Bunny Love Flower Farm started - like so many newfound pandemic home projects - in 2020 on about 1/8th of an acre of pasture in Cochecton, NY.
My goal has always been to produce affordable, sustainably grown, fresh local flowers to the community.
Today I am utilizing organic, no-till practices to produce high quality seasonal blooms. I grow flowers outdoors, in two unheated high tunnels, and in my basement "Tulip Lab".
I grow flowers for both wholesale florist customers & retail markets ten months of the year.
What’s Blooming at Bunny Love?
Winter
Tulips are my absolute favorite flowers…they are such tough beauties, and provide a welcome burst of color during the cold, gray winter months.
The winter tulip season begins in late November, when premium bulbs from the Netherlands arrive on the farm. Some are planted outdoors and in the unheated high tunnels. The majority are planted up in crates and queud up for forcing into bloom on a weekly schedule in the basement Tulip Lab.
My first blooms appear for the Christmas & New Year’s holiday weeks, and then continue with new, interesting varieties available every week and monthly subscriptions beginning in January.
Early Spring
In March, hybrid lily bulbs are planted in successions for continual blooms beginning later in May.
Lilies were a new crop for me in 2024 and I was instantly smitten. There are so many varieties, with or without fragrance, some pollen-less, some double….so much drama - and the vase life!
At the same time, signs of life & new growth begin to appear in the high tunnels. Snapdragons, campanula, ranunculus and anemones start waking from their cold winter sleep and greening up for their late spring debut.
Late Spring
By late spring, the indoor forced tulips have finished up and the outdoor tulips take over. It seems like everything in the high tunnels starts exploding into flower all at once.
Elegant Ranunculus and Anemones start blooming in the middle of May - just in time for spring formals - and are quickly joined by campanula, snapdragons and feverfew that have been overwintering in the high tunnels. Early peonies usually start blooming outdoors at the beginning of June.
Early Summer
Right after Mother’s Day, the outdoor rows begin to fill up with thousands of sunflower and zinnia seedlings. In June, veronica, rudbeckia, geums and yarrow bloom in the perennial beds, while long stems of lisianthus and pots of hybrid lilies start shooting up in the high tunnels alongside the later blooming snapdragons and feverfew.
By the end of June, fragrant peonies and stock fill subscription bouquets, and dahlia plants that have been waking up in the tunnels move out into the full sun of the field.
Mid-Late Summer
July and August are filled with bright sunflowers, colorful lilies, glamourous lisianthus and fluffy scabiosa. These are the months when the farm feels like it’s overflowing with flowers and I can’t cut them fast enough! Fortunately, the bees and butterflies are happy to buzz around any blooms that stay behind in the field.
Fall
In September and October, the dahlias that have been trickling in since mid summer suddenly start blooming like crazy, with zinnias, amaranths, eucalyptus and luscious fall lilies filling out weekly bouquets.
When the temperatures finally drop, the field and tunnel rows are cleaned up and prepared for overwintering seedlings. We take a few weeks to catch our breath, and then in November, we start all over again for the next season.