Chasing rainbows

Some people accumulate antiques and others trawl for vinyl records. Jen Foster collects dahlias – and, lucky for her, the 2ha property in Penrose, New South Wales, that she shares with husband James and their two boys, Toby, 11, and Isaac, 9, provides plenty of space to cultivate her coveted flowers.

The couple made a tree change from Sydney to the Southern Highlands, traditional lands of the Gundungurra and Tharawal people, in 2019. They first spied the rural property, with its run-down red mudbrick farmhouse and beautiful old gardens, when they were meant to be househunting for Jen’s parents, who were looking to retire in the picturesque area. “I always say I caught my husband in a weak moment,” says Jen. “I thought it would be a great place to bring up the kids and, in theory, I was aiming for a slower pace.”

Confessing that she is someone who always needs a project, Jen, who previously worked in corporate project management, threw herself into renovating the home, signed up to study horticulture at TAFE, and started a business selling homemade frozen custards at the local markets. It was her son Toby’s request to help at the markets that led her down the cut-flower path. “Because of his age, the health and safety regulations meant he couldn’t sell the ice creams, so I thought, ‘Let’s grow a row of flowers and sell those.”

She started with 20 rows – half annuals and half perennials, including waratahs, proteas and leucadendrons. The next year she doubled her patch, and that was when the 2020 Morton bushfires came through. “The first flowers were just starting to bloom when we were evacuated,” says Jen. “The fire came right up to our fence and it should’ve wiped us out, but it literally jumped the flower farm. Toby has always said there’s a magical bubble over the flower farm.”

Each year, Jen has added more rows for her flowers, and she’s now growing a patch about half a hectare in size. Dahlias are her main flower of choice, captivating her with their vibrant colour, huge variety, longevity and generosity. “It starts with a tuber, which looks like a little potato, and then two or three months later, you’ve got these epically amazing flowers,” she says. “They bloom for three months, and then you get these cool seed pods at the end, which you can use to breed new cultivars. Eventually they die off and you dig them up to find that your initial tuber – the mother tuber – has produced a clump of new tubers, which you can divide to grow more.”

“They bloom for three months, and then you get these cool seed pods at the end, which you can use to breed new cultivars. Eventually they die off and you dig them up to find that your initial tuber – the mother tuber – has produced a clump of new tubers, which you can divide to grow more.”

Some of her first tubers came from a generous grandmother at school named Paula, who Jen swapped gardening stories with at pick-up. Today, the offspring of those tubers form part of her burgeoning collection, which now encompasses 19 dahlia classes – from pompoms and decoratives to collarettes and cactus – and a whopping 625 cultivars. “I’m addicted,” says Jen, who this year has about 3500 dahlia plants in flower.

The cold climate of the Southern Highlands lends itself nicely to growing both dahlias and Jen’s second love, peonies, which are one of the few plants that respond well to frosts. She grows organically, making her own compost and fertiliser, and using eco-friendly repellents where necessary. She’s also a strong supporter of the Grown Not Flown movement, which promotes supporting local flower farmers and facilitates an easy connection between growers and consumers.

From a hobby, Jen has now grown a thriving business, selling cut flowers through the local Moss Vale IGA, running workshops and events on her property, and hosting a hotly anticipated online dahlia tuber sale in October each year. This year, she sold 4500 tubers in 18 hours! She does it all with the help of two local full-time ‘flower fairies’, Tess and Amy, and mum Sue, who helps part-time. James also steps in for the occasional tech emergency.

And when they’re flowering, Jen likes to take a moment to stop and soak in her exuberant dahlias. “They don’t have a scent, but they just smell so fresh,” she says. “You can hear the bees and there’s a real sense of peace. I feel like I can take myself away from the world for just a few minutes and breathe. It’s pretty special.”

Follow Jen Foster on Instagram @southernhighlandsflowerfarm or find out about upcoming events and tuber sales at southernhighlandsflowerfarm.com.au

Header photo by Sue Stubbs