07/28/2026
Authenticity.
Being real.
Sincere.
This is an important quality to me. Something missing in the flower world where other flower farmers often treat each other like competition instead of community. So in that vein, I want to share the not Pinterest perfect side of flower farming and running a small business from time to time.
This week is hot. My 8 yr old daughter got up with me at 6am to harvest flowers Monday morning. We were dripping in sweat, but 2.5 hours later, we got it done. Not wearing dresses but old clothes.
The buckets had to be hauled to the basement because my floral cooler broke and decided to shoot out hot air instead of cold air during the hottest time of the season.....when I need it most. 😫 Dan is gone on a work project so I was on my own. The day went ok, but the evening was rough.
I got my tables out to assemble my bouquets for subscriptions and retail sales. Turned on the music, got my flower recipe list and started to work. No workshop. No A/C. I had this vision in my mind but it wasn't coming together. I struggled to get the pink "love lies bleeding" amaranth to look balanced. Stems broke. I was hot, stressed, frustrated. I finished the subscriptions and moved on to retail bouquets.
Again the look wasn't what I wanted. The color palette looked like fall. I wanted summer. What was missing? What am I doing wrong? How did I not plant enough pink?! I threw the flowers. I walked away. I felt clumsy, do I even know how to do this at all? Sales are down. Marketing takes exponential energy, social media is not my strong point. I came back and finished a few more apparently fall colored bouquets and put the kids to bed.
It did not go well. One cried for 20 minutes because Dan didn't have enough signal for a video call. One had a tantrum because a sibling had gotten into their room and messed up their stuff. It was a long night.
I finally came downstairs thinking about my crop plan failure, what I need to do differently, tired and exhausted, feeling defeated.
A package was on the table. I grabbed an old bottle of wine and poured myself a glass and opened it. A dear friend from grad school had sent me a watercolor painting.......of my flowers!💐
Last year she saw my pictures on Facebook half way across the world where she lives and works, and had been inspired to paint my flowers. Since she was visiting the States she had asked for my address to send the hard copy and it arrived at the perfect time. A moment when I needed to know that my flowers mattered. That someone saw the beauty in spite of my beginner inexperience. That my flowers were beautiful and a precious friend loved me enough to send me a painting. My eyes welled up with tears and I saw the word "beloved" in the corner. She simply wrote " Sending all my love in this little painting." I felt that love. Deeply. ❤
And so today is another day. A fresh start. You can find my gold and burgundy and brown and orange fall-themed bouquets at the usual places 🙃:
- Functional Nutrition in Luverne
- Phileos Coffee & Eatery in Worthington
And the good news is that if you're not feeling the fall vibes yet 🍂 the U Pick will be open Friday and Saturday for you to craft your own masterpiece!! 🙌 And there's a rainbow 🌈 of colors to choose from!
Your humble-not-pinterest-perfect flower farmer,
Laura
1st pic: the painting, amazing detail
2nd pic: the original picture
3rd pic: my "fall arrangements"
4th pic: the "love lies bleeding" amaranth bouquet
