Lily Bruder-Zal ’04 Cultivating the Art of Flower Farming

Acquired by Bruder-Zal in 2016, the farm sits on a 35-acre former apple orchard in Highland, New York. There, she nurtures flowers—some rare and unusual—and markets them through several outlets such as Hudson Valley Flower Collective, Molly Oliver Flowers, Emily Thompson Flowers, and Fox Fodder Flowers. She employs up to five staff workers in the high season, including local art students.

Growing up in the south of France, Bruder-Zal developed an artist’s appreciation for the beauty of that region. Later, she worked intensively in landscape design for businesses, homes, and community gardens in Brooklyn and Manhattan. But it was her immersion in the Sculpture and Printmaking programs at Purchase College that taught her to think wide open.

“Purchase shaped what I do in a lot of ways. Just the campus—being in that piece of nature gave me opportunities to think about the intersection of human work in the natural space,” says Bruder-Zal.

“We were encouraged to use the campus as a canvas and to take an idea to completion. Having an art school background makes you versatile. You’re willing to try a lot of different materials and accept feedback.”

Bruder-Zal cultivates her flowers with a balanced approach, ensuring the preservation of biodiversity across the ecosystem’s woodlands, wetlands, and grazing meadows.

She and her husband and life partner Isaac Zal ’04 (Visual Arts) live on the farm along with their two children and 15 “fairly rugged” sheep.

Bruder-Zal says there are challenges as well as rewards with owning and operating a flower farm. “Agriculture requires patience. It doesn’t follow the same kind of consumer cycle as other occupations,” she says.

“It’s slow and physically demanding. But that is also what is most rewarding. I feel lucky to use my body in the outdoor space to bring about life. It feels like a huge gift.”