About
The Sunborn Story
Carol began Sunborn in 1975 and has continuously attended the Dane County Farmers Market and worked in floral design. Using agricultural grants, she initiated Fair Field Flowers to join together a group of experienced growers as a wholesale team. Carol founded the UW Beginning Flower Grower School, has presented at MOSES, and enjoys talking to many local garden clubs. In 2012 Carol's son Hans and his wife Lisa joined Sunborn to keep the family business blooming!
Where We Grow
Sunborn grows cut flowers on 4 acres of a 20 acre homestead in Southwestern Wisconsin. We have brought flowers to the Dane County Farmers Market since the 70's when the tomatoes we grew for a local cooperative were not needed. With a bucket of bright eye-catching orange marigolds, a long and wonderful romance began. Growing local, quality, sustainable flowers has been our passion ever since.
We Grow Local Sustainable Flowers
Sunborn does not use chemical pesticides, chemical fungicides or chemical herbicides. All insect, disease, and weed control are implemented by practices and products approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute. Fertilization is accomplished with purchased organic amendments and by incorporating cover crops and local cow manure and compost. We are very committed to our growing practices so that our land stays productive and healthy for the environment. Sunborn starts 90% of all our flowers by seed each year!
We Extend Our Season With Greenhouses
In 2003 we erected a 30’x 95’ greenhouse covered with polyethylene plastic which affords all the plants inside an incredible microclimate as if we lived 2 zones further south. With that controlled environment Snapdragons, Lisianthus, Lilies, and all the flowers inside are unbelievably tall and full. In 2006 and 2013 additional greenhouses were erected. With the greenhouses we can plant flowers in late March and cut until November.
We Grow Specialty Flowers
The flowers we grow are designated ‘Specialty Cuts’ by the floral industry because they are not the usual roses, carnations, or chrysanthemums normally found at the florist. Snapdragon, Lisianthus, and Sweet William are a few of the over 200 different kinds of flowers we grow. Every year something new is trialed and evaluated. It’s amazing how each year is different when it comes to picking a star performer. Sunborn Gardens belongs to the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers and Debra Prinzing's Slow Flowers. We sell wholesale through Fair Field Flowers, a partnership of local cut flower growers who all grow sustainably and market flowers to florists in the Madison area, Milwaukee and the Milwaukee-Madison corridor.
We Do Weddings & Events
We thrive in creating unique and artistic designs using local, sustainably grown flowers. During our season we love using the flowers we grow! We also love to support our fellow Fair Field Flowers members giving us an unbelievable amount of flower options. However, if there is a flower which holds special meaning that is not grown locally, being a full service florist, Sunborn is happy to order it in for you!