Maine Grown Tulips…in February!
Pease Hill Farm is working to extend the Maine growing season and bridge the off-season gap for local flowers.
Community. Community feels extra important to me right now.
I’m so grateful to have a community of Maine flower farmers to connect with throughout the spring, summer, and fall. During the growing season, I source most of my flowers from the Maine Flower Collective, a wholesale marketplace offering fresh flowers, foliage and branches for florists and designers across the state.
During the off-season in Maine, between November and late April, I import the majority of my flowers from the Dutch flower market to fill the gap, as not much is available locally. Lately, though, some local Maine flower farmers have been finding ways to extend the growing season and bridge that gap.
Pease Hill Farm in Monmouth, Maine is one of the farms leading the charge to transform the local winter flower scene.
Owned and operated by Kim and Chris Brawn, Pease Hill Farm is now in its third season of growing 'winter Tulips' in soil-filled crates within their heated greenhouse. In a compact space measuring just 18' x 35', they produce an impressive 54,000 tulips from January through May. Despite the many challenges of farming in the depths of a Maine winter, their mission is clear: to bridge the gap in the availability of Maine-grown flowers during the colder months.
It was so nice to meet Kim in person yesterday when she dropped off my Tulips. Standing in my driveway, in our winter jackets, we talked about flowers and farming. It felt so good to connect over something that brings us both so much joy. It reminded me of why I love buying locally—it’s about the connection, both personally and professionally, as well as how it benefits our local community.
Kim, baby Theodore and Carter in their heated greenhouse with crate grown Tulips.
Some varieties I’ll have on hand next week (left to right): ‘Dreamer’, ‘Purple Crystal’, ‘Louvre’, ‘Super Parrot’ and ‘Avant Garde’.
Our Designer’s Choice arrangements will feature some of these locally grown Maine Tulips in February, March and April.