Ten Years of Farmer Bailey
Anniversary Farmer Feature: Harvest Home Flowers
By Felicia D'Ambrosio
Harvest Home Flowers is a flower farm, owned and operated by the husband and wife team of Norm and Jamie Rohda. They provide seasonal, specialty cut flowers to florists and designers in eastern Nebraska. Together, they’ve been growing a wide variety of beautiful cut flowers for over 25 years.
In addition to cut flowers, the Rohdas operate an diverse online store, offering pressed flower art, vintage flower frogs, and a selection of curated bulbs and seeds.
As a seasoned farmer, Jamie also provides consulting to other growers, whether they are ready to invest in their flower farm or grow a spectacular cut flower garden at home.
Jamie and Norm are members of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers, a professional organization of flower farmers. As fellow members and sponsors, we always recommend the ASCFG to flower farmers–it is the best place to find community with your peers, mentorship from veterans like Jamie and Norm, and level up your flower growing journey at any stage.
Learn more about Harvest Home Flowers below, and follow along with Jamie and Norm on Instagram and Facebook.
When did you begin buying plants from Farmer Bailey?
We have limited space and time for starting plants, so we let Farmer Bailey do some of them for us, especially those that are a bit more time consuming. Yikes, I believe we've been with you from the beginning so I'm guessing 10 years!
What flowers did you start with, and have you pivoted?
I believe Lisianthus were some of the first, and probably Eucalyptus. We still get those every year.
How has Farmer Bailey supported your business? What are the advantages of plugs?
It is so nice to have a guarantee of little plants arriving at just the time we need them. While we start many of our own, it's just always reassuring to know that we don't have to do them all. We also love the growing information that is now on the website, especially when it's something new for us.
Which plants have most successful, and why? What do you consider your area of expertise, or greatest area of growth?
Again, Lisianthus and Eucalyptus have both been very successful for us here. We stagger plant our Lisianthus, so it's really easy to order plugs to have at just the right time. We've also grown the Scoop Scabiosa since the first year they were available, and really enjoy them.
More recently, we've liked some of the perennials that have been offered. We now have a pretty large number of Hellebores that are just starting to come into full production.
What are your challenges? Can we help you turn them into wins?
Weather is, of course, always a challenge, but I'm guessing you can't help me with that! I honestly can't think of anything right now. You guys are doing great!
What is your best advice for new flower farmers? What would you have wanted to know in your first year of flower farming?
Limit the number of varieties that you start with in order to avoid overwhelm. Find out what you do well and add more of those.
How many years have you been flower farming?
Let's just say over 25 now. We started super small, though. We were veggie farmers and literally started with just a couple of bouquets each week on our veggie table at market. Each year there were more flowers until we had to drop the veg altogether.
What is your typical business model? Has this changed over the years?
Now we are wholesale to local florists and designers. We run a small route, and as one of the owners of a collective, we sell through there. We also do public u-pick experiences here at our farm, and offer our space for private events, too.
How do you spend your non-farming time? What brings you great joy?
There isn't much of that during the summer, but we are trying to slow down on the farming side so we have more time for our children and grandchildren. We'd also like more time to travel. We've most recently enjoyed a trip to Alaska, where we got to visit three peony farms, and a trip to Italy where we lived and worked on an olive farm.
Tell us about yourself!
My husband Norm and I have run this little flower farm for so many years because it gives us so much joy to work with flowers and we love to see the joy that our flowers bring to those who receive them, whether it's through our florists and designers, or whether they've picked them themselves during one of our u-pick events. The beauty of creation and our Creator is evident to us daily. What more could we ask for!
Is there anything else you'd like to say that we did not ask?
As a creative–but sometimes easily bored person–the flowers have been a great outlet for my creativity. Whether it's growing a new variety, making pressed flower art, or working with drieds, the flowers always provide a new challenge for me.
