As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers. December showers, it turns out, can bring financial ruin for commercial flower farmers in Alaska.
A rain event last winter caused widespread loss to peony stock among Alaska growers.
“We had snow early on, and then things warmed up, and then it started raining, and everything melted,” said Mike Flores, with Alyeska Farms on West Poppy Lane off K-Beach Road.” I have photos of our fields. They're completely underwater, flooded and, you know, the ground was frozen. There's nowhere for the water to go, so it just sits there, and the peonies drowned.
Alyeska Farms, established in 2018, had 10 acres planted with about 60,000 peonies in 2024. By spring of 2025, Flores estimates he’d lost nearly 20,000 plants — about a third of his stock. Of the plants that did sprout again, many were stunted and didn’t produce buds. From his research, Flores thinks those roots are dying, as well.
“Learning more and talking to the University of Fairbanks (Cooperative Extension Service), those miniatures, they're basically, they're dead. They're on their way out. And they're not going to ever produce a stem again,” he said.
The farm does wholesale orders. Between the flooding and a hard Frost May 31, Flores says they didn’t end up shipping anything last year.
In Nikiski, Barbara Dahl of Northern Bloom Peonies suffered through the same December rain.
“We had our snow, and that was great, but then it warmed up in December, and rained a lot, and, you know, it got into the soil. Peonies don't like what we call wet feet, and so the crown got, you know, soggy and mushy,” she said.
Dahl said she lost between 60 and 70 percent of her plants, which meant losing about 50 percent of her business last year. She didn’t do any wholesale shipping and didn’t open the farm to you-pick, as she normally does. She did still fulfill her flower subscriptions, and went to a couple farmer’s markets. But that was it.
Farms across the Kenai Peninsula, and farther afield in Alaska, suffered a similar fate from adverse weather events. But a failed crop doesn’t have to mean a failed farm, with a new financial assistance program. The Alaska Division of Agriculture got $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency through the 2025 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act to help stabilize Alaska’s peony industry. Money will be distributed to eligible farmers who lost peony rootstock due to weather events in 2023 or 2024.
“We have been communicating with our peony industry on that in developing this program. And so it's targeted specifically for peony growers that have suffered crop partial or full loss of their peony roots from January 1, 2023, through December 31 2024,” said Mia Kirk, a natural resource manager with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Agriculture.
The disaster relief program was developed to support farmers where they need it most — financial help for purchasing and replanting new peony rootstock. And help to offset future economic loss, since new rootstock can take three years to produce flowers.
“We are different up here, so it was good to have some flexibility working with FSA and making sure we're meeting all of their requirements per the grant, as well as making sure we're meeting industry needs. So it's a win-win, I feel,” Kirk said.
The application deadline is May 15. The program can reimburse farmers who already purchased new rootstock or help those still wanting to replant.
Flores says he’s going to replant, and he’s trying to use this experience to make the farm more resilient in the future. He’s learned the importance of good drainage, for one thing. He took a page from farmers in Holland and bought equipment to rip the fields in the fall after harvest, gouging deep furrows in the ground to help channel water away from the flower beds. He also augers holes through the frost layer to help water drain down to the gravel below. That all helped with the rain in 2024, but wasn’t enough. He’s now looking at installing French drains and other improvements.
And he’s researching peony varieties that do better in wet conditions. His pink Sarah Bernhardts and white Duchess de Nemours did great. His Coral Charms, Bridal Showers and Florence Nicholls all died.
“So we're learning that, you know, there's certain varieties not to plant in Alaska, and unfortunately, we had to be part of that trial,” Flores said.
The Division of Agriculture will divvy the available funding among eligible applicants. Depending on the need, the funds might not cover all replanting costs for all farmers, but Flores says any support will help get his business growing again.
“Anything we get will be appreciated so much because it'll help to put roots back in the ground, and make us a better farm. I mean, the more flowers we have, the more people I can hire during the summer for harvest and cultivation,” Flores said.
More information can be found at the Division of Agriculture’s website, drn.alasak.gov/ag under the Hot Topics heading.
