It may be the cutting garden you’ve always wanted but never managed to plant. It may be the place you’ve been looking for to enjoy the tranquility of a stroll in a bucolic agricultural setting. Or maybe it’s the perfect place to sharpen your nature photography skills, or teach your little ones about flowers, butterflies and birds.
It’s also the first “u-pick” flower farm in Riverhead.
Horton’s Flower Farm, a small plot of land tucked away on a desolate stretch of Horton Avenue in Riverhead, surrounded by farmland, offers many ways to connect not only with nature but with the area’s agricultural heritage, too. Its neighbors include a wholesale plant nursery, a sod farm, a tree nursery, a micro-greens grower based in Europe and the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center’s fields. The feel of the place and its surroundings harkens back to a bygone era in Riverhead — even though the surrounding fields are not planted in potatoes and cauliflower.
Proprietor Claudette Gross and her husband Jeffrey have turned an overgrown vacant field into a one-acre flower garden planted with many kinds of almost exclusively annuals: colorful zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, sunflowers and more.
The flower farm is a dream come true, Claudette Gross said. She’s always enjoyed gardening in the Nassau County couple’s small yard, she said. When the opportunity to plant a flower farm presented itself a few years back, she jumped at the chance.
A photographer and homeschooling mom of three — Holly,11, and 7-year-old identical twins Kenny and John — Claudette loves being able to cultivate plants, take photos and teach her children important lessons and skills on the farm.
Claudette and Jeffrey cleared the land and planted flowers there for the first time in 2021. The operation has grown each season and Claudette plans to expand the one-acre cultivated portion of the three-acre parcel next year.
Visitors can select and pick their own bouquets. The cost of a 20-stem bouquet for adults is $35, or 28 stems for $45. Children can pick a 12-stem bouquet for $25. Bouquets include a mason jar.
For guests who are not picking there is a small admission fee: $3 for adults and $2 for children, seniors and veterans. Horton’s flower farm welcomes visitors who just want to stroll around and enjoy the scenic views and quiet time.
The farm offers special packages for school field trips and homeschool excursions, accommodating 10 to 50 students, with guided farm tours, hands-on activities and educational games. The farm’s website has more formation about these and other group activities, including bridal parties, photo sessions and kids nature crafting
Horton’s Flower Farm, located at 712 Horton Avenue, Riverhead, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and then from 4 to 8 p.m. for sunset picking.
Reservations are not required for groups of fewer than 10 people. For larger groups and special group activities, submit an inquiry here.
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