Grower News

Derek Hoffbauer prepares sunflowers for orders at Duluth Flower Farm on July 25, 2019. Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com DULUTH — Derek Hoffbauer grew up growing vegetables on his family’s farm. As an adult, he traded the sweet corn, beans and potatoes for dahlias, sunflowers and peonies. He and his wife, Brook, run Duluth Flower Farm. What started as a cut-flower business has evolved into a year-round florist and wreath operation. The idea came when Derek’s parents had been growing gladiolus. Derek started dahlias in the greenhouse, and there, they found a niche in the locally grown flower market. “Duluth’s a big wedding town,” he said. Today, he and Brook grow a few veggies on their 20 acres, and they have more than 100 types of flowers, including lisianthus, dianthus, cosmos and ageratum. Dahlias are their No. 1 specialty, he said. Derek Hoffbauer holds a ball dahlia and a regular dahlia to compare their unique shapes at Duluth Flower Farm on July 25, 2019. Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com Turn into the flower farm on Rose Road to see the Hoffbauer home and fields with patches of red, burgundy, gold, yellow and lavender. Marigolds run in a line, natural fencing because deer don’t like them, Brook said. There’s a root cellar nestled into a mound of earth, and their “she shed,” which acts as an office, storage and bouquet area, sits next to their sauna. On a recent Thursday, construction was underway on a seed-starting, polycarbonate greenhouse. It cost $4,000 to keep their current greenhouse warm this spring, and this’ll make heating their flowers more affordable. Daily operations differ with the seasons. They finish ordering seeds in January, and they transplant them as soon as the weather allows. There’s a lot of seeding in March, and they try to have everything in the ground by Memorial Day. That increases the chance of being able to sell their products longer. They wrap up flowers around the first frost in late fall, early winter. Then, they turn their focus on balsam fir wreaths and trees. A bumble bee surveys a snapdragon before pollination […]

Source: www.duluthnewstribune.com