Pocket of Poppies
Just 45 minutes from the center of Charlotte North Carolina, you can escape to the beautiful blooms of Pocket of Poppies farms. Not only is it a beautiful place to take in some sun and nature, but it is a super fun place to take the kids, a date, or anyone you want to spend some time with and take part in the “u-pick” experience in the gardens. One lovely Saturday morning in July, we decided to go out with some friends and check it out. Read on to find out more about the farm and our “u-pick” experience.
The Farm
The farm consists of 15 acres total, but as guests we only experience a small portion of the land. We followed the GPS and saw a small sign signaling us to turn down a gravel road. We went at 10:00 am hoping we would beat any crowds and the notorious July heat. We easily found parking against a fence facing some cows, goats, and chickens, and could see the gardens right behind us.
Be sure to check the website (link at the bottom of the page) as the hours change every week.
We took a short walk to the barn where you check in and get your supplies and directions for the “u-pick” experience. We passed a little table where a family was selling fresh lemonade.
Getting Started
Once inside the barn, we were greeted by two friendly employees who asked us if we wanted to pick a bucket for $65, a large bouquet for $25 (they provide a pitcher for you to fill) or a smaller one for $12 (they provide a small jar for you to fill). If you want to pick from the Dahlia gardens, they are $1 per flower. Once you decide how much you want to pick, they give you a vessel to put your flowers in and either small garden scissors or kids scissors (for the little ones).
You should bring a vase with you, or something to transport your flowers home in. They will wrap them for you and put them in a little bag of water, but its always nice to come prepared.
They accept cash, credit cards, and Venmo as payment, and you don’t have to pay until you are finished picking.
They also have a public restroom in the barn, and they have some T-shirts, vases, and all natural bug spray for sale.
Once we had our supplies, we started to head over to the first garden (the Dahlia garden). On our way, we took a quick detour to see the adorable photo backdrop, the fire pit seating area, the covered seating area, and there was also a little stand where someone was selling shaved ice. They offer private “u-pick” parties for $300 that includes 8 “u-picks” for a two hour block. They also have a garden club and host workshops.
Dahlia Garden
We were having such a great time taking in the lovely scenery but were finally ready to get to the blooms! The Dahlia gardens are fenced in and you can enter either through the regular gardens or through a cute little wooden archway covered in vines (duh we chose the cute archway).
Once we passed through the archway and snapped a few photos, we were greeted by rows and rows of exceptionally stunning Dahlias of every color and as big as my fist! The start of the garden was up against a barn with a large sink, and next to the barn there was a sweet little cement fountain (we stopped to enjoy the relaxing water sounds).
While we chose not to pick any of the Dahlias (they are $1 per flower), we walked up and down every single row taking in the beauty of the blooms and snapping photos of our favorites.
The Gardens
Once we finished admiring the Dahlias, we passed through the fence and entered the wide open field that contained the rest of the flowers available for picking. There were rows and rows of flowers, and they all seemed to be grouped by the same type of flower so it made it easy to choose some of this kind, and then move to the next row to pick a different kind and build up your bouquet. They also had some unique “filler” flowers (think baby’s breath but other things too and more colorful).
We had originally gone with the $12 bouquets, but by about the third row, we sent Matt back to trade our small jars out for the $25 pitchers so that we could pick more flowers! We also were mindful of where we were cutting the stems so that they would be long enough, and found that we had to trim some of the leaves around the bottom or sometimes middle of the stem so that it did not crowd the pitcher.
Everyone is different in their approach but I suffer from OCD and had to be meticulous about the balance of my bouquet in terms of colors and bloom sizes. Luckily, you could pick as many of each flower as you wanted to fill your pitcher!
Some Notes & Rules:
There will be bugs & bees. Don’t bother them and they won’t bother you. Wear bug spray in preparation of your visit, and if you want a bloom that a bee is also interested in, the best way to gently shoo the bee away is to softly blow on it.
Wear farm appropriate shoes for your safety.
Only service animals are allowed on the farm and the farm needs to be notified in advance so they can make appropriate accommodations.
Only cut/pick the flower you intend to put in your vase.
This is someone’s home and place of business so please remember that and be respectful.
Sometimes they have vendors on site but you should bring water with you so you can stay hydrated.
The flowers are in full sun, so make sure you have applied sunscreen.
Come prepared and bring a vase to take your flowers home in if possible.
They announce their hours on Sundays for the upcoming week, so check their website or Facebook page when making your plans to visit.
What kind of flowers can you expect?
Summer:
Dahlias
Sunflowers
Zinnias
Cosmos
Strawflower
Celosia (many varieties)
Lisianthus
Basil
Yarrow
Many More!
Spring:
Snapdragons
Feverfew
Black-eyed Susans
Bee Balm
Bachelor Buttons
Orlaya
Scabiosa
Sweet William
Take Home Bouquet
Once we had marched up and down every single row in the entire garden and inspected every last petal to ensure we each had the perfect balance of colors and textures and sizes, we finally began our walk back to the barn to pay for our bouquets and have them wrapped to take home. We turned in our clippers and pitchers, and got our bouquets handed back to us wrapped up and inside a little baggie of water so that they would survive the journey home to my kitchen table.
The whole experience took us about an hour and fifteen minutes and was totally worth the gorgeous $25 take home bouquet. There were so many fun photo ops, delightful sights to behold, smells to indulge in, and new flowers to learn about. We found ourselves googling several of the plants because we had never seen them before! If you are anywhere nearby, check their website or Facebook page for their weekly hours of operations and stop by! You won’t regret it!
The photos above are from 8 days after we went on our “u-pick” experience! The flowers still looked and smelled great! The website gives the following tips and tricks to help care for your flowers once you get them home:
Start with a clean vase and water.
Cut the ends of the stems at an angle, this will help them take in more water.
Remove any leaves from the water.
Change the water every few days (I only added water once).
