By Marlee Jackson

Tucked off I-565 and nestled in the historic town of Mooresville, vibrant flowers burst from the soil, blanket the ground and stretch skyward at 1818 Farms. 

“I love flowers,” said farm owner Natasha McCrary as she clipped blooms on a scorching day last fall. “Yesterday, I delivered subscription bouquets. You realize, once you drop those bouquets off, just how happy flowers can make people.”

McCrary founded 1818 Farms a decade ago, the farm’s name paying homage to the year Mooresville (population 58) was founded. Its lamb-laden logo depicts the McCrary family’s first crop.

Fluffy babydoll sheep still munch the 3-acre farm’s bright green grass, though flowers now power most of the farm’s products.

Those include hand-picked, seasonal flower bouquets. Summer sprays combine favorites like vivid zinnias, velvety celosia, round dahlias, spiky amaranth and seeded eucalyptus. Delicate ranunculus and anemone take center stage as temperatures dip in the fall and winter.

“We play with textures and colors,” McCrary said. “You have to think about all the elements you need in the bouquets for them to be beautiful and balanced.”

1818 Farms’ location near Huntsville in Madison County draws an influx of urban customers for its floral subscription service.

The farm offers shelf-stable, specialty floral products, too. McCrary’s team transforms flowers and greenery into dried art, first picking plants at peak freshness. They’re then transferred to a pitch-black drying room. 

Those preserved flowers are crafted into bouquets; mounted to wood and wire frames during floral workshops; sprinkled into sweet-smelling wax sachets; and suspended in resin.

They’re also featured in McCrary’s Where I Bloom series.

Over the last several years, the artisan carefully spliced and overlayed flowers to create the shapes of all 50 states. Those unique, flower-filled figures are now featured on flour-sack towels, notecards, coasters, stickers and large-scale, frame-worthy prints.

McCrary said Where I Bloom has been popular across the country, thanks in part to 1818 Farms’ status as an excursion when American Cruise Lines ships dock in nearby Decatur.

Inside the farm store, visitors find McCrary’s vast collection of shea creme, soap, room spray, farm-grown loofahs and more. 

Eco-printed scarves are a hit, too. Pigment extracted from deciduous leaves is then overlaid onto lightweight silk. Each scarf is a one-of-a-kind, wearable work of art, McCrary said.

More and more, though, customers are flocking to Where I Bloom products — drawn in by bright colors and a wave of memories.

“Where I Bloom is less about where you’re born and more about what place makes you happy,” McCrary said. “Maybe it was where your grandparents lived or where you went to college. It can be many things to different people. It can show your state pride. These flowers aren’t native to anywhere, but anywhere can grow them.”