Butterbee Farm is tucked away along the edges of a residential community and a thirty-minute drive from Baltimore City proper. Owned and operated by husband and wife team, Jascha Owens and Laura Beth Resnick, Butterbee Farm provides locally grown flowers to the Baltimore/DC region and the Chesapeake Bay area.And this past Saturday the flower farm hosted its first tour of the season. Most of us have seen dairy farms and large vegetable gardens, and we’ve seen or had personal cut flower gardens, but many of us have not seen a large-scale farm that only grows flowers.Our tour started just after 9 AM on a warm, sunny day. Led by Laura Beth, we started in the new green house (built recently so that flowers can be started early and grown during the off season), we walked around the centrally located farmhouse (where the couple lives) taking in the various sections of the farm where bulbs, herbs, woody stem flowers, perennials, and annuals are grown.Laura Beth explained what her flower farm does: grows flowers and foliage for florists, floral designers, and DIY brides and grooms. As we walked she told us how she decides what to grow (she meets with florists who tell her the latest trends), and about the farming style she prefers (organic, sustainable, and one that involves an ancient method called occultation).The farm is small but looks out over acres of cornfields and rolling hills. And it is full of charm. Not just because of all the flowers but also because of the hosts who are clearly passionate about flowers, farming, and community. On our tour guests asked lots of questions, children wandered around, and at the end we made summer bouquets to take home.I saw straw flowers in colors and forms that I’ve never seen before, rows and rows of lanky, delicate cosmos, bright snapdragons, and lacey carrot flowers. The spring flowers were mostly gone. The sunflowers and zinnias were just beginning to bloom.The tours were on the half-hour and as we were leaving more folks were filing in to have a look and make a bouquet. I can’t think of a lovelier way to spend a summer morning. I highly recommend it. Click here to find out more!

(All photographs by Michael Sneeringer, Jr @elsneero)

Cheers!

Holly