LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Bush Poppy Flower Farm thrives in Orinda


Owner Heather Marano at Bush Poppy Farm. Here she is tending ranunculus, one of the many flower varieties she raises for her bouquets and events. Photo Sora O'Doherty

A new endeavor in Moraga is highlighting Heather Marano and her Bush Poppy Flower Farm in Orinda. Across the Way, an adjunct of Moraga Hardware and Lumber, is now selling fresh flower bouquets provided by Marano on Fridays. Each bouquet retails for $25. She will also be selling seedlings to Moraga Hardware.

Marano is an Orinda resident who has grown her own vegetables for almost 20 years. From 2010 to 2019 she designed knitting patterns, dying yarn with plants. Although she has degrees in archeology, a BA and MA from University of Southern Florida, and all but the thesis for a Ph.D. from the University of Southern Illinois, Marano has been fascinated by traditional plant medicine.

In 2019 she started Bush Poppy Farm. She does flowers for big events, such as weddings. Most of the weddings she provides flowers for are "a la carte," but she also does full-service wedding flowers, which entails getting to the venue very early to set up the flowers, which sometimes includes a flower arch that can't be assembled before the day of the wedding. Generally all the flowers come from her farm, but sometimes, if necessary, she gathers more blooms from other organic farmers through Gather Flora at the San Francisco flower mart, which operates like a co-op for flower farmers.

Marano is full of energy and the joys of flowers, and arranges several types of fun events, such as workshops and bouquet bars for parties. She also provides dried flowers to Orchard Nursery in Lafayette.

The main channel for Marano to sell her flowers is her CSA, which stands for community supported agriculture. People purchase memberships for either weekly or bi-weekly bouquet delivery for roughly $20 a bouquet. She started delivering her flowers during the pandemic and now delivers on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. She drives for five hours on delivery days. An avid reader, Marano listens to audio-books as she drives.

Before moving to Orinda in 2019, Marano was a master gardener in San Mateo. She and her husband are avid hikers, and moved to California from back east. They have two children at Miramonte High School.

Marano leases the land for her flower farm, located on Fish Ranch Road. You can find out much more about what Marano offers on her website, where you'll find merchandise, gift certificates, events, and even garden consultations available. www.bushpoppyfarm.com/