Waterleaf Farm & Floral Design
We are a small flower farm and florist design studio specializing in an array of exquisite, breathtaking blooms fresh from Mother Earth.
We delight in providing lush flowers for ceremonies, weddings, events, homes, and businesses.
Our farm hosts U-pick, Workshops, Parties, & Photoshoots to awaken a deeper relationship with Flowers, Ourselves and the Earth.
Need a delicious reset? We offer Flower Healings Sessions to cleanse and nourish you.
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flowers
"Waterleaf Farm is the most beautiful place to pick flowers! Such a special little gem in Ashland! Melanie grows really happy and plentiful amounts of flowers like sunflowers, zinnia, Cosmo, dahlias , and so many more it's such a fun opportunity and creative way to craft a bouquet and connect with Beauty and Flowers." - L. Hembrock
SHOP
Events
Enjoy festive time crafting together with the lovely aromas of the needles as you're guided to make your own holiday magical wreath. We will be using evergreen boughs & greenery; with options of holly, pinecones, orange slices, and more to adorn. Come play and create beauty from our amazing local plants!
We are excited to do our first centerpiece class! Come sit in the candleight cellar room for cozy crafting to make 2 of your own beautiful 12" holiday centerpiece. We will have local evergreens, berries, and pinecones to create your own unique work of art. Includes all materials, candle and instructions.
Enjoy festive time crafting together as you're guided to make your own evergreen wreath for the holidays. Savor the pine needle aroma while sipping wine and dining at the elegant Belle Fiore. Berries, unique greenery, and pinecones will be available to adorn the wreaths. Ticket includes one class of wine, instructions and all materials. Please bring your clippers if you have them.
Enjoy festive crafting together with the local flower harvest at the beautiful Grizzly Peak Winery. You’ll be guided to make your own magical floral wreath that lasts for years with the dried flowers (everlasting). Bringing nature into your home adds light, beauty, and a reminder of the next green season to come. Join the laughter, joy, and relaxing fun with us. $65 All Materials included. Click on ticket link or Venmo @waterleaffarm. If you have clippers please bring them. Drinks available for purchase.
Enjoy festive time crafting together with the lovely aromas of the needles as you're guided to make your own flower/plant magical wreath. Bringing nature into your home adds light, beauty, and a reminder of the next green season to come. We will be using seasonal evergreens, with an array of wild berries, nuts, pinecones to adorn. Come play in joy and reverence!
You're invited to festive crafting together at the cozy, lovely Trium Wines. You'll be guided to make your own evergreen wreath for the holidays with our beautiful local trees' greenery. Savor the pine needle aroma while sipping drinks and dining. In addition to the evergreens, greenery, berries, pinecones, and ribbons will be available to adorn the wreaths. $65 includes instruction all materials, a glass of wine and apps. Please bring your clippers if you have them.
Enjoy festive time crafting together as you're guided to make your own evergreen wreath for the holidays. Savor the pine needle aroma while sipping wine and dining at the Yreka's wonderful Wine Bar and Bistro. Berries, unique greenery, pinecones, and ribbons will be available to adorn the wreaths. Ticket includes instructions and all materials. Please bring your clippers if you have them. Drinks and food available for purchase.
Enjoy festive time crafting together as you're guided to make your own evergreen wreath for the holidays. Savor the pine needle aroma while sipping wine and dining at the Yreka's wonderful Wine Bar and Bistro. Berries, unique greenery, pinecones, and ribbons will be available to adorn the wreaths. Ticket includes instructions and all materials. Please bring your clippers if you have them.
Enjoy festive crafting together with the local flower harvest at beautiful Naumes Suncrest Winery. You’ll be guided to make your own magical floral wreath that lasts for years with the dried flowers (everlasting). Bringing nature into your home adds light, beauty, and a reminder of the next green season to come. $65 All Materials included. If you have clippers please bring them. Food and drink available for purchase.
Enjoy festive crafting together with the local flower harvest at beautiful Paschal Winery. You’ll be guided to make your own magical floral wreath that lasts for years with the dried flowers (everlasting). Bringing nature into your home adds light, beauty, and a reminder of the next green season to come. $65 All Materials included. If you have clippers please bring them.
Enjoy festive time crafting together as you're guided to make your own dried floral wreath (everlasting). They can last for years! Bringing nature into your home adds light, beauty, and a reminder of the next green season to come. And they are wonderful gifts. All materials provided. Please bring your shears if you have them. Come play in joy and reverence.:)
Amidst the hum of the bees and peaceful, uplifting energy of the plants and nature, learn how to listen to the flowers vibrational language. We will work with one flower. Taking time to slow down and BE in their presence is such joy and nourishment. Reset your nervous system and be filled with love, healing and joy. Through meditations with the flowers, engaging all of our senses, tea ceremonies, medicine making, earth altar & mandala making, and crown making we will deepen with the spirit of the flowers. You’ll come away from the series with greater skills in using your intuition, understanding how to create a container of reciprocal relationship with the plants. All experiences will be guided. No prior experience necessary and experience is also welcome. Each class includes a take home goodie from the plant we are working with (flower essence, tincture/elixir, or fresh or dried plant.)
Enjoy festive crafting together with the local flower harvest and greenery at the lovely Wine Bar in Yreka. You’ll be guided to make your own magical dried floral wreath that lasts for years with the dried flowers. Bringing nature into your home adds light, beauty, and a reminder of the next green season to come. $65 All Materials included. If you have shears please bring them.
Join Melanie, Kaila Rose & Shelley Deanne for for an afternoon at the farm, of softening into our feminine radiance with the medicine of the flowers, exploration of feminine movement, crystalline sound bowls and breath work. This will be a ceremony in the garden to nourish us at our deepest cellular level. Filling up our wellspring and allowing our systems to completely unwind and drop into softness and relaxation.
Let’s celebrate the Summer Solstice together with the glory of the flowers on a beautiful farm under the willow trees! A wonderful time to gather and give thanks to Mother Earth for summer's abundance arrival. Each of us will make a flower crown; crafting with the flowers allows us to receive their nourishing gifts and co-create beauty with them. We will have the opportunity to reflect on our intentions for the summer season and weave them into our crowns. All instructions and materials provided. Come play in joy and reverence.🙂
Enjoy festive time crafting together with the lovely aromas of the evergreen needles as you're guided to make your own magical wreath. Bringing nature to your home adds light, beauty, and a reminder of the next green season to come. We will be using seasonal evergreens, with an array of wild berries, foliage and pinecones to adorn. Delicious drinks available for purchase. Book your ticket here: https://elderapothecary.love/products/everlasting-wreath-workshop
Enjoy festive time crafting together as you're guided to make your own evergreen wreath. Special plant materials will be available to adorn the evergreens- such as berries, unique greenery, and pinecones. Belle Fiore drinks and dining available for purchase.
Enjoy festive time crafting together as you're guided to make your own floral magical wreath that lasts for years. Bringing nature into your home adds light, beauty, and a reminder of the next green season to come. A wonderful gift idea too. All flowers and foliage organically grown at the farm. Savor cozy teatime at lovely Lovejoy's Tea Room. Price includes afternoon tea and light tea fare.
Flower Tour Soak up the 20 + types of flowers as we enjoy their exquisite beauty in living form. Learn about their uses, healing qualities, and how to grow them. Led by your guide, Melanie, flower lover and whisperer. On a 20 acre land conservancy (Eagle Mill Farm).
"Melanie designs the most stunning and unique bouquets. The flowers are all grown on her local Ashland farm so each arrangement reflects the beauty of the season. I have already gifted several bouquets from Waterleaf and everyone gushed over how beautiful they were. A perfect, memorable gift for anyone, even yourself!"- Laurianne B.
About
We are a small flower farm and florist design studio specializing in an array of exquisite, breathtaking blooms fresh from Mother Earth. We delight in providing lush flowers for ceremonies, weddings, events, homes, and businesses. Our farm hosts U-pick and Workshops in the gardens to awaken a deeper relationship with Flowers, Ourselves and the Earth.
Our flowers nestle along Bear Creek in Ashland, Oregon where we are dedicated to sustainable agriculture, feeding pollinators and insects, loving the land and community.
~Flowers nourish the Soul.~
Our Story
My love of flowers began in childhood, with my mom’s arrangements filling every room of the house and for community events. She collected them from our backyard and neighbor’s, tuning me into the abundance and beauty of nature and community. My favorite childhood memories were playing barefoot in the summer amidst apple trees and bees and making daisy necklaces with friends in the open grassy yards and parks of the Pacific Northwest. Coming home to bountiful, healthy family meals with garden fresh produce, rose petals in salads, and my boisterous family around the table also brought great joy and comfort.
In my 20’s, my dedication to the environment, community, healthy food, and meaningful life work, led me to work in fresh food access starting farmers markets area in under-served neighborhoods in Los Angeles. I loved talking with the farmers about the land they cultivated and listening to cultural stories around crops they grew. I admired their earthiness and independent spirits. Several years later, after many travels around the world in Central America and Asia studying culture and agro-ecology and starting a MA in Leadership, Learning and Ecology, it was natural to drop out of the program and start an organic vegetable farming in Portland (sigh of relief as it felt like I arrived at my long sought after life purpose). I longed to live an integrated life in harmony with nature, serving people and the planet. Farming has brought so much to my life, as I attune to the seasons and cycles, witnessing and participating in growth and gifts of plants is truly magic. It brings me joy and gratitude to work with nature, and I am dedicated to growing healthy soil, feeding pollinators and insects and sharing this connection with other people.
My first farm venture was turning over multiple lawns for my CSA (community-supported agriculture) business (Backyard Bounty) in Portland, Oregon 2007. Many lawns consolidated into one special piece of land where we grew vegetables for 5 years (Rising Stone Farm). In 2014, flowers popped out at me, they seemed to say “grow more of me” and I happily took the call. The farm took a new name Waterleaf, as flowers began to share the stage with the veggies, not only being grown for pollintators, pest control and disease prevention but also for cut flower production.
A few years ago, Waterleaf Farm moved to Ashland, Oregon and lay fallow. After a few years deepening my relationship with myself and nature in the woods outside Ashland, making wreaths and herbal medicines from wild and garden plants, I am delighted to have found a new precious piece of land to focus on flower cultivation. My goal is to bring beauty to your lives and uplift your spirits by sharing the earth’s abundance through flowers. Beauty nourishes our soul and is a powerful way to show our gratitude and give back to the Earth.
Our Approach
Our intention is to farm with nature, working alongside her, growing flowers from the roots (well-nourished soil) up
~We practice a combination of permaculture, biodynamic, and bio-intensive techniques to cultivate healthy plants; maintaining a holistic perspective of the larger organism of the farm and the earth
~Build healthy soils through cover cropping, composting, natural fertilizers, and mulching.
~Share the abundance.
We see all life as sacred, and our intention is to listen to the plants and earth and respect their lives and what they can teach us.
I look forward to connecting with you and sharing in the delight, healing, and wisdom of the Flower Beings!
VOLUNTEERING/WORKTRADE -Year Round 2024
Would you like to be around high vibrational flower energy? Interested in learning how to garden or small-scale farm? Looking for community? We love helping hands! Please inquire if you’d like to come out once or regularly.
We are easy to access on the North side of Ashland. Leave the farm with a bouquet of flowers and a happy body and heart, fed by being in nature.
APPRENTICESHIP FLOWER FARMING & PLANT SPIRIT CONNECTION (UNPAID) 2024
April- November -(6 weeks minimum)
Unique Opportunity for Learning how to Small Scale Flower Farm and Deepening in Relationship with the Plants
Waterleaf Farm is part of a 20 acre land conservancy called Eagle Mill Farm, diverse in cultivation and wild areas. We love community and open the farm to a flower U- Pick, events and workshops.
In the growing season, the farm is a buzz with natural and human community life and also one can immerse themself in the gardens in silence.
Currently, there are 6 farmers and a handful of gardeners. The farmer's run small farm businesses including cultivation of veggies, medicinal herbs (@wildgardenmedicinals), cactuses (www.galactic-cactus.com), seeds (hardyseeds.com), 40 year old vineyard, and Waterleaf Flowers.
Description of Work Offered
1. Flower Farm Operation—
Required: At least 80% of the hours will be learning through Fieldwork, including Bed Prep, Planting, Weeding/Trellising, Harvesting, and Sorting.
Potential: Floral Design, bouquet making, and flower deliveries, and hosting U- pick; depending on your interests and what you’d like to know more about.
2. Deepening in Relationship with the Flowers—
*Learn how to attune to the spirit of the Flowers and be a co-creative relationship with the plants.
-Join Seasonal Workshops, Flower Essence Workshops, Experiential Flower Tours at no cost. 1- 2 available p/month
-Plant spirit meditations with the living flowers and herbs (2 x p/wk 20 min)
-One-on-One Flower Essence Making 1 p/month (3 hrs)
-Receive flower healing and essence session (not required).
Expectation and Exchange
*12-20 hrs p/wk (opportunity for more work if needed with Waterleaf Farm or other farmers' projects)-depending on housing, etc.
*6 weeks minimum
*Staple foods provided (you can specify dietary preferences)
*Farm fresh veggies and cut flowers (for your own creative play, enjoyment and to experiment with your own floral designing.)
*Opportunity to participate in all of the workshops
Accommodations-
April through June, apprentice 6 week available anytime April through November
Rustic camping with an outdoor kitchen, solar shower or on demand shower, and a compost toilet. There is no power in the living area. Power is available a 2 minute walk from camping area next to Waterleaf Flowers fields.
Transportation-
The farm is 2.5 miles from Downtown Ashland. This is a 6 minute drive, or a 10-12 minute bike ride mostly on bike/pedestrian path or 15 minute bus ride. The bus comes every 20 minutes most days and it takes 10 minutes to walk to the bus stop from the farm.
There may also be times when you can get a ride from someone else who is leaving the farm. May-October there are several vehicles going to town many times a day.
Jackson Wellsprings healing spring waters are across the Street.
INTERESTED IN APPRENTICE POSITION?
Call and let's chat! Or send an email expressing what you are hoping to gain from the apprentice position. Also include a resume or description of work or experiences related to the position or otherwise to waterleaffarm@gmail.com. Thank you! Look forward to seeing if you are a fit.
The bouquets from Waterleaf Farm are absolutely Divine! I get one each week, and family and friends will often comment on how they feel a such a sense of joy and delight emanating from the flowers in our home. -SA
Contact
- 100 Eagle Mill Road, Ashland, OR, USA
- +1-5039169576 - Melanie Plies
- waterleaffarm@gmail.com
- Call to arrange visit.
Experience love, relaxation, and radiance in your life. Find balance, clarity and joy as you are blessed up by the flower love.
In these sessions, fresh flowers are brushed and placed on the body and words or tones from the flowers are shared. Hands on touch is also included.
With the help of the generous plant spirits high frequencies, wash away what is no longer serving, tune up your nervous system and be reminded of your essential wholeness and beauty.
Flowers hold high frequencies infusing our cells with light. These healing sessions effect positive changes in emotional, spiritual, energetic, and physical levels.
Weather permitting, held in the beauty of a private flower circle at the farm.
$90 (1 hour session).
Please call 503.916.9576 to book a session.
Includes personalized flower essence medicine bottle to take home and an optional photo of you adorned with the flowers.
