Consider an Everlasting Bouquet
Sustainable, Succulent Creations at Sun Rose Farms
Ariana Rose at the Saturday farmers market in Santa Barbara. Photo: Rob Bilson 
Bouquets for now and for later. Courtesy: Ariana Rose
I first encountered Sun Rose Farms at the Saturday Farmers Market in downtown Santa Barbara. I was roaming around with friends visiting for the weekend, and they were in search of a Mother’s Day gift. We knew we’d find something suitable here. Off in a corner there it was: a lineup of bouquets made from succulents and other everlasting blooms. The immediate math ran through my head: Here is the gift of a bouquet…
- That is great for Mother’s Day, and for anyone who deserves flowers
- That supports the farmers market
- That is beautiful as it is, and…
- That you can plant afterwards, to enjoy for years to come, especially in this climate.
Considering all this, and for being a similar price to most other bouquets, a collective light bulb went off in our group. My friends bought them.
Ariana Rose is the proprietor of Sun Rose Farms, and she tends to it alongside her family on a quiet one-acre patch in the foothills of Santa Barbara. She practices regenerative techniques, which prioritize growing the soil into a rich, thriving ecosystem. It started with her father over 40 years ago, using a method called swale farming, which helps capture water, reduce erosion, and provide a fertile space for growing. The family farm does not require any additional irrigation. And it works. When this good soil provides, her family and her flowers thrive, too.
She’s at the Santa Barbara Tuesday and Saturday markets downtown. This springtime you can celebrate Mother’s Day, Mother Earth, and anyone who deserves a bouquet by considering a succulent bouquet for the occasion. It’s a gift, it’s grown with care, and it’ll pay forward by continuing to grow in the ground.
And by the way, have you ever gotten flowers for yourself? They brighten up any room and brighten up your life. Consider this, too.
