A field of flowers is a field of dreams: For Merrie Avallone of Dreamland Flower Farm

by Sarah Barr

Staff Writer

Dreams really do come true. For Merrie Avallone of Cromwell, these deep-seated fantasies materialized in the form of dahlias – her favorite being pink – that she can plant, nurture, grow, hand pick and share with others.

“Who doesn’t love dahlias?”

The owner of Dreamland Flower Farm in Cromwell certainly does. Avallone’s blooming business of seven years cultivates her life-long passion and purpose and combines it with her 30-plus years of education and experience.

What’s changed over the years is obvious to the naked eye – a new location at 15 Beechwood Circle. It’s five-and-a-half acres with about an acre-and-a-half in production.

“We’re all in one location now. Before, we were in multiple areas dabbling as we were getting started,” she said of the business. “My identity on social media and online is substantial. People come to me for knowledge. I’m growing more flowers – 4,000 dahlia plants. For a one-person team that’s an enormous undertaking.”

Merrie Avallone and her flowers bring a new definition to “Field of Dreams.” Photos by Dellabella Photography

There’s a huge uptick in business because there’s a huge uptick in interest. Sure, the pandemic brought about a resurgence in growing vegetables and other home gardening delights. But Avallone noticed the flower needle moving even before that.

“There’s been a huge rebirth since 2018, the last 10 years,” she said, noting customer interest and nostalgia with dahlias. “It was historically grown by our grandmothers. They’re turning towards what’s old and now it’s new again,” she added of her customers’ new found hobby.

Dahlias have never been a hobby for Avallone. They’re an obsession.

Special arrangements are made for special occasions. (submitted)

“I’ve always loved flowers. As long as I can remember, I had gardens growing up,” she recalled.

“I loved picking flowers. My mom would give me the scissors to cut flowers. I was like a kid in a candy store. I’ve always been drawn to them because they’re so pretty. In my early 20s, I got my own garden at my own place and the rest is history.”

Avallone has lived in town since she was 23; that’s 30-plus years here. She’s originally from New York, lived in Massachusetts, went to college in Maryland and spent time in Maine. Her undergraduate degree is in art and education. She has a master’s degree in nutrition and another in natural science and art.

ocal fresh cut flowers last days, even weeks longer than imports. (submitted)

“Nothing to do with flowers and everything to do with flowers, art and science,” she said.

What are some of her favorite flowers?

“That’s like asking me which is my favorite child. Of course, I love dahlias. I love strawflowers. I just picked two flowers that have no fragrance. Dahlias come in every color but blue. All different sizes. Different shapes and sizes and petal structures. They’re amazing.”

They make a beautiful bouquet. As for what message fresh-cut flowers send to someone, words roll off Avallone’s tongue: goodness, beauty, commitment, love, sharing, abundance.

“It’s hard to put in a sentence. It’s even hope. I put a seed in the ground and hope. There’s a ton of tenacity for it to come to fruition. A bouquet means something different to me than to the receiver. I know what it takes to make it and give it,” she said.

Merrie Avallone in her happy place, in her fields of flowers, where she cultivates and creates happiness for others. Photos by Dellabella Photography

“When I give my flowers, I give myself to you. Me sharing my capacity and knowledge with you and you get the final result in the end. I get to pick it. For me, the picking, that’s my selfish part,” she added.

“I get to pick and then I get to give. I get to love it and then I get to share it. Harvesting to me is my ultimate joy out in the field, all the fruits of my labor.”

But it is more than a labor of love that differentiates Avallone’s dahlias and all her flowers.

“Intentional,” is how she described it.

Seeds are planted with care and purpose, what’s best for the soil. Photos by Dellabella Photography

Her gardens are not just rows and rows of flowers for the sake of having flowers. They are integrated for pollination purposes and soil health.

“I’m growing and designing the field so the butterfly can go from plant to plant to plant,” she said.

It’s a field that is not open to the public. But there is a flower shack that sits on the public side of the property that is open a few weeks in May and June and then again on weekends in late August, September and October.

You can also order her arrangements online for special events or purchase them at the Connecticut Flower Collective in Middletown. Most of her cut flowers are sold wholesale.

Yet the biggest part of her business – she estimates 80 percent – is from her online tuber shop. It’s when the dahlias are dug up after the frost comes in November. The “new babies” they make function as the plant’s energy bank to grow identical new flowers each year. She begins selling those online each January.

No matter what, Avallone said it is a local flower from a local business that helps the local economy flourish, as opposed to the more than 80 percent of the flowers purchased in the United States that are grown overseas, mostly in South America.

“You’re supporting a local farmer who is then supporting your land. You’re putting money back into your community. Preserving the land. Advocating for our environment. That’s what most farmers do. And you’re getting a product superior than you would from one coming in as an import,” she said.

Avallone is proud that her products are pesticide free and harvested either that day or the day before, giving them a longer vase life, and living up to her tagline of “planting beauty, spreading joy and growing knowledge.” CL

For more information go to dreamlandflowerfarm.com, call 860-794-3073, or email dreamlandflowerfarm@gmail.com.