Meet the farmers
Will and Mari met in 2018 in Florida. They fell in love and started trying to figure out what their life together would look like. By this time, Mari had already experienced the greatest loss any parent could experience: her oldest son, Alex, passed away in a motorcycle accident.
In 2020, Mari decided to take a break from her successful career in finance to pursue a local flower truck business in Crystal Beach, Florida in memory of her late son which she called Alex’s Flower Truck.
When she started growing flowers in her personal garden, Mari realized that gardening was a special form of therapy. She felt a connection to nature she never knew was possible by taking these small seeds, putting them in the ground, and taking care of them until they eventually grew into a flower.
As Mari was discovering this newfound love of gardening and putting together flower arrangements for weddings and special events, Will was so focused on supporting her with her new business venture, that he didn’t realize that he was also developing a passion for agriculture. While Will always knew his end goal was to own a business, he never imagined what was coming next for them.
In 2021, after the start of Alex’s Flower Truck, Will and Mari quickly realized that their dream was much bigger than what they originally thought. After just a couple of months of planning, Will and Mari packed their bags and headed to the Heart of Maine: Dexter.
Fun fact: Will and Mari bought the farm while still living in Florida, they visited it once and didn’t even bother to check out the town until after they had moved into the property. Mari was not on board with the plan right away, but she trusted Will and their vision for the future!
Both Will and Mari have a special relationship with specific flowers.
For Mari, sunflowers hold a special connection with her children. Her daughter’s favorite flower has always been sunflowers because they reminded her of her grandmother. Her love of sunflowers eventually became a common theme for the whole family, including Mari’s two sons.
Will’s favorite flower has always been the African violet. His grandmother was a very influential person in his life and he remembers how much she loved them. As the only boy grandchild, Will had a different and exceptional relationship with his grandma Dorothy. He can’t help but think of her fondly when he sees these flowers.
The flower that represents this phase of their life together is the tulip. During their shared time in Seattle, Will and Mari attended the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival where they saw fields of colorful tulips. At this time, they had no idea what the future had in store for them; but while they were looking out at the rows and rows of beautiful tulips, they looked at each other and jokingly said they would have a field of tulips in their yard one day.
All of these flowers will have their own season at Stormy Blue Farm to honor Will and Mari’s individual journeys and their journey together.
Written by Mari’s daughter, Alexandra