About us

A woman in a dark dress is standing outdoors in a garden, holding a large bouquet of white flowers, with greenery and a wooden fence in the background.

Hey! We’re Sarah and Sam from Quayle Cottage. Farming on our urban block in Maitland, NSW right on the edge of the beautiful Hunter Valley wine country.

We live in our little 100 year old cottage with our dog Sullivan, our cat Paddington, and a flock of rainbow egg-laying chickens.

We grow flowers with the seasons, for the designers who appreciate quality, texture, and a bit of quirk. Our passion is hunting down those something special varieties, growing with sustainability in mind, and making life easier for the florists who buy from us.

Our total growing space is only 300 sqm so we are strategic about what we grow, especially since we sell exclusively wholesale to florists. This means we have niched down to growing mainly unusual, character-filled blooms that get floral designers very excited!

Our mains crops are:

  • Corn Cockle (Agrostemma)

  • Pansies (long stemmed)

  • Phlox (Drumundii)

  • Sanguisorba

  • Chocolate Cosmos (atrosanguineus)

  • Windflowers (Japanese Anemone)

  • And of course classics like Foxgloves, Zinnias, and Cosmos.

Everything we grow is cut fresh to order, handled with care, and delivered with a healthy dose of real-person customer service (and maybe a dog hair or two from Sully, our aging but enthusiastic farm assistant).

Get to know us

A man and woman dressed in casual clothes and hats, holding drinks and smiling at each other, standing on a porch at a gathering or celebration.
A small, fluffy baby chick with a flower on its head stands on a wooden surface in front of a bouquet of pink, white, purple, and blue flowers.
A dog lying on the ground under a makeshift shelter made of fabric and thin metal poles, surrounded by greenery.
Close-up of a flowering plant with small, pale pink buds and white flowers against a blurred green background.

Meet Sarah

Chief grower, planner, and spreadsheet enthusiast.
I’m the flower obsessed one starting seeds, mapping out crop rotations, trialling new varieties, and creating new systems to make this flower farming gig as efficient as possible.

Outside of growing I am an antique hoarder, animal lover, book addict (mostly audiobooks so I can multi-task), and full-time desk jockey. I also co-host the Bloommates Podcast, where myself and Katie from Grown by Lightning Hollows chat all things flower farming and running a small business; and I’m the “Grower Wrangler” of The Harvest, our flower hub where florists collect their orders from local growers and catch up over a cuppa.

Meet Sam

Shovel swinging expert, photographer, irrigation manager, and delivery driver.
Sam is the reason we have beautiful photos of our blooms. He also makes sure everything works; from the infrastructure that keeps the flowers alive to the logistics that get them to florists each week. You might see him on the snips as well if we’re harvesting Corn Cockle or Zinnias (those are his faves to cut).

The story behind our name

Our little cottage was built in 1927 by Ted & Mary Quayle, who by all accounts would love that we’ve turned it back into an urban farm. So we named both the property and our business after them.

  • A pale pink zinnia flower with multiple layers of petals, surrounded by green leaves against a dark background.

  • Close-up of dark red and brown flowers with green stems and leaves, blurred background.

  • Three potted flowering plants, with pink, purple, and white blossoms, arranged on a surface against a white shiplap wall, partially obscured by out-of-focus foliage in the foreground.

  • Close-up of delicate, light pink and white witches thimbles with small, elongated buds and thin stems, set against a blurred dark green background.

  • Close-up of a cluster of white lavender flowers.

  • Close-up of colorful pansy flowers in a garden

  • A hand holding a bouquet of white flowers with green stems, in front of a blurred background of green foliage.