A Matriarch’s Legacy Flowers in the Mountains
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(Photo by Ian Layugan)
In March, the temperature can drop to zero. The municipality is 50 kilometers away from Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines, and Atok is among the coldest municipalities in Benguet. For travelers bound to other parts of Benguet or to Sagada in Mountain Province, Atok is known simply as “Stopover,” where buses and passenger vans park for a toilet break or for snacks. Cafes, eateries, restaurants and food stalls flank the streets.
“Temperature now is probably negative,” a farmer told me, but he said a meteorologist has challenged this idea and said it’s not possible in this area of the Philippines. I understand the farmer. Snow does not fall in the Philippines, but the cabbages get frost during the first quarter of the year. Heads of cabbages bob up from the earth like hard green bubbles, and they glisten with fractals of ice.
“It could easily have been dew,” one of the farmers said. “But it turned into andap”—frost.
Later at around six, the proprietor and head of all operations, Lany Ganayan, joined us. Wearing an oversized gray jacket and striped gloves, she was balancing a mug in her hands, warming her face with the coffee’s steam. When she spoke, she was a burst of energy, equally uplifting as the crawling sunrise.
“The trucks had to leave very early to deliver flowers to clients in Manila,” she said. I asked her if she gets enough rest. “This has been my routine for many years already. I take rests throughout the day, but rest could be difficult since we opened the farm for tourism.”
True enough, some visitors to her farm were already gathered around the entrance, clad in heat tech and scarves. Some holding their phones and cameras. Lany waved at them and directed them to areas where they could capture the best landscapes and backgrounds for potential profile photos.
From Northern Blossom, one can see Mt. Pulag, the highest peak in Luzon, as well as Mt. Timbak and Mt. Tabayoc, two mountains that are among the highest above sea levels in the Philippines. The sun sidled majestically among these at the break of dawn.
“Sunrise and sunset are the most beautiful time of the day on this farm,” she said. “When the colors are slowly revealed, that’s when you understand how amazing God is.”
‘Forced tourism’
On Instagram, the geotag for Northern Blossom boasts hundreds of photos of tourists surrounded by the cut flowers that Benguet is known for. Vibrant blooms flourish even on the roadsides. Gladiola, aster and alstroemeria, carnations, baby’s breath, snapdragons and sunflowers, and white calla lilies among others.
Flowers in Northern Blossom Flower Farm are rare because they thrive in Atok’s temperate weather. Atok is one of the coldest municipalities in the Philippines (photo by Ian Layugan).
In 2018, the crew of a well-known TV program contacted the tourism and agriculture coordinator in Atok. They wanted to visit the farm and potentially feature it. “The farm had been the same since we worked on it,” Lany shared. “It’s a humble farm. I wondered what made people want to visit it, let alone feature it on TV.”
She had been very busy, managing the farm and meeting a large clientele’s demands. Knowing that it is also an opportunity for more people to be acquainted with her beloved Atok, she obliged.
The story was aired soon after. One time, sleeping at dawn after the delivery trucks left for Manila, she was awakened shortly by knocks on her door. When she opened it, she was greeted by two mothers and their very young children, asking to see the garden.
“The mothers wanted to show their children what a flower farm looks like,” she recalls. “I was moved, so I showed them around. At the end of the tour, one of the children told me that one day, when he is grown and has children of his own, he will bring them to the farm to show them about it, too.” Lany took this as a sign to open Northern Blossom to the public.
“If you think about it, it was forced tourism,” Lany shared. She and her husband, Nardo Ganayan, are well-known among event organizers and stylists in the greater Manila circuit. Her shop, Northern Blossom Flower Shop in Sampaloc, Manila, has supplied some of the most mesmerizing flowers used in unforgettable setups or designs during events. The business is lucrative, and she was well-adjusted to the work and the routines.
She knew that managing a flower farm for tourism will not be a cakewalk. But as more visitors dropped by her doorstep unannounced, Lany understood that this was not just about the leisure and pleasure that tourism bestows upon guests. It is more about what the place represented. After all, people are willing to travel for hours just to see her flower farm.
Lany and her family opened Northern Blossom Flower Farm to the public in April 2018. They did not envision it as a tourist spot despite the silent fame it had received over the years. Neither did they expect the farm to become a cornerstone of garden or floral tourism in the Cordilleras and in the Philippines.
Swiftly, Northern Blossom Flower Farm became a site of interest for local and international tourists and bloggers or social media influencers. More importantly, it started an essential tourism conversation.
Proud farmer
The case of Northern Blossom is very interesting and unique. It opened to cater to demand, but it did not have to go through a lot of physical preparations and infrastructural changes. The gardens were opened to the public as they were. It is this genuine charm that endeared the farm to many visitors.
Not maximally amplified and humbly instated, it is the first of its kind in the Cordilleras, possibly even, for the Philippines. It was a fresh concept. Years of farming practice, knowledge and labor were finally being shared with everyone.
Since Benguet is known as the “Salad Bowl of the Philippines,” garden tourism is a defining industry for the province. Economically, it established Atok not just as a stopover. Hundreds of tourists visiting Northern Blossom opened more income and employment opportunities, such as transportation, food and beverage, accommodations and tour assistance.
Farming is a communal activity (not to be confused with communal farming) that also involves communal knowledge and pride. For Lany, Northern Blossom gave an opportunity for locals to show ownership of their farming practices and the types of plants and vegetables they grow. Yet, Atok’s cold temperature provided a great opportunity for Lany and other farmers to breed flowers that can only be grown in other countries where there is winter.
Lany Ganayan and the author, holding mugs of Benguet coffee while waiting for the sunset. Pictured in 2021, when the farm was undergoing landscaping during the height of the pandemic. Mt. Pulag can be seen behind them (Photo courtesy of Ian Layugan).
Lany also equates farming with mothering, sharing that many among her staff are women, and some of them are mothers. “Farming is like raising children because we nourish our plants and crops in ways that we raise our children—with close attention, care and love. Farms bring food to our tables and have paid for many children’s education.” Lany, herself a mother, has also extended this role to other youngsters in the neighborhood.
Many teenagers work in Northern Blossom during their free time on the weekends as tour guides and photographers for hire. They earn good tips and make good friends. During my visits, some of them told me about how they were able to afford small luxuries like smartphones and clothes as fruits of their work in Northern Blossom. They all hang out around Lany during their break, talking about visitors they have guided, or about farming.
Some of the seedlings planted in Northern Blossom were imported from Japan, flowering plants that can only grow and bloom in temperate areas. Northern Blossom also has the viral rose cabbages—ornamental hybrid species with a beautiful shade of deep pink or purple.
Viral blooms. The famed rose cabbages in Northern Blossom in Atok went viral when they were used to adorn weddings in the Philippines (photo by Ian Layugan).
“The cabbage roses are unique,” said Eleazar Carias, Provincial Tourism Officer of Benguet Province. “Lany and other farmers planted and grew flower varieties that are not common to the Philippines or to the North. They bridge the gap between the floral needs of the industry. No need to import or look abroad for these ‘exotic’ flowers. They are now grown in Northern Blossom.”
Lany has enlisted the help of the Department of Tourism in Benguet. Training and workshops have been held for her and her staff. These included guest management, tour guiding and communication skills development. Many guests have also raved about the photography skills of Northern Blossom’s tour guides. “Employing local tour guides is essential because they know which views are important to include in a shot,” Lany said.
“Tourists like to see how flowers and vegetables are being planted, grown and harvested. Farmers in Benguet farm tourism do not need to only show the harvesting part,” Carias added. “Northern Blossom did a very important job in bridging the need of the public to see the farm genuinely for how it is.
“Tourists can be shown other aspects of farming: the routines of farmers which start with waking up in the morning at dawn, drinking coffee and working on the farm until sunrise, when they go back home for dinner and a brief rest. After which, farmers have to visit their farms for a bit before calling it a day.”
A little before six in the evening, Lany would make herself a steaming cup of coffee or tea. She would bring this to the top floor of her humble home to watch the sunset. This has been her evening routine starting when she came to Atok to rear a family, manage their farm, raise flowers and now nurture this august site (photo by Ian Layugan).
“What we build could be our biggest legacy,” Lany told me in the Kankana-ey language. “When we build with our hands and put our life into our work, it is important to share it with other people, too.”
Ian Layugan hails from Baguio City and is currently based in Gunma Prefecture, Japan where he works with the Kiryu City Board of Education under the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme. He has written for Rappler and has led research projects for Oxfam, Asmae International, and the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore. Follow him on Instagram/Twitter at @ijlayugan.
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