Kori Hargreaves

Dawn Creek Farm

Kori Hargreaves is the owner, heart, and hands behind Dawn Creek Farm. Her contemplative, creative work in plant breeding over the last decade has brought Dawn Creek Zinnias into the world, and inspired flower lovers in her wider community to save seeds and start their own flower breeding journeys along the way. In 2024, her blooming seed friendship and unfurling, multi-year collaborations with Erin Benzakein of Floret carried a tide of luminous, never-before-seen new zinnia varieties, the Floret Originals, to gardens and farms around the globe. She lives and farms in the Santa Cruz Mountains with her family, where, alongside raising her son, she devotes herself to tending myriad plant friends and evoking and stewarding new open pollinated varieties. She is currently hosting Zinnia Circle, an online community membership where zinnia lovers and budding flower breeders can gather to share spacious, care-filled conversations, and exchange experiences, inquiry, and inspiration.

Show Notes

  1. Kori is currently focused on creating new varieties of zinnias along with a few other specialty flowers.

  2. We discussed inbreeding depression, a challenge in flower breeding—especially with zinnias—and how crossing varieties can help strengthen new generations.

  3. Single flower traits are highly dominant and will continue to appear unless removed, so it’s important to pull those blooms early to protect your selected traits.

  4. When choosing which zinnias to grow, consider who you're growing for. Pastel tones may appeal to wedding florists, while brighter, bolder colors are perfect for farmers markets.

  5. Harvest timing is key. Cutting zinnias at the right stage helps ensure longer vase life for your customers—don’t cut too early.

  6. We also talked about a few other great flowers for specialty cuts, including species glads, agrostemma, and leucocoryne.

  7. Saving seed plays an important role in preserving our horticultural heritage and supporting open-pollinated flower varieties.

  8. Finally, Kori reminds us that it’s important to grow what lights you up. Not every flower has to bring you joy—but be sure to include some that do.