“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great” - Zig Ziglar
I’ve been growing flowers in my home gardens for over 20 years. Last summer I decided to expand my love for gardening into a business and start a flower farm. If I am going to be a great flower farmer, I have to start somewhere.
I started prepping and planning my flower field over a year ago. I have spent countless hours tending to dahlia cuttings in my basement since November, when my tubers started to mold in my garage from lack of knowledge and experience with dahlias and not properly storing them. I have been growing seedlings for 4 months under lights in my basement. I have hours upon hours invested in reading books and educating myself on how to be a successful flower farmer. I have spent the better part of the last 2 months covered in dirt, sweat and calloused hands from working in the flower field. I am dedicated to this beautiful piece of land and blessed and grateful to steward it. I want nothing more than to cut those first gorgeous blooms this summer and see the joy and happiness they will bring to my community and customers.
Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. In those unplanned moments is generally a great opportunity for growth to happen. In order to see and embrace the growth, I have to approach the situation with an open heart and open mind.
Sunday night my flower field was hit with frost. I checked the weather, and it was a predicted low of 38 degrees for the overnight temperature. I thought my flower field would be okay because the temperature was not predicted to drop below freezing. Clearly, I was wrong.
Monday morning was my first defining moment as a new flower farmer. I woke up to hundreds of dahlia seedlings and cuttings with blackened and dead foliage from a June 2nd frost. Our last frost date here in West Michigan is May 15, so this was not normal, but not unheard of either.
My flower field took what appeared to be a devastating hit. I could throw my hands up in anger and defeat, accept that 75% of my dahlia crop was a loss and rip it all out and try to start over with new tubers. Or I could look for the purpose and lesson in all of it.
The lesson: I am a new flower farmer, and I am going to make mistakes. The purpose: the mistakes are going to grow my confidence, skills and ability to be a successful flower farmer.
I don’t like to say failure isn’t an option, because I can’t succeed without failing. Failure is what gives me the motivation to grow. I don’t like failure, and I don’t want to experience it. But without failure, I know I wouldn’t have the appreciation that I do for success and growth.
I didn’t have the budget or the time to rip everything out and start over. I decided to keep going with the dahlia cuttings and seedlings I had planted out in the field, despite what appeared to be their tragic ending. Endings are only as bad as we perceive them to be. This, my friends, was not an ending as I had originally thought. It is turning out to be a beautiful new beginning.
I cut all of my frosted dahlias down to little stumps, removing all of the dead foliage and branches. They looked so sad and pathetic. After a couple of very warm days and some good rain, there is new life growing from what once appeared to be dead.
I am growing and learning as a flower farmer. I am resilient like the beautiful dahlias in my flower field that have overcome mold and frost. I choose to find the joy, purpose and path forward despite the darkest days and coldest nights.
I’m going to keep on flower farming through the highs and lows because I will never turn down an opportunity to grow; flowers or myself.
”She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” Proverbs 31:25
Make today awesome on purpose :)
Stephanie
