Alaska has lured fortune seekers to drill for oil and catch crab, but the latest profit-making industry in the state is flowers, particularly peonies particularly sought by brides and mothers-of-the-bride.

The projected harvest in the state in 2017 is 1 million  roots.  Holland alone sells over 30 million stems in a single month.  The northernmost state in the US has one advantage over all other growers.  Alaska is one of the few places on earth where peonies bloom in July.

Michelle Le Freniere of Chilly Root Peonie Farm in Homer Alaska is excited by the prospect.  She makes compost of fishwaste and seaweed.  Her peonies are pampered princesses.

Due to the extended daylight hours in Alaska during the summer, flowers can grow as big as a human head.  The pink ‘Sarah Bernhardt”. a fragrant, double-petaled bloom, is one of the most popular.  A good entrepreneurial enterprise.  Demand for peonies is rising.