Q+A with Ang from Meadow Farm Florals

What inspired you get into the floral industry? 

My introduction to the world of flowers began somewhat unexpectedly through an agricultural lens. Unfortunately, there’s no abridged version of this story, and it runs a little lengthy, so brace yourself!

My husband and I are both city slickers who decided to try our hands at farming as adults. His passions in farming led him into raising and direct marketing grass-finished beef, but try as I might, I couldn’t quite find my niche as a city kid in the world of farming.

In the early stages of our farming journey, my husband, still working full-time as a carpenter, stumbled upon a shared interest in flowers with his then apprentice during an evening of cold beers after a long day of work. Who would’ve thought that two burly carpenters could revel in the beauty of botanicals!?

Somehow, their conversation led into them deciding that they should start a micro flower farm on the property that we were renting at the time and market their flowers to brides! If I’m being honest, I rolled my eyes at the whole notion. Not only did they not know the first thing about floral trends, especially with respect to weddings, but I myself, actually didn’t particularly care much about flowers and found absolutely no excitement in the notion. In fact, I was actually the girl that told her husband to never “waste” his money on flowers! Can you believe it? I know! Don’t worry, that all changed. I promise.

Despite my skepticism, they went ahead with the plan and somewhat proved me wrong. During lunch breaks, and after work, they poured over seed catalogs, placed orders, nurtured hundreds of flower seedlings, and painstakingly transplanted each and every one of  them out into our little garden.

But, then the busy season began. The dog days of summer set in and my husband was full time farming and full time framing and the gorgeous little oasis that him and his friend had created just sat. No harvests. No sales. It was a pity really, if only because they couldn’t see their little goal through to fruition as a result of other work taking priority.

Then, one day, a little bee entirely and forever changed the course of my life.

One day, as I happened to be walking past the fully in-bloom flower plot, a busy bee zoomed in front of me, almost brushing my nose with his furry tummy. I collected myself the way one does when a bug almost hits them in the face, and turned my gaze to follow him. He gently and purposefully landed on what I now know to be a snapdragon, but at the time, probably didnt’ know it from a tulip.  Then, right before my eyes, the little bee disappeared. Just like that. Poof. Gone.

I was invested. I walked over and knelt down to the plant, eye- level with where the little guy had landed to see what in the Alice in Wonderland was going on and if he hadn’t been swallowed up whole by the snapdragon bloom then the sky isn’t blue! I could all but see his little bum waggling around inside the mouth of the snapdragon, doing his skillful bee dance, busy collecting his pollen. 

I might not ever exactly be able to put into words what happened to me in that moment, but when that snapdragon opened up and the bee flew on in, it was as though the natural world simultaneously opened up, all around me, like a personal invitation for me to follow that bee into the flower to learn and explore to my heart’s content. Guess what?  I dove in, feet first, chasing after that little bee, or the metaphorical white rabbit in keeping with the Alice theme, voracious to learn everything that I could about plants, and flowers, and bugs, and bees, and all the things that work together to make the whole thing tick.

That fall and winter, flowers took over. With any spare time, I took courses and endlessly researched both online and off and by the next year, I started my own flower farm. Fast forward to today, 7 years, 3 kids, and 2 farms later and I still thank that little bee for waking me up to the world he was a part of but that I hadn’t yet found. 

What have been the some of the biggest lessons/growth since you started your floral business?

There are too many to count! Something that comes to mind are the growing pains and the growth required in order to ‘be who you are on purpose’ within a business.

What I mean by this is that even within one specific industry, there are a lot of different hats to wear, but that doesn’t mean you should wear them all. In my field of flower farming, there are many aspects to the industry including wholesale, event design, seed production + selling of seeds, dried florals, workshops, subscriptions, flower breeding – the list goes on and on. In the early days of any business, it can be tempting to try and take it all on. What I’ve learned for myself is that the more clearly I draw the distinctions around what my business is, what it does, and who it serves, the better. 

What is your favourite thing about being in the floral industry?

Nothing beats cutting a flower, and sending it out into the world knowing that you planned for the very flower to serve that very purpose for months beforehand. From planning your crops, to ordering your seeds, starting them in the dead of winter, and nurturing them until they are in full bloom – it’s pretty special to have your hands in every step of the journey. 

A bit of a controversial topic – what are your thoughts on DIY wedding flowers? 

Long answer: As a ‘farmer florist’ (a term coined as an increasing number of flower farmers began to take on design work as well) I likely have a different take on this than a more conventional florist. DIY couples tend to be much more common in the farmer florist world. A significant amount of my wedding couples incorporate at least some elements of DIY into their wedding florals. 2 or 3 buckets of loose blooms go out with 90% of my wedding orders.  Just like there are all kinds of people, there are all kinds of brides and grooms! Some put a very heavy emphasis on the impact that they want their wedding flowers to carry on their big day, and for others, they may be of lesser importance or, frankly, the funds just aren’t always there for full service floristry.

If a couple is expressing an interest in DIY, I always encourage them to do their homework and to PRACTICE designs beforehand.  Another great option is enlisting the help of someone close to them that has some experience or an eye for design. There are also courses that exist out there that are specifically designed for couples that are DIY’ing their wedding flowers. YouTube is a pretty great resource too.

I would also stress researching proper flower care so that they don’t end up damaging their precious wedding blooms.

Having said ALL of that, you’ll never get to re-do your wedding day. Your florals, especially your personal flowers, like the bridal bouquet, are meant to support the bride in whatever style, essence, or vibe she is aiming to achieve. When flowers go right, they go really right but on the flip side, when flowers go bad, they go very bad. You want to have a clear plan in place so that you aren’t finding yourself in an added state of stress or panic on your wedding day and you certainly don’t want to look back on pictures and wish you would have trusted an expert.

Short answer: You get what you pay for! haha