Lisa Mason Ziegler

The Gardener’s Workshop

 
Lisa 1.png

Lisa Mason Ziegler is a cut-flower farmer, author, and teacher on organic cut-flower farming and gardening.  Lisa has been farming since 1998 in Southeastern Virginia on the Ziegler family homestead.  In season her urban three-acre farm produces thousands of stems of flowers each week. Lisa has sold her flowers to florist, supermarkets, at farmer’s markets and her members-only on farm market. 

Lisa has authored Cool Flowers: How to Grow and Enjoy Long-Blooming Hardy Annual Flowers Using Cool Weather Techniques (St. Lynn’s Press, 2014) and award-winning Vegetables Love Flowers: Companion Planting for Beauty and Bounty in 2018 (Cool Springs Press, 2018) and The Easy Cut Flower Garden in 2011 (out of print). 

In 2018 Lisa created and produced Flower Farming School Online.  She has gone onto become the publisher of other industry leaders online courses including additional Flower Farming School courses, Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online.   Lisa is the owner of The Gardener’s Workshop; an online garden shop offering her books, online courses, and the gardening tools, seeds, and supplies she uses in her gardens. Her podcasts, Field & Garden and Seed Talk, and many videos are also hosted on the website.

Lisa has been a member of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers since 2001 and served as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Director from 2016 to 2019. She is also a member of the Garden Communicators International.

Show Notes

  1. Make sure to record what you need for next year and keep it in a format that is easy to access and find.

  2. Sit down and make sure you ask yourself, What do I want more of for next year?  More flowers?  More time?  More of the good stuff?

  3. What feeds your business?  Learn to say no to the things that get in the way of you accomplishing your goals.

  4. Take time in the morning for yourself and to get focused.  Lisa likes tuning into Discover the Word.

  5. 70% is usually good enough.  You don’t have to wait on being perfect.

  6. We have to make it super convenient for people to buy flowers.  It’s crowded at the bottom, but it’s not crowded at the top.

  7. It’s always better to start your business with cash.

  8. Do the worst job first!!  Get it over with and behind you.

  9. Be sure to start your business on a strong foundation, learn your market, know your customer, and look for people that want flowers every week.

  10. You should always consider the fallout to agreeing to special requests from your customers.

 
 

If you're a flower farmer or you're interested in growing some flowers for yourself, you're going to love this weeks episode. Lisa Mason Ziegler started The Gardeners Workshop and I'm thrilled to share her story. She started growing in 1998 with everything being grown outside without greenhouses or high tunnels.

Show Notes:

  1. Look into the world of cool flowers to help you extend your season. This is how gardeners planned for spring blooms a long time ago.

  2. I love her attitude about the demand for flowers, she feels that there’s an endless demand.  IT’s all about finding your niche in your market.

  3. Take advantage of courses and the learning that’s available.  You can learn in months what it’s taken years for others to learn.

  4. There’s not just one business model for you and your business.  Take the time to design your business around your needs and lifestyle.  

  5. I appreciate Lisa sharing her top five flowers to grow, sunflowers, zinnias, lisianthus, cockscomb celosia, and plume celosia, and don’t underestimate the power of the cut sunflower. I love how she paid for her $30K tractor with one year of sunflowers.