Good Organic Gardening

slow BLOOMERS

Are you somebody who loves a bouquet of cut flowers but have some niggling doubts about their provenance? Do you wonder what you’re breathing in when you bury your nose into a bunch of flowers? While they look the part, they often have no scent and a soulless quality.

In search of the old romance and scent of flowers once again, I discovered a flourishing movement of slow flower growers in the NSW Northern Rivers and went to see what it takes to grow and supply local, organic flowers.

BYRON BAY ORGANIC FLOWER FARM & BYRON BAY FLOWER SCHOOL

Janelle Johnstone’s family has been farming Weetalabah (“a place of many water springs”) since 1926. It’s now a certified organic farm. The paddock where flowerbeds now flourish was last ploughed using a horse and cart.

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