My 6th season flower farming by the numbers
Photo by Katelyn Rose Photos
It’s July, and I am officially on summer vacation! Most of you know that here in Florida, summertime = hibernation. We are not farming, we are not gardening. We are inside, in the a/c, looking at our seed catalogues, dreaming of the fall.
Okay, okay, blogging is technically work. But I do enjoy writing and appreciate the opportunity to take a breath, pause, and reflect on the season behind me.
Thank you, thank you to everyone who supported Blue House Florals this season and all the ones before. Some of you have been with me since my 1st season, and it really does blow my mind. I’ve gotten to be there with flowers as some of you got married, had babies, lose loved ones, and it is truly an honor.
So without further ado, here is a look back at my 6th season by the #s:
# of locally grown flower stems I put out into the world: 20,000
People sometimes ask me how many of the flowers are from my garden, and I haven’t ever really sat down to do the math. So this was a fun exercise. Each year is a little different, but here’s how I sourced flowers in this, my 6th season.
My garden 49%
Local farms 28%
Conventional Wholesaler 24%
Though sometimes your bouquet is 100% Blue House Florals. On average, half of the stems come from my garden.
# of Bridal Bouquets: 11
Weddings are a big deal over here! They take months of planning and production week is as demanding as any opening week I’ve experienced in theatre. That being said, I’ve become more selective about how many and what kinds of weddings and events I’ll take on over here.
# of years creating for Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts with Cafe Clementine : 3
This year, we went Very Vegetal, and I am so grateful for the way Paulina collaborates with such thoughtfulness and grace.
# of weekly flowers delivered to Supernatural Food & Wine : 52
I take my job of tending the Alton Brown altar very seriously. Plus, the whole Supernatural crew is just a delight, so I love having them as my Monday morning co-workers.
# of performances of my cabaret Flower Lady: 3
Thank you, thank you to everyone who came out and supported. More of this, please. I loved creating this piece and have been having creative withdrawals. I’m not sure what to do next, but can’t stop, won’t stop.
# of lisianthus plugs ordered: 1,250
I’m gettin ready to put in my order in just a few weeks! So keep an eye out for that.
Planting Calendar Guide Downloads: 115
This was one of my proudest moments this past season. It’s been a long time coming, and I was so happy to be able to share my Central Florida Planting Calendar Guide with other Florida gardeners and growers. It took several years to gather the knowledge, and about a week of writing and designing, but writing it was that sort of effortless effort that I’m always trying to pursue. Plus, the photos from my buddy Katelyn Rose really make it sing.
# of Kelsey Marie Dresses worn: 5
I was so honored to be one of the first recipients of Kelsey’s original Mollie dress. Then we closed out the season most notably with the cupcake, ballerina, flower dress I got to wear for my Flower Lady cabaret! Thank you, Kelsey!
Photo by Katelyn Rose Photos
I’ll take the next month to go on a couple of trips with my family, see some friends. It’s time to order seeds, plugs, and lay out some of my schemes for next year.
Here are some projects and offerings I’m thinking about launching next season. Please let me know if these or something else entirely interests you!
My Favorite Gardens: a monthly-ish video series highlighting some of my favorite Florida gardens and the people who tend them.
Flower Bucket Subscription: A flower subscription with of a curated bucket, instructional video, and flower recipe for beginner and intermediate floral designers.
Full Bodied Floristry: A workshop for professional and advanced floral designers that blends my background in dance and performance into floristry. I often need to get out of my head, and into my body to make designs that feel like me.
More Flower Jams: I’ve hosted a handful of Flower Jams in the garden for friends. It’s been a great time where I open the garden and do some loose floral design/gardening instruction, but mostly it’s to let people explore their creativity. I’m thinking of offering this certain dates for y’all to sign up for as a semi-private floral design experience in the garden.
