Debra Prinzing

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Archive for the ‘American Grown’ Category

Episode 708: Reconceptualized Sympathy Flowers with Nicole Wright of The Pink Peony

Wednesday, March 19th, 2025

After years of frustration over outdated and unsustainable floral options that funeral homes offered bereaved families, floral designer Nicole Wright decided to produce an alternative resource to help the industry shift from standard practice to updated and safer options. She wrote and produced “Returning Home,” her new book for the funeral industry, florists, and families. All of the arrangements featured in its pages were designed with local and American grown flowers and foliage. Nicole used re-purposed and donated materials and vessels and all foam-free mechanics. Learn how you can integrate her sustainable approach into your funeral floral services and enjoy today’s enlightening presentation.

Returning Home by Nicole Wright of The Pink Peony
Returning Home by Nicole Wright of The Pink Peony

We recently held our March Slow Flowers member meet-up with Nicole Wright, our expert member and speaker. The response to her topic, Sustainable Sympathy Flowers, was so popular — one of the highest meet-up sessions we’ve hosted in the past year. Nicole Wright is the co-owner of The Pink Peony, a Waterford, Wisconsin-based flower shop. For more than 15 years, she has worked closely with funeral homes in her area to provide grieving families with sympathy arrangements. This often requires hours of her time helping her clients choose floral arrangements that give tribute and remember their loved one.

Spring pages
Spring seasonal sympathy designs
Summer pages
Summer seasonal sympathy designs

Early on, Nicole discovered that most funeral homes in her area, not to mention many internet sources were presenting outdated flower options, those reminiscent of what she calls “Victorian-era-meets-1950’s-style arrangements.” For nearly a century, florists, funeral directors, home funeral guides, and grieving families have been shown the same arrangement styles – and most of us associate these designs with sorrowful funeral services. Moreover, most funeral flowers are based on foam mechanics, designed in throwaway materials and vessels, and do not promote seasonal and local flowers and foliages.

late summer- early autumn
Late Summer-Early Autumn seasonal sympathy designs
Autumn pages
Autumn seasonal sympathy designs

In response, Nicole has created “Returning Home,” a 91-page reference book that features 40 unique, sympathy floral designs created with seasonal, local and American grown flowers and foliage. The book contains a gallery of design ideas — from winter through autumn, as well as tropical and patriotic-themed designs.

Winter pages
Winter seasonal sympathy designs
Designer Reference Guide
Designer Reference Guide – sample spread with recipes

I’m thrilled to share the replay video of Nicole’s presentation. She has shared sample inside pages of “Returning Home” and you’ll want to watch the visually-inspiring slide show that accompanied Nicole’s session — click the link above to watch our YouTube video.

Nicole is offering a discount for your purchase of “Returning Home.”
Use the promo code SLOWFLOWERS to purchase 2 books + receive one FREE copy.
Use SLOWFLOWERS20 for 20% off of a single book order. 
The link also has details on an affordable e-book version of Returning Home.

Follow The Pink Peony on Instagram
Follow Returning Home Floral on Instagram


Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com.

And thank you to 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.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million 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 SlowFlowersSociety.com.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!


Music Credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Mood Unit
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

Episode 707: Cassie Plummer of Vermont’s Jig-Bee Flower Farm on diversifying with open-pollinated, non-GMO treated, sustainably-grown flower seeds

Wednesday, March 12th, 2025

If you’re interested in what flower farming’s “chapter two” might look like, today’s guest shares one version of that narrative. After 8 years of intensive urban flower farming and floral design in Philadelphia, Cassie Plummer of Jig-Bee Flower Farm pulled up roots and moved to northeastern Vermont to be closer to family and to establish a simpler and quieter life. She calls it the Jig-Bee sequel, and the cinematic narrative is fitting because the rural town of Corinth, Vermont, where she settled, is also where the movie Beetlejuice was filmed. Today, Jig-Bee specializes in growing flowers for breeding and seed production and delivering fresh flowers to floral designers via two wholesale distributors in Woodstock and Brooklyn. I sat down with Cassie recently to learn how this all happened. 

Cassie Plummer, Jig-Bee Flower Farm

I recorded a wonderful conversation last week with longtime Slow Flowers member Cassie Plummer of Jig-Bee Flower Farm. We first met years ago when I was in her backyard to speak at the Philadelphia Flower Show – Cassie gathered together a group of flower farmers and florists to meet and have lunch during my visit there.

Cassie Plummer and the field-grown annuals at Jig-Bee Flower Farm
Cassie Plummer and the field-grown annuals at Jig-Bee Flower Farm

A few years later, I featured Cassie and some of those same floral friends in a March 2019 Florists Review story about Fishtown Floral Crawl, a collaborative project in which florists transformed facades and interiors of several businesses, including restaurants and retail spaces, with beautiful and seasonal installations to showcase their art and shine a light on locally-grown flowers.
READ MORE:

Back then, amazingly, Cassie managed florist sales, a flower farm collective, a flower CSA program, full service and DIY weddings and events, grocery sales, farmers’ markets, pop-ups, and eventually a flower market style brick and mortar store with flowers grown on ½-acre urban land. She was far too busy to pay attention to what she called the “unicorn blooms” that occasionally caught her eye.

Scabiosa 'Misty Mountain', bred by Jig-Bee Flower Farm
Scabiosa ‘Misty Mountain’, bred by Jig-Bee Flower Farm

Those UNICORNS are flowers with one-of-a-kind colors that show up in your garden or flower field. They can be a volunteer plant or something unique found growing from a seed packet — standard color or mix — that you grow every year. She says she amassed seeds of a unique, bronze-crested celosia, an ombre cream-to-pink zinnia, and so many other dried flower heads and captured them in organza bags and tucked into the back of the seed stash over the years. But, until Cassie changed her business model and moved to Vermont for a simpler and quieter life, she had never found time to experiment and trial those potentially new and exciting flowers. 

Coreopsis 'Romance', a Jig-Bee Flower Farm selection
Coreopsis ‘Romance’, a Jig-Bee Flower Farm selection

Things have changed, and it’s inspiring to hear more about that major transition to growing cut flowers for wholesale channels and selecting flower varieties to introduce new varieties to the market. She is intensively farming about ½-acre of the 8-acre farm, as well as planting pollinator strips for neighbors and other local farms.

Strawflower 'Berry Bowl', a Jig-Bee Flower Farm selection
Strawflower ‘Berry Bowl’, a Jig-Bee Flower Farm selection

Cassie is focused on growing and selecting for:

  • High-yield flowers that are popular with florists and folks who enjoy growing a cutting garden
  • Hardy annuals with increased resilience
  • And new colors of coreopsis, scabiosa, rudbeckia and amaranth

Let’s jump right in and learn more about this fascinating chapter two of Jig-Bee Flower Farm, and meet Cassie Plummer, the woman behind the flowers. Cassie offers about 50 different varieties/colors as fresh flowers and seed sales. 

Find and follow Jig Bee Flower Farm on Instagram and sign up for Jig Bee’s newsletter
Jig Bee Seed Collection


News of the Week

Nicole Wright of The Pink Peony
Nicole Wright of The Pink Peony and author, Returning Home

In Slow Flowers Member News, you’re invited to join us this Friday, March 14th at the March Slow Flowers Virtual Meet-Up, 9 am Pacific/Noon Eastern. Our topic is Reconceptualized Sympathy Flowers and our expert member guest is Nicole Wright of The Pink Peony. She is the author of a new book called “Returning Home,” a guide to show families and funeral professionals the array of flowers and foliage available in the season of their beloved’s passing. Each arrangement featured in “Returning Home” was designed with local and American grown flowers and foliage. Nicole will share her experience bringing change to the non-sustainable funeral industry and answer your questions about doing so through your floral enterprise. You must pre-register to attend. Hope to see you there!


Thank you to our Sponsors!

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to new sponsor, Charles Little and Company, which supplies our industry with some of the most beautiful and sustainably-grown design ingredients, available nationwide through their website at charleslittleandcompany.com. Based in Eugene, Oregon, the farmers at Charles Little & Company have been growing and drying flowers since 1986. New products and dried flower collections are added to their website at the first of each month. Check it out at charleslittleandcompany.com.

And thank you to Red Twig Farms. Based in New Albany, Ohio, Red Twig Farms is a family-owned farm specializing in peonies, daffodils, tulips and branches, a popular peony-bouquet-by-mail program and their Spread the Hope Campaign where customers purchase 10 tulip stems for essential workers and others in their community. Learn more at redtwigfarms.com.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million 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 SlowFlowersSociety.com.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!


Music Credits:
Drone Pine; Waterbourne;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

Episode 706: Flori’s Lori Poliski on the Art of Pot-et-Fleur, A Large-Scale Design Demonstration With Plants, Cut Flowers, and Foliage

Wednesday, March 5th, 2025

Lori Poliski is reviving the forgotten art of Pot-et-Fleur, an iconic floral style, historically defined as “living arrangements with plants, cut flowers, and foliage.” Having originated in 17th century France and continuing through the Victorian era, Pot-et-Fleur offers today’s florists a contemporary, sustainable, and long-lasting method of designing with local and seasonal ingredients. The method is flexible because it uses living plants combined with flowers. Using potted ferns and lush, green tropicals, seasonal cut botanicals, foliage, and branches, Lori recently demonstrated this old-new technique at Slow Flowers SUNDAY. She introduced us to the history and benefits of Pot-et-Fleur, touching on important selling points, discussing plant sourcing, selection, and care. I’m excited to share this replay video and audio from Lori’s inspiring presentation.

Pot-et-Fleur Design by Lori Poliski of Flori
Pot-et-Fleur Design by Lori Poliski of Flori

Slow Flowers SUNDAY took place on February 23rd, co-located at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival. After our very successful virtual Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit in January, it was so nice to gather together in person with 45 flower friends for a half-day mini-Summit. And after which, our guests attended the final day of the NW Flower & Garden Festival.

In the past few weeks, you heard me preview the three educational sessions and hats off to each of our presenters. Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farm and Vivian Larson of Everyday Flowers introduced the audience to Floral Standards, the new book they co-authored with the farmers and staff of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, while Quynh Nguyen of Pink and Posey inspired us with her paper floral artwork and her new project, The New Art of Paper Flowers.

Lori Poliski, Flori
Lori Poliski, Flori

The day concluded with today’s guest, Lori Poliski of Flori, a Woodinville, Washington-based gardener-florist who is always pushing the envelope of sustainability. Lori treated us to a lecture on the History of Pot-et-Fleur, followed by her large-scale design demonstration with living plants, cut flowers, and foliage.

In the past, Lori and Tammy Myers were guests of this Podcast as they discussed “Farewell Flowers,” their approach to sustainable funeral and sympathy design – Episode 555 from April 2022.

This episode contains the audio from Lori’s Slow Flowers SUNDAY presentation. I encourage you to click on the YouTube link above to watch the video of her beautiful presentation and design demonstration!

Find and follow FLORI on Instagram and Facebook

Download a PDF of Lori’s materials list (below)


Membership News

March 2025 Slow Flowers Newsletter

In Slow Flowers Member News, we just dropped the March newsletter, filled with inspiring content, resources, and a roundup of the incredible press coverage we’ve enjoyed during the month of February – including mentions and interviews in the New York Times, Scientific American, the Oregonian, Fine Gardening magazine, Johnny’s Seeds Online, and the Growing Greener podcast. And check out the list of more than 70 new and renewing Slow Flowers members from February – you might see some peers and competitors on the list, and you might also be inspired to join our membership community yourself!


Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to returning sponsor, the Association of Specialty Cut Flowers. The ASCFG is a gathering place for specialty cut flower growers of all levels of experience, a hub of knowledge, where seasoned experts and budding enthusiasts come together to learn, share, and support one another. The ASCFG is dedicated to empowering its members with the knowledge and resources needed to thrive in the world of cut flower farming. Learn more about the ASCFG and how to be a part of it at www.ascfg.org.

And 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 than ever, and you’ll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million 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 SlowFlowersSociety.com.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!


Music credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; Le Marais
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

Episode 705: Growing Flowers in the Edible Garden, with Willi Galloway, author of “Grow Cook Eat”

Wednesday, February 26th, 2025

Master Gardener and writer Willi Galloway is a home gardener who loves to grow food and cook with the vegetables she harvests from her urban kitchen garden in Portland, Oregon. An award-winning writer and radio commentator, Willi is the author of Grow Cook Eat, a food-lover’s guide to vegetable gardening. Originally published 13 years ago, the essential handbook has been updated and just re-issued, with a focus on 50 flavorful vegetables, herbs, and fruits. I invited Willi to tell me more, and our conversation touches on the importance of growing flowers with your food. Willi’s enthusiasm is contagious and the timing of this episode will inspire you to add food to the flower garden, too! 

Willi Galloway, author of Grow Cook Eat
Willi Galloway, author of Grow Cook Eat © Weeno Photography 2024

I just wrapped up a fun, but crazy-busy week producing the Blooms & Bubbles floral designer’s stage at the NW Flower & Garden Festival, which featured Slow Flowers members as presenters and instructors each afternoon. We had an amazing turnout and met and shared the mission of Slow Flowers with students and audience members alike.

My friend Lorene Edwards Forkner calls the NW Flower & Garden Festival “Garden Prom,” because it seems like everyone in horticulture comes together, from places near and far-flung, to celebrate flowers, ornamental and edible plants, gardens, gardening, and community.

food author Willi Galloway
Food gardening author Willi Galloway, with her favorite herbs to grow

Lots of fun people were in Seattle this past week, including today’s guest, Willi Galloway. We’ve known one another for years, dating back to when Willi lived in Seattle and appeared weekly on the local NPR station’s gardening program. She now lives in Portland with her family, and I am excited to learn that Willi’s popular 2011 book, Grow Cook Eat, has just been updated and re-issued – just in time for garden-planting season.

Edible flowers from Grow Cook Eat, by Willi Galloway
Edible flowers from Grow Cook Eat, by Willi Galloway

Grow Cook Eat is a comprehensive guide for passionate foodies looking to grow, harvest, and cook their own produce—even in urban environments. With 50 profiles of common vegetables, herbs, and small fruits, plus practical advice for growing and harvesting, Willi’s expertise inspires both novice and experienced gardeners. The book also features 50 garden-to-table recipes and stunning photography throughout, bringing the joy of homegrown food to life.

Raspberry Spritzer recipe from Grow Cook Eat
Raspberry Spritzer recipe from Grow Cook Eat

Willi’s extensive background in sustainable gardening began with Organic Gardening magazine. She became a key figure in the urban agriculture movement in Seattle, earning her Master Gardener certification and serving on the board of the Tilth Alliance. Willi has taught gardening and cooking classes across the Pacific Northwest, collaborated with James Beard Award-winning chef Matthew Dillon, and, as I said, served as a gardening expert on Seattle’s NPR station, KUOW. Currently based in Portland, Oregon, Willi continues to inspire through her writing and teaching.

So I’m happy to bring our conversation to you, recorded in Seattle last week. You may be a passionate grower of food and herbs, and if so, you’ll love Willi’s philosophy about choosing food crops, not for their potential “yield,” but for their flavor and tastiness. If you’re like me, someone who shops the farmers’ market or subscribes to a CSA for organic produce, then Willi’s passion might just encourage you to plant some beautiful veggies and herbs – food to eat and food for the eyes, too!

Resources:
Follow Willi Galloway on Instagram
Order GROW COOK EAT
RADISH Guide from Grow Cook Eat (Download PDF)

And here are the details for our March 22nd Spring Seed Swap and Garden Book Event at Filson!

Kick off the gardening season with a good old-fashioned seed swap! Filson is hosting a group of local garden writers, cookbook authors, and artists for a fun, laid-back community event where people can come together to talk gardening, swap seeds, discover something new to grow, and share their love for foraging, cultivating beautiful food and flowers, and being outside!

Where: Filson Flagship Store, 1741 1st Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98134

When: Saturday, Mar 22, 2025 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm

What you can expect:

  • Fun swag bags for the first 50 people, plus a chance to win an awesome door prize, including merchandise from Filson, signed books from our authors, a spring garden seed kit from small local seed farms, and more!
  • If you have seeds to share, bring them! We will have a seed swap set up so you can find and try some new-to-you varieties of vegetables and flowers! Any leftover seed will be donated to the Washington State Seed Library Network.
  • Gardener Willi Galloway is launching the new edition of her organic vegetable gardening book, Grow Cook Eat: A Food Lover’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening. Get a copy and hand stamp some seed packets at Willi’s table.
  • Artist Sarah Simon (the Mint Gardener and author of My Gardening Journal: A Weekly Tracker and Log Book) will be signing books and doing a live painting demo!
  • Food writer Ashley Rodriguez (whose latest book is Field Notes from a Fungi Forager) will be signing books, chatting about mushrooms, and serving up small bites of food!
  • Debra Prinzing, author and founder of Slow Flowers Society will be demonstrating how to put together local, seasonal flowers into a beautiful arrangement.
  • Gardener and artist Lorene Edwards Forkner (author of Color In and Out of the Garden) who will be signing books and chatting with folks about developing a practice of noticing the depth and variety of color in the natural world.
  • Tilth Alliance will be on hand to share information about their local gardening classes and summer camps, plus all the amazing work they do in the Seattle community to help build a better food future!

Filson is hosting this great event in their beautiful SoDo flagship store! You can explore their spring clothing, including their brand new women’s line! We can’t wait to see you there! Have questions? Email willi@willigalloway.com, and keep an eye out for more details in our March Slow Flowers Newsletter.


Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to Rooted Farmers. Rooted Farmers works exclusively with local growers to put the highest-quality specialty cut flowers in floral customers’ hands. When you partner with Rooted Farmers, you are investing in your community, and you can expect a commitment to excellence in return. Learn more at RootedFarmers.com.

And thank you to 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 johnnyseeds.com.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million 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 SlowFlowersSociety.com.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!


Music credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; PolyCoat
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

Episode 704: Sweet Pea School with Marryn Mathis of The Farmhouse Flower Farm

Wednesday, February 19th, 2025

Take a deep breath and inhale the intoxicating fragrance of a sweet pea. Who wouldn’t want to grow this stunning annual flower – beloved for its dreamy petal hues, evocative scent, and popularity in both the cottage cutting garden and the florist’s vase? Meet Marryn Mathis, whose students and customers call the Sweet Pea Queen, a Stanwood, Washington-based flower farmer who raises tens of thousands of sweet peas. She’s just published Sweet Pea School, an essential book based on her successful workshops. Marryn leads us down the fragrant path of sweet pea selection, growing, seed-harvesting, and arranging – and guaranteed, you will join me in wanting to grow many more sweet peas this season!

I’m not sure whether it’s a hard and fast rule, but I was taught to plant my sweet pea seeds on St. Patrick’s Day, which is also when the food gardener who shared this advice with me plants her edible peas. Traditionally, of course, I direct-sowed those seeds in my garden. And, depending on the vagaries of spring weather, some never sprout, while others happily flourish and climb their trellis support to bloom like crazy.

Marryn Mathes of The Farmhouse Flower Farm and author of Sweet Pea School
Marryn Mathes of The Farmhouse Flower Farm and author of Sweet Pea School

But there are much better ways to have a successful yield of gorgeous, perfumed sweet peas and it helps if you learn from Marryn Mathis, author of the brand-new book Sweet Pea School.

Marryn Mathes of The Farmhouse Flower Farm and Debra Prinzing of Slow Flowers Society
Marryn Mathes of The Farmhouse Flower Farm and Debra Prinzing of Slow Flowers Society

Marryn was recently our Slow Flowers Member Expert at the February meet-up, and she had attendees enthralled with her story of building a unique sweet pea business at The Farmhouse Flower Farm. Her family business grows tens of thousands of sweet peas to harvest their seeds for flower farmers, farmer-florists, gardeners and flower lovers to purchase for fall and spring planting. The Farmhouse Flower Farm is also known for selling dahlia tubers, but that’s a story for another day. Because we’re here to talk about Sweet Pea School, the gorgeous guide, which will be published on February 25th – next week.

Marryn Mathes and her sweet peas
Marryn Mathes and her sweet peas

Inspired by Marryn’s popular “sweet pea school” workshops, the gardening book is a master class in the romantic bloom, including:
>sweet peas and their history;
>best practices;
>step-by-step instructions for designing floral arrangements with sweet peas;
>a color-organized overview of popular varieties;
>and Marryn’s personal story of becoming a flower farmer and building The Farmhouse Flower Farm.

Sweet peas at The Farmhouse Flower Farm
Sweet peas at The Farmhouse Flower Farm

Order your book here
Find and follow The Farmhouse Flower Farm on Instagram and Facebook
Sign up for The Farmhouse Flower Farm newsletter and course updates

And congratulations to new Slow Flowers member Regina Grubb of Pintsized Posies – her name was selected in the random drawing of those who attended the Member Meet-Up on February 7th, and Regina will receive a copy of Marryn’s Sweet Pea School book.


Last Chance for Slow Flowers SUNDAY at the NW Flower & Garden Festival (February 23rd)

Slow Flowers SUNDAY

In other important news, don’t forget – the clock is ticking and there are only a few more days to register to attend Slow Flowers SUNDAY at the NWFGF on February 23rd, 9:30 am to 1 pm. Slow Flowers SUNDAY is designed for YOU — flower farmers, farmer-florists, floral designers, flower lovers, and gardeners! TICKETS are just $99 per person, and include Continental Breakfast, Networking, three inspiring lectures and demonstrations, Door Prizes, a Gift Bag, plus complimentary admission to the NW Flower & Garden Festival.


Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com.

And thank you to 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.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million 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 SlowFlowersSociety.com.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!


Drone Pine; Gaena; Cabsha; Turning on the Lights
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

Episode 702: Sustainable Floral Design and its History, with Per Benjamin – author, World Cup Winner, and florist for the Nobel Prize Award Ceremonies

Wednesday, February 5th, 2025

Last weekend I was invited to Vancouver, British Columbia, where two floral luminaries, Hitomi Gilliam and Per Benjamin, were teaching an in-person workshop for students of their Floristic Dialog courses. I wanted to interview Per to learn more of his about-to-be-published book, Sustainable Floral Design – A Sustainable Future found in History. This beautiful new book, co-authored with Max van de Sluis, draws inspiration from different periods through history and translates them into our present time, reviving forgotten techniques, materials, and styles while also generating new ideas from the past. As Per points out, the Egyptians and Renaissance period floral artists were not using floral foam, so why can’t we emulate some of their methods?

Per Benjamin and Max Van de Sluis
Per Benjamin and Max Van de Sluis

Today’s guest is world class floral designer, Per Benjamin. Hitomi invited me to visit her in Vancouver, B.C., which is just about a 3-hour drive north of me, and I arrived there last weekend. She enticed me with news that Per Benjamin would be in town to co-teach with her and mentioned that his new book on Sustainable Floral Design would be published soon.

Debra Prinzing, Hitomi Gilliam, and Per Benjamin
Debra Prinzing, Hitomi Gilliam, and Per Benjamin (c) Jim Martin

I don’t need much of an excuse to take the Slow Flowers Podcast on the road, as you know, so this past Saturday, I arrived at the Floristic Dialog workshop and sat down with Per to chat. I’m excited to share our conversation with you.

Per Benjamin at the Nobel Prize banquet
Per Benjamin at the Nobel Prize banquet
Title Page: Sustainable Floral Design Book
Title Page: Sustainable Floral Design Book

ORDER LINK: Sustainable Floral Design by Per Benjamin and Max van de Sluis. The cost is equivalent to about $68 US dollars and Per’s studio is set up to ship worldwide.

Hitomi Gilliam has been a past guest of the Slow Flowers Podcast and was a featured Slow Flowers Summit speaker when we gathered in Banff in 2024. I recently interviewed Hitomi about her approach to sustainable floral design for the 2025 Slow Flowers Floral Insights & Industry Forecast, drawing from her use of natural mechanics and decorative structures for floristry – we called this insight “Show Your Work.”

Per Benjamin
Per Benjamin
Per Benjamin, Benjamin's Botaniska
Per Benjamin, Benjamin’s Botaniska

Let me tell you a little more about Per. I first encountered him at the 2019 World Cup in Philadelphia where he was an emcee during the competition. Through his Stockholm, Sweden-based company Benjamin’s Botaniska, Per’s work ranges from demonstrations, workshops, seminars, teaching, judging, business and marketing, team and leaderships courses, shop makeovers and coaching, large-scale events and the occasional day in a flower shop. Since his World Cup victory in 2002, Per has worked all around the world, in over 80 countries. For many years, he has designed the florals for the Nobel Prize Awards Banquet in Sweden and he is the author of dozens of books.

Let’s jump right in and meet Per Benjamin and welcome him to the Slow Flowers Podcast. And as a bonus, at the end of our conversation, Hitomi Gilliam joins Per and the two briefly discuss their collaboration with future Floristic Dialog workshops both online and in person.

I want to close with a quote from the opening pages of Sustainable Floral Design: We must change our way of thinking. Sometimes, we must forget what we have learned and done for many years and embrace the new world with respect for our children and future generations. This means letting go of materials and techniques that are harmful to the environment and finding more sustainable alternatives. We rely too heavily on single use plastic-based materials that end up in landfills or even as microplastics in our oceans. However, there are alternatives and it is important for us to make the switch if we want a future at all.

Thank you for your advocacy, Per!
Find and follow Per on Instagram and Facebook
Sign up for future Floristic Dialog notices


Join our February Slow Flowers Member (Virtual) Meet-Up

Marryn Mathis, author of Sweet Pea School
Marryn Mathis, author of Sweet Pea School

In this week’s news, you’re invited to our first Slow Flowers Member (Virtual) Meet-up of 2025. Due to last month’s amazing and well-attended Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit, we opted to skip the January meet-up, but I’m so excited to let you know about this month’s gathering, taking place early due to Valentine’s Day, so please pre-register to join us this Friday, February 7th at 9 am Pacific/Noon Eastern.

The topic is Sweet Peas and our expert guest member is Marryn Mathis, author of the brand new book Sweet Pea School. Owner of The Farmhouse Flower Farm, a ten-acre family-run flower farm located in the Pacific Northwest that she shares with her husband and sons, Marryn is known for her incredible sweet peas, earning her the title “Sweet Pea Queen.” She hosts annual online and in-person Sweet Pea School workshops and sells farm-grown seeds, bulbs, and tubers for all kinds of flowers through her website. At Friday’s meet-up, you’ll learn from Marryn and get all of your sweet pea questions answered. And P.S., we’ll have a drawing for one free copy of Sweet Pea School!


Join us at Slow Flowers SUNDAY!

Slow Flowers SUNDAY
Our speakers, clockwise from top left: Vivian Larson (Everyday Flowers); Quynh D. Nguyen (Pink and Posey); Lori Poliski (Flori); and Diane Szukovathy (Jello Mold Farm)

ALSO, a quick reminder that our first-ever Slow Flowers gathering at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival in Seattle, Sunday, February 23rd. We’re producing a mini-version of the Slow Flowers Summit for a live, in-person, half-day symposium called Slow Flowers SUNDAY.

This special event is designed for YOU — flower farmers, farmer-florists, floral designers, flower lovers, and gardeners! TICKETS are just $99 per person, and include Continental Breakfast, Networking, three inspiring lectures and demonstrations, Door Prizes, a Gift Bag, plus complimentary admission to the NW Flower & Garden Festival. The details are in our show notes and can be found at slowflowerssociety.com.


Thank you to our Sponsors!

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

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 than ever, and you’ll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com.

Thank you to Store It Cold, creators of the revolutionary CoolBot, a popular solution for flower farmers, studio florists and farmer-florists.  Save $1000s when you build your own walk-in cooler with the CoolBot and an air conditioner.  Don’t have time to build your own?  They also have turnkey units available. Learn more at storeitcold.com.   


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million 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 SlowFlowersSociety.com.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!


Drone Pine; Gaena; Feathersoft; Turning on the Lights
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

Episode 701: Meet Mother-Daughter Duo Kim Urso and Kylie Pack of Yellow Petal Farm, Nevada’s Small-Business Agriculture Award Recipients for 2024

Wednesday, January 29th, 2025

Showcasing floral agriculture as a valuable farm crop in an area surrounded by ranches and alfalfa farms, Kim and Kylie operate Yellow Petal Flower Farm in Fallon, Nevada. Let’s hear how they created a multi-generational, woman-led flower farm and floral design business serving Reno, Lake Tahoe, and the surrounding region. The Nevada Department of Agriculture, along with Made in Nevada, recently presented Yellow Petal Flower Farm with the 2024 Nevada Agriculture, Food and Beverage Small Business of the Year Award – and we’re here to celebrate! 

Yellow Petal Flower Farm
The Nevada-grown flowers of Yellow Petal Flower Farm

Kim Urso’s flower farming journey started in 2018 on a 2-acre property in Dayton, Nevada. Joined by her daughter Kylie Pack, a young mom, the women combined passion and dedication to launch Yellow Petal Flower Farm. In 2020, knowing they needed more land, and despite a global pandemic, they found a perfect location in nearby Fallon, Nevada, where now, four generations of their family make their home at Yellow Petal Flower Farm.

Florals by Yellow Petal Flower Farm
A floral design by Yellow Petal Flower Farm
Yellow Petal Flower Farm branding
Yellow Petal Flower Farm branding
The mobile flower stand
The mobile flower stand

Thanks so much for joining me today!
Find and follow Yellow Petal Flower Farm on Instagram and Facebook


You’re Invited to Slow Flowers SUNDAY

Slow Flowers SUNDAY

In this week’s news, I want to invite you to Slow Flowers SUNDAY, our first-ever Slow Flowers gathering at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival in Seattle, Sunday, February 23rd. Our friends at the NW Flower Show invited us to host a special event, and I’m delighted to say we’re producing a mini-version of the Slow Flowers Summit for a live, in-person, half-day symposium called Slow Flowers SUNDAY.

Slow Flowers Sunday includes Continental Breakfast, Networking, three inspiring lectures and demonstrations, Door Prizes, a Gift Bag, plus complimentary admission to the NW Flower & Garden Festival. You’ll learn from Four amazing speakers on flower farming, floral design, and sustainability. I can’t wait to see you there. The details are in our show notes and can be found at slowflowerssociety.com.

WHO should attend? This special event is designed for YOU — flower farmers, farmer-florists, floral designers, flower lovers, and gardeners!
TICKETS: $99 per person, plus all the perks I just mentioned.


Thank you to our SPONSORS

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com.

And thank you to 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 johnnyseeds.com.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million 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 SlowFlowersSociety.com.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!


Drone Pine; Gaena; Le Marais (classical guitar interlude)
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

Episode 700: How Sue Dykstra and Kelly Lewis of Michigan’s Creekside Growers transitioned a 25-year-old retail plant nursery into a cut flower farm with year-round production

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025

Experienced plantswoman Sue Dykstra has operated nurseries for decades. She opened Creekside Growers in 2001, expanding the Middleville, Michigan business from a small plantstand to a full-service garden center with 65,000-square-feet of covered greenhouses. Over the past several years, Sue and manager Kelly Lewis have transitioned the nursery to a cut flower farm with indoor and outdoor production, retail flower shop, and the wholesale hub for West Michigan Flower Market. Their story offers a case study for the nursery industry, highlighting the economic benefits of providing a rare (but in-demand) supply of seasonal, sustainable, and locally-grown cut flowers to consumers and florists alike.

Flowers from Creekside Growers and Flower Farm
Flowers from Creekside Growers and Flower Farm
Slow Flowers Floral Insights 2025: Winter Farming
Slow Flowers Floral Insights 2025: Winter Farming

A few weeks ago, we published the 2025 Slow Flowers Floral Insights & Industry Forecast, our 11th annual report on the emerging themes and topics influencing our movement. Today’s episode perfectly highlights one of the seven insights: Winter Farming. In our report, which you can find in the Winter issue of Slow Flowers Journal, my collaborator Robin Avni and I observed that more Slow Flowers growers are beginning to experiment with cold-weather crops, as they cheat the season with high tunnels and other bloom-forcing techniques. Innovation meets demand as more growers experiment with winter farming. And as a result, florists who have built their brands around domestic flower sourcing have more botanical options closer to them.

Inside the Greenhouse: Workshops at Creekside Growers
Inside the Greenhouse: Workshops at Creekside Growers

The timing of that insight is perfect for today’s episode. I originally reached out to Sue Dykstra of Creekside Growers and Flower Farm in order to share her story with you, but I thought that the big story was around her potting parties that for years she has offered Michiganders as a way to jump-start their container gardens. When I last interviewed Sue and her partner Kelly Lewis, it was for a chapter in our 2021 book, Where we Bloom – a collection of the artistic studios and design spaces of Slow Flowers members.

Creekside Growers inside Where We Bloom
Creekside Growers inside Where We Bloom

In that chapter, which you can see above, Sue and Kelly discussed their hybrid model of operating a retail garden center and a cut flower farm. Now, as you will hear in today’s interview, Creekside Growers shifted to a 100% cut flower farming and floral design operation. It’s an exciting chapter in the nursery and garden center world. I’ve long advocated that retail nurseries should put an emphasis on cutting garden plants, and stock plant collections, offer design workshops, and encourage gardeners to grow professional-grade cut flowers. What’s happening at Creekside Growers and Flower Farm is instructive and inspiring.

Find and Follow Creekside Growers:
Instagram
Facebook
West Michigan Flower Market


Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to 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.

And thank you to Rooted Farmers, back for 2025. You just heard Sue Dykstra mention that the West Michigan Flower Market uses the Rooted Farmers selling platform – so check it out. Rooted Farmers works exclusively with local growers to put the highest-quality specialty cut flowers in floral customers’ hands. When you partner with Rooted Farmers, you are investing in your community, and you can expect a commitment to excellence in return. Learn more at RootedFarmers.com.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million 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 SlowFlowersSociety.com.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!


Music Credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Blue Shift
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


Episode 699: Building a Flower Farm Centered Around Floral Tourism with Misty Vanderweele of All Dahlia’d Up Flower Farm in Palmer, Alaska

Wednesday, January 15th, 2025

Yes, you can grow gorgeous cut flowers in Alaska. Just ask Misty Vanderweele, anAlaska native who founded All Dahlia’d Up in 2013, a boutique flower farm in Palmer. There is a magical effect on the intense color palettes and robust health of Misty’s blooms, as the short growing season is balanced by up to 22 hours of endless sunshine-a-day during the peak summer months. Misty believes that all that sunshine fills the flowers with good medicine, as she has personally experienced their healing properties and witnessed in her customers and guests when they visit her farm. Today, learn how Misty’s series of one-hour walking tours, immersive floral retreats, and special Alaska-grown farm-to-table dinners draw guests from around the globe.

Misty Vanderweele
Misty Vanderweele of All Dahlia’d Up, a Palmer, Alaska-based flower farm

Welcome to Misty Vanderweele, owner of All Dahlia’d Up Flower Farm in Palmer, Alaska. Misty is a past guest of the Slow Flowers Podcast – she appeared on Episode 413, recorded in August 2019. I’ll share the link in our show notes in case you’d like to go back and listen to her beautiful, story of how deep, personal loss and the grief that followed led to her life in flowers. It’s poignant and may just be the hopeful story you need to hear right now.

Frolicking in the flower fields at All Dahlia’d Up (Palmer, Alaska), from left: Christina Stembel, Misty Vanderweele, and Debra Prinzing

In August 2023, I flew to Anchorage with Christina Stembel of Farmgirl Flowers to attend one of All Dahlia’d Up’s flower farm dinner tours. It was a magical and sensory-filled experience. Everything about the majestic scenery, the stunning flower fields, the hands-on floral design component, the delicious, all-local food, the live entertainment, and the camaraderie around the farm table – it was all unforgettable. We had a blast. I recently came across some video I shot during that evening, and so you’ll see a mini video at the beginning of my interview with Misty. She graciously voiced some of the footage to add more insights to the video clips.

Farm table adorned with DIY floral arrangements
Farm table adorned with DIY floral arrangements

That’s followed by a conversation about All Dahlia’d Up Flower Farm’s many channels for marketing flowers, but mostly, about floral tourism and how Misty is sharing her farm as a tourism destination. Let’s jump right in and get to that conversation! Misty is about to announce the 2025 tour dates and calendar of on-farm events, so follow the link to sign up for the newsletter so you’ll be the first to know!

Get all the news from All Dahlia'd Up Flower Farm
Floral tourism at All Dahlia’d Up Flower Farm

This Week’s News!

Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit 2025

We’ve just wrapped up a very successful, three-day Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit, which took place as a virtual/online conference over January 9th to 11th and involved 160 registrants, 15 amazing speakers, several great sponsors and partners, and the talented Slow Flowers team. Whew!

I’ll share much more in the coming weeks, but I just wanted to publicly thank everyone who joined us. We had incredibly high engagement of live participants who logged in to watch the sessions and interact with each speaker – that was so gratifying. But no worries if you registered and didn’t make it to all of the sessions – your registration entitles you to three months of replay viewing – through mid- April.


Our 600th Episode!!

I also have to pause for a moment to mention that today is our 600th episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast! Our episode numbering is a little confusing because this is Episode 699, but back when I started the Slow Flowers Podcast in 2013, I just decided to start our first episode at 100 – not sure why, but I must have heard that was a good idea – ha! It’s confusing, but no big deal. Let’s just celebrate that we’ve made it to 600 consecutive episodes and that we’ll celebrate our 12th anniversary in July!! Incredible!


Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to Store It Cold, creators of the revolutionary CoolBot, a popular solution for flower farmers, studio florists and farmer-florists.  Save $1000s when you build your own walk-in cooler with the CoolBot and an air conditioner.  Don’t have time to build your own?  They also have turnkey units available. Learn more at storeitcold.com.   

Thank you to Red Twig Farms. Based in New Albany, Ohio, Red Twig Farms is a family-owned farm specializing in peonies, daffodils, tulips and branches, a popular peony-bouquet-by-mail program and their Spread the Hope Campaign where customers purchase 10 tulip stems for essential workers and others in their community. Learn more at redtwigfarms.com.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million 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 SlowFlowersSociety.com


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!


Music Credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Heartland Flyer; Lissa
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

Episode 698: Slow Flowers Floral Insights and Industry Forecast for 2025

Wednesday, January 8th, 2025

This year, in recognition of Slow Flowers’ annual focus on changing cultural and creative shifts in the floral industry, our Forecast hones in on seven key insights. In a year where Artificial Intelligence has become omnipresent, we find ourselves reverting to the Analog world of nature. Innovation and personal expression are being challenged by the AI-dominated ecosystem, and the authentic values of the Slow Flowers Community are its antidote. Nature’s perfection cannot be replicated by a chisel, paint brush, or computer generated image, as all these works draw from the original source. A flower produced from AI is generated from what already exists. However, a flower grown from seed is the perfect metaphor for our individual creativity.


SLOW FLOWERS JOURNAL: Slow Flowers Floral Insights & Industry Forecast for 2025

Welcome to 2025 — a New Year that we hope brings joy, prosperity, progress, and growth for the Slow Flowers Community! This is the 11th year we’ve produced the Slow Flowers’ Floral Insights and Industry Forecast, which originated in 2015 as a series of presentations shared with the media, our members, and you, our listeners.

This episode is accompanied by an important free resource. You can find the link in today’s show notes for Episode 698 to read the Slow Flowers Journal’s Winter 2025 issue, titled “Floral Reality” – more on that title will follow. In addition, I recorded a video of this episode to introduce you the seven insights illustrated with visual examples. This is the video companion to today’s podcast. Click above to watch.

Hot off the press, the 48-page digital magazine-style report, produced in partnership with BLOOM Imprint, our Slow Flowers publishing venture. Huge thanks to our creative director Robin Avni for designing such a gorgeous issue – I can’t wait for you to see it. Through the pages, our insights become identifiable and relatable to your floral enterprise for 2025 and beyond.


ON THE COVER: I have to tell you about this beautiful floral image on the cover of our Forecast Issue. It is designed by Rizaniño “Riz” Reyes of Seattle-based RHR Horticulture and this image is featured in the forthcoming book, The Flower Farmer: Inspiration & Advice from Expert Growers, by Debra Prinzing & Robin Avni (which will be published by Abrams on May 6, 2025.

When Robin selected this image for our cover, she commented, “It is almost hyperreal, meaning it’s so beautiful it couldn’t possibly be real — but it is! It’s a design from nature and artistically composed, almost like a Dutch still life with flowers, but modern in its form. This design is real; touched by human hands, and intentionally designed – the epitome of Floral Reality, rather than computer generated artificial augmentation.”

Riz composed this stunning spring posy with hellebore, fritillaria, Siberian bugloss (Brunnera), grape hyacinth, daffodils, and rosemary and daphne for scent. Silver gray Brachyglottis, glossy Polystichum fern, and branches of flowering Ribes and bearberry hold the delicate flowers together. Thank you for sharing your talents, Riz!


Thank you to Our Sponsors!

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Our first sponsor thanks goes to 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 johnnyseeds.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 than ever, and you’ll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million 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 SlowFlowersSociety.com.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!


Music Credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; Curious Case; Feathered; Paper Feather; PolyCoat; Surly Bonds; The Big Ten; Tiny Putty
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