Episode 550: Celebrate the publication of Black Flora, with author Teresa J. Speight
March 23rd, 2022
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I’m so excited this week to share the video from our March Slow Flowers member meet-up featuring author Teresa J. Speight as our special guest, along with many of our Slow Flowers members who appear in the pages of the new book Black Flora, just released by Bloom Imprint.
Black Flora is a book that is long overdue and it showcases the excellence and contributions of Black flower farmers and floral designers throughout the country.
This book recognizes the rich, beautiful, complex, and diverse narrative being told by African Americans in today’s floral marketplace. Based in the Washington, D.C., area, garden writer, podcaster and blogger Teri Speight interviewed 25 Black floral personalities to learn how they have rooted their lives in the floral world.
Black Flora’s pages are filled with more than 90 vivid photographs illustrating the talent and artistry of Black floral designers and creative directors coast to coast. There are stories and images from cutting gardens and flower farms, rural acreage to urban lots. Each profile explores family legacy and professional influences, as women and men of varied backgrounds and generations share the journey that led to careers in wedding and event design, botanical art, horticultural therapy, cut flower farming, entrepreneurship and activism.
I’m so pleased to introduce you to this project, and for you to meet Teri as we discuss and introduce many of the creatives featured in Black Flora. Order your copy of Black Flora at bloomimprint.com or find it via any online bookseller! Or, ask you independent local bookseller to order it for you!
This book recognizes the rich, beautiful, complex, and diverse narrative being told by African Americans in today’s floral marketplace. Based in the Washington, D.C., area, garden writer, podcaster and blogger Teri Speight interviewed 25 Black floral personalities to learn how they have rooted their lives in the floral world.
Black Flora’s pages are filled with more than 90 vivid photographs illustrating the talent and artistry of Black floral designers and creative directors coast to coast. There are stories and images from cutting gardens and flower farms, rural acreage to urban lots. Each profile explores family legacy and professional influences, as women and men of varied backgrounds and generations share the journey that led to careers in wedding and event design, botanical art, horticultural therapy, cut flower farming, entrepreneurship and activism.
I’m so pleased to introduce you to this project, and for you to meet Teri as we discuss and introduce many of the creatives featured in Black Flora. Order your copy of Black Flora at bloomimprint.com or find it via any online bookseller! Or, ask you independent local bookseller to order it for you!
I love what Teri wrote in her introduction to Black Flora:
“Younger generations of Black plant-lovers are seeking inspiring examples of successful floral artists and entrepreneurs. When they see their potential — through representation of people who look like them in farming and floristry — the possibilities of the future enable their dreams.”
teresa j. speight
Find and Follow Teresa J. Speight:
Cottage in the Court on Facebook
Cottage in the Court on Instagram
Cottage in the Court on Twitter
Sustainable Farming News
If you’re interested in learning more about sustainable flower farming practices on Slow Flowers member farms across North America, check out our recent story on the topic, published in the March issue of Johnny’s Advantage Newsletter. For the past several years, the Slow Flowers Society has surveyed our members on a wide array of topics. The insights gained have helped inform our annual Slow Flowers Floral Insights & Industry Forecast. For 2022, inspired by conversations with Johnny’s Selected Seeds’ flower experts, we asked survey-takers to share their preferred sustainable farming methods.
Curious about the specifics, I spoke with six of the respondents, who elaborated on their approaches to farming with sustainable methods. These six conversations included Stacey Chapman, of Westwind Flowers in Orange, Virginia; Becky Feasby, of Prairie Girl Flowers in Calgary, Alberta; David Brunton, of Right Field Farm in Millersville, Maryland; Susan Schultze, of Joy de Fleur Flower Farm in St. Paul, Minnesota; Jennifer McClendon, of JenniFlora Farm in Sebastopol, California; and Stacey Denton, of Flora Farm & Design Studio in Williams, Oregon. Each of these growers has a different story, with farm location, size, and scale and crop specialties varying widely. I learned so much from my conversations with each of these flower farmers, who are all very thoughtful about what they do on their land, as well as articulate about the “why” of what they practice.
Thank you to our Sponsors!
This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 880 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.
Thank you to our lead sponsor, returning for 2022, Farmgirl Flowers. Farmgirl Flowers delivers iconic burlap-wrapped bouquets and lush, abundant arrangements to customers across the U.S., supporting U.S. flower farms by purchasing more than $10 million dollars of U.S.-grown fresh and seasonal flowers and foliage annually. Discover more at farmgirlflowers.com.
Thank you to Mayesh Wholesale Florist. Family-owned since 1978, Mayesh is the premier wedding and event supplier in the U.S. and we’re thrilled to partner with Mayesh to promote local and domestic flowers, which they source from farms large and small around the U.S. Learn more at mayesh.com.
Thank you to The Gardener’s Workshop, which offers a full curriculum of online education for flower farmers and farmer-florists. Online education is more important this year than ever, and you’ll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com.
Thank you to Details Flowers Software, a platform specifically designed to help florists and designers do more and earn more. With an elegant and easy-to-use system–Details is here to improve profitability, productivity, and organization for floral businesses of all shapes and sizes. Grow your bottom line through professional proposals and confident pricing with Details’ all-in-one platform. All friends of the Slow Flowers Podcast will receive a 7-day free trial of Details Flowers Software. Learn more at detailsflowers.com.
Thanks so much for joining us today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 828,000 times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too.
If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at Slow Flowers Society.com and consider making a donation to sustain Slow Flowers’ ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right.
I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time.
Music credits:
Game Hens; Turning on the Lights; Gaena
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue
Lovely
by Tryad
http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
In The Field
audionautix.com