Juneau gardener Brad Fluetsch has a photograph that, multiplied by thousands, tells the story: a $20 bill resting on a blooming Dutchesse peony flower.
Say “Alaska cash crop” and most people don’t think of the peony, a frothy flower that blooms in Alaska later than anywhere else in the commercial cut-flower world.
With at least $20 to $50 of stems per plant, in a state with easily accessible transport options, peony farming has begun to take off in Alaska. Fluetsch, who has more than a hundred just beginning to emerge from the ground in his North Douglas garden, wants to be the first commercial grower in Southeast.
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