At a small flower farm in Chapel Hill that abuts the properties where she and her son live, Rebecca Sorensen adds white peonies to a floral arrangement with statice, seeded eucalyptus, and wheat. Next to her open-air studio, her son, Raimee, lays down sheets of black fabric to prevent weeds from growing in a flower bed where he will plant dianthus and snapdragons.

Mother and son Rebecca and Raimee Sorensen grow flowers for one-time deliveries and events as well as a weekly subscription program. photograph by Anna Routh Barzin

Rebecca and Raimee, who has autism and epilepsy, started Blawesome in 2016 to encourage Raimee’s independence and connection to their community. He works on the farm daily and delivers flowers each Wednesday. “When you bring people flowers, their response is always joy,” Rebecca says. “So here’s this young man, he’s taking you flowers, and the response that he gets from the community is, ‘You’re amazing. These are beautiful.’” As a result of his work, Raimee has been able to stop taking anxiety medication, and in the years since founding the business, he has had only one seizure.

“What we really want to promote is not just our beautiful, locally grown product but also the message that just because someone has a disability doesn’t mean they don’t have something beautiful to give back to the world,” Rebecca says. Each week, Raimee delivers that message door-to-door, bouquet by blooming bouquet.

Blawesome
1002 Cane Valley Lane
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
(919) 590-9574
beautifulblawesome.com