Virginia Dohm Coulter and I go back a long ways. When I was a kid, she and my sister Carol were best friends, Ginny’s sister Barb (now Wunsch) and I were best friends, and our dads were both cherry farmers. So I spent a lot of time at their house.
Ginny recently started a new business called Old Mission Flowers, a self-serve specialty cut flower garden where you can cut your own fresh bouquet. Carnations, coneflowers, daisies, gay feathers, iris, lilies, peonies, snapdragons, roses and zinnias are just a few of the flowers she’s growing, and they’re stunningly gorgeous.
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Stopping by Old Mission Flowers just makes you feel good – like all is right with the world when you see those colorful blooms spilling across the land like happy children at play.
In 1976, Ginny graduated with a B.S. in Horticulture Science from Michigan State University, where she held student jobs on campus in greenhouses and at the renowned W. J. Beal Botanical Gardens. She loves growing and sharing her flowers, and has the time now after spending years raising kids, helping her husband with their fruit farm, volunteering, and working for local government.
Each Monday from 12 noon to 4 p.m., you can find Ginny selling flowers at the Farmer’s Market at the The Village at Grand Traverse Commons (old State Hospital grounds). The Farmer’s Market is on the green in front of Higher Grounds, Left Foot Charley, and Spanglish (around back of the Commons).
Or if you prefer, pick your own bouquet at Old Mission Flowers, 16550 Center Road on the Old Mission Peninsula, 14.4 miles north of Traverse City at the corner of Ladd Road and Center Road (M-37) (the entrance is on Ladd Road).
The garden is open from dawn to dusk from May through October. Containers, vases, scissors and flower preservative are available. Flowers are sold by container size or by stem. As an example, a quart jar filled with flowers costs $15.
Ginny suggests bringing:
– Sensible shoes, a hat, and a jacket
– A camera – everyone takes pictures in this garden
– Packing – so your flowers don’t tip over in the car
Children, the elderly, and artists are especially welcome!
Email Ginny at [email protected], call (231) 499-5474, and check out her website and Facebook page. Because they’re just so pretty and I couldn’t resist, here are some more photos of Ginny’s flowers:
A NOTE FROM JANE: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers like the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and magazines like Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So of course, I started my own newspaper. Because the Gazette is mainly reader-supported, I hope you'll consider tossing a few bucks my way if I mention your event, your business, your organization or your news item, or if you simply love reading about what's happening on the Old Mission Peninsula. Check out the donation page here. Thank you so much for your support. -jb
Ginny helped me make the most beautiful bouquet this past Labor Day weekend. I will be a regular this coming summer. 🙂
I love the huge variety of flowers she has!
[…] Meet in the parking lot of the Old Mission Peninsula United Methodist Church, 16426 Center Road, at 4:30 p.m. From there, they’ll go a half-block north to Old Mission Flowers, 16550 Center Road, where owner Ginny Coulter welcomes the club to take photos of her U-Pick garden (which is gorgeous – check out some of my photos here). […]
[…] Here’s a pretty sunflower at Old Mission Flowers, owned by Old Mission girl Ginny Dohm Coulter. Read more about Ginny and our lifelong friendship here. […]
[…] gathering on Sept. 10, 2016, featuring table decorations of flowers from Ginny Coulter’s Old Mission Flowers, was well attended by descendants of the founding families who contributed to help save the […]
[…] been such a joy to watch her grow this beautiful flower business since opening in 2015, about the same time I started Old Mission […]