Student running flower business

Although school has been out for students, St. Regis freshman Macy Hill has a morning routine she maintains.

Dozens of flowers, hanging baskets, and potted plants have to be watered each day as part of a business project she is managing through her school’s Future Farmers of America group.

“These ones right here almost didn’t make it,” Hill said, pointing to a cluster of Coleus that suffered frost damage one morning after the school’s greenhouse heater stopped working.

Hill is working as a partner in this flower business with senior Andrew Sanford, who gathered the pots and flowers starts back in February. Sanford waters most afternoons and is using his seed money from selling the plants to put toward his college fund.

Hill is tending to the needs of the blossoms in hopes of putting her profits toward an FFA trip to Italy next summer. When she joined in Sanford’s growing efforts this spring, she did so through the model of an FFA supervised agricultural experience.

“It’s a way to learn business, how much time I put into this project, how many plants I sell, and then I keep track of the income we make,” Hill said.

Using Facebook, Hill advertised in early April that hanging baskets and various potted flowers were up for grabs.

All of the petunias in the hanging baskets now have homes, many of which will be retained as Mother’s Day gifts. Hill noted that there were still many colorful geraniums, coleus and impatients available.

“We were hoping to sell any remainders during the Memorial Day Flea Market, but without that we’re hoping these will get picked soon,” Hill stated. The remaining flowers can be found on Facebook through Tina Hills page.

Hill has enjoyed the experience of cultivating the flowers and the nature of this business model, but she shared, “I think next year I’ll do a smaller scale garden at my home.”