When people ask why I started a flower farm, I usually talk about how much I enjoy gardening. I love watching tiny seedlings grow into armfuls of flowers, spending my mornings outside, and seeing the changing seasons. Those are all true reasons. But if I'm being honest, I think there's another reason I've always been drawn to flowers, and it has everything to do with my mom.
My mom passed away from breast cancer when I was a baby, so I don't remember her. I never got to know what she was like or make memories with her. Growing up, though, it always felt like little pieces of her were still around. My grandparents had her paintings hanging throughout their house, and they also had dried flower arrangements that she had made herself.
As a kid, I didn't think much about those arrangements. They were just part of my grandparents' home. Looking back now, I realize they were so much more than decorations. They were something she had created with her own hands, and years after she was gone, they were still there. In a way, they helped me feel connected to someone I never really got the chance to know.
Now that I spend my days growing flowers, I think about that more than I used to. Sometimes when I'm harvesting flowers to dry, I think about those arrangements sitting in my grandparents' house all those years. It's funny how something as simple as dried flowers can last for decades and carry so many memories with them.
Having kids has made me think about it even more. I find myself wondering what I'll leave behind one day. Not in terms of money or possessions, but the little things. Will my kids remember helping me harvest flowers? Will they remember running around the flower field while I worked? Maybe one day one of my dried bouquets will be sitting on a shelf in one of their homes, and they'll think of this little farm. That's exactly what happened with my mom's flowers, and I never really appreciated it until I was older.
I think that's one of the reasons I love dried flowers so much. They tell a story. They don't disappear after a week like fresh flowers do. They stick around through moves, holidays, family gatherings, and everyday life. Before you know it, they've become part of a home.
I know dried flowers aren't for everyone. A lot of people still picture the dusty arrangements that sat on top of their grandma's china cabinet. I get it. But that's also part of why I started Harvest Hill Flower Farm. I wanted to show that dried flowers can feel modern, natural, and full of life. I love creating wildflower-inspired bouquets that look like they were just gathered from a meadow instead of something that belongs in another decade.
I often wonder if my mom had any idea that the flowers she dried would still be around all these years later. I'm sure she never imagined they'd inspire her daughter to start a flower farm. But somehow they did.
It's a good reminder that we don't always know what kind of impact the things we create today will have years from now. Sometimes it's not the big things people remember. Sometimes it's a painting on the wall, a dried bouquet on a shelf, or a tradition that gets passed down without anyone even realizing it.
I hope that years from now, my own kids and grandkids will have something that reminds them of me too. If one of my dried bouquets is still sitting in their home someday, that would be pretty special.
