Life Is Beautiful A peony farm in bloom
As unpredictable as they are beautiful, peonies are the showstoppers of spring. Harvest time sees all members of this Victorian family in the field, scooping up their fickle, fleeting flowers for everyone to enjoy.
November is a month of both nail-biting suspense and excitement for Nicky and Mac Barry. As owners of Spring Hill Peony Farm, near Trentham in Victoria’s central highlands, their eyes and energies are sharply focused on the swelling buds of 10,000 plants quivering into annual flowering. At some point mid-month (give or take a week), the delicate blooms will burst open. But just before they do, they’ll need to be cut and despatched to a voracious cut-flower market.
Exactly when this happens is hard to predict. “It all depends on the amount of rain we get in spring,” says Nicky. “In 2015, there was so little, the flowers came early – on November 3 – because they were in distress. Last year, we had lots of rain and the plants were happy; they didn’t bloom until the 25th.”
Like expectant parents, Nicky and Mac are ready for action at any moment. They check row upon row of their prized plants morning and night. The plants are very reactive: unexpectedly warm days will bring on flowering; a sudden frost will put them on hold. “If peonies are cut too early they won’t open at all,” says Nicky. “You can feel when they’re starting to ‘move’ – you can see the petal colour through the bud. That’s when we need to pick them. Each variety is different and some are tighter than others.”
On paper, Nicky and Mac are unlikely peony whisperers and neither has farming in their DNA, although his family ran sheep farms in the district for generations. After studying agricultural economics, Mac worked in London and Tokyo. NickystudiedarchitectureinTasmania,thenworkedoverseas for a few years. The pair met in 2002, when they sat next to each other on a plane trip from Australia to Tokyo.
Mac bought the 32ha (80 acre) Spring Hill property in 2000 while still based overseas, with the dream of starting a flower farm. Initially, he planned to grow daffodils, but
his grandmother Josephine recommended peonies. Mac had never heard of them, but research revealed that his plot of land – 680m above sea level, with 1100mm annual rainfall and frosty winters – was perfectly placed to produce this cold-climate flower. He sowed 7000 plants in 2001, adding a further 3000 the following year. Mac’s dad Martin looked after the farm in the early years, selling the peonies locally.
By 2008, Mac and Nicky had returned to Australia and moved to the property with two-year-old twins William and Lucinda in tow. “That’s when we started to ramp up the business,” Nicky explains. Both she and Mac are very handson at the farm during the year, only taking on extra help during the November rush. The first week of flower-picking is the most gruelling. “We do loooong days,” she says. “We’ll start picking at 6am and still be sorting at 10.30pm.” Then they drive ute-loads of the flowers to farmers’ markets and florists in Melbourne, Geelong and Bendigo. They also supply boxes of stock interstate.
At the end of the flowering season, the Barrys hold two open days at the farm: these are ticketed events where visitors pay $28 to pick 10 stems and have a picnic in the paddocks. Peony lovers flock to the farm from near and far. “I announce the dates on our Facebook page and the tickets sell out in 24 hours,” says Nicky.
Despite being at the mercy of the weather, Nicky remains exhilarated by the thrill of the season and the wonder of her exquisite blooms. “I love the whole evolution of the peony flower,” says Nicky. “You cut it as a bud with a stripe of colour and, over the course of a week, it gradually grows into a whopping great big flower the size of your hand. And they stay like that for about a week – they don’t look real. Afterwards, when they wilt, they look like crepe paper. They’re just so beautiful.”
For more on Spring Hill Peony Farm open days or The Little Church, go to springhillpeonyfarm.com.au.
‘The flowers range from creamy whites and baby pinks to fuchsia and magenta.’ Nicky Barry