We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shellie Watkins Ritzman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shellie below.
Alright, Shellie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?
Last season we saw an increased interest in our chemical free edible flowers. They make beautiful embellishments for sweet and savory baked goods, charcuterie boards and topping off cocktails and mocktails. We grow unique varieties of violas, phlox, hyacinth bean, marigolds, roses, nasturtium and herbs. In addition to fresh edibles, we also offer dried varieties that are used by a local tea blender.
The other growth we saw was in our on-the-farm events. We strive to offer one-of-a-kind experiences that usually include a collaboration with other local small businesses. Guests have come to make candles, wreaths, dried flower pumpkins, tea blends, tamales, learned about flower pressing, and professional techniques with Swiss buttercream. Add to that a stroll in the gardens, our spaces, making a fresh seasonal bouquet or bulb arrangement, and you have an afternoon to remember.
The smiles and appreciation we get from our guests are what make growing cut flowers worth the months of effort!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
For the last two decades, I have lived on a small North Carolina county lot of less than an acre, surrounded by 100 year old farms. Over that period I planted trees, roses, peonies, herbs, lilacs and other perennials. Gardening had always given balance to my professional career in Administration. Shortly before my 60th birthday, I purchased Floret Farm’s book “Cut Flower Garden” and was inspired by the concept of growing cut flowers as a career. I never dreamed I would be expanding my love of gardening to start a boutique flower farm.
Since taking Floret’s Comprehensive Flower Farm Course in the fall of 2018, we purchased the lot next to our property, gradually added more raised beds and now have approximately 160. We start planting hardy annual varieties in the fall that will bloom in early spring, then we flip the beds in late spring for summer annuals, and finish off with gorgeous dahlias that take us all the way to first frost in early November. Winters are spent planning for the next season. It’s hard, rewarding work that has turned into a full time career.
We offer bouquet subscriptions that allow us to partner with local businesses as pick-up locations for our subscribers. We also host on-the-farm scheduled and private events, along with off-site flower bars. What’s important to remember is that 80% of the flowers purchased in the US are imported, meaning grown most likely using chemicals, then flown, shipped, and trucked making them 1-2 weeks old by the time you take them home.
Our flowers are grown chemical free within a few miles of our customers, last longer in the vase, support pollinators, and smell amazing. You can’t get any fresher or environmentally friendly than that!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Although labor intensive, tulips are the first blooms of spring and a crop that sells very easily since everyone is so ready for fresh flowers by March. So we grew 2500 as annuals, meaning we harvest the tulip with the bulb, cut the bulb off, wash and remove a few leaves, and sell in 10 stem bunches. Tulips in the south are risky because they require around 1800-2000 chill hours. Here in NC we are lucky to get 1000 chill hours. But even after having two successful seasons growing long these stemmed beauties, this spring we lost 60% of our crop. It’s hard to say what caused it, but we were forced to pivot and will be planting Darwin hybrid varieties that will be treated as perennials. Fingers crossed we will be able to offer hundreds of tulip bouquets next spring!
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Although we have a website with important information about our services and products, Instagram has been a game changer for our business. It’s such a friendly platform and one that allows us to reach the local community to share the beauty of our flowers and ways they can enjoy them. Our followers can see what we are growing for the season and about all the work that goes into growing them. Those connections are vital for our success. The accounts we follow are primarily other flower farmers which have become mentors, and local businesses that we love supporting and collaborating with. Our growth in exposure in the community through Instagram has resulted in the growth of word-of-mouth exposure. Both are vital to our success!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mygardenblooms.net
- Instagram: @mygardenblooms