Home-grown beauty.

How collaborating with local flower farmers helps us offer the freshest and most sustainable blooms for any occasion.

Whether it’s sourcing our favourite flowers from nearby neighbours or sharing the stories of the growers behind each bouquet that graces our store – working with local farms is a rewarding choice for us, our customers, and the planet. To share more about the importance and benefits of shopping local for your flowers, we spoke to our good friend Charlotte of September Peony Flower Farm.

Q & A with Charlotte of September Peony

Q: September Peony Farm has such a wonderful story and is now home to an astounding 12,000 peonies. Tell us a little more about your farm and the amazing flowers you grow.  

A: “September Peony Flower Farm was unsurprisingly born out of a love of peony flowers. As peonies take such a long time to mature and only flower for a very short time, we also grow an extensive range of other perennials and annuals. Our standouts include hydrangeas, dahlias, delphiniums and roses. We also offer a large range of harder-to-get products like peony poppies, lupins, salvia and Russian sage. Our farm was originally established as a truffle farm – and still is – but truffles are a winter product. We couldn’t imagine a better way to spend the rest of the year than deep in beautiful flower fields.”

Q: What do you feel are some of the most important benefits to working with local growers?  

A: “Freshness! Whilst we always support buying local over imported flowers, a lot of Australian grown flowers come from Tasmania or Victoria. This still adds quite a lot of miles to the product when compared to coming from us. A big concern for purchasers is ensuring they get something that they can enjoy for a reasonable amount of time. Our flowers are incredibly fresh. Most of our products are harvested the day prior to being delivered so you are purchasing flowers that have maximum vase life left.”

Q: How do you ensure these flowers stay as fresh as possible?

A: “Longevity in our blooms is really important to us. All the flowers harvested at the farm are placed immediately into conditioned water in the field. They are then taken back to be processed or placed into our cool room ahead of processing. Unlike more remote suppliers, we also ensure our product is freighted from the farm into Brisbane in water and in refrigerated transport. Once collected from the drop off point they are delivered again in water and using refrigerated transport to our customers.”

Q: Do you undertake sustainable and eco-friendly practices when growing your blooms?  

A: “We have a big focus on sustainability and recycling in terms of our flower delivery practices. This is feasible given we are so local, and it ensures that between the farm and the vase there is maximum re-use occurring. We’ve implemented a range of sustainable practices on the farm too. Some of the practices we have include using mulch instead of herbicides and using beneficial bugs instead of spraying pesticides. As water is such a precious resource, we’re also able to manage our irrigation through an app, which ensures we are using our water only when needed.”

Q: What’s your favourite flower that you grow and why?

A: “One of the flowers I grab for myself most often to have in my home are marigolds. They last easily for two weeks and their huge orange heads provide such a wonderful burst of colour.”

Q: We get to collaborate with you a lot at The Flower Bar Co. What have been some of your favourite moments and memories so far?

A: “It’s been really nice to have the support of The Flower Bar Co team. It always brings a smile to our faces to see our products featured in beautiful environments. The spaces created by the team certainly stand out. We look forward to being able to expand our product offering to provide you with even more beautiful products more regularly.”

Q: Do you offer blooms to the public as well as florists or other businesses?

A: “We mainly service florists but also supply to a few select flower wholesalers who genuinely value sustainability and sourcing and supporting local flower farmers.”