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Blue Chalk Media
Created for Magnolia Network, this series chronicles Floret, a world-renowned, family-run flower farm located in the Skagit River Valley of Washington State, founded by Erin Benzakein.
In this episode, Erin and her team work to preserve a collection of heirloom roses that belonged to a renowned rosarian
Growing Floret is about legacy: building it, sustaining it, and questioning if it even matters. The challenge was to make an episode courageous enough to tackle these complicated concepts while keeping viewers invested and entertained. This mission guided every decision.
In Chapter 1: Preserving the Old, Erin works to save the largest private collection of heirloom roses in North America. It belonged to 97-year-old rosarian Anne Belovich.
Sadly, Anne died before filming commenced, and we were challenged to make her powerful presence felt in the episode.
Following Anne's passing, we earned her family’s trust and they allowed us to conduct interviews and use their personal audio recordings. This enabled us to include Anne as a key part of the story despite her passing.
We told the story through Floret Farm founder Erin Benzakein’s point of view. We used direct-to-camera interviews, co-written narrations, and phone recordings to build a personal connection with the audience, allowing them to understand the importance of saving roses for future generations and the impact of Anne's story on Erin.
The episode triggered over 10,000 letters, comments, and social posts about its meaningful effect. It also was incredibly well received by Magnolia's audience and garnered many five-star reviews from viewers. Audiences enjoyed it so much that many people started gardens of their own.
Floret Flower Farm is located about an hour north of Seattle in the Skagit Valley, one of the more fertile agricultural areas in North America.
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