The DIY (do-it-yourself) movement is everywhere. From home and landscape to interior design, it has piqued interest in hands-on design workshops. If your business does not yet offer these programs, consider them as both an important addition to your marketing program as well as another income stream.

Classes can be geared toward any age, from children to adults, and bring in customers that enjoy learning something new and showing off finished projects to friends and family.

Michigan’s Creekside Growers and Flower Farm offers such seasonal planting and design workshops throughout the year. The woman-owned and operated agribusiness grows an extensive array of field-grown perennials as well as greenhouse flowers for the Michigan floral market. Their sales base includes both retail and wholesale customers in addition to online sales.

Owner Sue Dykstra along with Kelly Lewis run the Michigan farm with products offered from early spring throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Flower Farm Beginnings

The Middleville, MI, business began 20 years ago as a greenhouse and garden center that specialized in annual and perennial flowers. While Dykstra’s husband was busy running his own business, she decided to turn her love of flowers into a career.

Starting out with bedding plants, she grew her business into a full-fledged garden center and later expanded to include U-cut flowers and fresh floral bouquets. During those early years, Lewis was best friends with their daughter, Amy, and often helped out at the farm during high school and college.

Lewis graduated with a degree in product design from Western Michigan University, but found herself preferring to work with flowers. “I love being outside working hard physically,” she said.

Four years ago, she joined Dykstra as her full-time assistant. Their social media shows the two of them working side by side throughout the year. During the busy season the duo are helped by family and a few additional part-time employees. The business continues to evolve with more emphasis on specialty flowers for the floral trade.

Spring Season & Holiday Workshops

This past spring their “porch pot” planting workshop attracted 125 participants and interest in their holiday programs isn’t far behind. It’s their unique product mix and holiday design classes that have customers looking forward to visiting their farm when most greenhouses are starting to close down for the season. Depending on the workshop, their hands-on classes bring in $50 to $100 per attendee.

Offering holiday workshops, like ones where customers can decorate their own wreaths, is a great way to bring people in when most greenhouses are shutting down for the season. Photo courtesy of Creekside Growers & Flower Farm

“For both Thanksgiving and Christmas, we offer floral arrangements and other decor such as dried floral wreaths and fresh evergreen ‘everything,’” Lewis said. “We make everything by hand.”

Starting in November, Creekside offers traditional evergreen wreaths in all sizes, garland, swags and tabletop arrangements. They also grow a large selection of amaryllis plants, popular for holiday gifts. A traditional holiday open house offers cookies and hot chocolate for their guests along with a visit from Santa on his sleigh.

More Than a Traditional Greenhouse

Currently, 80% of flowers sold at local flower shops are grown outside the U.S. A certified member of the American Grown Flowers organization, Dykstra’s flower farm is committed to support the promotion and sales of U.S.-grown flowers. Her website emphasizes, “We care about our community and our environment and believe your footprint matters. Our aim is to cultivate beauty by promoting and normalizing the use of local and domestically grown flowers.”

Creekside Growers and Flower Farm is 20 miles from Grand Rapids and 30 miles from the Kalamazoo metropolitan areas they serve. Dykstra initiated and coordinates the West Michigan Flower Market, a collective of a dozen growers from across the region who are dedicated to growing for the local design market. Her own plans are to continue expanding the wholesale component of her business model and grow more specialty cut flowers.

Greenhouses can be used for many different aspects of the growing spectrum, from potted holiday plants and cut flowers for the floral industry to traditional spring bedding plants. Whatever your retail business model, you might consider adding some hands-on workshops. Kids love putting together a planter for Mom and Grandma at Mother’s Day, and holiday workshops decorating wreaths are enjoyed by all ages.

These are fun experiences for your customers – and an extra income stream for your business that will add to your bottom line.

by Gail March Yerke