Producer

Vivian is the daughter of farmers who taught her those intangible skills of building good soil and caring for the land. “I always had a patch of earth where I grew flowers as a child,” she recalls. In 1990, when her children were small, Vivian asked her husband to prepare a large area of ground. She began growing flowers and selling her bouquets at a nearby farm stand. “People would wait there to get my flowers or I’d have standing orders,” Vivian recalls. “Good flowers sell themselves–I’ve never had to advertise.”

Experience has taught Vivian to know which varieties are successful as cut ingredients, which colors are reliable over time and which flowers produce the longest stems. “I’ve always known there were certain types of flowers that lasted better than others, especially if cut at the right time, and treated properly post-harvest,” she explains. “The fact is, I have a choice of what to grow and I choose to grow plants that are going to be happy at my farm and hold well in the vase.”

Working frequently with wedding designers, Vivian has a good idea of what designers and their clients are looking for, and how they use each flower. While she has done some of her own design work in the past, the bottom line is that Vivian is first and foremost, a flower farmer. “Honestly, I just enjoy growing more than anything else!”

Everyday Flowers is certified Salmon-Safe. Everyday Flowers uses sustainable growing practices. Herbicides are used on the farm only if necessary and if insecticides are used, they are OMRI-approved (Organic Materials Review Institute).