the history of
many graces
Put simply, Many Graces was born out of a love for poetry. Rebecca, our Founder & Creative Director, studied and taught English literature for 10 years before launching Many Graces in 2018. For her, flowers are simply another form of poetry—a poetry of the Earth— and as such, they have the power to impart a deep sense of romance, story, artistry, and magic to whatever space they find themselves in.
Rebecca had always been drawn to flowers, but her love for them was solidified after experiencing the power of their medicine and beauty while caring for her beloved friend Ruth who was diagnosed with cancer in the winter of 2013. Rebecca was Ruth’s primary caregiver during her last year-and-a-half of life, and one of the central ways they nurtured and took care of each other was through a daily ritual of surprising each other with flowers. The home that they shared had what they dubbed a small “secret garden” that was filled with stunning perennial and biennial flowers. Every day or so they would head back there to make little bouquets that they would lovingly place on each other’s bedside table. After Ruth passed away in February of 2015, Rebecca continued to be drawn to flowers. What she didn’t realize at the time was that her draw to flowers was the way she was staying close to Ruth and the ritual they began together.
During the summer of 2016, Rebecca began growing flowers at a local vegetable farm where she developed a flower CSA as an add-on to their already-successful vegetable CSA program. At the end of the season, Rebecca returned to her academic work, and although she continued to love it, she found herself more and more preoccupied with thoughts of the farm and the flowers….
What happened next was something she could not have predicted: she realized that she wanted to start a farm and floristry business!
After two successful seasons building her client list and subscription memberships, and adding floral design for special events to her cache of offerings, she decided that 2018 would be the year to spread her wings and focus on farming & design full-time; and thus, Many Graces was born.
Now in our seventh growing season in 2024, our farm and design studio is situated in a 5.5 acre, certified-organic field where we have a 1/2 acre of perennial crops, and where will grow our spring greenhouse crops, our summer annuals, and our near ten thousand dahlias. Lovingly named “the lower meadow,” this field is situated at the bottom of a wooded hill, surrounded by the forests abutting the beautiful Connecticut River. We are dedicated to low-till farming and crop rotation, giving the earth much-needed time to rest. We rent the field where we grow, which is located on unceded Nipmuc and Pocumtuc land.
We are so grateful for this bit of earth to tend, and for the cosmic inspiration of Ruth and Rebecca’s love for each other, and for the flowers, that helped us to arrive where we are now. From the grasshoppers, to the barn swallows, to the sound of the wind through the leaves, to the scent of the freshly-plowed Hadley loam, to the way walking into the field each morning is always a surprise--a new flower has bloomed--or the dahlias are so sturdy and beautiful--or oh! look at the tails of celosia sparkling and waving in the sunshine! There certainly are “many graces” to this work, and so much to be grateful for.
Thank you for your support of our dream!
