our land and practices
farmer & florist cristina
flowers x flores is a farm and floral design studio that offers seasonal, locally grown flowers in the dmv area.
the land we care for is located on an urban lot in hyattsville, md with a 2023 expansion as part of the urban farm incubator at watkins regional park.
we grow our flowers inspired and rooted in regenerative practices such as; using crop rotation methods, working with the ecosystems present and steadily phasing out tilling.
we work as best we can within the cycles of nature. most of our flowers are field grown and each season boasts a varied palette of flowers that will invite your senses to appreciate local flora in a new and familiar way.
cristina began designing with flowers while in college in southern california. having grown up near the wholesale flower district in los angeles, ca, she remembers vividly how the smells of the flower filled interconnecting warehouses blended into one another, occasionally interrupted by a waft of street food. once in dc, she had the opportunity to arrange the flowers for a friends wedding and soon after flowers x flores was born.
growing flowers professionally began as a project in 2019, that stemmed from stewarding, cultivating and harvesting on an urban farm in washington, dc. currently, cristina grows in hyattsville, md and recently joined the urban farm incubator at watkins regional park.
she cares deeply about growing biodiversity in the soil while aiming to work with the local ecosystems. using mostly regenerative practices she grows beautiful flowers that aim to have the smallest environmental impact possible.
when she's not tending to plants in the field or in the greenhouse, cutting & arranging flowers, selling at markets, delivering blooms and all number of tasks it takes to run a farm / floral business- she can be found stretching, taking a power nap, or enjoying a fresh meal at home.
FAQs
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this is a list of flowers we commonly grow by season.
springtime flowers : anemones, ranunculus, calendula, larkspur, delphinium, nigella, feverfew, foxglove, flowering branches, early green foliage, snapdragons, , peonies, poppiessummer flowers : ageratum, strawflower, cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers, scabiosas, snapdragons, monarda, dianthus, hydrangeas, marigolds, calendula, feverfew, abelia, celosia, flowering tobacco, poppies
fall flowers: dahlias, ageratum, strawflower, cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers, scabiosas, snapdragons, monarda, celosia, mums, marigolds, flowering tobacco, gomphrena and other flowers for drying
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working with a seasonal florist ensures that you are getting the best flowers the season has to offer from farmers that are nearby.
this not only ensures a long vase life but also reduces your carbon footprint by nature of you sourcing flowers from growers that are your neighbors.
2023 has us growing on our biggest footprint yet and whatever we do not grow ourselves, we source from flower farmers using similar growing practices in Maryland. -
put simply, regenerative agriculture is a growing movement toward stewarding land from the perspective of respecting the soil as a living being- it is a way of growing that is rooted in indigenous knowledge and has been in practice by brown and black folks for millennia (indigenous in this context is meant to refer to communities of color worldwide that have endured and thrived through patterns of displacement, stolen land and diaspora).
what we practice at our farm sites include, minimal soil disturbance, maintaining a living root system, keeping our soil covered, diversified crop planning and crop rotation practices as well as doing our best to improve the soil we are working with.