Spring in the Valley, the agricultural capital of the country—our livelihoods and rhythms are intertwined with the seasons in a way that few other regions experience. Each February, we are compelled to pull over on the side of the road to take in the floating sea of white and blush blossoms backed by rolling, green hills and snow-capped mountains. The arrival of blossom season collectively pulls us out of our gray days into the bright, new energy of spring. We know it’s only a matter of weeks before the blossoms drop, the green hills fade to gold, and the warm blanket of Central Valley heat tucks us in for a long summer.

In 2020, I’d just moved back to this wonderful Valley, but was having a difficult time (as most of us were) feeling or tapping into the extensive beauty present in our daily lives. I was a new mom, had lost my job, and the isolation of the pandemic had covered my hope with what I can only describe now as a quiet fog of darkness. At this breaking point, I stumbled in to the only place we were allowed to go at the time, i.e., the outdoors. Eyeing a 30’x30’ plot of land in the corner of my parents’ yard that looked how I felt – neglected and tired, but full of possibility – I felt the urge to change both our situations. The rules of the current world, combined with the loss of independence that every new mom can identify with were suffocating, and I craved a sense of freedom and productivity.

I dug my hands into the cold, clay-compacted earth, and over the next few months my little plot slowly transformed into a cutting garden. At the time, my daughter was learning to walk, and I was, in turn, learning how to start over. Daily failures (shutdowns, gophers, seedlings dying) were now tempered with new gifts—a pansy smiling up at me; my daughter happily dragging a sunflower taller than her around the garden, filling my first vase to delight my mom. As my flowers started to bloom, they transported me to a place where I was able to feel changes in time again; I slowly began tapping back into the beautiful rhythms of nature that are built into our bones as Central Valley natives.

January and June
Fresno
www.januaryandjune.com

Wynnie’s Flower Farm
Clovis
www.wynniesflowerfarm.com

Sweet Acres Flower Farm
Fresno
www.sweetacresflowerfarm.com

Yosemite Flower Farm
Mariposa
www.yosemiteflowerfarm.com

Bloeman Flower Farm
Visalia
www.bloemenfarm.com

Blooms on Lincoln Ave
Fresno
www.bloomsonlincolnave.com

Foliage Flower Farm
Fresno
@foliageflowerfarm

Freckled Flower Farm
Fresno
www.freckledflowerfarms.com

If you talk to any farmer florist, there’ll usually be an unspoken understanding about a similar, shared similar experience that led us to our craft. We’re stewards of our gardens, but we’re also equally under her care. We grow together, and share the gifts that she gives us in hope that some of the peace and happiness we found in our work will cling to a leaf or petal and be a light to you in different seasons. Moreover, we know flowers have the power and ability to evoke emotion and trigger nostalgia in ways few gifts can. The scent of a sweet pea can transport you to the garden of your childhood and take you back to a beloved grandmother, or the scent of orange blossoms brought in by the breeze can bring back memories of walks through the orchard during harvest season. This year, the world has started to turn again. But it’s a new normal, and we’ve all been changed in some way.

Maybe this February, as we look for inspiration for the one day where love is universally expressed, let nature guide us in how to say it. Rather than a stiff red rose, we could look to the garden to show us what she’s been working on for months in her own time-honored rituals of gifting. A winter anemone, a fringed tulip, a fragrant narcissus; flowers that set their roots here in the Valley, which have been tended to by the loving hands of our neighbors, cut and displayed to offer us a true snapshot of what Tuesday, February 14th, 2023 would look like through a garden’s eyes. To keep floral love blooming through spring, consider gifting a flower subscription—many local farmers are now offering them through their websites. Check out the San Joaquin Flower Collective to learn more about what’s available in our backyards. Undoubtedly, flowers really are the perfect love note.

Follow the Field @Januaryandjuneblooms or contact Natalie through the website at www.januaryandjune.com

Features Contributor Natalie Geehr, Farmer Florist and Owner of January & June
Photographer Allie Case