Ginny Randall, Angela Morton, and Elizabeth Talbot move swiftly, placing buckets of vibrant, fragrant flowers into the back of their minivans, ready for delivery. "I never thought I'd do that," Randall said with a laugh about purchasing her first minivan for the purpose of efficient flower transportation.
The three women are the founders of Missouri Flower Exchange, Missouri's first flower farm collective based in Springfield. Seventeen flower farms in the state participate in the collective, all with an interest in cultivating native flowers for local florists and customers.
Established in spring 2022, Missouri Flower Exchange is a part of the nationwide Rooted Farmers network, an online sales platform that aids flower farm collectives, individual farmers, and florists in connecting with each other and selling products. Based in New Hampshire, Rooted Farmers was founded by flower farmer Amelia Ihlo in 2019.
Flower farmers interested in joining the Missouri Flower Exchange must apply and meet the collective's standards. Once accepted, farmers create accounts for their businesses through Rooted Farmers, which allows them to post what products they have available on the Missouri Flower Exchange website.
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