Braidwood Blooms are a newly established micro cut flower farm located in Braidwood. The flowers are carefully grown using organic principles with a focus on soil health and biodiversity to help minimise pest and disease pressure. Braidwood Blooms owner Meagan Orford grows a wide variety of flowers from Spring through to Autumn with the objective of creating mixed bouquets and arrangements to be retailed to the Braidwood community via the local IGA and online website. Whilst there are a few other amazing flower farms around Braidwood, Meagan explains that Braidwood Blooms are the only ones currently selling mixed bunches and arrangements directly to the public.
Where the Inspiration ‘Bloomed’ from
Meagan has always had a love for flowers. “Looking back, I have always loved to bring in flowers from the garden and spend time arranging them.” Her interest in gardening continued to grow over the years and has turned into a real passion of hers since becoming a mother and spending more and more time at home in the garden. Meagan describes that the more she researched and read on growing cut flowers and floristry, the more her passion grew, until one day she decided to try her hand at selling her flowers, receiving an overwhelmingly positive response from the Braidwood Community. Having always worked in corporate roles, Meagan would spend her days longing to be outside in nature. It wasn’t until she had children and was at home on maternity leave, spending most of her time in the garden that she quickly realised that was where she belonged.
Meagan does not currently offer wedding or large event floristry although this may change in the future. Braidwood Blooms is a new business and predominantly a flower farm as opposed to an event floristry business. The current focus is placed on providing mixed bouquets to the Braidwood community, which are available during the growing season. Meagan is also intending to increase her offering of wholesale flowers to local florists in the upcoming season and may venture further into the wholesale sphere in the future, with the potential of expanding into wedding and event floristry. “The possibilities are endless and it is something that will inevitably evolve over time as the business grows and my children get older.”
Meagan’s Design Process
The design process to creating the perfect cut flower bunch is an art in itself. Meagan generally begins by choosing her focal flower for the bunch and then determining the colour palette and style from there. She always uses a mixture of focal flowers, filler flowers and foliage and will generally divide the ingredients of the bouquet evenly between these different elements.
“I love to incorporate what I call the “whimsical” elements at the end which are delicate little flowers such as Cosmos or Scabiosa that dance above the other flowers, giving the design natural movement and unique elements that you don’t often see such as seed heads or grasses.” Meagan prefers natural garden style arrangements that have a lot of movement to them, showcasing the natural curves and characteristics of the flowers as you would see them in the garden, as opposed to very “stiff, straight and lifeless” arrangements. She expresses that her favourite bouquets to create are those for special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. She loves seeing the surprise and joy on someone’s face when they receive their flowers, it is always such an uplifting experience.
Types of Flowers on Offer
On the farm, a large variety of flowers are grown with the main focus being to provide mixed bouquets and arrangements all throughout the growing season. Meagan explains that she needs a constant supply of focal flowers, filler flowers and foliage in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours. This requires a huge amount of organisation and planning to ensure that there are never gaps during the growing season. Some of her main focus flowers are Ranunculus in the Spring and Sunflowers in the Summer and Autumn. Meagan will be adding a lot more Dahlias to the lineup this season and will also be trialing some Chrysanthemums next year. She is also always adding more flowering perennials such as Roses, Peonies and Delphiniums to the mix for future use.
Braidwood Blooms do not currently have a store front so all orders for their wonderful, ethically grown flowers can be placed via their website www.braidwoodblooms.com.au. Free delivery is currently available for residents within Braidwood. from Monday to Friday.
From Seedling to Bouquet (and Everything in Between)
Owning a flower farm is no easy feat. Meagan takes us through her intricate and careful flower growth process from selecting which flowers to grow, to caring for them throughout and finally, to watching them bloom and harvesting them for bouquets. Meagan does a great deal of research into cut flower varieties and has sought a lot of her knowledge and inspiration from her vast collection of books based on cut flower farming and floristry. When considering introducing a new variety she will generally look into its growth habits, native habitat and vase life to determine if it will work well in the current climate and growing conditions.
Meagan explains that she will also give a great deal of thought into whether it will complement her design style and what colours it will be available in when selecting which flowers to grow. She will generally start by trialing a small number of plants and doing various vase life tests before deciding if that flower will become a regular addition to the farm. She was already trialing many different varieties of cut flowers in her home garden before starting her business, so she had a good idea of what she wanted to start growing on a larger scale.
She describes that due to the unpredictability of the ever-changing Braidwood climate, what might work well one year may not necessarily work well the next. Meagan keeps detailed notes on everything she grows and will always be required to adapt what she is growing based on the climatic conditions of each season, market trends and plant/seed availability. The growth process will generally begin in Meagan’s unheated greenhouse, where she starts the majority of her plants from seed. She does not use artificial heating or cooling and everything is grown in the field. Her aim is to grow things in the most sustainable manner possible with minimal negative impact on the environment. Growing in the field without the protection of greenhouses and the stability of climate-controlled environments and chemicals certainly provides its challenges and the managing of pests certainly takes a great deal of time and expense. By choosing to grow using organic principles, she cannot just walk out into the field and eradicate pests with the use of chemicals, She describes that she has to give constant consideration to crop rotation, companion planting and sacrificial crops throughout the growing process.
She is also constantly faced with the challenges of the weather, having to adapt growth methods where necessary. Living in an extremely windy area with absolutely no protection from established trees or structures, Meagan has to ensure all plants are sufficiently supported to help withstand the high winds. She also has to face the issues of damage from rain and hail, which had wiped out thousands of plants in her first year of growing. Some plants may only take 12 weeks, and some may take up to 3 years or more before they are established enough to cut from. Meagan expresses that while it would be far more secure to grow under artificial conditions with the use of pesticides, she strongly believes in the importance of giving back to nature and leaving the earth in a better condition that we received it. Her focus is in providing a safe and plentiful sanctuary for pollinators and a healthy working environment for herself and her family. Meagan takes great pride in ensuring that customers are purchasing her flowers knowing that they are “perfectly safe for them to plunge their faces into for a deep whiff of their natural scent without inhaling dangerous chemicals.”
Floral Trends we can Expect to see this Wedding Season
Although Meagan does not currently cater to the wedding and large floristry event space, she can shed great insight into the floral trends that we might expect to see this season.
Meagan believes that Roses and Peonies are always in high demand for weddings and attributes this to their large blousy blooms that have a traditional and romantic feel to them.
These flowers are also extremely versatile and can be paired with many other flowers and designed in many ways, making them suitable for all kinds of weddings.
While pastels tones, whites and blushes will always be in demand, Meagan believes that we will be seeing a comeback of colour in the wedding industry.
