Floraponics grows cut flowers through aquaponics, using a fish-, bacteria- and plant-based closed-loop system to develop more sustainable floriculture. Co-founded by attorney and flower farmer Sarah Daken and neuroscientist Tom Precht, the Poolesville operation runs a 30-by-60-foot greenhouse and commercial-scale aquaponics system. Its research has demonstrated more than 20 flower varieties and produced what the company identifies as the world’s first aquaponic dahlia blooms.
van Hoekelen Greenhouses, IncSince 1988, family-owned van Hoekelen Greenhouses has grown seasonal flowering plants and bulbs for wholesale customers nationwide, earning a reputation as the largest bulb grower on the East Coast. Based in McAdoo, Pennsylvania, the company now operates 23 acres under glass across three locations, with a second generation of the van Hoekelen family working in the business. Owner and CEO Lori van Hoekelen makes VHG a woman-owned business, while her husband Cok brings horticultural experience rooted in his family’s bulb farm in Holland.MCADOO, PA
Scheiderer FarmsOn the same Marysville farm worked by four generations of the Scheiderer family, Scheiderer Farms grows flowering plants and runs a family-owned garden center. Keith and Candi Scheiderer opened the greenhouse 27 years ago, and the business is best known for its carefully grown hanging baskets, including its exclusive Basket Bud collection. The farm remains a working family operation, with relatives growing field crops and raising cattle alongside the greenhouse.MARYSVILLE, OH
District FarmsDistrict Farms grows leafy greens year-round in a high-tech, hydroponic greenhouse on a 40-acre site in Frederick, Maryland. Its indoor closed-loop system uses over 90% less water than conventional farming, while local distribution can put greens on tables the same day they are harvested. The locally owned farm grows without pesticides or herbicides and uses sensors to monitor growing conditions from seed through harvest.FREDERICK, MD
BrightFarmsFounded in 2011, BrightFarms grows leafy greens indoors in hydroponic greenhouses, bringing pesticide-free lettuce and spinach from regional farms to grocery stores in as little as a day. Its four greenhouse farms use controlled conditions, recirculated water and sunlight to produce fresh greens year-round while using less water than traditional field growing. The company’s regional footprint includes a 480,000-square-foot Illinois greenhouse producing about six million pounds annually.IRVINGTON, NY