Footy player turned Barossa flower farmer
Wade Kingsley has enjoyed many diverse careers, from an AFL player to a scuba diving instructor; Elle Macpherson’s personal assistant to an army officer. But it’s his latest career – that of flower grower – that has been his most transformative.
Wade Kingsley softly lifts the petal of a dahlia, its colour a vibrant pinkish-red. “This one’s called Carlos Watermelon,” Wade, 46, tells me. “It’s my favourite at the moment.”
Wade has surprised me with a petit bouquet of the flower variety, freshly cut from his quarter-acre patch in Marananga, Barossa Valley.
The gorgeous round blooms of a Burgundy Ball dahlia.
He might not look like your typical florist – at least, the self-described “older guy with a white beard” doesn’t think so – but Wade is deep in the dirt building his floristry business, The Hidden Flower Farm, which he launched late last year.
Turning to floristry has been one hell of a tree change for the former Australian Defence Force Officer, whose Army career was cut short following a debilitating injury he sustained during a combat exercise in 2019.
“I was working for a battalion that was in a state of readiness; nearly 700 troops constantly at a point to deploy overseas,” he says. “It was a highly intensive role, not just for me, but for everyone in the battalion, and it was in the height of Covid which added huge complexity.
“Being so invested and committed to work, for things to turn on its head … was incredibly challenging. Dealing with not only the physical injuries but also the mental health side of it, I really had to focus on that. That’s where flowers really helped, in that space.”
While Wade prefers not to divulge the specifics of his injury (nor the role itself), repercussions were significant. He was suddenly housebound, not only because it was peak-Covid times but because he was so restricted in his movement. So he began tending to his plants.
Known as Mr Dahlia, Wade Kingsley operates The Hidden Flower Farm in the Barossa Valley, with his main patch growing at the Marananga School precinct.
“Gardening was something that really resonated with me,” he says, describing it as “meditative”. “Just the peace that came with it, was really quite special. It’s finding that mindset for yourself, to work through things, or not – to just be in the moment.”
To understand how Wade could pivot from soldier to flower guy, it helps to look back at his remarkable life and career paths before the Army, which includes dabbles with Australian Rules Football and work for the rich and famous.
The youngest of five kids, and a twin, Wade grew up and went to school in the Barossa Valley. He and his twin brother, Kent, were drafted to play AFL for the North Melbourne Kangaroos at the end of high school in 1996, but he was only on their list for a couple of years.
“I didn’t perform how I would have liked to,” he says. “I played in the SANFL U19 premiership that year as well and was loving my footy as a junior; I just didn’t enjoy it as much at that competitive level.”
Shortly after, Wade landed what many young lads would consider a dream gig: the personal assistant to Australian supermodel, Elle MacPherson, though he doesn’t rush to drop The Body’s name into conversation.
“Two of my brothers were working for a family in the UK, and I was lucky enough to take on a role with the same family,” says Wade. “She (Elle MacPherson) was an Australian model and he (Arkie Busson) was a Swiss banker, so they were a very busy family, and they ended up having two kids while we were working for them.
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Some of Wade’s beautiful floral arrangements.
“I was (Elle’s) personal assistant and managed her day-to-day; she travelled for work and I’d escort her around as a chauffeur and somewhat personal security … mainly based out of the UK, but also Scotland and Spain, and the Bahamas. We got to meet some interesting people.”
Non-disclosure agreements mean Wade can’t share too many details, but it was “pretty interesting to be part of that circle”.
While working in the Bahamas, Wade studied marine biology (simply because it was a personal interest) and completed his scuba diving masters, which would ultimately lead to his becoming a scuba diving instructor back home in Australia, on the Great Barrier Reef. By 2007 he was working for the Department of Fisheries in Western Australia and, in addition, began working for NORFORCE, a surveillance division within the Australian Army.
“They operate pretty much between Broome and Cairns, monitoring the coastlines for illegal drugs and the movement of people into Australia,” he explains.
While his career was moving in leaps and bounds, in his personal life things had taken an unfortunate turn. He and his pregnant fiancée separated, and their plans to settle in Broome were upturned – instead, he would follow her back to the Barossa Valley to be part of his son’s life.
Wade has developed a skill not only for growing flowers, but for floral arrangements, too.
“It was an emotional rollercoaster, but you do these things, and I’m here for Jackson, my son,” he says. Wade was able to transfer to South Australia through the Defence Force in 2019, but he was injured within the year.
“It was a huge transition,” says Wade, in switching from the intensity of the Army to the slow pace of rehabilitation. “But, in a way, I feel as if it’s been a really positive thing for me. Being injured made me stop; I wouldn’t have stopped otherwise. And these little beauties (the dahlias) really helped guide me through.
“Finding solace in the garden and particularly with flowers and the joy that they bring was a big moment for me. I just thought, there’s an avenue for me to pass it on to others.”
After studying floristry, as well as conservation, horticulture and ecosystem management, he started The Hidden Flower Farm in the Barossa Valley, specialising in dahlias (he is affectionately nicknamed, Mr Dahlia).
“The diversity that comes with a dahlia is extraordinary; it’s like no other, from the tiniest little Pompon to the giant Winkie Whopper,” says Wade, adding that dahlia petals are called “florets”. He has about 700 cultivars of dahlia across his patches, the main one being at the Marananga School Precinct – an emerging community collective along Seppeltsfield Road where you’ll also find Staġuni restaurant, New Wave Wines cellar door and Goldie Pottery Studio. It’s here, at the white picket-fenced quarter-acre block surrounded by native bush and gums, that Wade hosts pop-up farm stalls and pick-your-own events during dahlia season, which runs through summer and autumn. He’s also supplying flowers wholesale and to brides-to-be, and the best way to connect with him is through his Instagram page, @thehiddenflowerfarm.
“Flowers can be such a joyful gift at any moment,” Wade says. “Whether it’s in a time of celebration or sorrow, it’s that instant joy that they can bring to someone.
“For me, it’s being in my happy space – I still feel that now, walking through the flower patch. You just see these beautiful flowers in all their glory. They’re not there forever, but when they are, they are amazing.”
This article first appeared in the May 2025 issue of SALIFE magazine.