On this episode of the Team Flower Podcast, Kelly is joined by Mandy Hornick of Blue Ridge Blooms to talk about how sustainable flower farming can impact the flowers and the community.

First, you’ll hear which flowers you should be growing for weddings as well as various varieties and their little nuances. Mandy is even sharing her top favorite dahlias!

Kelly and Mandy are discussing a popular topic: sustainability—what it is and how to put it into practice. They’re talking through things like crop rotation and cover crops, and you’ll hear how you can incorporate these practices on your own farm. Whether you’re a designer or a farmer (or maybe you’re both!) you’ll enjoy learning from Mandy on this episode of the Team Flower Podcast!

Blue Ridge Blooms is a specialty cut flower farm and seasonal floral design studio located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains just outside of Asheville, North Carolina. Mandy studied horticulture in college and then got the opportunity to work on Dave Dowling’s farm, Farmhouse Flowers in 2007, which was a launching point for her to someday own her own flower farm. In 2015, Mandy and Bob finally found the perfect homestead for starting Blue Ridge Blooms, and they are so grateful to finally be living their dream of growing flowers for their community. Stewardship of the land is something they both take great pride in, only using sustainable, biodynamic farming practices that are beneficial to the plants and the environment. They know their flowers are happy because their soil is healthy.