About The River

Monday, May 11, 2020

Heritage Flower Farm


Heritage Flower Farm

I was so excited when my aunt Sharon shared a recent newspaper article with me about one of my mentors, Betty Adelman of Heritage Flower Farm.
You may remember some of the posts I did about her flower farm back in 2016.
Click on the link above to read about my first visit to the farm.
In the post I shared about Betty when I toured her farm and she shared how her dream of Heritage Flower Farm started and how she got to where she is today.

My Flower Shack.. a self serve Flower Shop. Never give up on your dreams!


My second trip to Heritage Flower Farm.. click on the below link to learn more.

During my second trip to Heritage Flower Farm in 2016 Betty and her dear friend Gail, my aunts Sally and Sharon all toured the garden, enjoyed a lovely lunch and discussed ideas for my business.

Gail is the owner operator of Yerke Greenhouses and she sells Cottage Garden Bouquets at the Milwaukee market.
Betty thought Gail would be able to help me with ideas, share her tricks of the trade and talk bouquets. It was a great help to me as I got started in 2016.



Time continues to go on.. it is 2020 and I have accomplished so much since meeting Betty in 2016.
It was fun to read the article about Betty in the April 16-17 2020 issue of the Southern Lakes Newspaper.
It was a highlight for me to read all that Betty has accomplished since opening Heritage Flower Farm in 1998.



Betty has been growing heirloom plants for more than three decades.
Betty's interest in heirlooms began three decades ago, when then 93-year-old window Anne Patterson placed the future flower farm property for sale.
"She took me around and told me all about her plants, which was something a Realtor would likely not have been able to do." she said. "Fern-leaved bleeding hearts under the Bur oaks, a patch of pink lily-of-the-valley, purple bearded iris and her lemon lilies. That's what got me interested in old flowering plants and we continue to grow Anne's plants today."

"Heirloom plants are either just plain old, or have cultural and ethnic significance that make them unique."
One of Betty's favorite anecdotal stories to tell in her garden is about the Rattlesnake Master, a native plant to Wisconsin that the Potawatomi used for good luck gambling. "They would pick the seed head, a thistle, and put it in their pockets. And today, of course, they own the casino."



13 comments:

  1. So cool! A well deserved accolade!

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  2. What a great mentor. Now you have your little garden that could. Love always to see pics of the pretty flowers for sale in the flower shack. Soon sweet friend our weather will hopefully allow us to start the pretty flowers.
    Hugs,
    Kris

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  3. I love your little flower shack, and your dream! Looks like May will finally warm up, even here and we can do more outside. Hope it's warm and sunny there.

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  4. I'm so glad that your dream is still alive and doing well. Self service is just so in line with Covid-19 keeping our distance.
    I wish you a great summer and good gardening success. It's so nice reading about your friend and mentor's success. I love those old heirloom varieties of vegetable and flowers that are so dependable unlike the hybrid varieties that keep changing.

    Hugs, Julia

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  5. How interesting! It's neat to read about how someone starts doing something they love for a lifetime. I've been glad we've had our hiking during this hard time. Have a good week!

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  6. That is so cool! I like your new blog header photo too!

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  7. Carla, it is easy to tell the influence Betty has had on you. I've caught your excitement about it! I'm glad that you had this teacher to inspire you. Isn't there a famous old quote about a teacher being sent when we need one? Obviously, she was part of God's plan for your dream to come true and I pray that you will always move forward with it. I believe it will bring you much happiness and satisfaction as well as financial gain. And please do your part to keep those old Grandma's bloomers blooming!

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  8. She sounds like a wonderful mentor and a very accomplished one at that. I just noticed your header photo...very cool!!

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  9. Cool story about Rattlesnake Master! I'll check back on the previous coverage of Heritage Flower Farm. :)

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  10. What a beautiful story you shared. Love the passion!!

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  11. You are both inspiring ladies. You've both accomplished a lot, and share your love of flowers with others <3

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  12. I've always wanted to have a little roadside stand, but one of the downsides of living on a quiet country road is the lack of traffic. I guess I'll just have to enjoy visiting yours! :)

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High Fives from Wisconsin!