By Georgia Royer, July 22 2026.
Walking into North Sound Flower Cooperative, located at 112 Ohio Street in Bellingham, Washington, I am welcomed by a symphony of florals: sweet peas, roses, peonies, and lavender. People are bustling about, carefully selecting flowers for their arrangements, as Annika McIntosh, owner of Hazel Designs, runs the register. She is both a grower and designer and is part of a cooperative of all-women flower growers. As Annika told us, their mission is to “…build a sustainable marketplace for cut flowers in the area, with a focus on collaboration, convenience and shared marketing power”. The cooperative provides its members with the opportunity to “…benefit from shared infrastructure, promotional and educational activities and services in order to maximize their individual sales possibilities” and provide education to members and the public about issues relating to local agriculture and domestic and regional flower growers. The cooperative was officially formed in early April of 2026. The Board of Directors currently has six members, and the Board terms are 2–3 years with rolling term ends.
Suneil Polley, owner of Good Sense Flowers, and Sarah Wagstaff, owner of Suot Farm, are grateful for this group of amazing women, the mutual support, and the opportunity to share their love of flowers with each other and their community. Dani Knapp, owner of Pluviophile Blooms, prefers the term “grower” as opposed to “farmer,” which is the consensus among the women I spoke to. Kristy Thom, owner of White Barn Floral Company, has been a grower for six years and is grateful for a weekday outlet, as she is a full-time nurse and explains that “growing is my therapy”. She is also grateful that this is a space for women growers, mothers, and local people helping each other.
When asked about the cooperative’s current challenges, Annika writes, “Our current challenges stem from working with a new-to-us online sales platform and creating new internal processes to standardize pricing and handle pre-orders for florists. The ordering windows imposed by the Rooted Farmers platform (designed by flower growers in New Hampshire) limits how far into the future we can receive and confirm orders. Designers often need to order further in advance than our growers can even accurately predict. We’re trying different strategies to work within the platform’s framework while educating our customers and our growers. This is all in the interest of convenience for our partnering florists, so that we can supply them with the most local flowers possible and thereby sustain our community of growers. So this is a big year of note taking for us!”.
The Board has also identified the need for financial planning, as they are currently relying primarily on commission made by supplying flowers for projects that are supported by a one-year grant from the City of Bellingham. They are currently seeking marketing guidance and support so that they can ensure a solid customer base for years to come. They are hoping to add more days of operation and implement a delivery service so that they can sustain more growers, support several part-time market managers, and offer more convenience to their wholesale customers, along with securing some larger contracts with local grocery stores or the university to ensure steady sales for their members. The goal is to remain a vibrant hub for the flower community and their customers, with a consistent calendar of workshops and events.
