US (MA): 22,000 lilies a year at Sabatia Flower Farm
“We cut the flowers three days before they open,” explained Rebecca Perry, owner of Sabatia Flower Farm in Marstons Mills, West Barnstable and Osterville.
“Every day we harvest 100 to 300 stems,” Perry said, noting Sabatia is known for the high quality of its lilies, prized by the florists on its customer list. “We grow 22,000 lilies a year to sell,” she said, noting proudly that she has heard people say her lilies are the best around.
Lilies, she said, need 80 to 100 days to mature, and after cutting require several days of refrigeration. She grows more than half a dozen varieties, harvesting three times a year, and they are a signature part of the business she launched nearly three years ago.
Sabatia Flower Farm, she said, was a (literal) outgrowth of the business she has run for 30 years, Flowers by Rebecca, which maintains about 90 clients. She grew flowers on her property on Oak Street in West Barnstable to use in her gardening business, and began selling cut flowers from a roadside stand. The cut flowers proved popular, and she decided they needed their own business.
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