---
title: A Blossoming Business
date: 2024-05-08T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/a-blossoming-business"
section: Articles
---
# A Blossoming Business

*May 8, 2024* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10)


> Inspired by Late Grandmother, Alumna Flourishes in Founding Cut-Flower Farm

*Sun Kissed Flower Farm 05012024 JC 9590 1920x1080 — Rachel Ross '19 started SunKissed Flower Farm on Kent Island to honor the memory of her late grandmother. The self-described "farmer-florist" sells arrangements (below), wreaths, corsages and pressed flowers.*

Under a clear cobalt sky in Kent Island, Md., puffy bursts of pink, buttery yellow and peach ranunculus showed off their happy colors, stands of wispy bachelor’s buttons with their blue blossoms swayed in the breeze and white peonies held tight in their round buds, waiting to burst forth seemingly momentarily.

“We call it the marshmallow stage for peonies,” said Rachel Ross ’19. “You harvest right when the buds get kind of squishy, like a marshmallow.”

Ross grows everything from anemones to zinnias on this quarter-acre patch on the Eastern Shore for her cut-flower business, [SunKissed Flower Farm](https://www.sunkissedflowerfarm.com/). Located on the 3-acre property she shares with her parents, the farm bloomed out of Ross’ background in plant science—and an inherited love of nature.


*flower arrangement*




**Topics:** [People](https://today.umd.edu/tags/people)


**Tags:** [Alumni](https://today.umd.edu/topic/alumni)


**Units:** [College of Agriculture and Natural Resources](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-agriculture-and-natural-resources)