Meet Adrianne Gammie | Flower Farmer & Florist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adrianne Gammie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adrianne, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
It was a circuitous path that lead me to starting Marilla Field & Flora. I was a fashion designer, living & working in Toronto, and I was laid off when I was 6 months pregnant. It essentially ended my career, because no one was going to hire me knowing that I was going to pretty much immediately take my 12 months of maternity leave that mothers are entitled to in Canada. So I started looking for a part-time job, and worked for an event designer who took a chance on me. When I came off of maternity leave, I started working for another floral design studio that used some product from local flower farmers, and I fell in love. I had no idea that was a thing you could do (I thought most flowers were imported, which is true)… Grow flowers for florists to use in creating gorgeous weddings! I grew up on a fruit farm, so have always been a farm girl at heart. Combined with my background in design, growing flowers and designing with them was the best job that I never knew existed. So we moved back to my parent’s farm for a season, grew a field of flowers between some rows of apple and cherry trees, and started Marilla Field & Flora.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
It is a privilege and an honor to do what I do. Myself, and the incredible crew who work with me, get to grow beautiful flowers that help spread joy into our small corner of the world. I feel very strongly that ephemeral delights such as flowers must not come with a price that will be paid by future generations. And so we do it in a way that helps to take care of our beautiful home, Earth. While my farm is not certified organic, we use largely organic practices in addition to things like practicing no-till field preparations (which means carbon sequestration), promote native pollinator habitats (the farm has more acreage dedicated pollinator fields than production fields), and refuse to use toxic, single-use plastics like floral foam when designing weddings. It is the hardest work I can imagine, but I also can’t imagine a better reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Being sensitive to the subtle shifts in the seasons is part of my job, and as such, I feel a deep connection to nature. I know that not everyone is as lucky to have such a connection. But I hope that what the farm produces, be it a bouquet through our subscription program or a bride’s bouquet on her wedding day, is that same connection for everyone who experiences our flowers. In our increasingly fast-paced world, we offer an opportunity to slow down and marvel at Mother Nature. It’s simple, but so important.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to give credit to my family, for always being supportive & giving me the opportunity to explore uncommon pursuits, as well as a passion for plants (of all kinds). Aside from growing up surrounded by orchards and my mom’s gardens, there was another spark that encouraged me on my journey. My husband an I love used book stores, and one Saturday of browsing lead me to a copy of “Flower Confidential” by Amy Stewart. It’s a deep dive into the floral industry, and was my first introduction the the carbon footprint, and the ecological & human impact of the floral industry. I had no idea that things as beautiful as flowers had an ugly side, and it inspired me to find a way to do it better.

Website: https://www.marillafield.com/

Instagram: marillafieldandflora

Image Credits
My headshot was taken by Amanda Dumouchelle, all the other photos are shots from my phone.