Sunborn LLC

“How right it is to love flowers and the greenery of pines and ivy and hawthorn hedges; they have been with us from the very beginning” Sunborn is owned and operated by Husband and wife team Lisa and Hans Larsen. Hans grew up on the farm which has always focused on cut flower production. His mother, Carol, started the farm in 1975 to escape the corporate world and follower her passion to work the soil.  Hans returned to the farm when he started his family in order to offer his children the same nature filled life that left him feeling connected to the land.  As a second generation flower farmer, Hans is committed to be a caring steward to the family land. Lisa found her place in the design studio on the farm. She now leads weddings and events pulling from her background in fine arts and love of nature. Sunborn is part of the grassroots local flower movement in Wisconsin. We helped form one of the first wholesale flower cooperatives to bring local flowers to designers throughout the state. If you were going to compete with the south american flower industry, you had to join together to really show designers what Wisconsin has to offer. Carol also teamed up with UW-Madison to form a beginning flower growers school to continue to teach new farmers about growing sustainable flowers for the local designers and markets. Hans and Lisa now take Carol’s place teaching alongside seasoned farmers each February. Sunborn’s homestead is lush with hilly forest, but we manage to fit three hoop houses and 2 outdoor acres to grow our crops.  We focus on the flowers that grow best in our region. Our four decades of growing experience provides us with superior quality and vase life like nothing else around. Sunborn is not a sweet little flower filled garden. We are a farm full of strategic row crops to guarantee you fresh local flowers from May until November. Sunborn does not use chemical pesticides, chemical fungicides or chemical herbicides. All insect, disease, and weed control are implemented by practices and products approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute. Fertilization is accomplished with purchased organic amendments and by incorporating cover crops and local cow manure and compost. We are very committed to our growing practices so that our land stays productive and healthy for the environment. There was once a time where we were one of very few flower vendors at the Dane County Farmers Market. We found the desire for local flowers to be strong when the tomatoes we grew wouldn’t sell but any flower we brought would sell out. That led us to specialize solely in cut flowers and we haven’t looked back. The market is ever changing and flower growers are now in abundance. Those who know us for our quality, aesthetic,  and vase life return week after week. Floristry has been a part of Sunborn for over 20 years. Carol started dabbling in weddings when she was growing orchids, creating her own hybrids and tending to them with all her heart. At that same time it was extremely trendy to use orchids in wedding work and she would receive many orders for orchid boutonnieres each month. There was an unfortunate accident that led to all her orchids dying and the heartbreak was too much she never grew them again. However, by then she had fallen in love with floristry and continued to take classes honing her style and skill over the years.  When Lisa came to work on the farm, she started helping Carol in the design studio. Lisa has her BFA in Fine Arts and fell in love with flowers as an art medium.  She apprenticed with Carol for two years before taking on the studio in its entirety for the last 4 years. Weddings and events are a huge part of Sunborn.  We find great joy working with our couples to create unforgettable florals.  Flowers are an important part of wedding decor as they bring color and life to any space. We take the vision of the couple and combine it with our expertise in local flowers to create romantic and natural floral