Naked Flower is a specialty cut flower farm nestled between the Pine Barrens and the Jersey Shore owned and operated by me, Norah Langweiler. My thing is flowers with a little extra drama—the kind that are big, ruffled, and a little bit old-fashioned. The ones that make you stop and actually look.

In the spring, I am a literal fool for specialty tulips (truly, an obsession), ruffly ranunculus, and tissue paper poppies. Summer means that easygoing natives, like black-eyed susans, start mingling with the riotous color of zinnias that just take over. And in the fall, the heirloom chrysanthemums blow out into wild ribbons of color.

We’re slowly, slowly turning our small plot into a mini food forest, packed with native plants, perennial edibles, and of course, show-stopping flowers that support pollinators. It’s a constant learning process, and I don’t always get it right.

I run this place on a mix of time-tested, sustainable growing techniques and a pretty hefty dose of experimentation. (What happens if I try this? is a recurring question here). But the goal feels simple, even if the work is hard: to leave this little patch of land better than I found it. More productive, more resilient, and undeniably, heart-stoppingly more beautiful.