Who we are

With generations of flower growing and cultivation in our family, we are turning our passion for flowers into a small family business. We are a new specialty cut flower farm located in Slate Hill, NY.  With an empty nest after raising our three children, we wanted to find a productive use of our ‘idle time’.  That is how Idle Time Gardens started.    

During our decades of flower gardening, we most enjoy nurturing family heirloom flowers from grandparents and parents, while adding new favorites each year.  Each growing season we anxiously await gorgeous blooms that we can bring into our home and share with family and friends.

Passion for flowers is our family heritage, from our grandparents and parents.  Grandpa Hopper was a nursery owner (Pearl River Nursery) and prize winning Dahlia grower. Grandpa Sims was a dedicated flower gardener with an impressive landscape he lovingly created and maintained.  Our parents both grew large vegetable and flower gardens.  

Last year we decided to start a family business to share these beautiful flowers with the community.  We are learning a lot of new techniques and relying on our own knowledge to get the business up and running and most importantly, to have a successful harvest.  It is a wonderful experience and we are very excited to share our flowers with the community.  

The vast majority of our cut flowers are started from seed and all are grown in our garden. This year our garden features Celosia, Cosimos, Dahlias, Ranunculus, Snapdragons, Sunflowers, Sweet Peas and Zinnias.  During the growing season, we will offer fresh locally grown bouquets at our roadside stand.