Love of flowers blossoms into business

A lifelong love of flowers has blossomed into a small business for Shelly Bowman, who planted the seeds for a new Backyard Blooms venture last year and is thrilled with the early results.
A native of Fullerton and long-time resident in Aurora, Bowman moved to Hampton five years ago with her husband Paul, where the couple took their shared love of gardening to another level. Realizing they had much more space in their large back yard to work with than ever before, the Bowmans expanded their vegetable garden and Shelly eventually began devoting more space, time and attention to growing flowers.
“I always liked growing flowers and vegetables when I could, but we never had a very big area for it,” she recalled. “I attribute my love of flowers and gardening to my mom, my late mother-in-law and my paternal grandma. They all helped bring that love of flowers in their own way.”
When the pandemic curtailed social gatherings in 2020, the Bowmans found themselves spending more and more time in the garden. That’s when Shelly started planting more and different kinds of flowers — including peonies, lilies, snapdragons, cosmos, dahlias, eucalyptus, yarrow and zinnias to name a few — creating bouquets for family and friends while teaching herself the ins and outs of what would become a new side hustle. She had a running start in the retail aspect of the business, having worked years ago at a flower shop in Minden, where she thoroughly enjoyed making bouquets and helping customers.
“I have learned so much on social media, YouTube and from a group of other flower farmers,” she said. “I learned that some flowers are very easy to grow from seed and as the year went on I really enjoyed it. Then we went to a U-Pick flower farm over by Waverly and I was really hooked.”
As the name implies, U-Pick farmer florists invite customers to come to their property and pick live flowers themselves. The Bowmans made that trip on a date night outing, realizing they had a shared vision for creating what would become Backyard Blooms.
“We’ve always worked pretty well together and he has become just as obsessed about flowers, though in a different way,” Shelly said of her husband, who works full-time as an agent with Aurora Insurance.
“I like the landscaping aspect of it, seeing the flowers without any weeds,” Paul said, referring to his role in the business as grunt boy and business manager. “We spend a lot of time in the garden and I want it to look good when people walk up on it.”

Social media marketing
Once the direction had been set to grow Shelly’s interest in flowers from a hobby to a business, she decided to get her feet wet last fall by selling small arrangements toward the end of the growing season. The response confirmed that Backyard Blooms was itself ready to blossom.
“I wanted to try it in the fall and thought it would help to get my name out there a little bit before the end of the year,” she recalled. “I would basically make arrangements and put them on social media — mainly Facebook and Instagram. People could pick them up or I would deliver them and sometimes I would take them to my co-workers (at Henderson Healthcare Services). 
While making plans for the 2022 growing season, the Bowmans gained access to a vacant lot owned by Dane Schafer located a few blocks from their home, adding approximately 2,000 sq. ft. of space which they affectionately refer to as “The Farm.” They began growing seedlings in their basement in early February and started actively selling the colorful end results at Saturday farmer’s markets in the area this spring. The plan is to build a greenhouse in their backyard later this summer as well.
“We’ve been to Central City, Henderson and I may try to go to the one in Aurora and one in York,” Shelly said. “We’ve had some really good feedback so far.”
An added highlight to her inventory before the recent Fourth of July holiday was frosted explosion grass, which reflected a timely red, white and blue hue.
“Peonies went over very well and the tulips were also well received,” Shelly noted. “It will be interesting to see which ones people like the most.”
In addition to farmer’s markets, customers can also buy Backyard Blooms products through individual and business flower subscriptions.
“So the way that works is you pay X amount and get a bouquet basically once a month,” Shelly explained. “Some of them will be wrapped bouquets and some of them will be a bouquet in a jar. It just depends on what I have available at the time.”
The goal is to eventually add Backyard Blooms to the list of many U-Pick flower farms in Nebraska, bringing customers to Hampton.
“That is my goal to be able to do that at some point, and I thought earlier this year I’d be able to do that this year,” she confided. “But I just think I need to get a year under my belt so I have more experience. I do hope to grow enough flowers to have what’s called a bouquet bar, where I would have buckets of flowers and people could come and make their own bouquet. That way they can determine how much their bouquet is going to cost, or I would have some bouquets made up if they didn’t want to make their own.
The business plan is really ongoing and will change as the year progresses, she added. “Basically we’re selling through farmers markets, flower subscriptions, bouquet bars, craft shows and custom orders,” she said.
Mid-way through the first full growing season, which basically lasts up until the first hard freeze, Shelly said she is learning a lot and having fun doing it.
“I’m loving it and I’m tired at the same time,” she said, referring to hours spent on the garden farm in the evenings and on weekends. “But mostly, I’m loving it. This is the part that I really enjoy, harvesting and cutting the flowers, because you’re getting the reward for all that hard work. Flower farmers in the area have been very encouraging with each other because we would like to see more locally grown flowers. That’s my thing too — more locally grown flowers and supporting local all the way.”
For more information, go to the Facebook account at Backyard Blooms Nebraska or Instagram at backyardbloomsne.