Wendy Atwell, a landscape artist by profession, began planting flowers for herself and her friends’ homes as a hobby in lockdown. Once Atwell realised how many flowers she was growing, the idea of selling tickets to customers to pick flowers came to life. This is how Jamestown Flower Farm was born.
Wendy Atwell, who started Jamestown Flower Farm, holding a bunch of the farm’s most picked flower, and her personal favourite, the purple Dahlia. PHOTO: Erin Walls
The only sounds around are the water spraying from hose pipes and the low hum of bees circling the flowers. Fields with hues of lilac, deep red and yellow blanket the property, with the backdrop of Simonsberg mountain towering over it. Nestled in a slope, tucked away between residential homes, Jamestown Flower Farm blooms.
Wendy Atwell neatly places chairs between the rows of flowers. Petals are scattered by her feet, which lay above a thick layer of mulch. She gracefully sits down. “So, shall we begin?” she says.
The beginning
“I am a landscaper, and I was managing this property for a friend for about 4 years,” she says. “This was simply a lawn, just like the neighbours’,” she continued, whilst her hand gestures towards the left of the farm, where a family and their old, grey basset hound could be seen through the fence, wandering around with cups of coffee in their hands. “I always felt bad about looking after this property, and not doing anything truly meaningful with it,” she says.
Atwell was inspired by a flower farm which she visited in Wolseley, near Ceres, exactly one week before lockdown was announced in March. “As I was driving home, I thought to myself, ‘sherbert, rows of flowers, we could do that here’,” she says. The property itself is very narrow, with it being only 18 meters wide. “I figured rows would be the easiest option.”
Atwell began her “passion project” one week before the start of the hard lockdown. She then had to halt activities until May 2020, when she could resume. PHOTO: Erin Walls
With the amount of flowers being produced, Atwell started to look at distribution options. First she sought out supplying to florists, but the idea did not excite her enough. She then “stumbled across an article on an overseas flower farm, where people could buy tickets and come pick the flowers themselves. And at that moment, I knew that was what we were going to do.”
Customers are therefore able to pick fresh, local flowers at an affordable price.
The brains behind the farm
Atwell has lived in Stellenbosch for around 30 years. “I actually owned a nursery for nine years,” she says, “so I have been in the plant business for a heck of a long time. And thus I thought I was intently qualified to start a cut-flower garden. However, when I started growing them myself, I realised I knew nothing… Absolutely nothing,” she says.
Jamestown Flower Farm is what locals call a “hidden gem,” tucked away between houses and nestled below Simonsberg mountain. PHOTO: Erin Walls
What lies ahead in the future for the flower farm
“Next winter, we could possibly look at growing winter specific flowers,” she says. They were not prepared for this winter season, in terms of seasonal specific flowers, as they did not initially expect the response they received from the public, explains Atwell.
Atwell has many plans for the future. “We want to plant more densely, make the flower beds closer together and start a shop at the top,” she said, pointing to the top of the hill, where the small gated entrance is. “We want to perhaps introduce flower workshops, maybe even a tea and coffee place… sell vases, ribbons, oasis, drying flowers, a floristry dream, essentially. We can now do more, knowing that our flowers are so successful.”
Wendy Atwell says that they will be better prepared for the winter season next year, with a focus on winter specific flowers. PHOTO: Erin Walls
The property is not large enough to accommodate everything they would like to do with the farm, such as functions or markets on Saturday mornings, says Atwell. However, they don’t have parking, “and we don’t want to upset the neighbours if people are in their driveways”, laughs Atwell. “So, for now, we will do the picking and the picnicking.”
Customer experiences
Jamestown Flower Farm has gained a large following on social media, with over 3 400 followers since their Instagram page started in November 2020.
Many customers claimed they found out about the farm through Instagram. “The photos are amazing. I just had to come,” said Bryony Mcdonogh, a customer with an overflowing bucket of flowers tucked under her arm.
Beatrice Fassler, the social media manager and daughter of the owner of the plot, has helped Atwell bring in customers through their Instagram account. “[She] has always made magic happen with our landscaping spaces. So naturally, we asked her to help us tackle the overgrown mess that the property was in,” said Fassler. “Since her love is being with flowers, I have had the best time documenting her.”
Jamestown Flower Farm’s Instagram has accumulated over 3 400 followers since November 2020, which has drawn a lot of people to the farm with their aesthetic images. PHOTO: Erin Walls
“I love plants and I love people. Both of my jobs allow me to do that; the landscaping and the flowers. So, truly, I am happy,” Wendy says, before getting up to make up a bouquet for a customer with the flowers they had picked. She hauls out the large bunch of flowers from the bucket, picking off the leaves on the bottom and wrapping it with a piece of brown string. “Ta-da,” she says, handing it back.