Show notes
What does it take to run a sustainable flower farm in the middle of a city? Flower farmer Dee Hall started Mermaid City Flowers in her front yard in Norfolk, Virginia, and she and Kelsey talk about urban flower farming, the Slow Flowers movement, and growing sustainably where you are.
For Dee, sustainability includes her neighbors, the creatures in the garden, and the people doing the growing, not just plants and soil. As she puts it, "flowers are the medium, not the message."
Dee went looking for locally grown flowers for her wedding and couldn't find any nearby, so she started growing them. She also founded the Black Flower Farmers International Network of Growers of Color and the Tidewater Flower Collective.
HOW TO GARDEN LIKE AN URBAN FLOWER FARMER
- Look for local flowers. Like Slow Food, the Slow Flowers movement asks where your flowers come from. As Dee explains, about 80% of the flowers bought in the US come from overseas. Buying local cuts shipping emissions, keeps money in your community, and avoids an import industry with a long record of worker-safety and pesticide problems. Local growers can also offer flowers that don't ship well, like dahlias.
- Build up, don't dig. Dee kills grass by sheet mulching (cardboard topped with compost or soil) and plants into the new layer, so she can start sooner and avoid digging near buried utility lines.
- Start seeds in trays. Dee almost never sows seeds directly in the ground, especially with city squirrels around. She starts them in trays, plugs, or giant plastic cupcake containers, winter sows in milk jugs, and explains when seedlings are ready to transplant.
- Try living mulch. Dee grows strawberries to keep the soil covered and the weeds down. She also collects rainwater, skips pesticides, and releases lacewings and ladybugs.
- Arrange with what you have. Dee skips floral foam, which breaks down into microplastics, and uses chicken wire, thrifted containers, and cereal bowls instead. She also works in basil and other herbs, raspberry foliage, and other garden finds.
- Grow where you are. You don't need acres. Dee grows in front yards and neighbors' yards, and says a windowsill, fire escape, or stoop can work too. A basil stem from an arrangement will root in water and become a new plant. A front-yard garden also gets neighbors talking: many of her first customers were neighbors.
- Practice creativity. Dee encourages beginners to experiment, let go of perfection, and find their own style. Her garden-style designs lean into fullness, movement, and whimsy.
- Share with the pests. Dee interplants tulips with daffodils, which squirrels leave alone, and otherwise takes a "some for me, some for them" approach. To her, creatures in your garden are a sign the garden is alive.
LINKS
Follow Dee on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mermaidcityflowers/
Dee's website: https://www.mermaidcityflowers.com/
Slow Flowers movement: https://www.slowflowers.com/
Find local flower growers: https://localflowers.org/find-flowers/
SOURCES
Society of American Florists (2025): https://safnow.org/2025/11/12/saf-ifpa-urge-tariff-exemption-for-all-cut-flowers/
US/LEAP and International Labor Rights Fund (2007): https://core.ac.uk/download/5130806.pdf
#sustainableflowerfarm #flowerarranging #diyflowers
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
