Emily Walls Emily Walls

Farm Brand Photos: Why would we take photos of spent flowers?

Kari Parks, flower farmer and owner of Flourish Organic Farms sitting in her garden of wilted flowers

While not as vibrant as the growing season, following a killing frost, a flower farm has its own beauty and importance to the farm work after the blooms have faded: The clean up, the care and planning that goes into seed saving and digging up tubers, composting the crumpled, unharvested blooms, and celebrating what the land has given over the season. This is where the next season begins, which is why I asked Kari Parks from Flourish Organic Farms in Arlington, WA, if we could document the end of her seventh season - her putting the farm to bed to see the growing season from the other side.

During the shoot, we took our time strolling through her spent flowers and enjoying the sun’s warmth. While we talked, Kari showed me the different types of seeds she had already saved, dug up dahlia tubers, saved more seeds, experimented with hammer dyeing her flowers onto journals, and even let me see where she keeps her everlasting flowers. We referenced the mood board I had put together and posed a few photos in the field, but mostly I photographed Kari doing the hard work a flower farmer puts into her field and beds to get them ready for the next season, and enjoying the flowers that were left. The final gallery is a collection of images that show and honor how she nurtures her farm’s future.

After we were done, Kari and I asked ourselves what she would do with the photos since it’s typically beautiful photos of gorgeous in-season fields and blooms that help sell flowers. Do these photos have a place on social media and Pinterest? They do. When farms think about branding photos and how to use them to tell their story across their marketing, it’s important to show the whole process, and the people, along with the visually pleasing products and pretty landscapes. It humanizes the business. Letting customers behind the fence shows them the care and hard work that goes into growing produce and flowers and raising livestock. It builds connections and trust that can translate to loyalty. I’m already looking forward to working with farms in 2026 to create content that matters and help them gain visibility.

Thank you, Kari, for having me on the farm! It was a true treat to spend the day with you.

Kari Parks, flower farmer and owner of Flourish Organic Farms looking at her flowers
Kari Parks, flower farmer and owner of Flourish Organic Farms looking at her flowers
Kari Parks, flower farmer and owner of Flourish Organic Farms looking at her flowers
Kari Parks, flower farmer and owner of Flourish Organic Farms looking at her flowers
Kari Parks, flower farmer and owner of Flourish Organic Farms cutting back her wilted flowers
Kari Parks, flower farmer and owner of Flourish Organic Farms cutting her roses.
Roses on a tray at Flourish Organic Farms
Kari Parks, flower farmer and owner of Flourish Organic Farms looking at her flowers
Kari Parks, flower farmer and owner of Flourish Organic Farms holding cut flowers for dyeing
Seeds from Flourish Organic Farms on a bright blue tray
A hand holding dried orange flowers
Kari Parks, flower farmer and owner of Flourish Organic Farms drying flowers from her farm
Larkspar seeds from Flourish Organic Farms
A hand extracting seeds from a dried Larkspar flower
Yellow flowers laid out to be hammer pressed into a journal
Woman sitting in a garden looking at a journal
Woman hammering flowers to dye a journal
Woman digging up a dahlia tuber
Woman digging up a dahlia tuber
Wilted flowers in a flower farm
Woman digging up a dahlia tuber
Kari Parks, flower farmer and owner of Flourish Organic Farms looking at her flowers
Pressed purple flowers in a journal
Woman holding orange everlasting flowers
Woman arranging everlasting flowers
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