Ep. 84: Growing Cut Flowers in Small Spaces: Community, Education & Local Blooms with Fawn Rueckert

What’s possible when you start with just a small bit of earth—and a love of flowers rooted in childhood stories?

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Fawn Rueckert, founder of Sego Lily Flower Farm, a thriving suburban flower farm growing on just one-third of an acre in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley.

Fawn’s journey into flower farming began long before her first seed tray—from listening to The Secret Garden as a child to learning from generations of women who gardened before her. What started as a backyard cutting garden evolved into a farmers market business, a regional cut flower plug program serving over 100 growers, hands-on education for backyard gardeners, and leadership as a founding member and president of the Utah Cut Flower Farm Association.

In this conversation, we talk about growing cut flowers in small spaces, knowing when to pivot as your business evolves, and why community matters so deeply in flower farming. We also dig into lisianthus—a flower many growers struggle to start from seed—including what it really needs to germinate, why it’s so slow, and when it makes sense to grow from seed versus buying plugs.

Whether you’re growing on an eighth of an acre, dreaming of your first farmers market, or just trying to grow better lisianthus this season, this episode will leave you inspired to try what’s possible—right where you are.

• Sego Lily Flower Farm
  Website: https://www.segolilyflowerfarm.com
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/segolilyflowerfarm/
• Snuck Flowers at Snuck Farm
  Website: https://snuckfarm.com/pages/snuck-flowers
  
  
• The Backyard Cut Flower Garden Course
  https://snuckfarm.com/products/backyard-cut-flower-garden-course-in-collaboration-with-sego-lily-flower-farm-spring-2026
• Utah Cut Flower Farm Association
  Website: https://www.utahflowerfarms.com

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