CULPEPER—Cultivating beauty is a blossoming business in Virginia—offering plenty of options for Mother’s Day gift giving.

The fast-growing nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sod sector ranked fourth among Virginia’s top farm income-earning commodities, generating $399 million in 2022, according to the most-recent U.S. Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture.

The state’s floriculture industry is bustling, as the number of farms growing bedding and garden plants, cut flowers, florist greens and potted, flowering plants jumped from 618 in 2017 to 822 in 2022.

There are 320 Virginia farms cultivating cut flowers and florist greens today—a 73% increase from 184 farms in 2017.

Part-time farmer Terry Osborn of Corvallis Farms has noticed more vegetable growers incorporating fresh-cut flowers at her local farmers market—where she sells specialty produce and seasonal bouquets from May through August. Her family has been growing summer annuals like peonies, larkspur, zinnias and sunflowers on their small Culpeper County farm for 35 years.

Osborn said her customers appreciate her flowers’ lasting beauty. The blooms are cut every Friday and guaranteed fresh until the next Saturday market. She’s also noticed more shoppers adding flowers to their regular shopping lists.

“I will treat myself to flowers before anything else, and I think a lot of people see it that way—it’s just a bright spot for their day,” she said.

Bob Wollam of Wollam Gardens, also in Culpeper, has witnessed the industry’s evolution throughout his 36 years of growing cut flowers. While overseas imports make up a majority of the U.S. flower market, “local flowers are getting people’s attention,” he said.

“Customers are becoming more aware of the benefits of buying locally grown flowers, which have a low carbon footprint” because they haven’t been trucked thousands of miles, Wollam explained.

He welcomes visitors to his 11-acre farm, where he grows more than 80 varieties of perennial and annual flowers for them to pick.

Wollam and other flower farmers, like Jenny and Paul Maloney of Wind Haven Farm in King William County, are extending their growing seasons. Wollam’s tulips were ready by Valentine’s Day in his heated greenhouse, and the Maloneys’ high tunnels produced blooms by mid-January.

Growing over 100 varieties of flowers and foliage on their farm, the Maloneys provide year-round materials for Richmond florists, businesses and grocery stores.

“Virginia is a beautiful place to grow flowers,” Jenny Maloney remarked. She said the state’s “happy medium of weather” and thriving ecosystems allow a greater variety of flowers to thrive.

They’re utilizing high tunnels to offer their wholesale clients plentiful options for Mother’s Day—what Jenny calls “the Super Bowl for local flower farms.” Bachelor’s buttons, campanula, orlaya, nigella and delphinium are among the variety of blooms that will be ready.

Wollam’s Lenten roses were the first to bloom this spring, and his ranunculus, sweet Williams, viburnums, bleeding hearts, daffodils, snowdrops, Iceland poppies and peonies also will be ready for picking by Mother’s Day.

Osborn hopes her 200 peony bushes will bloom in time for Mother’s Day bouquets, yielding a favorite flower of the holiday.

To find fresh-cut flowers near you, visit the Virginia Grown website at vdacs.virginia.gov/vagrown.