After several experiments with growing a wide variety of flowers, the Cooks decided on rice flowers, believing that they were very hardy natives that could cope with dry weather without much irrigation. “Our first harvest consisted of 13 boxes, and we never got paid for them, “Esther says. “Our agent went bankrupt. “Now the Cooks have over 35 acres of rice flowers at Helidon, with around 320, 000 stems being sold in 1999.
