A Flower Farm Takes Root

Mar 6

We talk to Marcella from The Parcel Flower Co about tulips, sustainability, and building a small business in the Hudson Valley.

It’s only March, but we’re thinking about flowers, more specifically tulips.

Did you know that tulips require winter? Without a long, cold, dark rest they won’t bloom. If you plant a tulip in Florida and wait for it to pop up, nothing will happen. Just knowing what’s ahead makes winter a bit more bearable . . . the tulips are coming and they’re worth the wait. At least those grown by The Parcel Flower Co.

With a mission of keeping a small carbon footprint, owner/designer/farmer/entrepreneur Marcella Rodriguez Broe grows flowers on nearbly parcels, or “micro farms,” throughout the community. She then uses the flowers she grows to create stunning floral arrangements for weddings or events in New York City and the Hudson Valley. In addition, she sells flowers, plants, and other home goods that connect people with nature from her retail space in Cold Spring.

“Everything we do we put through a sustainability filter,” she explains. Marcella and her team limit the use of single-use plastics and prioritize sourcing and offering local products as much as possible. Rather than import commercially grown flowers that come from warmer areas, they harvest their own tulips, dahlias, and annuals and partner with other local farmers.

The kind of tulip that Marcella grows is not your typical tulip. These ones are exceptional, often with double-petals, in brilliant colors. By harvesting these tulips with their bulbs and storing them in coolers, Marcella is able to extend their season. Another reason tulips have worked so well with this model is that they don’t take up much space. They’re able to fit 26,000 bulbs in a field, which doesn’t even fill an entire parcel.

They also grow a lot of dahlias, which are incredibly beautiful. Because they have a very short vase life and don’t ship well, it makes a lot of sense to grow them locally. In the summer months, they rely on fields of annuals to keep the shop full of flowers.

Marcella got her start with floral design for weddings and events. This part of the business is still their biggest offering and continues to grow. In fact, Marcella never intended to have a retail shop. When Covid put a halt to weddings she had to pivot. Only after opening the shop did she realize that she loves sharing goods and flowers with her community.

A beautiful historic building on Route 9 serves as their central hub and provides the space they need to meet with customers, start seeds, and offer a curated collection of botanical home goods for sale. In warmer months they host outdoor pop-up markets and offer educational opportunities. This month, for example, Marcella will teach a Cutting Garden Workshop, a perfect place to start one’s gardening journey.

The flower business demands creativity, flexiblity, and determination. What Marcella has found is that diversitfying her business has made it more viable, perhaps more enjoyable too.

Each day presents an opportunity to connect with people and the land. Marcella and her employees might begin in the fields and finish with customers in the shop.

One of the beautiful things about doing this business in the Hudson Valley is that it allows her to also connect with the past and better understand the history of the land. One of the parcels she farms was once a dairy farm that had a greenhouse: now half of that building shares the land with a field of dahlias. The juxtaposition is striking and a good reminder of the farmers who have worked this land before her.