We had a great workshop on Saturday! Thank you to everyone who attended! Ferriss Donham brought it back to basics for us with ideas about how to integrate your flower growing seamlessly into your business with fewer resources, less labor, and an approach that takes its cues from nature. There is not one way to grow flowers and I love Ferriss’s approach that is right in line with the ethos at the flower school, to approach art and business with ease, in a way that benefits yourself and the earth. Thank you, Ferriss! 

This coming Saturday, we continue September Flower School with our Arranging with Plant Cuttings Workshops! Book your spot here if you have not already!

See you in class!

Chelsea

SUSTAINABLE FLOWER GROWING with Master Gardener and Flower Farmer, Ferriss Donham

When: Saturday, 11 am PST

Where: Online on Zoom

This Saturday, Master Gardener and Flower Farmer, Ferriss Donham, will be showing us how she grows beautiful cut flowers sustainably. As a professional gardener who has been working with clients for over 20 years, Ferriss Donham is currently growing cut flowers for her CSA and assisting clients with growing plants sustainably. Ferriss studied at the Harvard Landscape Institute, developed a Master Gardener program and taught horticulture to inmates, and grew her own garden this year without using any water other than rainwater. 

I look to Ferriss as a mentor when it comes to flower growing. Traditional cut flowers have a huge carbon footprint and even though growing and buying locally is a great first step towards sustainable flower growing, Ferriss will show us how to dig deeper into low resource flower farming. 

Many flower farmers are investing huge sums of money in hoop houses, and draining their own financial and physical resources to grow cut flowers. Traditional flower farms drain our water supplies and take huge amounts of physical labor. Often these farms, are not making a profit at the end of the day.

Ferriss is taking a different approach. She’s growing cut flowers on her new plot in Maine, using rainwater and compost. She operates her gardens with minimal physical labor, and minimal financial resources, using what she already owns, and nurturing it along to multiply and expand naturally.  She sells flowers through her CSA and designs florals for events in addition to teaching horticulture and advising her own garden clients. 

This Saturday, she’ll be advising our career students and guests students on Zoom about sustainable flower growing. We’ll be talking about:

*Growing with minimal water

*Minimizing your farm’s overall footprint

*Growing climate specific varieties

*Growing perennials as cut flowers

*Growing without hoophouses

*Minimizing the physical labor involved in your flower growing

Join us on Saturday to get your own flower growing questions answered by Ferriss! 

BOOK YOUR SPOT HERE!

The local flower farming movement has grown in recent years. Buying local cut flowers reduces the carbon footprint of your flowers tremendously. Cutting out miles, and many toxic chemicals used to transfer flowers across borders. That said, we can take sustainable flower growing a step further, during these times of climate change.

I’ve been really interested in Ferriss Donham’s flower farm in Maine, as she challenges herself to grow cut flowers with just compost and rainwater. The result does not reduce the beauty, quality, or charm of the flowers. Example here.

“Grow what works, let nature do all the work, keep looking to the earth for answers,” Ferriss says. I asked her, what are 3 basic things to remember when attempting to grow flowers as sustainably as possible. Ferriss says:

The most sustainable flowers are:

Perennials

Drought Tolerant

Native or happy in your zone without greenhouses 

I think this is a great starting point for any of us to get started growing cut flower sustainably! Thank you Ferriss! If you want to learn more from Ferriss and have the opportunity to ask her questions about growing eco-friendly cut flowers, please join us on September 10th at 11 am PST for the Growing Flowers Sustainably Workshop! Book your spot here.