Episode 421: Patience Pickner and Ace Berry, two AIFD florists, on choosing local and domestic flowers for their Inspired Design Retreat, plus, our state focus: Oregon
October 2nd, 2019
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Join my fun conversation with two fascinating talents and frequent collaborators, Patience Pickner and Ace Berry.
Patience and Ace are both business owners and educators. Both are award-winning designers and members of AIFD. They travel the country with the goal of inspiring other floral artists to be the very best version of themselves.
Ace Berry, AIFD, PFCI and TMF, is from the Houston area and is the owner of Fulshear Floral Design Gifts and Decor in Fulshear, Texas.
An early experience delivering flowers as a teenager returned Ace to the profession after he was laid off from an oil industry job in 2007. He devoted himself to his lifelong passion: creating beautiful flower arrangements to make people happy, and twelve years later, Ace was named the 2019 “Texas Floral Designer of the Year.” He is known for his high style funeral and wedding designs.
Patience Pickner, AIFD, PFCI and SDCF is from Chamberlain, South Dakota, a picturesque little town nestled on the banks of the Missouri River. She owns The Picket Fence, a full-service florist and gift shop outside of Sioux Falls, which specializes in romantic weddings and organic Sympathy and every day designs.
Patience purchased a failing flower shop in 1998 and quickly turned it around by specializing in great customer service, fresh flowers and unique designs — and by adding a large selection of home decor and accents. The Picket Fence is now a destination boutique in central South Dakota, with more than 4,000 square feet of showroom.
Patience has been active with South Dakota Floral Association, serving on the board for many years, currently as immediate past president. She is also a past president for the Minndakota unit of Teleflora,and is currently the past-President Elect for the North Central Chapter of AIFD. Patience has been awarded the South Dakota Floral Associations Designer of the Year 3 times. She was inducted into AIFD and PFCI in 2011, and is also a AIFD certified judge/evaluator.
Patience and Ace co-founded Inspired Design, a design team that spreads their love and passion of floral art across the country, through their educational floral bootcamps, retreats, stage programs and Hands-on classes.
I’m delighted that Inspired Design has joined Slow Flowers as a member and that Ace and Patience share my passion for promoting local, seasonal and domestic flowers to their students.
Find and follow these guests and their creative endeavors:
Patience Pickner/The Picket Fence on Facebook
Patience Pickner/The Picket Fence on Instagram
Ace Berry/Fulshear Floral Design on Facebook
Ace Berry/Fulshear Floral Design on Instagram
Thank you so much for joining my conversation Ace and Patience. Right after we recorded this interview on September 28th, Ace and I were both inducted into the Society of American Florists’ Professional Floral Communicators International, joining Patience and dozens of others who previously achieved this credential. For me, the recognition of being included in PFCI means having a platform to educate and encourage others to embrace the Slow Flowers Movement, especially those in the broader floral profession and marketplace who may only recently have learned that domestic, local and seasonal flowers and sustainable practices are an important business niche and platform.
As we discussed, Ace and Patience have just announced their newest Inspired Design Retreat, which will take place March 30 through April 1, 2020, at HighPointe Estate in Liberty Hill, Texas outside Austin — and YES, Texas-grown flowers will be showcased along with other US-grown blooms and botanicals.
Our theme for 2019 – Fifty States of Slow Flowers – continues today as we visit Oregon and meet Julie Schiedler, who owns Celebrate the Season along with her husband Duane Schiedler.
They call their business a “flower garden nursery,” and it’s located in the beautiful destination and tourist community of Bend.
I was lucky enough to visit Bend in August, tagging along on a business trip with my husband, Bruce. And of course, I invited myself to meet Julie and Duane and see their flowers and design studio, and to record this Oregon spotlight as part of our 2019 Fifty States of Slow Flowers series:
Find and follow Celebrate the Season at these social places:
Celebrate the Season on Facebook
Celebrate the Season on Instagram
Designed by Nancy Cameron of Destiny Hill Flower Farm.
Thank you so much for joining me today!
The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 524,000 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 the American cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. I value your support and invite you to show your thanks and with a donation to support my ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Florists’ Review magazine. I’m delighted to serve as Contributing Editor for Slow Flowers Journal, found in the pages of Florists’ Review. It’s the leading trade magazine in the floral industry and the only independent periodical for the retail, wholesale and supplier market. Take advantage of the special subscription offer for members of the Slow Flowers Community.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds, an employee-owned company that provides our industry the best flower, herb and vegetable seeds — supplied to farms large and small and even backyard cutting gardens like mine. Find the full catalog of flower seeds and bulbs at johnnysseeds.com and check out my past articles featuring the wisdom and voices of flower farmers.
Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. Formed in 1988, ASCFG was created to educate, unite, and support commercial cut flower growers. It mission is to help growers produce high-quality floral material, and to foster and promote the local availability of that product. Learn more at ascfg.org.
Longfield Gardens, which provides home gardeners with high quality flower bulbs and perennials. Their online store offers plants for every region and every season, from tulips and daffodils to dahlias, caladiums and amaryllis. Check out the full catalog at Longfield Gardens at longfield-gardens.com
I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast.
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 Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com.
Music Credits:
Rue Severine; Betty Dear; Gaena
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.bluehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Lovely by Tryad
http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
In The Field Music from: audionautix.com
January 6th, 2021 at 10:22 am
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