North Fork Flower Farm

Taking care to know the land where flowers are grown is important not only to my brides but also to the philosophy that guides my floral design. When a bride touches a bouquet, puts her face down into a collection of blooms accompanying her on her most prized day, it’s only appropriate that her flowers breathe back life into her. The journey of an imported flower, doused in chemicals, made to survive days of transport is in many ways depriving the blooms of their true nature. Wedding flowers should feel like they are not just playing into a production but rather reflecting the space and even time when a wedding occurs. An anniversary is only made more sweet when walking down the sidewalk and seeing the same wedding flowers celebrating you year after year.

When booking a wedding, one of my first priorities is identifying a local farm. While I do not buy every bloom from a flower farm, the flowers that steal the show are ALWAYS local. My hope in writing this article is to elevate flower farmers and to get more local blooms in your bouquets. As floral designers, we have the potential to shift the industry towards uplifting the flower farmers and the blooms they grow so that our customers receive the freshest and most excellent of blooms.

On the Northern, most Eastern tip of New York, sits North Fork Flower Farm, a small two acre flower farm where a gaggle of color grows in between the bay and the sound. Monarchs and bumblebees hop from flower to flower filling up on the pollen of blossoms so fragrant you can taste them. Quite literally, the farm is home to an assortment of edible flowers where one farmer makes syrups and potions you can eat.

Drianne, one of North Fork Flower Farm’s Partners and Founders—along with her rescue Shepherd— walk me through fields of Dahlias, Cosmos, Gomphrena, Madam Butterfly Snapdragons, Ageratum, Lisianthus and so much more. She describes the color palette she gravitates towards, as one on the spectrum of purples, pinks and blush. Though, there are colors of all kinds popping up and catching my attention. After observing her fields, we go inside to see where the flowers are housed after they are clipped. The cooler found inside the barn serves as a temporary home for flowers, bringing them life and sustenance through cooling hydration. In this space she shows me the deliberate and delicate way she places each flower together to prepare the blooms for her flower share. As she selects varieties for each bouquet, it is as if she is picking colors and kinds that will most enjoy living next to each other in a vase.

Drianne and her farm partner, Charles, met years ago and were impressed to learn that they shared the same dream of starting a flower farm. Charles, having followed the slow flowers movement for years, maintained his own garden on a horse farm during his life as an NYC attorney. In 2015 he was ready for a change of scenery and a more intimate life with the land and soil he had spent so many years cultivating. He planned to go out west to start his dream of pursuing a flower farm but California was experiencing a drought and without water, flowers cannot grow. So, tucked just beyond wine country in the North Fork of Long Island, Charles decided to plant roots.

FIve years ago, Peoninc Land Trust was taking applications from farmers seeking land to use for agricultural purposes. The goal was to save land from the kind of development that would deprive the North Fork community of its quaint magic. Talking to Drianne and Charles, it is clear to me that they don’t just grow flowers to sell them, they grow flowers because they love the earth and its pollinators. Drianne adores the bee creatures who visit her garden, welcoming them as kings and queens of little flower kingdoms. When thinking about what she wants for her farm, so much of it is about attracting these pollinators, growing Dahlias, and bringing scented flowers back into bouquets.

Many people might not know about this little farm. They do not advertise and don’t need to. People searching for flowers, find it. On the drive up to the flower farm, we pass so much land full of growth and that Iowa Field of Dreams feeling. If flowers are to Drianne what baseball is to Ray Kinsella, I can hear the voice of Constance Spry saying, “if you plant it, they will come.” There was once a time when Long Island was full of flower farms but when the industry started outsourcing in the 1960s *(Stewart, Amy; Flower Confidential) , roses and carnations were imported and inexpensive, making them the only flowers people ever really purchased. Fast forward to 2020, people are hungry for the kind of fresh, unique and native flowers that North Fork provides.

The land is located next to a farm to table chef who grows heirloom plants for Shelter Island and the surrounding areas. When Drianne told me about her neighbor, I immediately offered my idea, “ what a wonderful place to have a collaborative dinner where you can invite people to show off your farm.” But then I realized that this farm is slow in more ways than just growing flowers. It is listening— listening to the land, listening to their own inner voice, as well as each other. The farm does not need the praise of others to persist in its purpose and offering of beauty. There is an evident solace that comes from the soil’s position to the neighboring sea surrounding it. Most people visit the North Fork for the ocean but spending my time among the fields, I left the farm feeling all the pleasures of a day out at the waves.

The wonder of this place is not just in the flowers themselves, but rather it is in the farmer’s souls and the hands that till the ground. The difference between a farm and a meadow is that one is cultivated by a living and breathing human soul and the other grows wild. Both are beautiful in their own way but this farm reminds me of our responsibility to the small and the slow. To see every precious life from the flower to the Sapien and offer them care, gratitude, and grace is what I want my life to exude as a florist, as a mother, as a friend.

*Stewart, Amy; Flower Confidential, pg 139. 2007

The origin story

Rebecka and Grace after biking to the beach, Spring 2015

Back in the day when we were younger and more single, my dear friend Rebecka and I would bike to the beach, go on epic camping trips and get together to make flowers. We called our floral gatherings Flower Clvb and would wake up early in the morning, travel to the flower district, grab some blooms, then meet back up after work to make! Years prior to my NYC move, I worked for a florist in Waco, TX (Rose Tree) preparing flowers and sweeping floors, all while taking careful note of the ways each designer would place and put together pieces of various shapes and sizes. So when Rebecka and I began creating arrangements, my experience gave us the foundation we needed to jump into filling water buckets and de-thorninng roses. At the time when our flower clvb gatherings began, she was cutting hair and I was working at Patagonia.

Given that our NYC hustles did not provide unlimited funds for our flower arranging hobby, we gave ourselves a $25 budget and choose flowers simply based on whatever fit into our $50 spending pot. Clearly, this wasn’t something we could do on a weekly basis but when we did, the 6 A.M. vigor of florists and vendors scurrying about the flower district, made flowers seem like an adventure. Eventually, Rebecka and I started making arrangements for church events and friends, growing more in love with the idea of working alongside nature.

Left arm = Rebecka’s arm. Right arm = my arm. Obviously Rebecka’s arm is way more cool!

When I think about the origin of Flower Clvb, I often think about my time with Rebecka, wildly pursuing nature and a life chasing the sun. Though not my favorite flower to use in arrangements, of all blooms, I would consider myself a Sun Flower as they go where the sun goes. Rebecka is a birch tree, deeply rooted in the forest and mountains, where she moved the summer of 2016. Although we lived in different cities, the time we had together made way for each of our next chapters. It was the fall of 2016, that I began dreaming about the steps it would take to start my own floral business. I started taking classes and workshops from some of my favorite designers and then with a few weddings under my belt, I launched.

Me, with a sunflower I grew from my fire escape garden

Rebecka & Mark celebrating their next chapter! Flowers made by Rebecka!

Having worked at Patagonia and learned the business practices of Yvon Chouinard’s environmentally progressive company, I acquired the groundwork for how I wanted to run my own business. Not only do certain profits go towards supporting environmental organizations, but the materials and working conditions used to create supply are done ethically and responsibly. After my time at Patagonia, I ran various arts education programs at libraries and public schools, developing a deep love for how children and adults alike acquire aesthetic preferences and learn to see and value the world. Each of my working experiences has defined what Flower Clvb is beyond just a floral design business.

While to me, making sculptural art pieces using nature as my medium of choice is what floral design is all about, it is also about celebrating the people who receive each arrangement and loving the earth by which each blossom came. It is a profound mystery that the ground is able to produce such an array of color, shape and texture. By spending time with organisms as intricate as blossoming plants through Flower Clvb’s gatherings and educational workshops, participants come together in awe, fellowship and affirmation that there is something bigger than ourselves at work in the world.

Preserving the earth and taking care of each flower as a living and created thing changes the perspective of how we interact with our encountered environments. Choosing materials that cause as little harm to the earth as possible such as chicken wire over floral foam, and composting refuse are small ways that Flower Clvb is making sure it has as little impact on the planet as possible. By donating to organizations seeking to preserve life and creating just conditions for living, Flower Clvb operates as a small business motivated by care for the earth.

Reflecting on life moments and experiences shared with friends like Rebecka convince me that the work we choose is inspired by something. For me, money is not the primary motivation behind my business but rather my work with flowers is inspired by a love for nature that has cultivated and grown through my relationships with people. I love the perspective of my dear friend Sarah Gregory who often reminds me that people are one of nature’s greatest gifts. So whenever I want to escape to the ocean and am stuck inside a studio processing flowers, I look into each flowerhead, think about the people receiving them and am transported to to a place equivalent to the beach on a clear day.

picture taken back in the day when over-saturated pics were a thing

The Truths Flowers Tell

A few years ago when I started getting into flower arranging there was a part of me that was hesitant to get involved with such a colorful media. Living in New York, how do I reconcile the fact that no flower wears black? I feared that the story flowers told, was limited to the beautiful, joyous and celebratory. However, the more I design, the more I realize that the story of the flower is not always one of beauty. Every flower withers.

The tension of finding joy in the beauty of a thing that will not last resonates with me. Who hasn’t experienced death of a friend or family member and wished it was not part of the human experience? As I place flowers together, re-creating new forms out of living ones, I am reminded that they speak of a re-birth just as they speak of death. Pouring my heart and hands into arrangements which are quickly admired and then tossed away feels like life in all of its glory and harshness.

The fact that death is a part of the reality of flowers allows me to engage in the art of floral design in a way that feels true, like I am not dismissing all the hard things of life in exchange for its celebrations. Because of the truth that flowers tell, I am able to think deeply about the world and confront its dark parts with each arrangement I make. It is evident that the world is in great need of love, kindness and compassion and while at times it feels overwhelming, loving the people around me is where it starts. If I cannot show kindness to my own family, how can I show kindness to the stranger?

Flowers lay down their own beauty to exult that of another and laying one’s life down for a friend, brother or even a stranger is the greatest offering that a human being can give to the world.

A Reason To Make

Ten years ago when I started my journey in education, an art teacher told me that you do art with your students in hopes that they will see the world differently. As I processed what she said, I began to imagine the students I worked with walking to school, coming home to their neighborhoods with a broader sense of hope for themselves and the places they lived. While I liked this idea, I don’t think I ever experienced it for myself until I began practicing floral design.

Though I am not a formally trained artist, the art of floral arranging is a way for me to explore design, color, texture and making things with my hands. Flower arranging gives me tremendous amounts of joy. I am at an early stage in my career as a florist and every wedding feels like an exciting opportunity to make, create, work with nature and experience this joy. The more flower arrangements I create, the more I begin to notice the verdant life all around me in my urban Brooklyn neighborhood.

What my friend had said all those years ago, I am finally seeing. Every time I go outside I notice the greens, the flowers that are growing and the ones that are dying. I see the different kinds of varieties of greens on a tree. Before, I merely saw the trees in the background of my life and the flowers in each landscape as nature’s platitudes. But as I begin to work with flowers, I realize how profound it truly is that the colors, shapes, smells and textures of a flower are not made my man but are a product of the ground and the magic hand of God which breathes into them. With this in mind, I am seeing the world and everything in it as new.

Recently I went to the aquarium with my 15 month old son and I saw the colors and the lines on the fish as if all of those years travelling to the aquarium and zoo in my childhood, I had been blind to the magnificent designs of nature. Perhaps this new found participation in the design of flowers has lifted a veil from over my eyes. The more arrangements I make, the more awe I have for the wild, the universe and its intricacies which are so far beyond my ability to properly conceive. I love thinking about the deep shades of blue that perhaps no human has ever seen but exists somewhere in the vast seas.

As a mother, one of the best things I can do for my son is cultivate awe in him and encourage him to explore the mysteries of his surroundings; and in so doing create empathy for his environment as well as his fellow human beings. What better reason to pursue one of man’s first callings to love, care for and nurture the earth and what better reason to make art...and to make babies!

“God took seeds from other worlds and sowed them on earth, and raised up his garden; and everything that could sprout sprouted, but it lives and grows only through its sense of being in touch with other mysterious worlds... ”

— Father Zossima, The Brothers Karamazov