The Heirloom Yard
Let’s highlight some of our most favorite local makers, doers, creatives, farmers and friends. Starting this series off is, drumroll please, The Heirloom Yard; a micro flower farm located in historic Fernandina Beach, Florida serving all over Northeast, Florida! We had a moment to chat with Christie about her amazing flower farming operation and this is what she shared with us. Thanks Christie for your hardwork, dedication and love you give local flowers, we love that you do. Now, when are we going to start that coffee table book? 😉
You can learn more about THY here and on her Instagram!
What inspired you get into flower farming/when did you start THY? What led you to focus on flower farming?
After our 2019 move to Florida, I was looking for my next act. I knew I wanted to work, build and run a business - a way to stay accountable vs a hobby. I was captivated by Erin Benzakein of Floret’s first book - Cut Flower Garden. How could you not be? The images were captivating. So that started an idea - one that would use prior professional skills but be something new, exciting and, hopefully, craft a business that did not feel like work.
What did you do to prepare opening a flower farm? Elaborate how you’d like!
Research, research and more research. I did take Floret’s 2020 workshop and it was a fabulous foundation. Flower farming is an exercise in continued learning, in all formats - you never know it all and Mother Nature consistently reminds you that she’s the boss.
How did you come up with the name The Heirloom Yard?
In this day and age, it’s important to have your business name, website and social media accounts all match and not be too creative, out there or containing weird underscores (haha)! So on a roadtrip back to Maryland, my husband and I threw out words, names, phrases that we liked and I wrote them all down in my phone. We loved the idea of The Heirloom Yard. Heirloom flowers that remind you of another time or place… and Yard as a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of our small growing space in a residential neighborhood. Thankfully, it also checked the box on availability!
What is your business model?
We sell direct to customers - bouquets, subscriptions, custom flower arrangements, small event flowers, etc. We also host workshops at our design studio.
Is there anything/philosophies you would like the public to know about flower, farming and local flower?
If you care about where your food comes from, you should also care about where your flowers come from. Local and american-grown flowers support domestic farms and growers who positively impact their communities. Flower farming is a lot less glamorous and a lot more work than you’ll ever see on social media… regardless of whom you’re following!
What is the biggest challenge flower farming in Florida? And why?
The weather patterns and seasonality are very different than the preponderance of information out there regarding growing flowers. You need to research what each flower needs regarding temperatures (germination, growing, blooming), day-length, etc. and bounce that off of your averages. And then you sometimes to get creative to make things happen or accept that it just won’t happen here (peonies!).
What are your favorite flowers to grow and why?
I love growing anything unexpected for our area or flowers that elicit a visible reaction in customers… and typically there’s some great overlap there. For 2023 we grew tulips and customers loved them - because we offered varieties not typically seen, tulips that had scent and reminded many of our customers of what they missed from a typical harbinger of spring.
