First & Bloom’s Tammy Myers, an All-American Studio Florist (Episode 201)
July 8th, 2015
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Meet Tammy Myers of First & Bloom, today’s Slow Flowers Podcast guest.
A moss-covered swing on Tammy’s farm is a lush spot to photograph one of her hand-tied bouquets.
This week’s Slow Flowers Podcast guest is Tammy Myers, a Seattle studio florist with a focus on 100% American-grown flowers. Scroll down to read more, find links and to see photos of her design work.
It was completely fitting to interview Tammy during American Flowers Week, which just wrapped up July 4th with a fantastic level of involvement from flower farmers and floral designers all over the country.
From boutique growers to the largest flower farms in the country; from studio florists to grocery stores and wholesalers, too, we celebrated American Flowers Week as a grass roots education, promotion and advocacy campaign to highlight our nation’s flowers and foliage — and to raise awareness among consumers, the media and policymakers about supporting domestic flowers!
Source: Keyhole.co Real-time Hashtag Tracking
On Twitter and Instagram alone, mentions of #americanflowersweek generated more than 400k impressions in one month.
That’s pretty exciting for what was a mere idea six weeks ago!
Huge thanks to our top participants – without their intentional involvement and embrace of American Flowers Week, we would never have created so much beautiful buzz about this grassroots campaign.
Top post honors go to Farmgirl Flowers of San Francisco and Los Angeles for generating more than 3,500 likes on Instagram with a special “firecracker” bouquet promotion designed just for American Flowers Week. You rocked it, Farmgirl Team.
Others whose posts generated lots of engagement include Bare Mt. Farm, a boutique flower farm in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, with a dazzling photo of peachy trumpet snapdragons; Verbena Flowers & Trimmings of Roseville, Calif., Mom Karen Plarisan and daughter Karly Sahr posted a charming American flowers week bouquet they grew and designed with the “support your local farmer” message and Betany Coffland of Chloris Floral in Sonoma County, posted a romantic bouquet that wowed with the American Flowers Week message.
It’s so great to have a Slowflowers.com florist who is also a gifted graphic designer, right? (c) April Lemly, Kamama Flowers
April Lemly of Portland’s Kamama Flowers was our most frequent and active participant, followed closely by Sarah and Steve Pabody of Triple Wren Farms, of Lynden, Washington. All together, the metrics are super impressive!
One more announcement before I introduce today’s guest. Next week, I’m heading to Boulder, Colorado to co-host the fourth Field to Vase Dinner at The Fresh Herb Co. Owned by Chet and Kristy Anderson, past guests of this podcast.
Their beautiful Rocky Mountain flower farm will be transformed to an amazing venue for more than 100 diners who want to celebrate local flowers and local food in a gorgeous setting. How cool is that? The event takes place on Saturday, July 18th. Food and Wine magazine calls the Field to Vase Dinners “summer’s ultimate al fresco dinner party,” and the Wall St. Journal declares the dinners “a feast among the flora.” You won’t want to miss it!
Supporters of Slow Flowers can take advantage of a special promotional discount to reserve seats and save $35 off the dinner at The Fresh Herb Co., or at future field to vase dinners in Brooklyn, Portland, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Detroit and San Diego. Click here and use SLOWFLOWERS when you check out. I hope to see you!
First & Bloom’s display at the Seattle Lovesick Expo earlier this year, with a focus on nontraditional ceremonies.
I’m so pleased today to introduce you to Tammy Myers of First & Bloom, a floral design studio based in Seattle, specifically operating in the eastside suburbs of Issaquah, Redmond, Bellevue, Fall City and beyond.
The very first thing you read on First & Bloom’s Web site is this message:
“From America with Love. Love just a little more by supporting your local farmers.”
Tammy writes “We’re Different by Design. We know your love of locally-grown and organic foods. Now surround yourself with gorgeous locally grown flowers from yours truly, the American farmer!”
A First & Bloom local and seasonal design.
She continues:
First & Bloom only buys local and sustainable flowers, but what does that really mean? Simply put, I only sell flowers grown in the United States. Absolutely zero flowers are grown outside the US. Some florists will say they use local flowers “whenever possible.” This means they rely on international growers occasionally. Likely, it’s during peak holiday seasons and when special requests have been made out of season. I’m up front about this with customers, especially brides. If it’s not in season or not available in California, it’s unfortunately not an option.
Another distinction of First & Bloom is the refusal to use a floral industry staple… floral foam! You know that spongy green brick your stems are stuck into deep inside your vase? It is completely 100% toxic! Primarily formaldehyde-based, it’s only used once then tossed into a landfill. It’s a floral marvel and makes a florist’s job easy (ier), but not at the cost of our environment and physical wellbeing.
A vivid spring palette of wrapped bouquets by First & Bloom.
Tammy’s is a young, emerging floral business. Her story of getting established will inspire others new to the profession, those who are also shaping a business philosophy that distinguishes and differentiate in the crowded and confusing floral marketplace. She’s still on this journey, and it will be fascinating to watch her along the way. Please enjoy our conversation and follow along at Tammy’s social places.
The pastoral country home where First & Bloom will take root, in Fall City, Washington
As she mentions in our conversation, Tammy recently launched a blog called This Country Life. This is where she will share stories about her family’s recent move to a five-acre farm in bucolic Fall City, Washington.
She writes:
Hopefully, you’ve already sensed First & Bloom is more than just about selling flowers. It’s about finding what truly matters in life. It’s about flowers that help you get through the good times and bad. It’s about family and how we all grow together. And probably the biggest revelation, is about returning to your roots no matter how far away you thought you would be… and being ok with it.
What a lovely sentiment! Thanks again for joining me today for another wonderful interview.
Listeners like you have downloaded this podcast more than 55,000 times. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.
Until next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto Itunes and posting a listener review.
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.
The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Wheatley and Hannah Holtgeerts. Learn more about their work at shellandtree.com.
May 17th, 2017 at 6:47 am
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April 1st, 2020 at 9:13 am
[…] Based in Fall City, Washington, east of Seattle, Tammy is a past guest of this podcast. She first appeared in 2015 when I featured her studio First & Bloom and its All-American-grown branding. Later, in 2017, I […]