BLOSSOMING BUSINESS

Farm Refresh

How one COLORADO FLOWER FARMER is growing happiness, flower by flower.

By Kathryn O’Shea-Evans

BRIANA BOSCH is a fifth-generation farmer, but it took a personal tragedy for her to go back to her roots—literally. “I had a really close friend that ended up with intense postpartum depression...and died (by suicide),” she says. “I felt like I needed a drastic change to get back to feeling like myself again. I started looking around: what am I doing with my life right now? I don’t feel like I have any purpose, any drive.”

At the time in 2018, Bosch—who has her MBA and has been everything from a ballerina to a journalist to a brand manager —was nine months pregnant with her second daughter. Then a house, just under two acres, came on the market near Crown Hill Park, started whispering to her. “I told my husband, ‘let’s just go look at it—we don’t have to buy it.” But as she stepped

onto the property, she didn’t even look at the house—just went straight to the land. “Something in my heart called me to the farm,” she recalls. Although a deep-pocketed developer was interested in the property and wanted to build townhomes, the owner ended up choosing Bosch and her family to buy the place. “He decided to make the call that he would rather have someone here who wanted to enjoy the land a little bit more and not just raze it all,” she says.

Enjoy the land they have

Ever a powerhouse, Bosch has kick-started something of a Colorado florist farmer empire on their plot. Blossom & Branch offers everything from freshly-grown floral arrangements (including a CSA, or community supported agriculture, where you can buy monthly bouquets of freshly-picked blooms grown right there on the premises) to classes in their just-revamped barn with topics that range from herbal cocktails to soil blocking.

Some of Bosch’s favorite flowers to grow in this corner of Colorado? “Zinnias and cosmos and sunflowers do really well,” she says. Dahlias, too. “I call them our divas...they like to be really well drained and don’t like to be fertilized. Once you find a rhythm with dahlias, they’re very happy.” Her trick: don’t overwater them, or they’ll end up rotting. “Plant them, water them once, and don’t water them again until you see green coming up above the soil!”

Speaking of green, sustainability is key for Bosch, who espouses water conservation and other eco-practices on her farm. “One of the things I mentioned on Instagram is native plants—like yarrow, dill, and milkweed,” she says. “Those things are good for pollinators.” She recommends seeking your plantings at local nurseries over big box stores. “CSU extension service has a great list of local [spots, and you can] call them for free to ask: ‘what should I plant?’ If people are interested in local flowers, [we recommend] that they tell their florist ‘I am interested in getting more local flowers.’ The more consumer demand for that, the more florists will be responsive to it.” Call it flower power.

BOSCH’S TOP 5 Colorado Plantings

1. YARROW

“It’s beneficial for pollinators, has low water needs and comes in a range of colors aside from the traditional yellow.”

2. COSMOS ‘Double Click’ “These are extra full and ruffly, low water, self seeding and add a light and airy element to arrangements.”

3. ZINNIA ‘Queen Lime Series’ “A more sophisticated palette than traditional garden zinnias, these attract a wide range of beneficial pollinators and have great vase life.”

4. DAHLIA ‘Cornel Bronze’ “Striking coppery-peach color; and unlike dinnerplate dahlias, ball-form dahlias have a better vase life.”

5. PENSTEMON ‘Husker Red’ “This native plant produces a tall and elegant spike-form flower and is incredibly drought resistant.”

Blossom & Branch

720.319.0243; blossomandbranchfarm.com

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