Celebrating Local Flowers

Mixed in with the oohs and aahs of floral designers exclaiming over freshly harvested flowers were the baas and bleats of goats large and small, residents of Tanglewood Flower Farm in Ashton, Maryland. Nearly 20 members of the Independent Floral Designers Association (IFDA) and their guests gathered at Tanglewood on Saturday, September 10, 2022 to tour the farm, pet the goats, learn from a design demonstration, and create their own European Bouquet, using locally grown flowers and foliage.

Terry Godfrey, AIFD, EMC, gave a spirited demonstration for constructing a European Bouquet using deftly constructed “hay sausages” for the base. Terry’s presentation included a thoughtful analysis of how to select materials to honor the location.

“I wanted to use natural materials to unify the project with the place,” Terry said. “Using botanical material for the construction was a way to respect the sustainable farming philosophy of Jill Coutts and her colleagues at Tanglewood Flower Farm. There are many options for material, but as it turned out, I had many boxes of hay on hand after my daughter gave away her rabbit, but neglected to stop the auto refill of the hay.” Terry also mentioned that she had never used hay before, so she enjoyed the personal challenge to use what she had.” Dahlias, those queens of the fall, played a starring role, along with caryopteris, lisianthus, zinnias, honeysuckle, gomphrena, celosia, sedum, jasmine vine, and more.

According to IFDA President Ellen Seagraves, the group began exploring local flowers eight years ago. Their first event featured Holly Chapple of Holly Heider Chapple Flowers, Drew Asbury, Horticulturist at Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens, and Kathy Jentz, Editor, Washington Gardener, and Leon Carrier of Plantmasters. Holly designed using product from Plantmasters, and everyone the locally grown movement. “That event was such a huge hit that we decided to continue emphasizing local growers with a program every September,” Ellen said. “From a showcase for local growers, to workshops at local farms, to an event featuring locally grown flowers and wine, we have been happy to advertise and support our local growers.”

With one year skipped because of the pandemic, the Tanglewood event was the third the group has organized, and each has received rave reviews from attendees and farmers. In 2019, IFDA toured Dilly Dally Garden in Sykesville, Maryland, and in 2021, Red Barn Flower Farm in Boyds, Maryland, welcomed the group.

Jill Coutts, owner of Tanglewood, is a former horticulture teacher in Montgomery County. Jill has been growing flowers for five years, and she sells to designers, at two weekly markets, and offers wedding and event services.

“I enjoy opening my farm to people,” Jill said. “I feel like I have a good space for that, and I was happy to have people visit and lead them on a tour of what we do. To me, it is so fun to meet designers and others who love flowers like I do, and having them see the farm is the best way to connect.”

The afternoon finished with a Summer Sangria Soiree. On the lawn under trees on this historic farm, participants enjoyed ham biscuits, shrimp, beef empanadas, eggplant tarts, and two kinds of sangria.

“I think there is a huge future for local growers,” Ellen Seagraves said.  No matter what style of floral design you practice, from ikebana to garden style to European structural design, there are local flowers and botanicals that will fit your needs.”

A Fresh Year

The last of December was bitterly cold here in the greater Washington, D.C., area, but January has treated us more kindly, weather-wise. This morning, as the dawn sun pinked the horizon, I took a turn around the garden. The grass was crisp with frost, and the ground seemed dormant, but the air had the scent of spring. Beneath that silver layer of ice, I know much is already stirring, and soon enough will be sprouting.

The earth may be sleeping, but flower farmers are working hard even in winter to ensure they can meet the needs of florists, whether retail or studio-based, for locally grown flowers and foliage. In addition to the existing resources to help designers find local product, a new Facebook group called American Flower Farmers Selling Direct to Florists is helping forge those connections, too. It is a private group, but it is easy to find and join. Once a member, florists can post where they are located and what they need, and growers can post where they are located and what they have available.

I met another new grower yesterday, which makes five new growers just in my county in the last year. The groundswell of interest in local flowers continues apace (pun intended). Wishing us all – farmer and florist alike – a fruitful new year.

Where to Find Local Flowers:

What’s Available Locally in January: This list is by no means comprehensive, just a sampling of what growers in our area may have this month.

Amaryllis, paper white narcissus, ilex, hellebore, quince, red twig dogwood, forsythia, pussy willow, and tulips. Also ask your local growers about dried flowers and wreaths – many dry their harvest!

Care Tips for Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) – Flowering quince branches take a little effort to bring into bloom indoors, but their beauty is well worth it! Keep branches in water in a bright, warm room, but not in direct sunlight. Change the water every few days, and recut the stems a few days after your first cut. Branches will bloom in about four weeks, and last about a week.

Meet Our Local Growers – Emma Jackson, Cut Clover Flowers

I sometimes wonder if Erin Benzakein, the most famous farmer-florist in the nation and possibly the world, had any idea of the impact she would have on locally grown flowers when she founded Floret, her farm in Skagit Valley, Washington.  Erin’s blog, her training courses, her books, and, now her sale of seeds, has influenced and enticed many to dive into growing flowers for pleasure or profit or both.  When I asked Emma Jackson of Cut Clover Flowers in Clarksburg, Maryland, what prompted her to a career in flowers, she answered:  “Honestly?  Erin Benzakein.  It’s all her fault!”

 Notwithstanding Erin’s influence, a love of nature and family heritage each played a part in the birth of Cut Clover Flowers three years ago.  Emma told us, “I come by the flower bug honestly.  My great grandfather was a farmer florist in the 1930’s.  He was given a loan to build greenhouses by the Dupont family and made daily arrangements for their Nemours estate.  One of my favorite photos is one where he and my great grandmother are all dressed up and she has two giant Dahlias stuck in the front of her dress!”

One of Emma’s apt descriptions of her life is “farming while momming.  This year, Because of the pandemic, my childcare fluctuates-you never know when school will suddenly go virtual or preschool will be cancelled.  So I have to be very creative about the ways in which I take care of my family and get my work done.”  Emma says she is eager to expand her relationships with new florists and designers, even as she works to meet the needs of the former customers of Melane Hoffman at Hidden Ridge Flowers as Melane scales back.

Emma’s plan is to sell to florists, as well as bouquet subscriptions, and her crop plan includes what she calls “the weirdos” such as Love in a Puff and Jewels of Opar, which she believes designers are craving.   “I love interesting foliage and accent plants.  We are going to have a lot of different varieties of scented geranium this year.  We were also lucky to get Eucalyptus seed, as it was hard to find due to the fires in Australia last year,” she said.

Family tradition is perhaps why Emma finds flowers miraculous.  “I’ve always grown things but every year when I put a seed into dirt I think, no way is this going to work. No way is this going to turn into anything.  And it’s a miracle every time.  I love being outside in the dirt, in the sun.  I love my deepening relationship with nature and the changing of the seasons.  All of those experiences fill me with gratitude and awe in a way that nothing else can.”

Visit https://www.cutcloverflowers.com/ to find out more about availability, sign up for a bouquet subscription, or their June open farm day.

Thank you so much, Emma, for talking with IFDA.

               

I’ll be featuring different growers regularly here on the IFDA website.   In between, the Maryland Cut Flower Growers Association is a terrific resource for finding flowers in this area:  http://www.marylandgrownflowers.com/flowerfarms  Travelling to design for a destination wedding?  Find local farms all over the nation from the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers here:  https://localflowers.org/find-flowers/

Hope

Spring is fickle this season, showing off beautiful blooming trees, then retreating as temperatures fall and frost coats the greened grass and tentative growth on hydrangeas.  As I write, I am anxiously watching the forecast, wondering if I’ll need to cover my budding peonies and newly planted clarkia or whether they will survive just fine without assistance from me.

 And, of course, reading the news from Ukraine, thinking of how my very ordinary days would be utterly changed if I lived there has me and so much of the world hoping and praying for peace. 

 Flowers offer hope to us all, as they continue to grow no matter the weather or the world.  If the Clarkia doesn’t make it, I know the Sweet William will, and after that the Orlaya and peonies, and then in turn will give way to the summer blooms of zinnias and celosia and sunflowers. 

Sunflowers will be stars this summer, and are already cropping up on social media as countless people choose those bright blooms as a show of support for Ukraine.  Each golden circle seems now filled with hope for a more peaceful future.

What’s Available Locally in May:  This list is by no means comprehensive, just a sampling of what growers in our area may have this month. 

Lilac, Deutzia, Bleeding Heart, Hellebores, Viburum, Lily of the Valley, sweet peas, stock, sweet William, Bupleurem, Peo-ny, Campanula, Baptisia, Mock Orange, Cornflower, Ranunculus. Also ask your local growers about dried flowers and wreaths – many dry their harvest!

Care Tips for Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) – These delicate flowers add a heady fragrance to arrangements and bouquets. They can be stored in a cooler for a few days, and their vase life is typically five to seven days.

 

Meet Our Local Growers – Maya Kosok, Hillen Homestead

Photo by: Urban Row Photography

Ten years ago, Maya Kosok decided to combine her experience working in educational outreach for farms and her interest in urban agriculture and grow flowers. Today, Hillen Homestead comprises two city lots that total about half an acre in Northeast Baltimore. Maya supplies florists with field-grown blooms from March into November, as well as seasonal greens in December.

In talking with Maya, she brims over with enthusiasm for her business. “Flowers are beautiful, and I like working outside for sure, but, for me, it really is all about relationships,” she said. “I get to do it all in the context of other farmers and florists, at this point, working with people I’ve known for ten years sometimes. I have relationships with a lot of the neighbors near my garden sites. My cooler is across the street in a bakery. Some florists pick up right from my front porch.”

Because Hillen Homestead has no buildings or structures, everything is field grown, with an emphasis on annuals, although they grow peonies, other perennials, and woodies such as Ninebark, too. Maya said that, in the early days, “I rented shared space in a greenhouse, but then I had two babies, and I started buying plugs from Sharps and have never looked back. I focus on season extension with row cover and variety, but it is so much warmer in the city, that I can sell from mid-March to early November.”

Although she has occasionally participated in markets through the Farm Alliance of Baltimore, and she offers a four-week tulip subscription, Maya’s primary customer is designers. When asked, Maya instantly noted that communication is critical to a successful relationship between farmer and florist. “If you think something is off, the minute you know, tell,” she advises. If I know I will be short on something, I let them know ASAP as I don’t want them to be in a bind. I check in over the winter to talk about how the relationship worked, are there any updates, etc., so I can be forward thinking, and not just putting out fires.”

From her perspective, Maya believes that florists and designers can prioritize each other. “Early on, I didn’t necessarily have a huge bounty every week, but I was new, and people were working with me. “ Maya noted that, often, florists are looking for huge growers and growers want to land the biggest florists, but that it can benefit smaller businesses both to work together. “Be willing to take a chance on someone who is also newer, and help shape their business.”

Trusting growers to know their product also came up in our conversation. “Some of the florists who got my best stuff last year were the ones who said, ‘this is my color palette this week, I’ll take $300 from you.’ I send them a draft order, and they can still make changes, but that has been amazing.” With supply shortages last year, certain flowers were in demand, she says, but, “we have stuff that looks even better than what is in demand. For people who aren’t designing to a specific recipe, if you build in flexibility, you can really get the best product.”

So, how can you access the best product? Fill out the inquiry form at https://www.hillenhomestead.com/florists.html “People often find me via Instagram and reach out that way. I don’t really say no to anyone, but if someone is asking for the first time for burgundy dahlias the first week of October, that will be tough. The more consistently you are able to order, the higher priority you get.”

“All of my DC sales I do cooperatively with Two Boots Farm, so we can cover each other and offer a bigger variety – we complement each other, as she is Carroll County which is colder, so that extends the growing season for our customers. We send one availability list that has stuff from us both. We do twice-a-week deliveries to DC, April through October.”

Thank you so much, Maya, for talking with IFDA.

I’ll be featuring different growers regularly here on the IFDA website. In between, the Maryland Cut Flower Growers Association is a terrific resource for finding flowers in this area: http://www.marylandgrownflowers.com/flowerfarms. Travelling to design for a destination wedding? Find local farms all over the nation from the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers here: https://localflowers.org/find-flowers

Photo by: Urban Row Photography