Bunny Love Flower Farm started in 2020 on about 1/8th of an acre of pasture in Cochecton, NY, with one unheated high tunnel and a few rows of zinnias & sunflowers.
I wanted to supply affordable, sustainably grown, fresh flowers to a beloved friend/bookkeeping client's shop.
Today I am utilizing organic, no-till practices to produce high quality seasonal blooms. I grow flowers outdoors, in two high tunnels, and in my basement "Tulip Lab".
I aim to supply both wholesale & retail markets eleven months of the year.
What’s Blooming at Bunny Love?
Winter
Tulips are my absolute favorite flowers…they provide such a welcome burst of color during the cold, gray winter!
The winter tulip journey actually begins in late November, when premium bulbs from the Netherlands arrive on the farm. Some are planted outdoors and in the unheated high tunnels. The majority are forced into bloom on a weekly schedule in the basement Tulip Lab.
The first blooms appear for the Christmas & New Year’s holiday week, and then continue with new, interesting varieties available every week beginning in January.
Early Spring
Beginning in March, hybrid lilies are planted in successions for continual blooms starting later in May.
These lilies were a new crop for me in 2024 and I was instantly smitten. There are so many varieties, with or without fragrance, some pollen-less, some double….and the vase life!
At the same time, signs of life & new growth begin to appear in the high tunnels. Snapdragons, campanula, ranunculus and anemones start waking from their cold winter sleep and greening up for their late spring debut.
Late Spring
By late spring, the indoor forced tulips are finishing up and the outdoor tulips take over. It seems like everything in the high tunnels starts exploding into bloom all at once.
Italian Ranunculus and Anemones are available for three to four weeks beginning in the middle of May and are quickly joined by campanula, snapdragons and feverfew that have overwintered in the high tunnels. The early peonies start blooming outdoors at the beginning of June.
Early Summer
Right after Mother’s Day, the outdoor rows begin to fill up with thousands of sunflower and zinnia seedlings. In June, veronica, rudbeckia and yarrow bloom in the perennial beds, while long stems of lisianthus and pots of hybrid lilies start shooting up in the high tunnels alongside the later blooming snapdragons and feverfew.
By the end of June, fragrant peonies and stock fill subscription bouquets, and dahlia plants that have been waking up in the tunnels move out into the full sunny field.
Mid-Late Summer
July and August are filled with sunflowers, lilies, lisianthus and early dahlias. The farm feels like it’s overflowing with flowers and I can’t cut them fast enough! Fortunately, the bees and butterflies are happy to buzz around any blooms that stay behind in the field.
Fall
In September and October, the dahlias really start blooming like crazy, with Japanese anemones, zinnias, eucalyptus and fall lilies filling out weekly bouquets.
When the temperatures finally drop, the field and tunnel rows are cleaned up and prepared for overwintering seedlings, and then by the end of October, it’s right back to the beginning for the next growing year.