A day in the life of a flower farmer (on a good day)…

Dec 22

Flower farming sounds like a glamorous dream job, and it can be, but there are lots of moving parts and for a significant amount of time there is a lot of grunt work (wheelbarrowing compost, starting seeds, cleaning buckets, etc). With that being said, there is no other job that makes me feel fulfilled as the farmer florist lifestyle.

Below is the creative process behind an arrangement from field harvest to finished design. These images were taken by the very talented Melanie Orr.

Step 1. Clean buckets and gather all the necessary tools. (Specific to my case, also tie up hair into a power bun )

Step 2. Start snipping flowers at a 45 degree angle. Remove the foliage before putting in buckets with water. Removing the foliage prevents the growth of bacteria.

Step 3. Let the freshly harvested flowers condition for several hours in a cool spot. In the meantime, clean mason jars and design workspace.

Step 4. Start your arrangement with structural foliage stems to lay out the shape of the arrangement. Add secondary flowers (cosmos, yarrow, statice, strawflower), then primary focal flowers (dahlias) and finally textural elements to complete the piece.