A pop-up stand powered by friendship and connection sells flowers from Hmong family farms

As sure as the sun shines in August, dahlias crown summer with dazzling blooms. This year’s display is a glorious and familiar when so much is still off kilter. 

For more than 30 years, from early August to frost, Hmong flower farmers fill Pike Place Market stands with buckets of dahlias. Few people know that the Hmong grow and harvest the floral bounty they sell in their daystalls. During a typical growing season visiting tourists, cruise ship passengers and locals willing to navigate the crowds, snap pictures of the lavish display as they shop from a rainbow of blossoms.

But there’s nothing typical about the 2020 growing season.

Tara Clark calls herself a Human Connectivity Conservationist. As a professional photographer and social entrepreneur, the former Peace Corps volunteer believes in people, preserving stories and supporting community. Action and heart are her currency.

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GROW in the Seattle Times