reliable.” ‘Joan J’ produces loads of long stems all season long, from late spring through to a heavy frost, and is cut for the foliage or green berries.
One grower endorses it, saying “One of our top foliage’s in the field in terms of production and profit from selling direct to florists. So reliable and carefree!” As a bonus, you can leave a few to produce berries. This is a primocane-bearing cultivar, meaning that it bears fruit on current year’s growth. Stems that overwinter should flower early in the season, while new stems may flower in the fall. The variety is cold-hardy in Zones 4 to 8 but generally does better in the cooler part of its range.
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