Birch Hill Flower Farm

Fabulous flowering colour

There’s a lot more than just flowers growing at North Canterbury’s Birch Hill Flower Farm.

words: Amelia Norman images: Supplied

This verdant patch of land in rural North Canterbury, fringed by towering eucalyptus and weeping willow trees, is a place where ideas, plans and dreams flourish.

Founder Nicky Paul has constant improvements and developments in mind for her business. “In the future...” is how she starts a lot of her sentences. Or, “One day…”; “Down the track…”; “What I really want to do is…”.

Nicky is an ideas lady. After all, it was only three years ago that she broke ground on Birch Hill Flower Farm; a notion that stemmed from a love of gardening and Pinterest.

“One day on Pinterest I saw someone growing and selling flowers,” Nicky recalls. “And I thought ‘I could do that!’…” She wasted no time in planning and digging a series of 15m long flower beds in which to plant a rainbow of blooms on her 4 hectare lifestyle block. Ranunculi, dahlias, snap dragons, cosmos, sweet pea, larkspur, zinnias… the list goes on. That was in 2020. Since then, the number of beds has more than doubled. Borders, fences and trellises have appeared, as have a greenhouse, a shed and a covered lean-to that serves as a sheltered space for Nicky’s workshops. She’s created a brand, a social media presence, a website, and discovered abundant new opportunities for income-by-flower.

“I had to give up my full-time job,” explains Nicky, who used to work as an insurance broker. “It was just too much. I was burning out.” Finding fewer hours and more flexibility elsewhere has allowed Nicky to pursue some of those ‘down the track’ goals and stay on top of the endless cycle of germinating, pricking, planting, growing, weeding, composting, turning and maintaining her beloved flowers. 

It's early spring when Essence visits. Apart from the odd cluster of creamy yellow daffodils and pink tulips popping up neatly on the fringes of the orderly beds, there’s barely a flower to be seen. Yet, the farm is brimming with life. Tiny green shoots push their way up through the dark, freshly turned soil. Blossoms flash their bright colours from small apple trees. Bellbirds and fantails whistle and squeak amongst the dangling willows above the ornamental pond. Come late spring this whole space will begin bursting with tall stems of petals in every shape and colour, filling the air with a gentle floral scent, attracting butterflies, bees and visitors. “January is the busiest time,” explains Nicky. “But my growing cycle extends from early spring right through until the first frost, usually in April.”

Between now and then, Nicky will be in the garden every day from 3pm until dark. If it’s wet or cold she’ll likely be potting or pricking seedlings in her lovely warm green house. In here, with the mesmerising repetition of “sow, prick out, plant, repeat,” time can fly. “The crockpot comes in handy,” she quips. “And luckily my partner Les is a good cook. That helps a lot!”

With her children having left home, Nicky has more time than ever to devote to the farm. But even when the kids were small, gardening was a passion for the self-taught floriculturist. “I’ve always had a garden, wherever I was. Even when we were renting, I’d make a space to garden. My grandmother was an avid gardener, and my grandfather had a love of trees, so I think a lot of it comes from them. Unfortunately, my grandmother has passed away and was never able to see this but I know she would be super proud.”

Coupled with her love of flowers, Nicky’s natural artistic ability has seen her creating wedding bouquets and designing gardens for friends and family for years. But the development of Birch Hill Flower Farm has introduced new opportunities for sharing her skills and passion. She runs floral workshops, welcomes gardening groups and small tour groups for days out. She’s a member of the Floral Collective Canterbury; a friendly bunch of small-scale flower farmers who sell fresh, local flowers to florists, designers and event companies. And in the summer she sells beautiful bouquets.

And there are many more plans taking shape like a small shed-cum-shop renovation that’s part way finished, and a peaceful pond-side bank that’s being turned into an entertainment space. “But it’s all time and money,” says Nicky. “At the moment I just do things as I can afford them, and all the money goes straight back into the farm.”

With so much growth in just three years, one can only imagine the bright, beautiful, brilliance of this space in 10 years’ time. But however it may look, we know for certain that Nicky Paul will be here, planting new ideas, plans and dreams.