Dish the Dirt – Details, episodes & analysis

Guest: Sophie, founder of With Love Sophie and Honey Bunch Farm

Location: Yark, VIC — a picturesque valley near Mansfield with a short and unpredictable growing season, but loads of heart.

What We Cover:

• Sophie's journey from floristry to flower farming
• How growing for florists shaped her crop choices
• The chaos and learnings from her first year (hello, flood + 300 lost dahlias!)

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  Why she’s obsessed with sweet peas—and why they’re perfect for her business model
• Building a product-based approach using seeds + cut flowers
• The launch of her Micro Flower Farm Club
• Her mission to grow more sustainable, foam-free floristry practices
• The role of wholesalers, co-ops, and collaboration in building a better industry

• Educating clients about seasonality and transparency around imported blooms

  🌸 Links & Mentions

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  Follow Sophie: @hunnybunchfarm

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  Sustainable Floristry Resource: Academy of Wildflower
• Growers Avenue at MIFGS
• Mentioned Growers: Josie from High Country Flowery, Marty from QC Flower Farm

🌸 Episode Summary:
In this heartfelt and honest episode of Dish the Dirt, we catch up with Janae and Chris from Fleurs de Lyonville—a flower farming couple based just outside of Melbourne. Recorded live at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show as part of our Growers Avenue series, this conversation offers a grounded look into what it really takes to grow a sustainable flower farm and business as a family.

From managing over 50 different flower varieties, running farm tours, hosting workshops, and launching a thriving pottery side business, to surviving tough seasons (including sheep-related seedling sabotage!), Janae and Chris share it all with humour and vulnerability. Whether you’re just starting out, in the thick of it, or wondering how to take the next step—this episode is full of relatable moments, practical insights, and encouragement.

And personally, this episode means a lot. From my first bucket of dahlias, to the very first season of Dish the Dirt, to Growers Avenue—Janae and Chris have always said yes, and I’m deeply grateful for their continued support and belief in this community.

🌿 In This Episode, We Cover:

• Running a flower farm as a couple and raising a family

• Building multiple income streams (retail, wholesale, events, pottery, tours)

• Structuring a diverse growing season for mixed bouquets

• How COVID reshaped their business—and what’s stuck

• Pottery + petals: merging creative passions

• What to know before hosting tours on your property

• Why microflower farms matter more than ever

🌻 Connect with Flore de Lienville:
📸 Instagram: @fleurs_de_Lyonville
🌐 Website: www.fleursdelyonville.com.au

💬 Loved this episode?
Please share it, tag us on socials, and leave a review so more growers and dreamers can find these stories. Your support helps this podcast grow—just like flowers, from the soil up. 🌱

From country show baking to raising orphaned lambs, bestselling author Maya Linnell writes about the life

she lives and loves. A keen bookworm, former rural journalist and radio show host, Maya is also an

ambassador for the digital library app Libby OverDrive. She lives in rural Victoria with a menagerie of animals,

sweeping gardens, three bookworms and the odd tiger snake or three.

Kookaburra Cottage is now available in all good bookstores, Big W, Kmart and also available for download.

Soho Rose farm is a cut flower farm growing field grown garden roses and seasonal flowers in the heart of our family run working cattle, potato and cropping farm within the Hepburn Springs farming district.

I have been a florist for over 25 years but have had a love for flowers all my life, my earliest memories would be picking from our large garden on the farm I grew up on. I went straight into floristry from school and was traditionally trained. I moved to Wanaka and my sole focus had been weddings for the last 16 years up until covid. About 6 years ago we purchased the land I grow on now and always had a vision to grow blooms for my floral design. Growing primarily hard to source garden blooms and in particular dahlias was the goal. Covid hit and I pivoted to selling online retail and growing a more diverse range of blooms in a small cutting garden and then selling excess flowers to other local florists. I am so lucky to have such amazing relationships with the fellow florists and other local growers in the area. I am really passionate about locally and sustainably grown blooms and supplying high quality flowers not just for couples who are my clients but other florists and their clients who get to use and see our amazing blooms. We also sell tubers from our dahlias each year and are developing our own hybridised varieties with the focus being on more wedding style blooms as the clients we supply to are mainly florists for weddings and my own clients getting married. We are also wanting to grow a range of blooms for seed and see a need for less imported seeds and more self sufficient production in New Zealand - something I hope to delve more into over the coming years.

Field of Roses is a small flower farm and floral design studio led by farmer/florist mother and daughter duo Zoe and Sue Field. Nestled in the beautiful Waingake Valley just outside of Gisborne, New Zealand. Field of Roses was established in 2012 after Zoe had an idea to plant a field of roses on her family farm, alongside with an assortment of flowering annuals and perennials that all lend themselves to their wild and romantic designs. They do a bit of everything, weddings, everyday bouquets, workshops, wholesale and most recently released their book, LOST & FOUND, filled with lots of flower inspiration for any flower lover. You can find LOST AND FOUND in Australia Dymocks -everywhere Readings (Melbourne) Boffins (Perth) Kinokuniya (Sydney) Avid Reader (Brisbane) Paperchain (Canberra) Fullers (Hobart) Dillons (Adelaide) Gubba Bags - Gubba.co.nZ Beneficial Bugs - bio force.co.nZ

Clifton Blooms is a flower farm located by the beach and among the gum trees in southern Tasmania. The farm was established in 2021 by Kate Dixon. Kate grows a mix of Australian natives, South African natives as well as interesting perennials and annual flowers. Clifton Blooms supplies flowers directly to floral artists and clever creatives in the greater Hobart area

‘ Carlie and Matt grow seasonal, open field cut flowers on their 5 acre property located in Upper Crystal Creek on Bundjalung country. They grow their flowers based on regenerative agriculture and no till principles. They don’t use nasty chemicals and enjoy building beautiful, healthy soil with their three youngest daughters alongside them’

A COLLABORATION OF FOUR FLOWER FARMERS We are Three Valleys Flower Farms, a collaboration of flower farmers located across Cardrona, Maungawera and the Lindis valleys in the Upper Clutha Basin. ​ With a love for all things floral we are passionate about growing stunning seasonal blooms. We are consciously growing artisan garden flowers sustainably that are full of character, for you, our local community. ​ THE FARMERS ​ Anna Mackay CARDRONA FRESH ​ Jenny Clark STUDIO 24 BOTANICALS ​ Sarah Rutherford THE JOY FARMER ​ Vera Yakzhik ALPINE BLOOMS FARM find them - hello@threevalleysflowerfarms.com

Ball Horticultural Company Australia is part of a global family of breeders and researchers providing the Australian horticultural industry with the most commercially viable and innovative plants from around the world. Ball Australia offers a daily national distribution of quality seed and vegetative lines for flowers, vegetables, herbs, cut flowers and tissue culture. Trails week is held from 6-9th of December. Register to be part of their wholesale distribution list BallAustralia.com