Here are some highlights from Michelle Ovan's presentation. BTW, she is very nice, and if you have questions about cut flower production, you could contact her at Ovans Peony Farm.
You cut the flowers in hard bud, not marshmallow stage.
Bundles are in 10's. Put rubber bands below the bud and at the end of the stem.
Long term storage - you do not hydrate and long term means over a week. They are not bundled and just put in buckets with good airflow.
She does not start harvesting until year four and only takes 1/3 of the blooms in year four.
Year six and onward you can take 50% of the blooms. You can even still sell pick your own blooms off of these 50% harvested plants.
You must remove all side buds in the field. You leave one bract of leaves on the stem. She said no singles; semi doubles and doubles preferably with fragrance.
If you sell directly to a wholesaler you will only get one dollar per stem. If you sell directly to brides like she does she charges four dollars per stem. And selling to brides you can make the stems shorter and that is better for your plants. 14-16 inches for brides.
There are chemicals for hydration and it's important that the solution be at a 3.5 pH.
She uses something called a cool bot for her cooler.
She said corals were not good for cut flowers because they change colors in the cooler and open too quickly.
It was a really good presentation, and I really enjoyed learning more about peonies.
