BLOOM FOCUS: 'Strawberry Blonde' Marigolds as a Cut Flower

Boutonnieres using ‘Strawberry Blonde’ Marigolds as a focal.

November 17, 2022

One of my favorite parts of spring and flower farming is trying new flower and foliage varieties. I absolutely love marigolds, probably more than most people, and I was absolutely jazzed when I discovered the ‘Strawberry Blonde’ variety.

The best part of ‘Strawberry Blonde’ Marigolds: The color. It’s fantastic and unmatched by any other marigold variety. It ranges from soft creamy yellow to deep rust and every shade of peachy orange in between. Many blooms grow variegated with stripes of contrasting colors. It perfectly fits the bill for the terracotta and rust color palettes that have become popular over the past few years.

The not great part: ‘Strawberry Blonde’ is super short! I guess I didn’t expect this flower to be as short as she was (or perhaps I was just in denial, savoring all the delicious color tones to come). This variety is completely useless when it comes to bouquets, vase arrangements, and pretty much anything where you need more than a 4-6 inch stem length.

Related: How to Grow Lisianthus

What I loved using ‘Strawberry Blonde’ Marigolds for: Boutonnieres! I made so many boutonnieres using SB as the focal flower. I also found her useful for bud vases, flower crowns, wedding cake flowers, stringing garlands, laying loose floral, and small detail pieces that we inevitably end up making for weddings. I didn’t offer this flower as a wholesale cut flower to florists because I found the stems were just way too short, but I loved using it in my own work.

‘Strawberry Blonde’ is definitely worth a shot!

peace, love & strawberry everything!

fran parrish