Tranquility Flower Farm, located at 816 304th St. in Roy, is ready for a long fall season and, in addition to the original flower and dahlia bouquets, has expanded to pumpkins, gourds and squash.
Dawnette Lough, Tranquility Flower Farm’s owner, said operations selling flower bouquets from an old horse trailer at the end of the farm’s driveway began last summer. She said her daughter has a friend in Canada who has a flower farm, and Lough realized she’d be able to have her own flower farm on her property in Roy. Over a year after Tranquility Flower Farms launched, Lough expanded from selling bouquets of flowers to selling a wide variety of produce.
“The flower farm originally started as something for me to do, but flowers have always been my thing,” Lough said. “This is my sanctuary. I have PTSD, and this has helped me deal with that. We offer unique pumpkins, gourds and squash. I grow the weirdest stuff and people love it.
“Last year when I started, I said I’m not here to make money. I got what my aim was,” Lough continued. “People are telling me that they love my stand and that it’s great for the community, and that’s awesome to me.”
Lough said a flower bunch costs $10, or $15 with a vase or jar. Gourds cost anywhere from $1 to $5, and pumpkins range from $5 to $20. She added she uses the honor system for customers’ payment for the flowers by putting money into a box.
Lough said her goddaughter led the charge for the pumpkin patch. She added the farm’s new concept has done very well in the last few weeks Tranquility Flower Farm has offered the pumpkins.
“There’s usually a steady stream of people coming in, and it’s usually people with little kids that want to avoid the big crowds at large pumpkin patches,” she said. “I get a lot of people with special needs that come and enjoy the pumpkin patch, and I believe that’s because there’s less chaos, and it’s less crowded than some of the big patches.”
Lough, who has lived in Roy for 20 years, described the area as a nice community. She said though she doesn’t get to meet every customer who buys flowers from Tranquility Flower Farm, it’s a great experience when she does have the opportunity to talk to a customer at the gate.
“It’s so rewarding to meet these people. Last year I said it restored my faith in humanity after this COVID crisis. It’s so wonderful meeting people from everywhere, and from my community,” Lough said. “I appreciate everybody in the community. The support makes me smile.”
On Oct. 26, 2022, Tranquility Flower Farm encountered a setback as the family barn burnt down, which Lough said was an emotional experience.
“It took a lot to get back on our feet. It was very emotional. It took seven months for it to be cleaned up. You just have to carry on. There were a lot of family heirlooms in there, and it was my husband’s shed. It was mainly his loss. It was our loss, but a lot of it was his growth over the years, his collection of things,” Lough said. “After the fire, so many people from the community reached out to us, and that was very comforting. We now have a Mount Rainier view, which I never knew we had because the barn was there.”
She added that her family and Tranquility Flower Farm recovered by making the most of their property and turning that area into a pumpkin patch.
The flower stand is typically open on nice days, or when it isn’t raining and windy. Lough said, during the summer months, she had the stand open every day and didn’t take too many days off.
Lough added Tranquility Flower Farm will continue to sell bouquets until the first hard frost of the year, which typically kills her dahlias.
Follow Tranquility Flower Farm on Facebook for updates on when the flower cart will be available for customers to purchase bouquets and for when the pumpkin patch is open.
