Eagle Creek Flower Farm’s roadside stand thrives on simplicity and trust

LEAENWORH — From late spring into early fall, Eagle Creek Flower Farm’s roadside stand comes alive with colorful bouquets that change with the season. Every weekend, the stand is visited by frequent buyers, who use an honors system to check their flowers out.

Eagle Creek Flower Farm is owned and operated by Paula Dinius, a retired urban horticulturist at Washington State University Extension. Dinius spent her career providing education and consultation on how to grow and maintain plants, while growing on her own Eagle Creek property on the side. 

While Dinius always had a passion for growing, her interest in cut flowers came much later. Around 2017, Dinius was consulting some property owners on what to grow, and had connected them with a Washington Department of Natural Resources grant for growing cut flowers.

“At the time, it was a slow food movement, and then it was a slow flower movement…They were trying to bring back the cut flower industry that had disappeared in the mid 70s, when it mostly went to South America,” said Dinius. 

Dinius got more involved, experimenting with cut flowers like peonies and ranunculus, and trading information through the Cascadia Flower Co-Op. By the time she reached retirement, she had built Eagle Creek Flower Farm, selling cut flowers to florists and DIYers. About four years in, she decided to open a self-serve flower stand at the top of her driveway.

“So my passion has been growing, and then I started doing the flower stand, and that was really fun to see the community come by and be appreciative,” said Dinius.

Dinius had been inspired by another grower, who had recently closed their own driveway flower stand, leaving the space for a new one on the map.

“So I thought, ‘Well, heck, let's try it.’ I've got a lot of flowers, and I've got some time…And it kind of was pretty successful right away,’” said Dinius.

Over the years, Dinius has managed to keep the operation simple, despite the demand. Dinius and her husband run the farm, her daughter manages the social media, and the customers pay by the honors system.

Every week throughout the growing season, the flower farm will make a Facebook post about the bouquets of the weekend and the hours they’ll be available. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, Dinius watches as cars drive up to the roadside flower stand, admire the selection, and self-pay for their bouquet.

“I think people kind of like just having the autonomy. They’ll pull up there and they'll just sit there for quite a while trying to decide which ones they want. So it's not like they feel any pressure,” said Dinius.

While Dinius has had a few instances where someone hasn’t paid over the years, the honors system has been consistently reliable. The unique bouquets at a reasonable cost have also maintained their popularity. Many weekends, Dinius has to harvest flowers multiple times to keep the stand stocked. 

“It's fun to watch people up there, though. I have this couple that comes by every Saturday…It's their outing to come up and get their flowers, and they'll sit at the top of the driveway, and they'll just look at the flowers and then decide. Then they leave the sweetest notes, and so that's just the kind of stuff that makes me happy.” said Dinius.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media