Rooted in Flagstaff, Plants are in her Genes

Local grower Amelia Knutson displays the native Arizona "Canyon Grapes" she has been propagating. Photo by Robin Knutson.

by Sarah Edmonds

You’ve probably seen her at markets around town selling her locally grown trees, herbs, native plants, perennials, and garden starts.  Amelia Knutson, owner of Flagstaff Lily of the Field, has farming “genes,” with her paternal great grandparents farming in Kansas and her father running the NAU Research Greenhouse for 20 years.  Her family last name, “Weedman,” although coincidental, is an appropriate description for her current endeavors!

“My paternal great-grandfather immigrated from Germany to Kansas, where his name was changed from Veidman to Weedman. Farming during the Dust Bowl was so difficult that he traveled throughout the Midwest with a combine and a group of men, harvesting crops wherever work was available. During the storms, my great-grandmother hung wet towels and sheets over the windows and doors to keep the dust from blowing into the house.”

As a child, Amelia remembers an alarm going off at their house anytime, day or night, whenever the boiler that heated the NAU greenhouses malfunctioned.  At one point an employee who wanted more overtime was found to be sabotaging the boiler!  “I used to water, weed, and help the graduate students with transplanting.  I learned hands-on skills that you don’t learn in school.”  She went on to get a degree in plant sciences with an emphasis in horticulture from the University of Arizona, and then worked at Native Plant and Seed in Flagstaff for three years before it closed.

“When they closed, I was pregnant with my son. What was left in town were the more traditional retail nurseries.  My husband said, “Why don’t we start a nursery?” and we did in February 2020.  Then Covid hit, and we moved to my father-in-law’s property north of the Peaks where we built our first greenhouse, which later blew over in the spring wind.”

Eventually, they moved back into town and now live at Amelia’s father’s house in Upper Greenlaw, where they built two greenhouses.  They also built a greenhouse at her mother and stepfather’s home in Cosnino, where they are also able to plant some in ground fruit trees.  This allows Amelia to experience various climates in Flagstaff, as well as to conserve resources.  “If you don’t come into the land needed for farming through your family, it’s really difficult to get started as a grower.”

Amelia explains, “I’m pragmatic to a fault.”  She focuses on growing and selling plants that grow well in Flagstaff and also are either edible or have a medicinal use.  For instance, she says her favorite plant to grow in Flagstaff is grapes.  “They are beautiful on fences or growing up the side of houses.  You can eat the leaves, and of course the fruit.  They are such a lush plant that grows well here.  We grow both the native grape and heirloom varieties.”

Interestingly, Amelia notes that as plants are hybridized, valuable qualities are often inadvertently lost along the way.  “When they bred roses to get rid of the thorns, it got rid of the beautiful smell.  There is always a tradeoff when you breed something.”  This applies to grapes as well.  Seedless grapes are less cold tolerant, so she doesn’t sell those.  “Grape seeds are good for your eyesight and digestion.  I just eat them in the grapes—how they were designed to be eaten.”

Since one of my favorite fruits is apricots, I ask Amelia about those.  She says there are 50-year-old apricot trees growing in East Flagstaff!  She grows Navajo apricot trees. Native Americans say that apricot and peach trees have been here for thousands of years, whereas others say the Mormons brought them more recently. “When Kit Carson came through, he slashed and burned thousands of fruit trees.  We are propagating some of the few remaining heirloom trees and reintroducing them back into the community.”  She’s also experimenting with some apricot seeds from Switzerland that are cold hardy down to zone 3B, which is even colder than Flagstaff’s 6A-6B!

One can find Amelia and her selection of native, heirloom, and arid adapted plants at the Flagstaff Mountain Town Market, at The Coconino Master Gardener’s Association Plant sale on May 23, and at the Gardener’s Market she founded at Pine Forest School Saturdays, 9am-1pm, during May and June (except May 23). There are typically four to five vendors at her Gardener’s Market who grow and sell locally adapted varieties of plants. For more information, visit her website at flagstafflily.com.

Sarah Edmonds earned a Home Horticulture Certificate from the University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension in 2024. Gardening Etcetera is written for the community by certified Master Gardeners of the University of Arizona's Coconino County Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program. To learn more visit https://extension.arizona.edu/programs/coconino-county-master-gardener.