Hi, I’m Tracy Sundby—mom, wife, homemaker, and avant gardener extraordinaire in Stanwood, Washington. These last two years have brought a profound awakening to my soul. I became a mother, battled melanoma, and lost my job of 16 years. My mental health was struggling, and working the land was the cure. I worked tirelessly in the garden, completing and growing things I had only dreamed about in just one short growing season. Something deep within me woke up to my purpose, and I stopped wondering so much about why I couldn’t and started wondering how I might. My passion for flowers and gardening runs deep in my veins and goes back generations to my ancestors who farmed the land. This spring I dove headfirst into healing and finding my authenticity through growing and sharing blooms. “Freedom Flowers” was born, and I have never been more certain of knowing this is my path. I’m learning every day about where I will fit into this industry and am having a damn good time while I’m doing it!
Life on the farm, with beautiful dahlias (Dahlia variabilis, Zones 8–11 or as a tender bulb) and a kitten.
The Little Free Seed Library at the farm near our farm stand is for community seed swapping. Don’t have a packet to leave? That’s OK. Just make a donation, or promise to grow, harvest and deposit seeds back into the library next season. Our ancestors used to swap seeds with their neighbors all the time. So making deposits into the seed library allows us to continue giving back to our community and honor old traditions!
Bouquets ready for sale at the farm stand
These are some of the beds of flowers for harvesting to sell.
It all starts here. These beds in the spring are ready to start bursting with life and flowers.
Selling flowers at the farmer’s market
A beautiful wedding bouquet
A fragrant favorite on the flower farm: sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus, annual)
The David Austen rose ‘Litchfield Angel’ looks absolutely stunning.
Statice (Limonium sinuatum, annual) makes a great filler in fresh bouquets, but it also dries beautifully too, making it wonderful for long-lasting dried bouquets.
If you want to learn more about Tracy and her flower growing, check out her website, freedomflowers.biz or instagram @freedomfarmflowers.
Have a garden you’d like to share?
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
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