The Dirt on Flowers

Shelby Wallace started with cedar-fence raised beds and 500 tulip bulbs—and turned an accidental flower-growing hobby into a business built around subscriptions, farmers markets, and workshops while teaching fourth grade. In this Dirt Bag Coffee Chat, Lyndsay and Shannon talk with Shelby about why she’s keeping her farm intentionally small, how a devastating Lisianthus season led her to rethink watering and crop plans, and why tulips are worth growing even when they’re a lot of work. Shelby also shares how family and friends help make the farm possible, how she decides what to say no to, and the patient, consistent marketing that brings customers back year after year.

Learn about todays guest Shelby Wallace: Website, Instagram and Facebook

Get your early bird tickets for DirtCon 2027

Learn more about- Barn2Door, Summertime Seed Co, and Homegrown Reach

If you want to dive in deeper with us each month, join our membership group - The Dirt on Flowers Insiders! So if you love the podcast and want to dig deeper with us, head over to www.thedirtonflowers.com/membership to join now.

Did you love today's episode?

1. Take a screenshot and share it in your IG stories. Don't forget to tag @dirtonflowers!
2. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Head to www.thedirtonflowers.com to sign up for our newsletter and become a Dirt on Flowers insider!

Want to learn more about your hosts? Follow us on Instagram!

Lyndsay @wildroot_flowerco

Shannon @bloomhillfarm

The dahlia dig is finally moving faster—and this year, Shannon’s crew is handling it without her. Lyndsay and Shannon swap notes on what’s making the dig easier, from labeling consistency to numbering pallets so tubers are easier to find later. They also unpack a striking claim circulating online: $40,000 from just 800 square feet of flowers, and why farm income depends on far more than a catchy number. Plus, a coaching conversation with Charlotte Smith sparks a rethink of self-serve flower stands, while Shannon shares a practical trick for repairing a dahlia tuber with painter’s tape.

Learn about todays guest Shelby Wallace: Website, Instagram and Facebook

Get your early bird tickets for DirtCon 2027

Learn more about- Barn2Door, Summertime Seed Co, and Homegrown Reach

If you want to dive in deeper with us each month, join our membership group - The Dirt on Flowers Insiders! So if you love the podcast and want to dig deeper with us, head over to www.thedirtonflowers.com/membership to join now.

Did you love today's episode?

1. Take a screenshot and share it in your IG stories. Don't forget to tag @dirtonflowers!
2. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Head to www.thedirtonflowers.com to sign up for our newsletter and become a Dirt on Flowers insider!

Want to learn more about your hosts? Follow us on Instagram!

Lyndsay @wildroot_flowerco

Shannon @bloomhillfarm

A ghost photo, a bride throwing flowers, and a hard-earned goodbye to dry-storing tulips: Lyndsay and Shannon head to the flower-farmer graveyard to bury the crops, habits, and business advice they’ve outgrown. They talk about why big social followings don’t guarantee a profitable farm, how saying no to customers can protect your business, and what changed when they stopped treating long hours as proof of success. Along the way: flower-farming “fantasy” versus the real work, the pressure to compare farms, and the freedom of letting go of full-service weddings—or anything else that no longer fits.

Get your early bird tickets for DirtCon 2027 and learn more by listening to episode- EP 299: Inside DirtCon 2027

Learn more about- Independent Farmer Podcast, Vitalize Seed Company, and Ampersand Bulb Co

If you want to dive in deeper with us each month, join our membership group - The Dirt on Flowers Insiders! So if you love the podcast and want to dig deeper with us, head over to www.thedirtonflowers.com/membership to join now.

Did you love today's episode?

1. Take a screenshot and share it in your IG stories. Don't forget to tag @dirtonflowers!
2. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Head to www.thedirtonflowers.com to sign up for our newsletter and become a Dirt on Flowers insider!

Want to learn more about your hosts? Follow us on Instagram!

Lyndsay @wildroot_flowerco

Shannon @bloomhillfarm

A mulch lifter meant for plastic beds unexpectedly helped lift dahlias—and gave these flower farmers a new way to think about getting tubers out of the ground. Lyndsay and Shannon swap notes on what worked, what didn’t, and why borrowing a neighbor’s equipment can be a smart way to test a big investment. They also get into the hidden costs of plastic, drip irrigation and transplanting; the spray-paint trick that keeps dahlia varieties sorted during digging; and the digital field notes that save them from losing hard-won lessons in coffee-stained notebooks. Along the way: fall marketing overload, a rare weekend of real rest, and a weather forecast that could shift tulip plans.

Charlotte Smith application link- Profitable Farmer Scholarship - Pre-Application

Get your early bird tickets for DirtCon 2027 and learn more by listening to episode- EP 299: Inside DirtCon 2027

Learn more about- Independent Farmer Podcast, Vitalize Seed Company, and Ampersand Bulb Co

If you want to dive in deeper with us each month, join our membership group - The Dirt on Flowers Insiders! So if you love the podcast and want to dig deeper with us, head over to www.thedirtonflowers.com/membership to join now.

Did you love today's episode?

1. Take a screenshot and share it in your IG stories. Don't forget to tag @dirtonflowers!
2. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Head to www.thedirtonflowers.com to sign up for our newsletter and become a Dirt on Flowers insider!

Want to learn more about your hosts? Follow us on Instagram!

Lyndsay @wildroot_flowerco

Shannon @bloomhillfarm

A crop can be beautiful, beloved—and still not earn its place on the farm. Lindsay and Shannon share how a look back at sales changed their growing decisions, including swapping rose lilies for standard lilies. They also unpack why Shannon’s customers couldn’t get enough of gladiolus—even when the first succession flopped—and why adorable Tweety pansies didn’t make the cut. Along the way, they offer a practical way to compare what you planted, harvested, and sold, so next year’s seed orders reflect your customers, your labor, and your actual business needs.

Get your early bird tickets for DirtCon 2027 and learn more by listening to episode- EP 299: Inside DirtCon 2027

Learn more about- Barn2Door, Vermont Compost Company, and Hunter Finn Creative

If you want to dive in deeper with us each month, join our membership group - The Dirt on Flowers Insiders! So if you love the podcast and want to dig deeper with us, head over to www.thedirtonflowers.com/membership to join now.

Did you love today's episode?

1. Take a screenshot and share it in your IG stories. Don't forget to tag @dirtonflowers!
2. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Head to www.thedirtonflowers.com to sign up for our newsletter and become a Dirt on Flowers insider!

Want to learn more about your hosts? Follow us on Instagram!

Lyndsay @wildroot_flowerco

Shannon @bloomhillfarm

Shannon’s farm crew turned Brian’s $88 Amazon ring idea into a real proposal—with local jewelers, input from nearly everyone he knew, and a soccer-game reveal. That’s just one of the season’s stories as Lyndsay and Shannon compare patchy first frosts, wrap up flower-market season, and share what’s next. They also get into a holiday fundraiser rethink that’s already drawing new customers to the greenhouse, why a simple change from “don’t take shirts out” to “please leave shirts in bags” worked, and the realities of building a farm business around family, capacity, and the occasional 1 a.m. bouquet session.

Get your early bird tickets for DirtCon 2027 and learn more by listening to episode- EP 299: Inside DirtCon 2027

Learn more about- Barn2Door, Vermont Compost Company, and Hunter Finn Creative

If you want to dive in deeper with us each month, join our membership group - The Dirt on Flowers Insiders! So if you love the podcast and want to dig deeper with us, head over to www.thedirtonflowers.com/membership to join now.

Did you love today's episode?

1. Take a screenshot and share it in your IG stories. Don't forget to tag @dirtonflowers!
2. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Head to www.thedirtonflowers.com to sign up for our newsletter and become a Dirt on Flowers insider!

Want to learn more about your hosts? Follow us on Instagram!

Lyndsay @wildroot_flowerco

Shannon @bloomhillfarm

Three Porch Farm was on the brink of collapse when the pandemic shut down its farmers markets—then shipping flowers helped save the business and opened up an entirely new model. On The Dirt on Flowers, Mandy and Steve talk with Lyndsay and Shannon about that pivot, why they walked away from weddings and summer crops that looked successful from the outside, and how sales data revealed poppies were their most profitable flower. They also share how Georgia’s heat is reshaping their dahlia plans, the practical trade-offs of farming sustainably, and the hard-won difference between persistence and simply refusing to change.

Learn more about todays guest- 3 Porch Farm, Facebook, and Instagram

Early bird tickets available at DirtCon 2027 and learn more by listening to this episode- EP 299: Inside DirtCon 2027

Learn more about- Heirloom Roses

If you want to dive in deeper with us each month, join our membership group - The Dirt on Flowers Insiders! So if you love the podcast and want to dig deeper with us, head over to www.thedirtonflowers.com/membership to join now.

Did you love today's episode?

1. Take a screenshot and share it in your IG stories. Don't forget to tag @dirtonflowers!
2. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Head to www.thedirtonflowers.com to sign up for our newsletter and become a Dirt on Flowers insider!

Want to learn more about your hosts? Follow us on Instagram!

Lyndsay @wildroot_flowerco

Shannon @bloomhillfarm

An update on the 450-guest wedding called for 23 dahlias in a single centerpiece—and cleanup revealed one very unexpected use for a flower vase. Lyndsay and Shannon swap stories from the event, talk through the exhaustion of an expanded dahlia harvest, and weigh whether to squeeze in one last flower-field sale before frost. They also share practical ways to make a self-serve flower stand more memorable, from kid-friendly scavenger hunts to a QR-code welcome video, and compare their very different approaches to wedding florals—like whether to dye carnations or order pricey orchid

Get your early bird tickets for DirtCon 2027 and learn more by listening to episode- EP 299: Inside DirtCon 2027

Learn more about- Heirloom Roses

If you want to dive in deeper with us each month, join our membership group - The Dirt on Flowers Insiders! So if you love the podcast and want to dig deeper with us, head over to www.thedirtonflowers.com/membership to join now.

Did you love today's episode?

1. Take a screenshot and share it in your IG stories. Don't forget to tag @dirtonflowers!
2. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Head to www.thedirtonflowers.com to sign up for our newsletter and become a Dirt on Flowers insider!

Want to learn more about your hosts? Follow us on Instagram!

Lyndsay @wildroot_flowerco

Shannon @bloomhillfarm

A flower farm can sell out every week and still be making the wrong move by growing more. On this episode, Julia Shanks and farmer Dan Brisebois explain how to follow the ripple effects of a business decision—from added harvest and labor to market costs, profit, and time off. They share practical ways to track what a market actually costs, why an extra $20,000 in sales may not be worth giving up every Saturday, and how one farm chose to let some sunflowers bloom out rather than pay for Sunday harvests. It’s a grounded look at building a farm around both the numbers and the life you want.

Learn more about todays guest- Julia Shanks, Danial Brisebois, The Farmer Spreadsheet Academy and Seed Farmer Podcast

Looking for Dan and Julias book here are two links to do just that- The Profitable Farmer (NewSociety) or The Profitable Farmer (Amazon)

Early bird tickets available at DirtCon 2027 and learn more by listening to this episode- EP 299: Inside DirtCon 2027

If you want to dive in deeper with us each month, join our membership group - The Dirt on Flowers Insiders! So if you love the podcast and want to dig deeper with us, head over to www.thedirtonflowers.com/membership to join now.

Did you love today's episode?

1. Take a screenshot and share it in your IG stories. Don't forget to tag @dirtonflowers!
2. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Head to www.thedirtonflowers.com to sign up for our newsletter and become a Dirt on Flowers insider!

Want to learn more about your hosts? Follow us on Instagram!

Lyndsay @wildroot_flowerco

Shannon @bloomhillfarm

A 450-person wedding has Lyndsay calling in reinforcements—and relying on a colleague’s U-Haul loading map to get every floral detail there safely. Lyndsay and Shannon swap stories from their final fall events, debate whether anyone really needs to wire a boutonniere, and share how growing their own flowers has made them picky about buying wholesale. They also talk Christmas plans, Dirt Con ticket and scholarship details, and why some flower farmers are trading snips for sickles to reduce repetitive strain. Expect practical farm talk, wedding-season chaos, and plenty of laughs.

Listen to episodes mentioned this week- Christmas Episode and Minted Vintage

Be in the know for DirtCon 2027 and learn more by listening to this episode- EP 299: Inside DirtCon 2027

If you want to dive in deeper with us each month, join our membership group - The Dirt on Flowers Insiders! So if you love the podcast and want to dig deeper with us, head over to www.thedirtonflowers.com/membership to join now.

Did you love today's episode?

1. Take a screenshot and share it in your IG stories. Don't forget to tag @dirtonflowers!
2. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Head to www.thedirtonflowers.com to sign up for our newsletter and become a Dirt on Flowers insider!

Want to learn more about your hosts? Follow us on Instagram!

Lyndsay @wildroot_flowerco

Shannon @bloomhillfarm