Our Land-Based Values + Seasonal Ethos

Seasonality is the deep root that nourishes and guides the direction and pathways of our land-based floral practice. We mention this word a lot, to reference the cyclical nature of our work and the subsequent flow of flowers and patterns that all tie back to our four seasons. It seems obvious enough, as a farm, the seasons truly do dictate what we are capable of. The spring allows for seedlings to be planted only when we are clear of frost and our season ends with the wanted or not, hard kill frost that sweeps out the farm in one crisp, active night. 

These patterns affect all of us, farmers and gardeners alike, as well as all of us as human beings. Especially living here up North, we know the patterns and effects of our beloved four seasons deep in our bones. With today’s globalization and shifts away from seasonality there are ways that a perpetual summer creeps into our lives. The demand for constant supply, forward, “go, go go” energy is favored over a balance between the internal rhythms of having periods for rest and slowness, for shedding and rebirth. 

Our farm deep in its winter rest on a sunny February day.

We see these tendencies show up in our food systems, with demands for fresh food from countries where they are in season, during every week of our year. The same is true for the cut flower industry. A long history shows a shift away from U.S. production with the majority of cut stems today being grown in warm South American countries and then transported to the States. This aligns with the demand for a constant flow of fresh flowers, while exploiting workers and relying heavily on harmful carcinogenic chemicals to keep pests and weeds at bay. 

A photo from our first kill frost this year, ice blanketed the entire farm and everything begins its process of surrender as the sun comes to melt the layer.

These realities of the cut flower industry are becoming more common knowledge as florists and customers alike have a piqued interest in locally grown stems. There is a shift and positive demand for a product that is grown closer to home, from the higher quality due to less transportation and the lack of chemicals due to regenerative growing methods, to the more exciting and unique varieties that are able to be offered locally. But still, because of our conditioning to expect any flower at any time of the year, a lot of us continue to be lost when it comes to what is truly available seasonally. The connection to what is naturally in season gets muddled when the grocery store has a constant supply of forced bulbs and roses from Ecuador in the middle of February. 

Our land based practice of growing flowers, for our own designs and for other local florists to work their magic, is steadfast in its mission to change how we view flowers and how we relate to flowers as a symbol of seasonality. In what we ask of them in their ability for adornment to our live’s moments of threshold and transition, we can find ways to connect to our seasonal nature as humans that we share with these flowers and plant beings. 

For our farm, this looks like a commitment to using our own grown product for all of our wedding designs, truly moving with the ebb and flow of the seasons from spring to fall and preparing a dried stash of herbs and flowers for winter months. We started our farm-to-floral practice with a few principles in mind:

The first principle is our belief in the important life lessons received through returning to and committing to seasonality and sharing that with others, which creates a ripple effect into our own lives and those we share this with. There is a true resistance and reclamation in understanding and knowing the seasonal nature of the land you live on the plants that are there. 

The second principle our business is rooted in is the inherent power of creation, beauty and art. There is an innate human tendency to adorn, to create and to recognize the patterns of this universe and capture that beauty. We believe in the importance of art and the ways it connects us to all other humans throughout history. The act of creating extends into our adornment practices with flowers and herbs, all the way back to our pre-human ancestors. This reverence for art and creative thinking extends through our entire work process, from planning the farm to crafting designs. 

The third principle is the respect and surrendering to the demands of mundane labor. We value work ethic and attention to detail no matter how boring the task, how mundane or repetitive. We know that all great things in life are made through a cumulative process of long days of work to reap the most rewarding outcomes. The lessons are learned through those long days, planting hundreds of seedlings or harvesting stems again and again before a frost. That is the beating heart of our practice and the “peak moments” of designing and setting up a wedding is the rewarding outcome of our efforts and labor. 

The fourth principle is the inherent purpose and magic of the flower itself. Flowers are full of strong, resilient life-force energy, they are a perfect, balanced iteration of unity and wildness, with each one having their own unique energy, nature and needs from germination to flowering. They are a true gift, birthed from the soil and humans have an ancient relationship to convening with them ( read more about this in our blog post on the history of flowers).

Late September wild tangles on the farm, with wild goldenrod that ended up in the mix.

These gifts that flowering plants give are best offered to us when we meet them with respect, care and understanding of their nature. The demand for flowers and beauty will continue to persist as long as us humans do. Through the small efforts of our farm we hope to redirect a small part of that back to the way the flowers ask of us. We invite you to join us on this pathway of work ethic, respect for plants and trusting in the journey of a flower. We want our customers, neighbors and floral experts alike to all have an awareness and grasp on the subtleties of each flower’s unique seasonal nature. 

We have put together a seasonal ethos page on our website as an intro guide to seasonality and the flow of flowers during the months most common for weddings. This is a great starting point to begin to understand the seasonality and offerings from our farm for wedding adornment. We recommend couples who value specific favorite flower types or energetics of flowers (for example the ephemeral soft nature of spring florals) to book their wedding date accordingly. For couples who are more open to seasonality we provide as many color and style options as we can per the time of year and flower types available. 

Soft petaled spring blooms set the ephemeral tone for weddings in May and early June.

There is a natural flow from Spring to Fall in the energetics of the flowers themselves and the shift in the land’s patterns and how that affects what we offer. It all starts in the spring when the first of our flowers arrive. Our spring time here is typically May to early June. The nature of the farm is aligned with the rest of the land as it begins to wake up. There is a young, bright energy and a very palpable ephemeral quality. Spring flowers are reminiscent of appearing and disappearing vernal pools and trees with blossoms one day that disappear the next. The energetics of spring blooms are aligned with these soft presence and ephemeral nature. Flowering branches, the first spring bulbs and the newest growth of greenery all make for a soft aesthetic of gentle rebirth and sensuous soft petaled blooms. 

Romantic + lush flowers in hushed palettes set the tone for June.

Spring gives way to early summer blooms which are the first cuts off the farm. June is full of elegant and refined lush flowers with full petals in soft color palettes. Our establishing peonies make more of a presence every year, ranunculus and anemone star and delicate columbine, lupine, iris and phlox all compliment for a truly floral-focused time of year. This lush time is full of sweet smelling romantic blooms. Perennials shine in June and each year we add more flowers to our repertoire. 

Spring shifts to mid summer at the end of June and through July. Our first annuals arrive as the bulbs die back and ranunculus and anemone start to be less productive in the heat towards mid July. Our snapdragons, larkspur, sweet pea and other annuals give us their first cuts. These are typically colorful and have a strong and summery presence. Our color palette options start to widen, with the most common colors at this time being candy-like shades. 

First annuals consist of candy-like shades, featuring snapdragons, larkspur, strawflower and poppies.

By August and into September we are in our peak summer season. Our annuals are in the midsts of their multiple successions and we have an array of color palettes and flower types from the farm. The farm itself has gone through cycles of death and rebirth, with first successions dying back or gone to seed, and stems undulating and curving under the happenings of their life through rain and wind. Things start to get wild on the farm and stems start to talk to each other more and more. Think of the forest in the peak of summer, things have grown and collapsed and the forest floor is thick with green layering back and forth. Our late season flowers like lisianthus and dahlias really start to take the main stage this time as well. They finally have the heat and time it takes to reach their peak. Weddings vary greatly this time of the year in color palette and style. 

Our dahlia tunnel has its moment during September.

September and into October bring our fall weddings. This time of the year has lots of variety as well, with many flower types and color palettes and shifts as the frosts come at different times every year. Mid to late September is one of my favorite times for the sheer variety of what comes off the farm. Seedpods, wild grasses, an abundance of textures and flower types, wild & airy stems and any color palette that you could think of. We allow the farm to do its own things at this point, as the dance of plants explodes into its last show before it's swept under by the frost. September is one of our most popular months for weddings, with couples booking up to a year in advance. As the first light frosts come in September, we are busy covering and uncovering flowers to protect what we can. Frosts start to make their presence more known and things shift into the first weeks of October as we feel the season dwindle.

Late season on the farm feature the wildest parts of the season, faded colors and remnants of earlier months.

The vibrant colors of dried flowers never dissapoints.

Our mid to late October weddings often incorporate dried and foraged elements. Dried seed pods and flower heads, curling branches and textural grasses mixed with fresh late season stems like dahlias or lisianthus or combining with vibrant dried blooms from earlier in the season. Our couples towards the end of the season have a lot of trust in our process and design decisions,  as well as what the land offers. We have learned to trust the end of the season and offer something beautifully designed and thought-out that aligns with the land and seasonal ebb and flow.

After the farm is no longer pumping out fresh blooms, we keep a stash of dried flowers, herbs, branches, seedpods and grasses to design a la carte weddings throughout the late fall and winter months. We love the look and feel of dried flowers in the winter for the connection they bring back to the summer months and the full cycle nature of the death in the fall that gives us winter before the rebirth of spring into summer. 

We are happy to answer any questions regarding seasonality, flower type availability and what we offer as a land-based practice. Although we can't always take special requests for certain flowers, we do our absolute best as farmers and designers to make sure we grow a diverse array of varieties and colors at any time of the year, to widen our offerings. It amazes us how here in our zone, we are able to get the sheer amount of variety that we do in our short growing season. 

We see all of our designs as true works of art. Not starting just in the design process, but the creative process of planning a farm, making soil blocks for seed starting, growing the seedlings and doing all the tasks needed to keep the farm running throughout the season. Each of our resulting bouquets become a seasonal, sculptural work of art. With all of that work and intention embedded into them. Each design has its own unique nature and follows the flow and language of the flowers. Our design style is rooted in this. We start with your general vibes and color preferences and from there we let the designs be driven by what is in bloom the week leading up to your wedding day. Often our designs start with a single flower in the color palette or a textural stem that fits the wild vibe you asked for and the entire design starts from that central point. The rest of the flowers and textures are chosen to compliment and spiral into something unique and of the land. It is our passion to bring our artistry and intimate knowledge of flowers and the land to our creations for your wedding day.