Sarah Hawkless, the founder of Emerden – a flower farm, seed and plant merchant in Taranaki – is one of the new breed of female, small-scale, seasonal flower growers tapping into their passion for nature and colour whilst building vibrant ventures that cater to our love of all manner of blooms.
For Hawkless, colour was the origin of her passion and love of flowers. "My brain thinks in colour," she says, explaining that it is a legacy of her graphic design training."Flowers have so much depth to their colour, they really are the ultimate way to play with and experience colour. I can forgive any flower anything if the colour is right."
As a result, rainbows of pigment imbue every aspect of Hawkless' business. The hues of her seed packets tell the story of the flower seeds she is selling. "Half the reason I started selling seeds was a way to justify buying more seeds and designing my own seed packets!"
Hawkless is particularly fond of pastel-coloured anemones. "What I love about all of the anemones by Italian breeders Biancheri Creazioni is that those breeders are true masters of colour. I always gravitate towards warm colour tones and all their anemones have the lovely warmth that I adore."
Read more at The Post.