Our Story
Welcome to our story! We are Matthew and Alice - husband and wife, parents to three young children and founders of Mountain River Flower Patch. Our shared appreciation for plants and spending quality time together is what encouraged us to transform the garden around our home into an intimate pick-your-own flower patch. Nestled in the picturesque valley of Mountain River, Tasmania, we are delighted to open our gates and invite the wider community to enjoy a peaceful flower picking experience.
Matt grew up on a suburban block where his love for gardening grew as he helped his parents tend to their small, but very abundant backyard garden. I grew up just around the coroner from us, on my parent’s beautiful country property, but I did not spend much time in the garden until recent years.
We got married ten years ago, and in 2019 finished building our house and moved in with our two young daughters. The area around our new home was a mix of dirt and overgrown grass which Matt soon began transforming into veggie beds, a mini orchard and berry patches. During these years, I was in the haze of new motherhood and helping in the garden felt beyond my capacity, until one spring day I ventured outside to help Matt in the veggie patch and as I worked beside him, I began to understand the joy and satisfaction of tending to the garden.
Soon our girls also started working alongside us and it wasn’t long before our son joined in too. Each requested a veggie patch of their own where they could plant whatever they chose and they now take great delight in caring for their gardens, learning to identify all the veggie seedlings and harvesting their produce each year. As I began regularly helping in the veggie patches, my love for gardening started to flourish and, with a bit of extra time on his hands, Matt began working on some flower beds, mentioning that he had ordered 20 dahlia tubers. Picturing only yellow and red cactus dahlias, I pulled a face and said, ‘Mmm, I don’t think I like dahlias...’, but Matt confidently assured me that I would love them.
Over the next few months Matt continued to create more garden beds and he regularly returned home with a few extra plants, after stopping by the local nursery, ‘just to have a look’. Early one spring morning, while lying awake with our young son, I pondered how we could allow the wider community to enjoy all that Matt was planting. As I remembered my visit to the flower farm earlier that year, the idea of opening a pick-your-own flower patch began to form. When I suggested the idea to Matt, he was keen - always happy to add more to the garden! As my love for gardening began to grow beyond the veggie patch, I started experimenting with various seeds to see which cut flower varieties we liked and had success growing.
In autumn 2024, our small patch of slightly pitiful blooms made me wonder if all the time and resources we had put into the patch would be worth it. But Matt was unfazed by the mediocre harvest and was committed to creating a row of trial beds and giving it our best attempt. He encouraged me saying the worst that can happen if no one comes to pick, is that we will have a garden full of flowers to enjoy! Our girls were also very enthusiastic about growing lots of flowers - knowing that the more we grow, the more they can pick! They enjoy helping us collect seeds, plant tubers and show guests around the garden, while pointing out all the different flower varieties.
All our work in the flower patch happens in between our everyday responsibilities. While Matt works full time, I spend much of my days caring for and home-schooling our three young children and handling the every-day running of our home. Our planning, weeding and planting is done largely on Saturdays and bit by bit throughout the week.
We care about the environment that we are planting in and inviting guests to spend time in, so we are committed to using organic gardening practises. This is typically a bit more work, as we layer lots of organic matter on our garden beds to provide the plants with the best possible soil. We also choose not to use weed matting on our flower rows as we want our patch to be fresh and natural, which means we always have a lot of hand weeding to do!
The whole family worked together in spring 2024, as we filled our trial rows with over 90 dahlias as well as sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias and more.
Right at the start of our trial season I hosted a flower picking party for a dear friend, and the delightful, warm evening was such a joyous mix of friendship, food, flowers and laughter that it confirmed that this is what I want to provide for the community - a beautiful, peaceful flower-filled experience.
Although we planted so many seeds and tubers, we were still amazed at the number of flowers that bloomed in our trial rows throughout summer and autumn 2025. We provided bunches to a local produce shed and welcomed small groups of friends into our garden to pick flowers, take photos and enjoy a picnic amongst the flowers.
We had originally anticipated that we would open in 4 or 5 years, but after the success of our trial rows and, at the encouragement of all who visited, we endeavoured to start sharing our garden with fellow flower lovers as soon as possible. In preparation, we considered our cosy garden space and calculated out how many more beds we could add. Then we thoughtfully selected plants of varying colours, shapes, sizes and scents to ensure we have a wide range for our guests to pick from.
Matt has recently become a registered beekeeper, and we now have two busy hives on the property. As we have all learnt lots about bees, we also have made sure to include flowers which are beneficial for the bees, as well as other insects.
Our hope when you visit our flower patch is that the quiet, peaceful location provides you with the opportunity to slow down from the busyness of life and enjoy connection with those around you, as you picnic, chat and wander through the flowers together. With the stunning mountain back drop and the rows of gorgeous flowers, we hope that joy and creativity are sparked as you thoughtfully add each bloom to your bunch and take in the beautiful creation around you.
We look forward to welcoming you to our flower patch soon!
—Alice & Matt