Sarah and Paul Stammers’ decision to get into the flower growing market has proved to be a savvy move. Photos: Holly Daniel
Photo by
Holly Daniel
The transformation of a dairy farm into a flourishing flower enterprise is a sight to behold at Pretty Paddocks.
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The late-summer show of flowers is a myriad of colours, as neatly raised beds of blooms catch the attention of both butterflies and the attentive couple who have built the business up from nothing.
The variety of blooms on show includes dahlia, zinnia, cosmos and a favourite of Paul’s, lisianthus.
Photo by
Holly Daniel
Sarah and Paul Stammers transformed their dairy farm near Katunga when water prices peaked and so chose diversity over intensity.
Sarah — a former graphic designer — found that growing flowers from seed for the markets was more intense than growing for pleasure.
“They have got to be spot on,” Sarah said.
Butterflies delight in the flowers on show at Pretty Paddocks flower farm. Paul and Sarah Stammers built their business from the ground up in the rich soil of a former calving paddock. Photo: Andy Wilson
“It is so different from growing flowers at home.
“And the whole basis of this is to make flowers accessible to people.”
The couple’s 0.4 hectare summer block is one of four sections around which the beds are rotated each year.
The area is a former calving paddock for the dairy, which has meant the new enterprise had a good start due to many years of manure adding to the Moira loam topsoil.
The couple provides flowers to florists in Numurkah and Cobram, and sells them directly through supermarkets and cafés as well as through subscriptions.
Paul still maintains the farming side of the property, where they grow millet, wheat and lucerne, but he is equally invested in the flowers.
The variety of blooms on show includes dahlia, zinnia, cosmos and a favourite of Paul’s, lisianthus.
He handles a large bunch of the flourishing species under their shade cloth tunnel and shows the versatility of the flower by snapping off a spent head.
“All of these side buds will now come out in bloom, so the lisianthus lasts in the vase for quite a while,” he said.
Large marigolds with elongated stems also dominate, along with a bed of statice behind a windbreak of enormous sunflowers.
“We try to grow statice that’s not blue; it all seems to be blue,” Paul said.
Spring varieties include anemone, antirrhinum, sweat peas and ornamental kale, with Sarah and Paul rating ranunculus as probably one of their favourites.
Chrysanthemum and carnation dominate their production in time for Mother’s Day.
Due to a health challenge for Paul, they decided to take a five-month holiday around Australia and returned to start what they both consider is an adventure of a lifetime.
“When we got back we asked ‘what are we going to do?’,” Sarah said.
“I had already done a course in flowers so I already had it in my head
“Paul got behind me one hundred per cent and loves the fact that it is something we can finally do from paddock to person with no middle man.
“He loves something niche and he loves putting his teeth into something new.
"We love that we sell direct from farm to consumer.“
They haven’t looked back.
Sarah and Paul Stammers, with their dog Bear, in the summer flower patch.
Photo by
Holly Daniel
Former graphic designer Sarah Stammers found that growing flowers from seed for the markets was more intense than growing for pleasure.
Photo by
Holly Daniel
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