Two years ago, nine small-scale flower farmers across the country found one other on Instagram and created a support network called Hort Couture Flower Collective. Who would have thought a flourishing new venture would sprout and bloom from the hardship of the hard lockdown?
Flower farmers seem to agree that what we see on their polished social media feeds are a far cry from what goes on while they have their hands in the soil. “I’m only wearing a nice dress for you and the photographs,” Teneale Coetzee from Femme Pétale Flower Farm says. “A white dress isn’t practical. I usually look like I’ve been driven over about five times!”
Flower farming isn’t all moonlight and roses. It takes hard work and patience – as well as loads of research and support in the budding stages. And that’s how Hort Couture Flower Collective came about.
Nine aspiring flower farmers dabbled in growing their own blooms in 2019 and 2020 when the hard lockdown afforded them the chance to follow their dreams. They all soon realised that time and individual research are good starting points but for their ventures to flourish they would have to reach out to others for advice.
“Flower farming is a notoriously closed and secretive industry,” says Jo van Zyl of Lily Rose in the Eastern Cape. Established flower farmers aren’t always keen to share their knowledge, possibly for the fear of competition.
Through hours of research and scrolling on Instagram, Jo found a kindred spirit: Nzwi Dyirakumunda from Akanaka Blooms in Gauteng.
“We were chatting on Instagram about how difficult it was to grow cut flowers and to tap into the South African market. Nzwi introduced me to the clan on a WhatsApp group called You Grow Girl. I have never felt more bonded to a random group of women in my life!”
The biggest factor linking the
