Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 22
Businesses in
Local, sustainable flower farms taking root in Georgia
By Amber Lanier Nagle
ISTOCK.COM / URSAHOOGLE
22
Georgia Magazine
September 2019
TREWCCI TAYLOR
D
azzling zinnias. Sassy sunflowers. Magnificent marigolds. Captivating cosmos. Most
weekends during the warm Georgia growing season, the Taylor sisters sell homegrown bouquets at the farmers market in downtown
Dalton. They call themselves The Flower Chicks.
"We've always loved flowers, and in 2015, our
mom talked our dad into giving up part of his hay
pasture," says Breelie Taylor, the second-oldest
daughter of Timothy and Connie Taylor of Catoosa
County. "With that half-acre, we began growing the
basics: zinnias, sunflowers, basil, mint, cosmos and
celosia. We really didn't have a plan at that time. We
just wanted to grow and sell flowers."
The Flower Chicks are part of a local, sustainable floriculture movement involving small-scale
flower farmers who sell directly to customers or supply their products to nearby fresh markets. Many of
these farm-to-vase operations are family affairs.
The Taylor sisters-Soucci, 21; Breelie, 20;
Keelee, 19; Trewcci, 13; Avve, 9; and Vivvi, 7-have
spent their lives on a 180-acre farm that has been in
their family for six generations. While growing things
is in their blood, the business side of a cut-flower
operation was new to them. They followed their
aunts and uncles to local farmers markets and
learned the ropes.
"We've learned how to work with one another,
and that has brought us closer as a family," Breelie
Taylor says. "We've also learned how to interact with
customers, how to create [business] systems, how
to plan out work on a calendar and how businesses
work-and don't work-in the real world."
They've encountered bumps along the way. She
Breelie Taylor and her five sisters operate their flower business, The
Flower Chicks, on part of their parents' farm near Ringgold. It has
been a learning process for the sisters, who expect the business to turn
a profit this year.
reveals that they fell prey to a scam artist last year. "It was one of
those live-and-learn moments of having a business."
The weather hasn't always cooperated, and the family's
ponies and lambs have wandered into the garden a few times
and eaten a feast of fresh flowers. The Flower Chicks didn't
turn a profit in their first three years, but there's no quit in these
young entrepreneurs.
"We are confident that we'll see a profit this year," Taylor
says. "There was a learning curve, but now we know what works
and what doesn't."
Georgia Magazine - September 2019
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - September 2019
Contents
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - Intro
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - Cover1
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - Cover2
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - Contents
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 4
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 5
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 6
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 7
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 8
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 9
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 10
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 11
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 12
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 13
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 14
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 15
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 16
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 17
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 18
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 19
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 20
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 21
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 22
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 23
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 24
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 25
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 26
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 27
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 28
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 29
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 30
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 31
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 32
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 33
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 34
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 35
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 36
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 37
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 38
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 39
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 40
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 41
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 42
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 43
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 44
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 45
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 46
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 47
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 48
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 49
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 50
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 51
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 52
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 53
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 54
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 55
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 56
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 57
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 58
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - Cover3
Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - Cover4
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