Meet The Farmers - Page Two
Peonies Plus
Owners: Frank and Virginia Dickson
Contact information: www.peoniesplus.com
Size of Farm: 5 acres
Main Crops: 12,000 peony plants
Growing Practices: Conventional
History: Frank and Ginny started Peonies Plus in 2001 on four city lots in Shelton, Washington. The 4,500-plant operation was origianlly set up to grow and sell cut flowers wholesale. "By 2005, it became obvious to us that there was demand for quality cut peonies that far exceeded our limited production, as well as demand from retail customers for both the cut flowers and roots, " Frank says.
That's when they relocated to Grays Harbor County, just outside the city limits of Elma. Unlike the Shelton Soil, the Elma soil is deep, sandy loam. In the fall of 2005, Frank transplanted his peony crops to the new property and also added hundreds of roots of new varieites to boost the farm total to 6,000 peonies. In subsequent years, another 6,000 plants were added.
Peonies Plus was created as a customer friendly cut flower farm. Visitors are encouraged to walk the fields and observe, smell and enjoy the various peony variities grown there. Ground cover fabric is laid around many of the plants, thus making walking on the pathways easy, and plants are labeled for easy identification. The public is welcome to visit from June 1-15.
"We thoroughly enjoy sharing our farm for part of the year with over three dozen different bird species and several different pollinators," Frank says. "When visiting us, we encourage you to take time to enjoy them as well as the flowers. We also share the farm with deer, opossum, raccoon, rabbits, moles, voles and coyotes, all of whom are less social, possibly because they know our resident Broder Collie is nearby."
Peterkort Roses
Owners: Norman Peterkort, Manager, and six siblings, three actively involved in the business.
Web Site: www.peterkortroses.com
Size of Farm: 100 acres, with 5.5 acres of greenhouses
Main crops: Roses, Lilies, Orchids, Stephanotis, Maidenhair Fern, Holly. “We are year-round growers so we even have garden roses in the winter,” says Norman.
Growing practices: Integrated Pest Management, with use of biological controls. Hydroponic growing for the roses and lilies.
History: The Peterkort family has a long history in the flower business, starting out near Portland in 1923 and moving to the current location in Hillsboro during the 1980s. Everybody started out working in the greenhouse and grading room during summer holidays, often under the watchful eyes of parents and grandparents. “I weeded rose beds starting when I was six for 10 cents a bed!” remembers Sandra, the oldest.
Today growing more than 50 varieties of roses, the family has recently added oriental and asiatic lilies which have proven very popular with customers. Unusual items such as cattleya orchids and maidenhair fern make for an eclectic mix. Karen is the queen of the orchids, keeping a huge cattleya and cymbidium collection growing and productive.
Energy efficiency and conservation is a big part of the company’s mission these days. Energy curtains and insulation are already checked off the list, with more improvements yet to come. Norman’s training in engineering comes in handy when wrestling with boiler problems and evaluating ideas for alternative energy at the farm.
The Peterkorts were founding members of the Oregon Flower Growers Association, and have long served on the board, contributing many hours towards the well-being of the Portland Flower Market. “Thank goodness for our connection with the local Portland market, especially during this time of transition in the cut flower industry,” says Sandra. The family is looking forward to a long and equally successful relationship with the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market.