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I hope you have been enjoying our 10-year retrospective as I have. It has been so fun to reconnect with some of our Slow Flowers members who shared their stories on the Slow Flowers Podcast over the past decade.

This week, I’m delighted to revisit my Fall 2020 interview with Talia Boone of Los Angeles-based Postal Petals. Postal Petals has a social impact mission through flowers and I’m excited to re-introduce Talia and her story in our conversation today.  Talia is a self-described floral enthusiast and DIY floral arranger.

Based in Los Angeles, Talia often shopped at the Los Angeles Flower Market during public hours, bringing home flowers to arrange and enjoy — as part of her personal creativity and mental health practice. Postal Petals’ origins date to the start of COVID when Talia sought out a direct-from-the-farm source for the flowers she yearned to have. In the subsequent three years, the venture has made inspiring strides for the local flower community, especially communities of women (and some men) for whom flowers are now a source of healing and wellness.

Let’s revisit my October 2020 conversation with Talia Boone. I can’t wait to share it with you as an encore episode in celebration of the 10^th anniversary of the Slow Flowers Podcast.

Thanks so much for joining us today! I’ll be hosting an IG Live conversation with Talia today, October 4th, so check it out @slowflowerssociety – She promised me there’s a lot of news to update our Slow Flowers Community. You’ll find my conversation with Talia and all of my Slow Flowers Podcast 10th anniversary Live Chats in the archives there.

And here’s a bit of a Postal Petals’ update:

During our IG Live conversation, Talia and I discuss Postal Petals’ current campaign to raise support for its series of free community wellness events. These are monthly events intended to provide a therapeutic experience that seamlessly weaves together the harmonious practices of yoga, meditation, and floral arranging to marginalized communities. While Postal Petals has been underwriting the costs of the free events for the last year and a half, a new crowdfund campaign will help continue making these events free and accessible and expand the offering to even more people in cities across the country. Check out the link to Postal Petals’ campaign here.

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Thank You to Our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 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, 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 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.

Thank you to CalFlowers, the leading floral trade association in California, providing valuable transportation and other benefits to flower growers and the entire floral supply chain in California and 48 other states. The Association is a leader in bringing fresh cut flowers to the U.S. market and in promoting the benefits of flowers to new generations of American consumers. Learn more at cafgs.org.

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.   

---

I love all this floral goodness and I am so happy you joined 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

---

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; Chymique; Highway 430; 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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

I hope you have been enjoying our 10-year retrospective as I have. It has been so fun to reconnect with one of our guests dating back to the Slow Flowers Podcast’s first episode in 2013, and pick up where I left off with one of our amazing Slow Flowers Members who appeared as a guest on the show.

This week, we turn the dial back to early March 2020, literally on the eve of the Covid 19 Pandemic. I interviewed Philadelphia farmer-florist Mara Tyler of The Farm at Oxford about her diversified floral enterprise and the word Covid did not occur in our conversation a single time. Just days (moments?) later, our lives changed dramatically. And in many ways, we still have not shed the ominous presence of the pandemic.

But the seasons continue to roll along, as witnessed with this past week’s Fall Equinox, the continued blooming of our floral crops and cutting gardens, and the awareness we all have of our dependence on nature and a healthy planet.

I re-listened to my 2020 interview with Mara last weekend, while walking along the Puget Sound shoreline. The earbuds delivered such an inspiring conversation—I was delighted to listen to Mara’s story once again and I can’t wait to share it with you as an encore episode in celebration of the 10^th anniversary of the Slow Flowers Podcast. I’ll be hosting an IG Live conversation with Mara today, September 27th, so check it out @slowflowerssociety – I’m excited to ask Mara to share an update about The Farm at Oxford with us. You’ll find all of my Slow Flowers Podcast 10th anniversary Live Chats in the archives there.

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In This Week’s News

As soon as I wrap up my IG Live with Mara, I’m heading to the airport to pick up a very special Slow Flowers guest – Shane Connolly arrives today. We have eagerly anticipated Shane’s arrival from the UK to lecture about Sustainable Floristry, his recent commission to flower the Coronation at Westminster Abbey, and his seasonal approach to design. Shane will lecture this coming Friday, September 29^th in Seattle and tickets are still available. Shane will be demonstrating several floral pieces after his lecture, and we are ready to be inspired. 

Both of the weekend workshops are sold out, but I promise to post images of some of the beautiful florals that Shane and his students create over at our IG feed, and we will publish a recap story with photos in the fall issue of Slow Flowers Journal – stay tuned.

---

Thank you to our Sponsors!

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 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, 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 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.

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.

---

I love all this floral goodness and I am so happy you joined 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

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; Chymique; 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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

Today, we have a fun episode to share with you and the timing is perfect to welcome Kristen Griffith-VanderYacht to the Slow Flowers Podcast.

Kristen first appeared on the Podcast in July 2020 when he appeared on the small screen as head judge and Netflix’s breakout star on The Big Flower Fight. He is the owner of Seattle-based design studio Wild Bloom Floral, and is author of a brand-new, inspirational floral design book, called “Flower Love: Lush Floral Arrangements for the Heart and Home” – out on Tuesday, August 29^th.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of the book and I invited Kristen to record an episode to talk about it and share with you. He recently came over to my home and garden. We recorded an interview about the book, and then Kristen grabbed his Fiskars clippers and harvested floral and foliage ingredients from the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden ~ what a treat for me to see what elements drew his attention and what he created with garden roses, dahlias, echinacea and cotinus –it is spectacular and reflects his aesthetic beautifully.

Kristen has been named a top floral designer by Harper’s Bazaar. He and his floral designs have been featured in Vogue, O Magazine, WWD, Town and Country, Traditional Home, New York magazine, People, Martha Stewart Weddings, and The Knot; his work has been seen on Good Morning America and E! Network.  

With stunning photography of forty-five arrangements, visual step-by-step instructions, and a unique, geometric approach to floral design, Kristen’s new book, “Flower Love,” is an empowering and joyful resource for anyone who wants to add fanciful floral whimsy to their everyday life.

Book Credits:
“Flower Love” Copyright © 2023 by Kristen Griffith-VanderYacht.
Photography copyright © 2023 by Kristen Griffith-VanderYacht.
Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.

Thanks so much for joining us today! If you’re local, check out details on Kristen’s Seattle book launch event on August 31st.

---

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 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, 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 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.

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.

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 johnnysseeds.com.

News of the Week

Next week, we’ll resume our 10-year anniversary celebration of the award-winning Slow Flowers Podcast, featuring another past guest who originally appeared in year five. I can’t wait to share it with you!

---

I love all this floral goodness and I am so happy you joined 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

---

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:

Town Market; 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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

Today we’re taking a pause on the 10-year retrospective to bring you a fun video episode — a shop tour, interview, and floral design demonstration that I filmed on August 4th at Stems Brooklyn.

It had been many years since I first visited Stems and spent time with founder Suzanna Cameron, and so much has changed since then. Stems began life 10 years ago in the tiny foyer of a Brooklyn bar called Sycamore. Today, the flower shop is much larger. It’s still in Brooklyn – in the Bushwick neighborhood — and is a spacious, light-filled destination for local flowers and houseplants, where you can shop for gifts, vessels, art and flowers by the stem; and where you can take a group workshop from Suzanna or one of her team members.

More about Stems Brooklyn:

Stems Brooklyn was founded in 2013 by Suzanna Cameron in the front of a tiny, darkly-lit speakeasy bar and has since grown into the bright and beautiful warehouse style studio and retail shop it is today!

Stems is all about family, community values and working towards a more equitable and sustainable future in floristry. Taking care of Mother Earth is vital to ensuring a better future for tomorrow which is why we go above and beyond to practice the following eco conscious operations; sourcing local florals, recycling/upcycling, excluding floral foams, chemical dyes and bleach and composting our organic floral waste! As a team we are always doing our best to support each other’s needs and take so much pride in what we do by holding ourselves accountable for each and every interaction and design.

Stems Brooklyn shared photography of some of its recent event design work:

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Celebrating 10 years of the Slow Flowers Podcast

For the past four weeks, we’ve featured return guests who originally appeared on the Slow Flowers Podcast during the first four years of this show. These encore episodes are part of the 10 year anniversary celebration of this award-winning Podcast, which launched in 2013.

The Podcast was broadcast audio only for the first eight years, reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners around the globe, as the first-ever podcast devoted to the floral profession. We incorporated video episodes in 2021, adding a new layer of content for both viewers and listeners.

---

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 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, 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 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 Johnstown, 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.

Thank you to 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.

---

I love all this floral goodness and I am so happy you joined 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

---

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:

Capering; 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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

We’re continuing the 10-week celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Slow Flowers Podcast! I launched the first-ever podcast about flowers on July 23, 2013! This audio storytelling project resonates with so many listeners — people like you who love local, seasonal, and sustainable flowers and who are joining in the Slow Flowers Movement as members, supporters, and allies!

We invite you to help us celebrate by sharing your stories of how the Slow Flowers Podcast has been an inspiring companion to you over the years! Post or send us a video tagged #slowflowerspodcast and we may feature you in our Slow Flowers social media feed! Check out our IG stories on @SlowFlowersSociety, which we will run for the next 10 weeks — you could win one of two priceless prizes! We’ll select two winners among eligible entrants:
1 – win a featured guest spot on a future episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast; and
2 – win a chance to co-host an upcoming monthly Slow Flowers Member Meet-Up. We’ll post the details on social media for you to follow along and participate.

Today is the 3rd Encore Episode as our decade-long retrospective to highlight one episode from each year of the past decade and bring the best of the Slow Flowers Podcast to you. If you’re a longtime listener, you might recognize these flower folks; if you’re new to the Slow Flowers Podcast, I’m excited to introduce you to them for the first time.

Today, I’m happy to introduce you to Mandy and Steve O’Shea, of 3 Porch Farm in Comer, Georgia, outside Athens. They are longtime Slow Flowers Memberswho first appeared in July 2016 in Episode 254; and later, Mandy was a guest in April 2020, early during the Pandemic when we featured a series called “stories of resilience.”

3 Porch Farm is a small, sustainable flower farm dedicated to being the most sustainable flower shipping option in the U.S. Situated on 9 acres, Steven and Mandy work with their crew to grow beautiful blooms in a way that respects the land, their employees, and their community.

Their mission is “Principles before Profit.” They believe that businesses have farm greater impact on the world than individuals and their goal has always been to use their business to effect as much good as possible. That’s it. Be Happy By Doing Good. is a great mission.

Thanks so much for joining me today! You’ll want to check out all of the fun resources for flower farmers and gardeners at the beautiful 3 Porch Farm website, from shopping their inspiring seed collection to joining the waiting list for hellebore plugs and mum cuttings. I’m so inspired by all that 3 Porch Farm is doing as a diversified, sustainable flower farm.

Nationwide Shipping

Wholesale Flowers and Bulk Greenery

Rooted Chrysanthemum Cuttings and Hellebore Plugs

I’ll be hosting an IG Live conversation today, August 9th with Mandy and Steve, so check it out @slowflowerssociety — and you’ll find all of my Slow Flowers Podcast 10th anniversary Live Chats in the archives there.

---

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 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, 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 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.

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 johnnysseeds.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.

---

I love all this floral goodness and I am so happy you joined 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

---

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:

Chymique; 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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

We’re continuing the 10-week celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Slow Flowers Podcast! I launched the first-ever podcast about flowers on July 23, 2013! This audio storytelling project resonates with so many listeners — people like you who love local, seasonal, and sustainable flowers and who are joining in the Slow Flowers Movement as members, supporters, and allies!

We invite you to help us celebrate by sharing your stories of how the Slow Flowers Podcast has been an inspiring companion to you over the years! Post or send us a video tagged #slowflowerspodcast and we may feature you in our Slow Flowers social media feed! Check out our IG stories on @SlowFlowersSociety, which we will run for the next 10 weeks — you could win one of two priceless prizes! We’ll select two winners among eligible entrants:
1 – win a featured guest spot on a future episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast; and
2 – win a chance to co-host an upcoming monthly Slow Flowers Member Meet-Up. We’ll post the details on social media for you to follow along and participate.

Today is the 2nd Encore Episode as our decade-long retrospective to highlight one episode from each year of the past decade and bring the best of the Slow Flowers Podcast to you. If you’re a longtime listener, you might recognize these flower folks; if you’re new to the Slow Flowers Podcast, I’m excited to introduce you to them for the first time.

Today, I’m happy to introduce you to Lisa Mason Ziegler, who first appeared in September 2014 in Episode 159 and who also has been a return guest and now, through her online educational platform The Gardener’s Workshop, Lisa is a Slow Flowers Podcast sponsor.

Here’s a bit more about Lisa:

What began as a small cut-flower farm producing for local markets has grown into so much more. Lisa has become a leader in the cut-flower growing industry, author, accomplished speaker, teacher, and the owner of The Gardener’s Workshop.

It all began in 1998 because Lisa wanted to work in her garden as her career. At first, she sold her cut flowers to local florists and Colonial Williamsburg. The business soon grew to include florist throughout the Hampton Roads region, supermarkets, farmers markets, a members-only on-farm market, and a bouquet drop-off subscription service.

During this time Lisa began giving programs to garden clubs, master gardeners, commercial growers, and other groups. What became apparent is that people were eager for her simplified organic gardening methods and her greatest gift is sharing them.

The next natural step came when Lisa self-published The Easy Cut-Flower Garden in 2011 (currently out-of-print) a 100-page guide on how-to grow and harvest a small home cutting garden. Her program travels began to spread from Texas to Oregon to New York City and she went on to become published with Cool Flowers in 2014 (St. Lynn’s Press) and Vegetables Love Flowers (Cool Springs Press 2018.)

In 2018 Lisa began creating online courses to share her programs and teachings. This style of teaching with it’s convenience, cost effectiveness, and lifetime unlimited access has proven to be another wonderful teaching tool. In 2019, embracing this technology even further and building an amazing in-house support administration team has allowed Lisa to produce online courses for others.

Lisa’s farm, known as The Gardener’s Workshop is still a small market flower farm (100% outdoor field grown), and an online garden shop. The online store sells the same seeds, tools, supplies, and seed starting equipment that Lisa uses as well as signed copies of her books.  Lisa’s simple, instructive, and delightful gardening messages are reaching far beyond any expectation she ever had.

Lisa has been a member of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers since 2001 and served as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Director from 2016 to 2020. She is also a member of the Garden Communicators International. AND, we should add, a longtime member of Slow Flowers Society.

Lisa has a new book coming out in February 2024 called The Cut Flower Handbook. You can sign up for news about its publication at her website here.

Learn how to grow an abundance of beautiful cut flowers for pleasure or profit. This handbook includes 40 cool-season and 20 warm-season flowers to grow and harvest. Lisa shares how she grows and harvests annual cut flowers and the varieties that have become her tried and true favorites. Learn when to plant cool-season and warm-season flowers in your garden and how garden size alone can help lead to the success or failure of your cutting garden. Get the streamlined steps on preparing, locating, and maintaining the garden. Lisa shares how she starts seeds including soil blocking, plug trays, and planting seeds in the garden. Learn why and how she selects the best starting method for a specific flower seed and her growing conditions. Over half of the book is designated to featured flowers or flower groups, including growing facts, firsthand experiences, tips for home gardeners and flower farmers, harvesting and conditioning steps, and favorite varieties.

I’ll be hosting Lisa on IG Live today, August 2nd, for a fun conversation, so check it out @slowflowerssociety — and you’ll find all of my Slow Flowers Podcast 10th anniversary Live Chats in the archives there.

---

News of the Week

We just dropped the August Slow Flowers Newsletter yesterday – you’ll want to check it out for all the news updates, inspiring content, and free resources we’ve packed up for you. There’s lots more details about a special Slow Flowers presentation in Seattle on Friday, September 29th with famed British Sustainable Floral Designer Shane Connolly who will give an illustrated lecture and design demonstration followed by a book-signing — this is his only West Coast appearance in North America in 2023 and the tickets are just $45.

---

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 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, 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.

And thank you to Red Twig Farms. Based in Johnstown, 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.

Our next sponsor thank you goes to 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.

Our final sponsor thanks goes 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.com.

---

I love all this floral goodness and I am so happy you joined 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

---

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:

Turning On the Lights; Gasland; 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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

I’m so happy to share today’s episode with you because it came together through total serendipity, thanks to arrangements made by my friend Jenny Ulum, Senior Director of Communications at King Estate Winery in Eugene, Oregon.

We were in Eugene last weekend to attend the USA Track & Field National Championships, and when in Eugene, Jenny and her husband Tim Gleason always host us at their home. Jenny and I go way back — we were editors together in the 1980s at the long-ago shuttered Seattle Woman magazine, and have remained close friends ever since.

I had reached out to two Eugene area Slow Flowers members, trying to line up an interview for this week while also having some time away with friends. Sadly, due to travel and other conflicts, both of the farmer-florists I approached weren’t available.

Jenny over heard me discussing my dilemma and she said, “You should come out to the winery and meet our culinary garden manager, Erin Greene. She has been growing lots of flowers and designing bouquets for the restaurant and tasting room.” (photo credit: Erin Greene, King Estates Winery (c) Andy Nelson).

So we arranged a last-minute outing on Sunday morning, and I am so grateful for the experience. It was employee blueberry-picking day, so while my husband Bruce joined Jenny and Tim to pick something like 8 pounds of blueberries, I joined Erin to tour King Estate’s cutting garden, apple orchard, and greenhouse production areas. I learned so much and you’ll enjoy the conversation, too.

Here’s a little bit more about Erin Green:

Erin Greene, Culinary Gardens Manager, joined King Estate in 2018. Working closely with the culinary team, Erin is responsible for all annual vegetable, herb and edible flower production for use in the Restaurant. After earning a degree in Biodynamic Agriculture from Emerson College in the U.K., Erin operated her own farm, Nourish Gardens, in eastern Washington for four years and spent two years working for a 500-acre organic farm in California that served the finest farm-to-table restaurants in the Bay Area.

A native of Washington State, Erin is thrilled to be back in the Pacific Northwest. “I love everything food-related, from seed to plate,” she says. When she’s not at work she can be found cooking in her kitchen, working in her home garden or out in the wilderness: camping, fishing, hiking and exploring Oregon with her husband and pup (farm dog Bertie).

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Thank you so much for joining me today! We fact-checked the scale of King Estates on-site compost program — 800 tons of organic compost is produced at the winery each year.

Here are more details about the August 19th Bee Friendly Wine Tour taking place as part of The Oregon Bee Project. August 19th is actually National Honey Bee Day and the $35 ticketed event buys you two taste pours of wine, a taste of ale song beer, a box lunch and desert bite. Not to mention bee-themed events and a garden tour! (noon to 3 pm) and you’ll learn about the native bees of Oregon and how they support biodiversity on farms, vineyards, orchards, and residential backyards.

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Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 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, 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 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.

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.

---

I love all this floral goodness and I am so happy you joined 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

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:

Toothless Slope; 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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

Hi all, last week, you met Anne Sumner of Walla Walla Flower Farm – what a fun episode, and I especially loved the bonus musical performance recorded in her flower field.

Just down the road from Walla Walla Flower Farm, on Stateline Road, in fact, but on the Washington side, is a historic farm called Old Homestead. This is where Elaine and Mike Vandiver operate two complementary businesses — Old Homestead Alpacas and Gholson Gardens.

Elaine is a past guest of the Slow Flowers Podcast (Episode 395 in 2019, which we also aired as an Encore episode last summer). What’s new now is the gift of video!

I’m so happy I was able to return to this beautiful farm for a visit. I filmed the entire tour, narrated by Elaine, as we visited her Alpacas, the Fiber House, the Dye House, and the Cutting Garden.

I know you’ll learn lots about how to balance dual farm operations, and you’ll also be swept up in the story, thanks to Elaine’s bubbly personality and spirit of generosity to share with the Slow Flowers community.

You’ll also meet her intern, Elena Schenkenberg, and hear how she was drawn to this place to learn more about slow flowers, slow fiber and slow fashion.

Here’s just a bit more by way of introduction:

Elaine grows specialty cut flowers on her historic homestead in Walla Walla, Washington. As a seasonal grower, she cultivates rare, unique and heirloom varieties that are picked at their peak for customers who wish to snag a deluxe mixed bouquet from her stylishly functional flower cart at the Downtown Walla Walla farmer’s market (May through October). Elaine also offers weekly flower subscriptions, and assemble floral creations for local restaurants & wineries.

Old Homestead Apacas is known for 100% farm-grown knitwear with Alpaca fiber that is hand-dyed using farm-grown heirloom dye plants.

Elaine recently worked with local filmmaker CMBell Company to capture short video narratives of all four seasons at Old Homestead Alpacas and Gholson Gardens. The films are beautiful storytelling moments narrated by Elaine and you’ll hear that audio — winter and spring at the beginning; summer and fall at the end.

Let’s jump right in and meet or re-meet Elaine Vandiver!

And check out the online shop – one of my favorite gifts to myself when I first visited was to purchase a lacy knit scarf of the finest alpaca yarn — hand-dyed in calendula petals.

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Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 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, 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 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.

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.

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.

---

I love all this floral goodness and I am so happy you joined 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

---

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:

Net and the Cradle; 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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

Welcome, friends! I have such a lively and informative episode to share with you today. A few weeks ago – before we welcomed 150+ guests to the Slow Flowers Summit, I joined my husband Bruce to drive 5 hours east accompanying him on a short business trip. We drove across the state to Walla Walla in the southeast corner of Washington that’s become a major winery and tourism hub.

I can’t travel anywhere without looking up our local Slow Flowers Society members and asking permission to visit their floral design studio, shop, or flower farm. On my last trip to Walla Walla (pre-covid), I visited flower farmer Elaine Vandiver of Gholson Gardens and recorded an audio interview, but our community is growing there! In the past year, Anne Sumner of Walla Walla Flower Farm joined our society. I was eager to meet her and learn her story, which you’ll hear today.

Walla Walla Flower Farm Is a small-scale, woman-owned and operated farm growing cut glowers in the beautiful Walla Walla Valley. Hailing from generations of Walla Walla Valley farmers and growing up working on the family farm, Anne Sumner has come back to her roots. After years of raising and homeschooling children, working as a registered nurse and most recently serving as a bank VP, Walla Walla Flower Farm feels to Anne like coming home.

Her mission and the mantra of WWFF is: Share Flowers. Share Joy.

Anne certainly shared her flowers and her joy with me. When I learned that she and her husband Scott were soon heading to Idaho for a week-long fiddling convention, I asked if they would play some music and allow me to record it. I’m so happy to open and close this episode with their guitar-fiddle music.

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Thank you so much for joining me today! In case you missed it, we just dropped the July edition of our monthly Slow Flowers Newsletter — it’s filled with free resources, inspiring content, and news of our community.

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---

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 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, 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, CalFlowers, the leading floral trade association in California, providing valuable transportation and other benefits to flower growers and the entire floral supply chain in California and 48 other states. The Association is a leader in bringing fresh cut flowers to the U.S. market and in promoting the benefits of flowers to new generations of American consumers. Learn more at cafgs.org.

Thank you, 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, Red Twig Farms. Based in Johnstown, 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.

---

I love all this floral goodness and I am so happy you joined 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

---

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:

Sage Waltz
by Anne and Scott Sumner, Walla Walla Flower Farm

He Has a Way; 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