A Mom's Guide to the Flower Fields: The Flower Remedy x Handpicked
A flower nerd with four kids goes to Carlsbad
Hi! I’m Alex, an artist and mother of four in Manhattan Beach, CA. I write a weekly link-list newsletter called Handpicked. I’m a self-described flower nerd and so happy to be guest writing for Kelli today!
When I was a child in Laguna Niguel, CA in the 90’s and early 2000’s, my mother took our family to The Flower Fields in Carlsbad, CA to see the 80 million ranunculus, wherein my flower obsession [ahem] took root. With four kids of my own now, those millions of ranunculus still thrill me as much or more than any amusement park.
*All photos were taken by me on Kodak color film.
A Guide to the Flower Fields with Kids
Our first stop was straight ahead, up the gentle slope to see the vast fields of ranunculus, pictured above. You enter at the south end of the property and travel north throughout the visit. You cannot walk through the rows of flowers, but there are lots of marked areas for group photos. (Not sharing any of those today for my kids’ privacy.)
Next we visited the Artist Garden. If I had to choose a favorite stop, this might be it. It was bursting with spring beauty, including irises and poppies taller than my six year old, flowering arches, and a small aviary with mourning doves. We didn’t want to leave this spot! But the kids were *very* into the scavenger hunt and collecting a stamp at each of the eight flags. The prize was $1 off at the gem mining. Don’t think for a second that those stakes were too low to downgrade their ambition.
When we were ready for a break, we let the kids run around in Santa’s Playground, a veritable fairyland in a sandbox, just as I remembered from my childhood. Don’t ask me where they got the name, there’s nothing Christmasy about it, haha. This is the only photo I can share, but the playground is darling; don’t you love this wonky little pink house!?
On our way to the Sweet Pea Maze, we walked through the Demonstration Garden, full of earth friendly examples for local gardens, crafted by the Masters Gardeners of San Diego County.
After a quick search for four-leaf clovers, it was time for the famous Sweet Pea Maze. We met a lovely gardener named Rodolfo who answered all our questions about sweet peas (thanks to my sister Sarah for chatting in Spanish with him).
Somehow in all our years of visiting, I had never been inside the absolute gobsmacker that is the Orchid Room, right outside the maze. A flower nerd’s paradise.
We spotted a giant green adirondack chair in the middle of a mostly empty flower field, and it was there that I snapped my favorite photos where it looks like you’re standing in the middle of the field. More on that in a minute! (If your inbox cuts you off, click here to see the whole post and the how-to for this picture.)
Our grand finale was the $5 gem mining ($4 if you completed your stamp card). Cheap thrills at their very most wholesome! The sweet volunteers taught the children the spiritual meaning of each stone, like jasper for safe travels, green quartz for empathy and kindness, and tiger’s eye for brain power.
A few other tips and tricks
It’s tempting to go straight ahead toward the crowd and the flowers, but I think we got our best photos at the opposite end. The good news is, there’s no bad place to take a picture at the Flower Fields!
Everything was very accessible with a stroller.
The whole property was exceptionally clean — if you’re familiar with the pristine standard at Disneyland, you will be dazzled.
I recommend going as early in the morning as you can. We went from 10am to 2pm which was lovely, but I wish we could have been early enough to be the first ones in. Next time!
On Mondays, you get one free child ticket with the purchase of one adult ticket. (Monday is blueberry picking day, too, but we couldn’t squeeze that in!)
We brought our own lunch. They have a few food carts, cotton candy and frozen lemonade on the grounds, and the Flower Fields are across the parking lot from the Carlsbad Outlets and lots of restaurants nearby.
And finally, how to get that middle-of-the-flowers photo without trespassing!
Walk all the way to the end of the flower fields. If you’re at the entrance looking up at the fields, it’s to your far left. Look for the giant green adirondack chair in the middle of the flowers, past the orchid greenhouses.
Have your subject stand on the green guest access mat, as close to the flowers as they can.
Go back to the walking path about 10-20 feet. Crouch down to the height of the flowers and voila! Your shot is framed! The lower you get, the more of the green mat will be hidden by ranunculus. Zooming in will also enhance the effect. I shot this on my Canon EOS3 film camera with a 50mm lens, but you can do it on a phone, too.
Thank you so much for having me, Kelli and The Flower Remedy readers!
—xo, alex
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