Why the Marigold Market?
One of the questions we’ve been asked a few times already is: “Why marigolds?”
The honest answer is actually pretty simple.
When Ashley and I were brainstorming names for our business, we kept coming back to marigolds. Part of it was practical, since they’re cheerful, recognizable flowers that fit the warm, welcoming feeling we wanted the business to have. But they also felt meaningful in more personal ways too.
For me, marigolds were one of the first flowers I remember growing as a kid. We grow them in kindergarten to gift our maternal figures for Mother’s Day. They remind me of care, gentleness, and the act of growing something for someone else. They’re a flower connected to gardens, community, and simple memories, which felt fitting for the kind of farm we wanted to build.
But at the end of the day, honestly? We just thought the name sounded cute.
Sometimes that’s enough.
A Dream That Started a Long Time Ago
I know this story is covered on the “Our Story” page, but I wanted to provide a bit of a more personal story from my own experience. The Marigold Market may technically be new, but the idea behind it really isn’t.
Ashley and I are childhood friends and have known each-other for nearly 30 years! For almost as long as we can remember, we’ve talked about having land someday. Like many horse-loving children, we spent years sketching imaginary farms, playing with plastic farm animals from Dollarama, circling items from the Greenhawk catalog for our future ponies, and dreaming up lives surrounded by gardens, animals, and open space.
Over the years, life changed a lot and the details of the dream shifted too, but the core idea never really disappeared.
Then, in 2025, Ashley and her husband Scott purchased land just outside of Lac La Biche, and suddenly the dream stopped feeling imaginary. Soon after, I made the move from Ontario to Alberta, and what had once been years of joking conversations and childhood plans slowly started turning into something tangible.
Why Flowers?
Out of everything we could have focused on, flowers felt like the natural choice.
They bring people together, mark important events, brighten homes, gardens, kitchens, and market tables and soften tough moments. After a winter, flowers also feel like one of the clearest signs that the season is finally changing!
We were also drawn to the connection flowers have with pollinators, biodiversity, gardening, and local ecosystems, all things that matter deeply to us and continue shaping how we approach growing.
The First Season of Something New
Right now, the Marigold Market is still very much in its first season.
We’re learning as we go, experimenting constantly, and trying to build something thoughtful one step at a time. Alongside flowers, we care deeply about sustainability, supporting pollinators and wildlife, encouraging local growing, and creating welcoming community spaces.
Right now, the Marigold Market is still very much in its beginning stages. But underneath all the chaos, it already feels like something meaningful is beginning to take root.
