PEOPLE OF THE COAST • Craig Scott
CRAIG SCOTT WORDS MEGAN ARKINSTALL
Wild at heart
EAST COAST WILDFLOWERS OWNER CRAIG SCOTT MIGHT BE MILD IN MANNER, BUT HE IS WILD AT HEART. THE MANGROVE MOUNTAIN WILDFLOWER GROWER IS A WELL-RESPECTED LEADER IN AN INDUSTRY WHERE NATIVE BLOOMS HAVE WELL AND TRULY MADE A RESURGENCE.
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hen asked what the most challenging part of growing flowers is, Craig replies, ‘the hours!’ His working week starts on a Sunday, when they harvest and bunch some of the 50 varieties of Australian wildflowers growing on his 50-acre Mangrove Mountain farm. He wakes at 10 pm three times a week to travel to the Sydney Flower Market, where he dons a fluro vest to pack, ship and bunch up flowers to sell from 5 am. Back at the farm, he works until afternoon before finally having a sleep. It’s an ongoing process. ‘In season’, he says, ‘we are forever picking.’ It takes more than coffee to get through; growing flowers is in Craig’s blood and he is truly passionate about it. He is a fourthgeneration flower grower. His great grandfather, ‘Robbo’, used to pick and sell wildflowers at Sutherland train station in the 1920s; his grandfather grew traditional flowers, and his grandmother owned a florist shop in Sutherland, whereas his father, Col Scott, grew flowers at Menai all his working life. Craig's daughter, Bess, who owns a florist shop in Paddington, is now the fifth generation in the flower business. Although he also studied horticulture, it was on his father Col’s farm that Craig learnt a great deal about the flower business — growing them, harvesting them, selling them. He recalls going bush with his dad to forage for wildflowers: ‘we would climb trees and pick gumnuts. I had a real passion for wildflowers.’ Indeed, they are outdoor people at heart — his father enjoyed rock climbing and Craig enjoys hiking in his spare time. Thirty-two years ago Craig and his wife moved to the Mangrove Mountain property that his dad was running. Craig describes him as the backbone of the business. Initially they grew traditional flowers like dahlias and asters, but eventually they cleared the land and decided to focus on native wildflowers. Col was one of the first to sell flowers like Gymea lillies, and his passion for native plants was soon caught by Craig. ‘Natives are such a beautiful juxtaposition between the delicate and rugged,’ he says.
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94 COAST
