From spring to fall, the glorious splendor of the region’s flowers are right here for giving, sharing, and enjoying.
In the Emmanuel’s Marketplace Plaza in Stone Ridge, nestled between Sweetpea Gifts and Experience The Difference Hair Salon, you will find a most enchanting and unexpected gem of a store: Twilight Acres’ HOMEGROWN, a full-service florist.
As the name HOMEGROWN suggests, this florist carries locally grown flowers. Step inside and behold the difference; there are varieties that you just don’t see at conventional flower shops. The colors are truly bursting, and the fragrances so sweet and real.
These blooms didn’t travel by jet from Colombia. They have not been in transit for a week. They haven’t been force-fed any insecticides under artificial light. These flowers grow in natural sun and rain on Laura Padusnak’s family farm on Cottekill Road in Stone Ridge. From spring to fall, the glorious splendor of the region’s flowers are right here for giving, sharing, and enjoying. These blooms last much longer and are as fresh as can be. Laura, the owner and grower, describes the store as “a little bit flower shop, a little bit farmers market, a little bit general store.”
Indeed, the services offered at Twilight Acres’ HOMEGROWN are identical to those offered by a conventional florist, whether you’re looking to purchase a single iris stem or sit down for a wedding consultation. The artistry in their floral design is simply exquisite.
What sets this store apart from average flower shop are not only the flowers grown right in the same town, but also the imaginative collection of beautiful, useful, and delicious goodies for sale. You’ll find honey, pure maple cream, beeswax candles, handcrafted soaps, housewares, cookbooks, hand-knit children’s clothing, and gourmet salt rubs—all locally sourced from the best farms and craftspeople. It was in Laura’s destiny to grow and sell flowers. She purchased the local flower shop in Stone
Ridge when she was just 21 years old. Then she sold it in 2009 and pursued a career in banking for over five years where she learned all about business and finance. In 2015, she bought it back, ready to pursue her passion full-time. In February of 2017, the full-service luxury floral design studio opened its doors. From planting to harvest to sale, Laura is fully connected to each step of the process.
The community is also welcome to be fully connected. Twilight Acres’ HOMEGROWN offers a CSA for their flowers! CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, which traditionally has been a way for a farm to sell shares of the produce to the public. Why not fresh flowers? This year they began offering three seasons to choose from
From planting to harvest to sale, Laura is fully connected to each step of the process.
—spring, summer, and fall, lasting between three to five weeks each. Members conveniently pick up their shares of flower harvests every week right in the store. Another brilliant community-minded idea that Laura came up with is the
Homegrown Flower Cart. The “rusty-old-truck-body-turned-honor-system-flower-depot” is stocked with the most stunning bouquets, ranging from $5 to $30. It sits at the entrance to the farm, at 458 Cottekill Road.
These flowers grow in natural sun and rain on Laura Padusnak’s family farm on Cottekill Road in Stone Ridge.
“We’ve been so fortunate,” says Laura. “People have been more than generous in the two years that it’s been there. We feel very lucky to have such support in this amazing community.” She was surprised to learn that the grateful customers have a tendency to leave even more money than the flowers cost, and not one bouquet has ever gone missing. How did the farm get the name Twilight Acres? Laura’s father was an auto mechanic by trade but was passionate about farming. Arnold Elliott rose early in the morning, around 3:00 or 4:00am, to tend to the animals
and the land, and then kept going again after work at dusk. Sadly, he passed away in December of 2016. Her mother still operates the family farm that sells meat and eggs to Davenport’s Farm Stand and others. As her father worked all day, on and off the farm, so does Laura. She personally planted all of the 1,400 Dahlia tubers by hand. HOMEGROWN specializes in heirloom Dahlias, growing over 50 varieties. And these tubers all have to be pulled up out of the ground every fall, two weeks after the first frost!
The colors are truly bursting, and the fragrances so sweet and real.
And, of course, being a full-service florist … they deliver! That’s right, a homegrown-in-the-Hudson-Valley bouquet of botanicals can be personally delivered to anywhere in Stone Ridge, High Falls, Ellenville, Olivebridge, Accord, Kingston, Tillson, Kerhonkson, Rosendale, Hurley, Shokan, and beyond.
In the off-season, Twilight Acres’ HOMEGROWN does bring in flowers from other areas to keep up with the demand. If they can’t get them from another farm in the Hudson Valley, they will always do their best to get flowers grown in the US.
Flowers play such a deeply meaningful role throughout our lives: Bouquets and arrangements arrive when you’re born, are sent to your loved ones when you’re gone, and are an integral part of hundreds of happy celebrations in between. Remember the FTD advertising tagline “Say It With Flowers”? Thanks to Laura Padusnak, her family, and her team, we can “say it” with glorious, local, sustainably grown flowers.
twilight acres’ homegrown
3835 Route 209, Stone Ridge
845-687-0070
twilightacreshomegrown.com
