Kapenaker Blooms, in the Moselle region, is a flower farm that beckons with local and seasonal blooms. You won’t find big, fancy flowers here. Instead, Stefanie Hildebrand grows delicate, native flora. Visitors can cut and arrange flowers themselves, even draw them. Drop by for an all-round sensory experience!

The term “slow flowers” does not refer to slowly growing flowers. Rather, it alludes to blooms that encourage us to view, pick and use them mindfully. To notice the beauty of seemingly unremarkable plants. Seasonal, cut flowers grown outdoors thus become a sustainable alternative to their greenhouse counterparts.

Inspired by the slow flower movement in Germany, Stefanie Hildebrand created a flower farm on her 1000 square meter property near Wormeldange. Here in Kapenaker, she’s been tending fields and flower beds for the past three years. Most plants seem dainty and pastel-coloured. Some pop. That’s nature! You’ll find flowers like dahlias and cosmos that remind Stefanie of her childhood. She imports the seeds from the UK. All around, bees buzz and butterflies flutter.

“The more I cut the flowers, the more they grow back. It’s ideal!” says Stefanie Hildebrand and laughs. She strolls through the furrows around the barn and old farm house. The barn is being renovated. “It stood empty for 100 years, like sleeping beauty’s slumber,” she explains. The farm itself wasn’t run as an active farmstead very long. Today, she wants to breathe new life into this place. It was love at first sight when she first saw it but it would take a few years until it would be up for sale. She just knew that this is where she wanted to start her new business. Leave the city for a country adventure. “I want to have fun here for the next 30 years!” says Stefanie, beaming.

Soon, this place will hold many slow flower events: drop by to explore and cut your favourite flowers. Head to the airy, modern annex, modelled on the barn, to arrange them in beautiful vases. Why not enjoy a delicious picnic with local products underneath the big walnut tree? Or let an artist teach you how to draw flowers on paper or canvas? Anyone who loves flowers and nature can participate: children, adults, individuals, couples, families, work teams!

Both visitors and nature should be happy. That’s why Stefanie uses a permaculture approach. She doesn’t dig up the ground. Instead, she consistently adds new layers including organic compost. “I work with what’s there!” she says. Monoculture is out of the question. To help bees, butterflies and insects in general, which is also one of her goals, she doesn’t use pesticides. The whole endeavour is a lot of work of course. “Making the ground arable took time,” she says. And the work never stops. In the summer, Stefanie set up a tent on the property. She sleeps here on hot days to start bright and early without wasting time on commuting.

Stefanie is committed to personal growth. Originally a teacher and communication coach, she now works with nature and networks with fellow nature lovers like the “The Green Fingers” group. She also develops relationships with artists and craftsmen to continuously develop this project. She wants to offer more workshops. “I want to showcase nature! How everything comes and goes,” she explains. Drawing these flowers under the guidance of an artist then becomes both a cultural and sensory experience.

Long-term, Stefanie plans to build a cosy bed and breakfast next to the flower farm. Why not have a country wedding in a sea of beautiful flowers? Here, on Kapenaker Farm, ideas grow as strongly as the flowers!