Seasonal flowers
Bouquets and arrangements, grown here where we can
Seasonal bunches and arrangements by Bronte, from a flower field we are still putting in.
We plan to sell bouquets and arrangements through the season. Bunches cut that week, and arranged work for a table, a counter or a gift, put together by Bronte.
The flower field is still going in, so this grows as the ground does. The intent is to grow as much of what goes into a bouquet as our season allows and to be straightforward about the rest rather than implying every stem came off this place.
What follows is the shape we have in mind. If seasonal flowers from a farm an hour from you is something you would want on your table, telling us now is what decides how much gets planted.
What we have in mind
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Whatever the week is best at
A bouquet from a flower farm is built out of what is at its peak that week rather than out of a fixed recipe. That is the trade, and it is why these look different in June than in September. Most people find that the appeal rather than the catch.
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Grown here where the season allows
The plan is to grow as much of it as we can, because a stem cut that morning behaves differently in a vase than one that has been in transit. Where our season cannot supply something, we would rather buy it in and say so than pretend the field did it all.
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Arranged by hand, by Bronte
The design side of this business is hers. A bunch of good stems and an arrangement somebody actually wants on their table are two different things, and the difference between them is the part that takes years to learn.
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Sold in runs while it lasts
Flowers do not keep, so the honest way to sell them is in runs. A week where something is at its best, announced ahead, offered while there is enough of it, and then finished until the next thing comes on.
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For a table, not a gift shop
The version worth building is flowers people keep in the house because they like having them, rather than only for occasions. That is a different product from the one a supermarket sells and it is the one a small farm is actually good at.
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Collected here or brought to you
Picked up at the farm alongside anything else ready that week, or carried along when we are already headed to a market. How far that reaches depends entirely on where the people who want them turn out to be.
How we plan to get there
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1
Get a flower field in the ground
Cut flowers need room, water and a real plan, and that is what the back place is being built toward. Until the field is producing, anything we sell leans much harder on sourcing than we would like it to.
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2
Start with what grows well here
Southwest Iowa will grow some things beautifully and fight us on others. A first season is for finding out which is which rather than for planting a list copied off a flower farm two states away.
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3
Sell in short runs and learn fast
A run tells you quickly whether people want a thing. Announce it, offer it, see what happens, and let the answer decide what gets more space in the field the following year rather than guessing at it in advance.
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4
Add standing orders once supply holds
Once the field can be counted on week to week, the natural next step is regular flowers for people who want them all season rather than one bunch at a time. That is where subscriptions come in.
Where a farm florist sits, and why it matters
There are two usual models. A florist who buys everything in and designs beautifully with it, and a flower farm that grows well and hands the stems to somebody else. Alex describes what they want as the middle ground between the two, and that is a deliberate choice rather than an accident of scale.
It means growing as many of the flowers as the season allows, buying in what we cannot grow, and doing the design here rather than passing it along. The advantage is that the person arranging the flowers knows exactly what came out of the field that week and can build around it.
The honest part of that is admitting where the line falls. Iowa has a real growing season and a real winter, and no farm in this state supplies its own flowers in February. A farm florist who claims otherwise is either buying quietly or not telling you the whole story.
The farm side of this business is about clean food. The floral side is a different feeling entirely, and Alex is the first to say so. It is about beauty and about the ordinary pleasure of having something growing on the table, which is not a small thing to build a business around.
Questions people ask
Can I order a bouquet right now?
Not yet. The flower field is still going in and the seasonal runs are what come first. Getting on the list is the way to hear when there are bunches available, usually a little before anyone else does.
Do you grow all of your own flowers?
That is the goal and it will never be all of it. Our season allows a great deal between spring and fall and nothing in the depth of winter. What we cannot grow we would rather buy in and tell you about than quietly imply otherwise.
Can I ask for specific flowers?
For a designed piece it is worth asking, and how far it can go depends on the season. For a seasonal bunch the answer is usually what is at its best that week, which is the whole point of buying flowers from a farm.
What is the difference from supermarket flowers?
Mostly time. Stems cut nearby and sold within days behave differently in a vase than ones that have traveled a long way to reach a shelf. The varieties are different too, because we can grow for scent and beauty rather than for shipping.
Would you deliver?
Collection at the farm is the simplest and it is what already works for everything else. Beyond that it depends on where people are. If a run of orders lands in one direction, bringing them along on a trip we are already making is straightforward.
How do I hear when flowers are available?
Through the list. Flowers move fast and in short runs, so the people on it get told first when something is coming on. It is the only reliable way to catch a run before it is finished.
Elsewhere on the farm
Would you keep flowers on the table?
How much goes into the field follows how many people say yes to that. The list is where we are counting, and it is open now.
Join the list