Our Story
Hello! We are Greg & Cindy Putnam, a pair of Montana natives tending our own little piece of land in the beautiful Bitterroot Valley of southwestern Montana.
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Not far from Missoula, our farm is tucked away between Florence and Stevensville. Peaks tower over us, a river flows beneath us, and we count our lucky stars in the great Big Sky as each season unfolds.
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In 2014, after time away from Montana and good, productive corporate careers in Idaho, family tragedy upended our lives and brought us home.
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After the storm, our priorities shifted. We sought more balance, less striving. More connection with nature, less tethered to screens.
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Amidst our course corrections, we launched two new businesses: a remodeling and renovation business for Greg (Putnam Enterprises), and a wedding business for Cindy.
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Originally called Flower Farm Weddings & Events, we offered our home and property as a wedding venue, with added services drawing on Cindy's aesthetic and event planning experience.
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In late 2019, as our reinvention gathered steam, we renamed Cindy's business Bleeding Heart Flower Farm, and added small-scale, high-intensity commercial cut flower farming and studio floristry to our business focus.
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The flowers are now our singular focus. Venue rental and wedding planning services have fallen away to accommodate Cindy's niche as a Farmer-Florist, which expanded our customer base to the whole community instead of brides only.
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Late May through October, here's how we offer our seasonal specialty flower crops:
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with weekly fresh flower subscriptions (like a CSA for seasonal flowers)
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by pre-order of individual arrangements (Joy Jars, Bountiful Bouquets, or custom);
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in bulk;
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by weekly Business-to-Business house accounts with business customers including Triple Creek Ranch, Mission Bistro and The Wild Mare;
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via wholesale sales to florists; and
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by donation of surplus stems to nonprofits and community causes like The Living Center and nursing home in Stevensville, and SAFE in the Bitterroot, our local domestic violence agency.
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Converting a lifelong passion for flowers and beauty into a sustainable, ethical flower business aligns perfectly with our family's belief in a simpler, more beautiful, and more nature-connected world.
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We are not a transactional business, or transactional people. Relationships, hard work, friendliness, generosity and going the extra mile are the bedrock values of our business. It's great to have you along on our journey. Take the time to smell the flowers. Raise a toast to the happy couple. Giggle, chuckle, smile. Sit a spell on the front porch. Shed some happy tears. Life is good.
Meet Cindy
FLOWER FAVES:
Peonies for their scent. Zinnias for their joyful zingy energy. Delphiniums for their iridescent colors. Bleeding Hearts for how they move and drape. (Bonus: "naked lady in the bathtub" parlor tricks.) And dahlias, because dahlias.
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SIGNATURE COLOR:
The perfect pale aqua of a robin's egg.
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GREENHOUSE PLAYLIST:
James Taylor, The Chicks, John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Ed Sheeran, Adele, Eric Church, Vivaldi, The Lumineers, The Eagles, Dave Matthews, Kacey Musgraves, Bonnie Raitt, Aerosmith, Lady A, Reckless Kelly, Alanis Morissette, Third Eye Blind.
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SQUEALS & FLAPS HER HANDS WHEN:
The seed catalogs arrive. The dahlias blow. The Christmas lights go up. Handing off a special bouquet to a client. Her grandson is on the oars.
#1 HOBBY:
Books > oxygen. Keeps a list of fifty books she would save in a fire if she could only save fifty. Gladly lends faves, but with rules: no dog-earing, no laying open on the spine, no reading in the tub, books are not coasters, people!
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GUILTY PLEASURES:
Diet Pepsi. Heavy cream. Creepy documentaries. Projects. Junking. Excessive newspaper reading. The Handmaid's Tale (that rare thing when the book and the show are both excellent). Really good sheets. This American Life podcast. Greasy hand salve. Rusty, chippy things. Decorating magazines and blogs. Costco.
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SURPRISES:
Was once a hospital exec, Idaho Woman of the Year and runner-up in the Alabama State Spelling Bee, but not in that order. Is now Greg's Woman of the Year except when announcing "I have an idea!" Still her Daddy's Girl at 57.
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SIDE HUSTLE:
Brown Eyed Girl Consulting, business and strategic planning services for business and non-profit clients.
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KNOWN FOR:
Enthusiasm and friendliness. Intensity. Creativity. Positivity. ADHD and losing her keys, phone, snips, shoes, drink. Imagination. Problem-solving. Quick wit. Big ideas, big heart, big dreams. Spreadsheets and whiteboards. Rescuing neglected plants from box stores and nursing them back to health. Devotion to her aging parents. Gifting flowers wherever she goes. Butt-kicking Scrabble skills. HBIC according to Greg; she prefers 'natural leader.' Genetic tendency toward perfectionism, but working on her chill.
Meet Greg
ROLE IN THE BUSINESS:
The Steady Eddie. Solid, capable, sensible, even-keeled and great in a crisis. Considers practically nothing a crisis. Makes good things happen on the daily. Grumpy but lovable.
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BIG LOVES:
Wife, kids, grandkids, and sidekick Bo the farm dog. Also cheap light beer, NASCAR, 80's rock (lighters up for Tom Petty, George Thorogood, Bob Seger, Joe Walsh, Jethro Tull), and anything with a motor that goes fast.
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SECRET TALENTS:
Surprisingly great chef. Favorite dishes involve beef, extreme spicy heat, or both. Knows all the words to every AC/DC song. Can start a fire with wet wood and one match. Mad MacGyver skills generally. When people start getting thrown off the life raft so the strongest can survive, friends will keep him in their boat.
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OBVIOUS TALENT:
Can build or fix anything Cindy dreams up. Good thing, because her big dreams up are considerable.
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SURPRISES:
Was once a bad boy who made Cindy (a good girl) sweaty wheelie-ing her all over creation on the back of his Yamaha 500TT. In his 20's, competed in Gallende Ski Jumping. No trophy, but lived. In his 40's, ranked 6th and 7th nationally for Enduro racing. (In what we liked to call the "old, slow guys" class, but still.)
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PEEVES:
When her flowers crowd out his hot pepper plants. Unreasonably proud of his Carolina Reapers and Ghost Peppers. Also not fond of slackers, cheaters, liars, and anyone who doesn't put the tools away.
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NOT-SO-SECRET-CRUSHES:
Shania Twain and Selma Hayak. Note: Both have brown hair and eyes like Cindy.
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ANNOYING TRAIT:
On a road trip, refuses to stop. Pushes everyone's bladders to the limit. Past the limit. Once made the whole family forage for sustenance in a truck stop: Slim Jims, stale Cheetos and mini Choc-a-Moos. On Christmas.
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KNOWN FOR:
Gruff exterior hiding heart of gold. Would do anything for anyone, so everyone adores him, just as soon as they get past his resting (ahem) a-hole face. Also: killer work ethic. Hardest worker you've ever met. Does not stop until it's done. Also: loyalty. He's not John Wayne in the John Wayne movie. He's John Wayne's buddy who rides back and saves John Wayne after John Wayne gets shot.
Meet Carly
ROLE IN THE BUSINESS:
Joined the farm in Bleeding Heart's fifth season and is already a joy to have around. Also indispensable to getting hard things done. For 3-4 days each week, sows seeds, preps beds, plants plugs, shovels, hoes, weeds, rakes, foliar sprays compost tea, stakes, nets, harvests, terminates crops, flips beds, builds bouquets, and so much more.
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HAILS FROM:
Massachusetts, so very familiar with living in cold country.
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FARMING BACKGROUND:
My love of farming has taken me many places and taught me many things. I've worked in hundred-year-old-apple orchards, vegetable farms both big and small, and beautiful flower farms. My love for farming and working outdoors has taken me from Massachusetts to all over western Montana and California.
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FAVORITE FLOWER:
The impossible question. But I will say there is just something special about snapdragons that I can never get enough of.
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CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA:
Vanilla!
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HOPES FOR THE SEASON:
I'm really excited to learn more about flower growing--I've already learned a lot. And I'm hoping that I get a chance to learn a completely new skill set, in floral design and mechanics.
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NOT-SO-SECRET-CRUSH:
My partner Austin, who I met when we farmed together at a bunch of different farms, and who now leads a crew with the Conservation Corps, working in national forests in Montana and Idaho.
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FAVORITE PODCAST:
Heavyweight. And now I have Cindy hooked on it, too.
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PET PEEVE:
Stinkbugs -- the most annoying insect ever. The absolute worst.
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TOOL I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT:
My pocket knife.
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KNOWN FOR:
Sweet smile and heart of gold.
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WHY I LOVE LIVING & WORKING IN THE 406:
I have never found a peace greater than working under the summer sun in Montana. Growing things that make people smile while being among the mountains is the best feeling in the world.
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BEST PART SO FAR OF WORKING AT BLEEDING HEART FLOWER FARM:
Buddy and Bo! Buddy has really stinky breath, but he's up in my lap every chance he gets as my daily lunch date. And Bo gets so excited when I arrive for work that he "sings" and wags his entire body. They are the best.
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