If you’ve ever seen a bouquet assembled by Little Walters’ Flower Farm, founder Lisa Alexander’s innovative yet playful approach to arrangements is immediately recognizable. Look a little longer, and you’ll notice something slightly unorthodox about the arrangement – the flowers, colors, and foliage feel familiar in other contexts, yet unconventional when assembled in a bouquet.
When I took a bouquet home with me – I felt as if I were transporting a warm, simple pleasure, with pride similar to the hand-selected dandelions I (shouldn’t have) brought home in my childhood.
When I learned more about Lisa and Little Walters’ Flower Farm, I found a story of great depth. Lisa’s lifelong, dual commitment to both sustainability and community carried an optimism I thought others may also find refreshing. In this article, she graciously sat down with me and gave us her ‘why’. While she is quite earnest and humble, I’m quite happy to articulate her accomplishments and the value she provides to College Park.
After studying Physical and Environmental Planning (B.A.) and Educational Leadership (M.Ed.), she accepted a position at the University of Maryland and settled in College Park. Initially, her role called for her to live on campus. Notwithstanding apartment living, she always tended to a ‘garden’ – which, at times, was simply a few herbs in her apartment windowsill. When she purchased a home with her husband, Steve, in College Park (using a Partnership downpayment assistance program) in 2016, her windowsill garden naturally expanded.
In February of 2020, Lisa and Steve decided to make their yard a pollinator haven and a source of local flowers and produce, pushing back against the staggering environmental costs of the international fresh-cut flower market.
The U.S. flower market, which grosses $6.69 billion annually, imports over 80 percent of fresh-cut flowers from abroad. These imports are sent primarily via air freight from Latin America and produce an estimated several hundred thousand tons in carbon dioxide emissions annually. Moreover, by sourcing flowers from abroad, we miss the opportunity to support struggling domestic plant pollinators. Recognizing the environmental costs of the imported flower market and the need to support plant pollinators, there is a growing movement in the United States to seek locally produced flowers and plants and cultivate native plant gardens – like Lisa and Steve’s.
The U.S. flower market, which grosses $6.69 billion annually and imports over 80 percent of fresh-cut flowers from abroad. These imports are sent primarily via air freight from Latin America and produce an estimated several hundred thousand tons in carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Though the project certainly answers the movement’s call, Lisa and Steve’s ambitions go a step further. Yes, Little Walter’s Flower Farm is a (great) local option for floriculture; it is also a catalyst for community connection and belonging. Lisa and Steve make it a point to plant in both their back and front yards, with the hope that when neighbors see the pair tending to their yard, they will be curious enough to ask questions. “In my experience, I have looked to bring community to sustainability. However, along the way, I learned there is sustainability in community.”
Photo: Spring bouquets in progress shared by Little Walter’s Flower Farm via Facebook
Their efforts have not been in vain. One by one, neighbors on their street have sought their advice, and several have planted in their own yards. In fact, her neighbors are so supportive; they’ve granted her a ‘yard annex’, where neighbors allow her to use portions of their own yards to grow flowers and plants. Her husband complements the operation, supporting neighbors with rain barrel installations in their gardens.
“In my experience, I have looked to bring community to sustainability. However, along the way, I learned there is sustainability in community.”
– Lisa Alexander
To Lisa and Steve, cultivating a garden is an opportunity for joy and connection. On its own, Lisa described the act of putting her hands in the soil as a moment to ground herself and reset. In community, the pair see gardens as an equalizer, a pastime relevant to everyone no matter their generation or background.
When asked for advice she’d provide the garden-curious: It’s okay to kill things. What’s most important is that you put your hands in the ground.
