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June 10th 2014

Peony Paradise: A Visit to North Field Farm

Written by
Floret

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I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was last week to finally get a chance to visit North Field Farm, a small specialty peony operation up near the Canadian border. Hopefully this picture can express the absolute joy of the moment. Two words: PURE MAGIC!

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I’ve heard tales of the overwhelming beauty of North Field for years, and have always intended to make the trek, but late May and early June are always a crazy time of year and work always seems to get in the way of visiting. Excuses, excuses, excuses…

Erin and Vanessa at Floret harvest peonies at North Field Farm

But this year was different. After a long hot day in the fields weeding and netting flowers, talking about how beautiful the peony farm must be in full bloom, we collectively agreed that we just couldn’t miss another year of seeing Geraldine’s farm and made a mad dash north. We arrived just as the sun was settling into magic hour.

Floret team harvests peonies at North Field Farm

There’s nothing quite like being turned loose in someone else’s flower patch. Standing on the edge of a 2 acre peony field and being told, “cut whatever you like”. Well, our jaws just about hit the floor.

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Floret harvests peonies at North Field Farm

Vanessa and I ran around like crazy women, trying to see, smell and pick one of every single variety before the sun set. Chris roamed the fields with the camera and captured the beauty of the moment so we could share it with you. If only you could have been there! It was truly amazing.

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Row after row of fully blown peonies, sparkling in the late day sun. It was enough to send even the most hardened person into a flower induced fit.

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What amazed me the most during our visit, besides the immaculately weeded beds, was the number of varieties in the patch. Geraldine shared that she has almost 60 varieties in production and a total of 400 scattered around the property. There’s a book worth making, right there!

Erin of Floret harvests peonies at North Field Farm
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Getting to know the local growers in your area, seeing their farms and hearing about their passion for growing is a life altering experience. Years and years of hard work, love and dedication all in full bloom before your eyes. You’ll never see flowers the same way again.

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If you’ve been making excuses about getting out and seeing what’s being cultivated in your area, I want to challenge you to make this year the one you drop your excuses. If there’s an opportunity to take a farm field trip or two, then jump on it! Go and meet the growers in your area (Hint: check out the Farmer-Florist Collective–viewable on Desktop computers). Get to know them. See what they’re up to. Share with them what you’d love to get your hands on in the future.

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If we start reaching out beyond sourcing everything through the wholesalers, and the middlemen, and off of spreadsheets and begin to connect with each other (farmers and florists), there is a world of magic to be discovered.

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So, here’s to the local flower season, to building new relationships, to learning and supporting each other in our passions and to getting out and seeing what’s growing locally!

Summer is almost here. What do you say we take full advantage of it this time around? photo 5

I double dog dare you!

UPDATE: After being flooded with requests for more information on North Field Farm, I can now share details. Here’s the scoop:

Tours of North Field are not available to the general public. If you live in the area and want to order cut peonies in late May or early June, call Geraldine at: 360-380-5257.  The minimum order is $100. Please note: North Field offers peonies for local sales only; shipping is not available.

66 Comments

  1. Melissajosh on

    The proprietors of North Field Farm, Jim and Trish Blake, are a hard working, enthusiastic couple who deserve the success they’ve found with Peony Paradise. After all the work they’ve completed on the farm, they’re still brainstorming ways to make this one-of-a-kind destination more inviting and appealing to their customers and get more knowledge like about https://filterspoint.com/who-invented-the-wrench/.

    Reply
  2. Kelsi on

    Geraldine rocks! My beekeeper aunt is a dear friend of hers. One of the highlights of our wedding in 2011 was going to her farm to cut buckets and buckets of blooms. Her prices are super fair and she’s an old school flower farmer. Highly recommend.

    Reply
  3. Teagan on

    This is absolutely beautiful! Do you have the address of this place??!

    Reply
  4. janet on

    Hi is it possible to take a cutting from a peony and use root powder to grow roots for some more new peony’s i live in UK

    Reply
  5. Barbara on

    Beautiful if only we were all that lucky! What a joy! Just to hear someone say cut what you want, and let you go, double wow!!!!
    Thanks for the pictures! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  6. Carrie on

    Amazing! What a breathtaking oasis of a fabulous alchemy of smells and sights. Thank you for the inside scoop.

    Reply
  7. Susan Baker on

    Wow!! Absolutely gorgeous… peony heaven!! Thanks for sharing and for the breathtaking photos!!!!

    Reply
  8. Courtney Hildebrand on

    Peonies are by far my favorite and I’m always sourcing unique bare roots! A peony dar would be an absolute dream for me! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  9. Carol on

    Beautiful photos. I love peonies, but ours always have lots of ants! Do you not have that problem?
    Carol

    Reply
  10. Susan on

    Beautiful ! How special ! Thanks for sharing ….

    Reply
  11. Lisa on

    Sounds like paradise,need to add this gem to my bucket list. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  12. Linda on

    Why is this a four year old pic. Do you have something for 2018?

    Reply
  13. Alena on

    Beauty. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  14. Alicia on

    Challenge accepted! Whoohoo!

    Reply
  15. Jackie (@viajoy.baboopri) on

    Would you consider!? I been watching garden shows about beautiful gardens in England. One show was with Audrey Hepburn and now one with Penelope Hobhouse…Have you thought about doing something similar Erin? In a small scale anyway, maybe just for You Tube, since you are always visiting beautiful flower farms, that would be just fantastic!

    Reply
  16. Jackie (@viajoy.baboopri) on

    I been watching garden shows about beautiful gardens in England. One show was with Audrey Hepburn and now one with Penelope Hobhouse…Have you thought about doing something similar Erin? In a small scale anyway, maybe just for You Tube, since you are always visiting beautiful flower farms, that would be just fantastic!

    Reply
  17. Kim on

    Where exactly are they located?

    Reply
  18. Renay Spina on

    I love Peonies. Would like to purchase some once the seasom is here. Is there any local growers in
    Southern California.

    Reply
  19. Emily Thomas on

    If I planted peonies in a vacant field and left them; would they eventually grow and drown out the grass or would the grass and weeds choke out any chance.

    Reply
  20. Stacie Siegfried on

    Hi Tanya: I live in Bonney Lake, but lived in Maple Valley for 26 years. I had five acres of forest and an acre landscaped and grew a perineal garden full of flowers. I was driving down and out of Kent last week On 68th Ave S.. there are numerous flower farms along the road all the way thru Auburn.

    I am going to one today to get flowers for me daughter’s graduation. http://freshflowerfarm.net/ is the name of this families operation and they have farms in Auburn, Kent, and in Snohomish County.
    Hope this gives you some new info. Email me if you like, I love gardening!

    Reply
  21. Tanya on

    How do I find out what local farms that are near me in Seattle? Do you have any website to search for that? Or it’s like words of mouth? I just started my own floral business. I’d love to discover more and visit them. Thank you very much!

    Reply
    • Team Floret on

      Hi Tanya–there are a few good sites to search for flower farms in your area: The Farmer-Florist Collective on our site; the ASCFG website (http://ascfg.org/) and SLOW flowers: http://www.slowflowers.com and be sure to connect with the Seattle Wholesale Growers Association if you haven’t already. Thanks for choosing local flowers!

  22. Val Boergesson on

    Oh my heart!!! Peony heaven, what gorgeous photos and what a beautiful collection of peonies, mind blowing! I am curious why there are so so many in the fields, you would think they would mostly be cut for sale at this point? Thank you for sharing your magical day!

    Reply
    • Team Floret on

      It is heavenly indeed! Geraldine recommends against cutting every available stem each season and always allows some of the flowers to bloom.

  23. Claudia on

    Where is the farm located? I live in NY and would love to visit.

    Reply
  24. Dianne Dawes on

    So many glorious peonies, such beautiful colours! I would be excited to be there too!

    Reply
  25. Katrina Thiel on

    Absolutely stunning!!! Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos! Just added this place to my bucket list!!

    Reply
  26. Shelley Haganman on

    Great post and gorgeous photos! I love your part of the world!!!

    Reply
  27. Katrina Thiel on

    Stunning!!! Absolutely stunning!!! I put this magical place on my Bicket list! Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos!!! #blessed #purebeauty

    Reply
  28. Chee on

    Where in the world is this farm?

    Reply
  29. Sonya draffen on

    Great artice and photos …. ! Would be nice to know where this is ?! Thats truly important right ?!

    Reply
  30. Ana Lua on

    I’d like to know the state this is at I love peonies!! Thanks

    Reply
  31. Edith on

    What a beautiful place to go. I would love a garden/ farm like this., with so many gorgeous flowers!!! Love, love them!???

    Reply
  32. cait on

    This looks like a dream, where is this location?

    Reply
  33. Seasonal Flower Alliance: May 22 - Floret Flowers on

    […] insanely talented Amy Merrick and Siri Thorson clipping and creating together here at Floret and at Northfield Farms, an extra special little place that I affectionately call “peony paradise.” […]

    Reply
  34. Katie on

    Well said, well said. Farmer to florist connections are amazing.

    Reply
  35. Carly on

    Wow what an amazing experience Northfield Farms would be! I absolutely love Peonies! I think i may have to take a trip to the canadian border one day to see this! I am a florist and we rarely work with Peonies in our shop because of how fragile they are…and expensive:( Not from our gardens obviously…..too bad they are so short lived in the season! But they sure are pretty! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  36. Kim on

    I live near the Canadian border and would love to visit this farm. Where is it ?

    Reply
  37. Splendid Market on

    Astoundingly beautiful, I love the shots of the girls walking the rows with loads of peonies slung over their shoulders. What a lovely escape, thank you!

    Reply
  38. Abbie on

    So MUCH gorgeousness!!! It looks lovely!

    Reply
  39. Tara on

    Amazing photos. I love your blog, its so inspiring and the flowers, wow. Much love from the Philippines :)

    Reply
  40. Marian on

    Amazing! Can’t imagine a famr like that in our country. I’m pretty sure there are none. You live in such a wonderful place of the world to be able to grow these amazing flowers. ‘Cut whatever you like’, wow! So true, it is a ‘magical world’.
    Marian

    Reply
  41. Terri Bowlby-Chiasson on

    Oh my goodness! I think Heaven looks a little like this! Wow! How wonderful!
    Yes, do they have a website?
    Thanks for sharing, Erin!

    Reply
  42. Sarah Monteiro on

    I love this post! Every flower looks beautiful, as do you. And it’s also a good reminder to GET OFF THE FARM!! As always, thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  43. kristin burrello on

    elisabeth zemetis of blush floral designs in madison, ct. made the trek up to muddy feet flower farm today! I’ve had my eye on her and her sophisticated work for several years, and thanks to the SBP workshop, I reached out to her and several florists and designers this season, and we’re making it happen!

    Reply
  44. koralee on

    YES! Our favourite place to visit…we live in Canada just across the boarder from this magical place! We make many trips down as we can bring the cut peonies back into Canada!

    Reply
    • Rosina on

      Do you know the address? I’d love to visit!

  45. Vickie Cunningham on

    Wow! My goal is to go HERE and photograph! What a lovely day that would be! Much to hot for peonies in Dallas, but they are one of my favorite flowers. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  46. Heather on

    I can almost smell them. Def on the agenda for a trip out west.

    Reply
  47. Janey Pugh on

    What an inspiring farm. Must have smelt special!

    Reply
  48. cori on

    The farm looks like heaven and must smell wonderful. I am lucky to belong a flower coop, where I can buy straight from other farmers.

    Reply
  49. heather on

    Does this farm have their own website? I would love to follow them as I am just a bit south in Seattle and when I get my land I hope to be a fellow peony farmer :) Along with a few other varieties!

    Reply
  50. Georgianna on

    Oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great photos, Chris!!!

    I’ve had such an amazing time in Europe these last months but missing this adventure sort of breaks my heart! See you soon! x

    Reply
  51. Melissa on

    I couldn’t agree more about getting out there and meeting more farmers/growers! I met a fellow flower farmer this past weekend who farms an hour and a half north of me. He was an amazing wealth of information and the nicest, kindest man! We stayed an hour and a half past the allotted tour times and had to pull ourselves away from talking flowers!

    Reply
  52. Jordyn on

    Woah. Completely gorgeous! These photos are so perfect!
    Jordyn

    Reply
  53. penmerry on

    flower induced fit…. sums it up perfect!!! Nothing better than a field of peonies!!!

    Reply
  54. Jeanne Cummings on

    OMIGOSH…..overwhelming beauty!!!…I moved to MN 7 years ago and did visit a peony farm here once!!!….MUST go again…they are my FAVORITE….hahahaha along with so many others…thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  55. Louise Bowditch on

    Just WOW! Beautiful flowers, beautiful location, beautiful light. Perfect. Thank you for sharing & making me realise that I need to do the same here in the UK. My butt has been kicked in the nicest possible way!
    L x

    Reply

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