Episode 455: A long-distance peony collaboration between grower Eugenia Harris of Nicewicz Peonies and florist Stacey Lee of Paeonia Designs

Welcome to Nicewicz Peonies in Bolton, Massachusetts What happens when a flower farm's principal grower lives in Austin, Texas, far away from where her thousands of peony plants grow in Bolton, Massachusetts . . . and something like the COVID-19 pandemic prevents her from traveling back to her flowers for the annual peony harvest? Stacey's photo of a single peony stem with multiple blooms (left); Eugenia Harris (c) Annette Harris Cox You're about to learn exactly what happened for Eugenia Harris of Nicewicz Peonies, who found herself quarantined right when she would otherwise be traveling to the Boston area to spend several weeks for her peony season. Stacey's "selfie" in the peony fields! I love this story because Eugenia, like many small agricultural operations, had to get creative. She turned to our second guest, Stacey Lee of Framingham, Massachusetts-based Paeonia Designs. Both are Slow Flowers members and given the name of her wedding and event studio, Paeonia Designs, it's no surprise to learn that Stacey is a customer of Nicewicz Peonies. One of the peony fields at Nicewicz Peonies (c) Megan Murphy Glorious, fresh and local to Boston! (c) Stacey Lee Fellow peony lovers, the two are coming together this year in an ingenious way. Stacey's 2020 wedding and event bookings are most, if not all, postponed for this season, so she's in a rare situation with time on her hands just when Eugenia needs a surrogate peony expert. Photo by Catherine Threlkeld Photography Here's more about Eugenia Harris and Nicewicz Peonies:Eugenia Harris and David Nicewicz are the peony growers at Nicewicz Family Farm in Bolton, Massachusetts. Eugenia's a software engineer turned flower farmer - who as I mentioned, now lives back in her home state, residing in Austin, Texas - and her co-farmer David's, as Eugenia describes him, is a real farmer who doesn't even have an email account. Photos by Catherine Threlkeld Photography They planted the first peonies at the farm in 2001 and have been expanding ever since. There are now more than 1,700 plants representing more than 100 different varieties. Their peonies usually bloom starting in late May or early June, and continue as late as the third week of June, for a total of about 3-4 weeks - especially in years when the weather is “just right” (not too hot, not too wet). Dreamy fields of peonies in every hue (c) Eugenia Harris Eugenia and David sell the peonies as specialty cut flowers in season, to florists and event planners, and typically via advance order from the website. The Nicewicz Family Farm has been in David's family since 1929, when it was purchased by his father's parents, shortly after they immigrated to the U.S. from Poland. David and his three brothers Tommy, Kenny and Alan run the farm now, with help from various family and friends, including sister Jo-Ann, resident artist Chath pierSath from Cambodia, and long-time family friend Dave Joki of Stow, Massachusetts.The farm's primary crops are fruit (apples, peaches, nectarines, plums, pears, blueberries, cherries), produce (corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, basil, onions, pumpkins, gourds, etc.), and flowers (peonies of course, and usually celosia, dahlias, strawflowers, sunflowers and zinnias) - all of which are sold locally at the farm and at a few Boston-area and Worcester farmers' markets and at the farm's self-service stand. Eugenia Harris snapped this cute photo of Stacey's son Jack on a farm visit Here's more about Stacey Lee of Paeonia Designs:After working more than a few years as a civil engineer, a timely layoff provided the opportunity to take a lifelong hobby to the next level. Paeonia Designs was born with a friend’s wedding request and has blossomed into a full service event floral design studio. Stacey works out of a studio at home overlooking her own flower gardens. There is a large floral cooler in her workshop that is run on the sun,