Events

Hello!

It’s the moment we wait for all winter - the arrival of the Peonies!

With 2000 plants of 100 cultivars planted, our peony fields in bloom are a sight to behold. We moved and replanted over 400 plants this Fall-Winter, to consolidate all the peonies into the same area, as well as planting 8 new varieties.

As the first peonies opened, this year Sunny Girl and Rubra Plena, we start to plan to open our Gardens for our annual Peony Festival. While we have many plans for what to offer as we grow, we are excited to partner with a local vendor to offer a Peony English Tea this year. (All the details below)

In the past, we have done a Sip & Stroll, which was extremely popular, but sourcing individual, quality wines had become challenging, and not everyone wanted wine, so we are moving away from the Sip & Stroll at this time.

We still invite you to stroll in our Gardens and Peony Fields! There’s loads to see, including all the new garden spaces. Please keep in mind we are still actively building our gardens, and so you will see unfinished garden beds, and some areas that are being renovated (English Garden). You will also see weeds, the unhappy by-product of moving as much soil around, as well as disturbing weed seed banks through the various projects we are undergoing.

Below, I will provide the dates, times and details for when you are able to visit us. We are not using our 3rd party ticket site for this event, to save the fees associated with that. Tickets just to stroll the Gardens will be available in our Garden Shop only. For the Tea’s being offered, reservations and payment must be secured in advance.

Please also kindly remember: we have no control over bloom cycles, bloom times, and when flowers choose to open. We do our best every year to plan this event to take place over the ‘best’ bloom cycle. We will never have the entirety of our field in bloom “at once”, as that is impossible with peonies that have an Early, Mid, and Late season bloom time. We cannot guarantee or promise what will be in bloom. Your best bet to see maximum blooms is end of May, into early June. We’ve had seasons that blooms went for 6 weeks, to one particularly difficult season where first to last bloom flushed in less than 2 weeks. Please know that Mother Nature is difficult to predict, and has a mind of her own. As well, we can’t predict when Mt. Rainier will be visible. Yes, we have stunning views of the mountain on our property. When the mountain is out, it is incredible. We hope you get to see that when you visit, but the weather is again, unpredictable, and this event is held rain or shine.

It is a treat to have access to ‘behind the scenes’ of a flower farm, and comes with the burden of insurance costs, which have skyrocketed, as well as mounting costs to keep our spaces safe and presentable for visitors. Farms are not known to be the prettiest places, they are often messy, disheveled, and always have areas needing improvement. We are working every day, hard, to improve the quality of our gardens, and appreciate your grace as we work through the growing pains of converting a former dairy and horse pasture into botanical gardens. Why do I even have to say all of this? Sadly, we get ugly comments every year. I’m a pretty tough person, and can handle a lot, but this farm and these gardens are my literal life blood, sweat and tears, and it hurts to have people say unkind things when they visit. Sometimes right to my face, or to my employees, and it’s mean. I’m pretty candid about the challenges we face: weather cycles, climate patterns shifting, extreme wind conditions which wreak havoc, weeds out of control, insect and disease pressures. We are constantly in a state of dealing with the aftermath of one issue after or another, or working to avoid issues. We are an incredibly small team managing a large property, and don’t have time to weed every single weed out all day, and frankly, don’t need to hear about it. Thank you for your kindness, and visiting us in spite of not being perfect.

All of this being said, we are thrilled to open our gardens again for visitors, feels like it’s been a while, and I hope you are all excited to see our new spaces as well. As usual, we will not be allowing outside pets in our gardens, for the safety of our on-site pets, as well as for all visitors. Please leave your dogs at home, as temps can change quickly, and cars are not safe places to leave animals on a warm day. We are also a strict no-smoking, no-vaping, no-chewing of tobacco, marijuana or any other substances on the entirety of our property. This includes our parking lot area. All visitors agree to stay on walking areas, and out of any planted areas, areas designated for plants/off the plants. This includes for selfies, or any type of photo taking. Finally, our grounds are uneven. We have multiple surfaces for walking, which include concrete walkways, stone paths, gravel areas, dirt, and grass. We are working to make the walking areas more even, but the field is: a field, which has uneven surfaces, it being a grass field. Wear appropriate shoes, and please use caution.

2023 Offerings

Dates and Times:

Friday, May 26: 11am-4pm

Saturday, May 27: 11am-4pm

Thursday, June 1: 11am-4pm

Friday, June 2: 11am-4pm

Saturday, June 3: 11am-4pm

Thursday, June 8: 11am-4pm

Friday, June 9: 11am-4pm

Garden Visit Only: $25 per person

This ticket will give you entrance into our hedged gardens, to tour the fountain garden, courtyard area, the new wedding and vista gardens, down into the peony fields.

Areas not included: Cutting Garden and Dahlia tunnels will not be open for visitors.

Tickets available in the Garden Shop, available all dates listed above.

You may bring in picnic items to enjoy in the gardens, however our courtyard table seating will be for Peony Tea reservations only. (See below)

The following items are required to reserve and pay in advance. We are sorry, but the nature of these items do not allow us to offer cancellations or refunds. No exceptions. Prices listed are per person. We have 3 table sizes available for your party: 2, 4, or 6-8. Tables are for reserved parties only. Each reservation will be for 1.5 hours at the following times:

11:30am, 1:00pm, and 2:30pm

To secure your Peony Tea Reservation: Email Amy at: info@laughinggoatfarm.com with your name, phone number, email, number in your party, which tea you would like, and date/time. You will get an email confirmation, as well as a Square invoice to secure your reservation. Your reservation will be complete once you have paid the invoice. No reservation is secure until payment has been made. 

We are unable to offer any substitutions to the menu offered, or any dietary requests. Our apologies, but our vendor is also a small business, and cannot accommodate beyond what is available. Cream Tea & Peony Dainty Luncheon reservations must be made the Sunday prior to the dates chosen.

Cream Tea: $40 per person*

*Reservation and Payment Required to Secure (see above)

This ticket will give you entrance into our hedged gardens, to tour the fountain garden, courtyard area, the new wedding and vista gardens, down into the peony fields.

Areas not included: Cutting Garden and Dahlia tunnels will not be open for visitors.

Also included:

Table reservation for a personal teapot with choice of tea, a single scone with cream, jam and lemon curd. Water will be provided for the table.

Peony Dainty Luncheon: $60 per person*

*Reservation and Payment Required to Secure (see above)

This ticket will give you entrance into our hedged gardens, to tour the fountain garden, courtyard area, the new wedding and vista gardens, down into the peony fields.

Areas not included: Cutting Garden and Dahlia tunnels will not be open for visitors.

Also included:

Table reservation for a personal teapot with choice of tea, an assortment of 4 tea sandwiches, Orzo Pea salad, served with a scone with toppings. Fresh fruit garnish and seasonal dessert are also included. Water will be provided for the table. (Sandwich options may include: chicken salad, egg salad, cucumber, ham & cheese)

Please let us know if you are a larger size group and would like accommodations made for your party, as we can make arrangements on a different date/time that would work if we are booked on the above dates. We do not charge extra for ‘private’ tea parties during our Peony Bloom, all applicable rates stated above would apply. This is available by reservation only.