Building a farm from the ground up, twice - With SISU and Celosia.

It was like the beauty of a meteor shower. Profound, bright, with a feeling just beyond the grip of what I could explain if I were asked what I had seen. A feeling so familiar but nothing I had ever witnessed before because each day was a new experience for her, for us. It was Koa’s unmatchable connection to the earth and the flowers that grew from under her tiny fingertips. It was the beginning of Koa’s Flowers.

Our sweet daughter traveled the garden in a baby carrier poking her glowing blue eyes out from under her fuzzy bear hat. Once she started moving, I used the garden boxes to keep her corralled in the back yard while I spaced the flower bulbs and weeded the pepper beds. Her eyes fixed on the vibrant green sprouts that surprised us in the spring welcoming black and white anemones and fritillaria bells that danced in the breeze. Carrying her tiny shovel around the yard she plucked green berries from the blueberry patch and instantly - her face shrunk with terror. Not even the birds chanced the blueberries that time of year but we learned this lesson every week until they were finally blue.

Koa and I found more ways to use flowers to bring color into her world. Learning smells, shapes and flavors- gifting small arrangements for friend’s birthdays, and flower showers to celebrate Koa’s first love. Garden parties from the time she was a year old have been an absolute delight but more and more we realized, Koa loves flowers- because she loves to share them.

I had a lot of late nights in school for cut flower farming and long days building arrangements so I worked on the dinner table to savor every moment with my family. I’d see a little shadow in the corner rustling through the bucket of stems. She reached in and pulled them straight up in the air- “Oh no! That is NOT good!” The water sprinkled across the floor and glistened in her sunshine blonde hair. “It’s ok baby. What did you find”? “Flowers for you, mama”.

I never knew a heart this big could fit in the body of a (then) 3 year old girl.

Gardening was introduced to our family by a trauma counselor years ago after I was hit in a major car accident. I hadn’t known much about it until I sank my hands into the dirt looking for answers on how to heal after such a big life change. Garden therapy ignited that interest - interest grew into wonder - wonder into passion - and passion into a shared love of beauty and healing. Flowers bring everyone together.

Koa’s first steps were in our old Florida “Garden House” where it all began. She greeted the “baby fowursch” each morning and tucked them in at night. She grew the flowers, and the flowers grew with her. It was our paradise. When every ounce of baby advice on google couldn’t get her to sleep, we walked between the blueberry bushes we had planted and smelled the sweet blossoms from a lime tree rescued the season before.

Once we moved to Texas, our family began our tradition of gifting cosmos seeds to our loved ones in times of celebration and new beginnings. What better way to show someone “you are my entire universe” than to give them a hand full of cosmos. It was special to us but we had no idea how monumental that gift was to our loved ones and community. We started growing flowers full time and had made a beautiful set up for ourselves in Texas, but I had the feeling in my heart that that wind was moving us to the place where our roots were meant to be.

That is the beauty of having the courage to start over somewhere new. No matter where we lived, I always wanted Koa to grow up surrounded by seas of petals in a place that we made them grow. Together. Just about a year ago, our family headed East once more… for Huntsville, Alabama. Koa has always loved space, and once I drove by the exit signs for both The Space Museum and The Huntsville Botanical Gardens, I knew it was… a sign.

Koa’s father and I began working on our fixer-upper home right away while planning the garden and cleaning out the space that is now the detached building for my office. It is safe to say, I am never moving again after all of the love and hard work that has gone into Cosmo Cottage. 2025 is near. The Big Three became the resilient two. More life changes, more healing one shovel of compost at a time. Cosmo Cottage is now run by Mama Varis and her tiny gardener Koa Karhu along with our two chubby cats, 7 chickens, 2 black rabbits, and 3 emotionally unstable turkeys.

Our little family has been so blessed to have had all the support for our business and our hearts over the last year. We opened the Cottage in May 2024, endured heart surgeries and broken hearts - construction and destruction, but our phones continue to ring for high school dance orders, photography, and “just because” and special occasion flowers.

Thank you - truly, thank you for believing in us and our business. We hope to be a part of our community for many years to come.

STUDIO SPACE

ON SITE PHOTOGRAPHY
OUR STUDIO IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION UNTIL SPRING 2025 - Please reach out if you’re interested in renting the greenhouse, rose garden, or Cottage Floral Studio for a (small) special occasion or photo sessions.

CONTACT VARIS

One of our farm dogs is not welcoming and does her job to protect her property so please do not arrive without an appointment.