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Ten years ago, Rebecca Bodicky combined her fine arts education with flower shop and restaurant experience to open the Alice Blue Collective, a design studio and urban micro farm in St. Louis, Missouri. Join me in conversation with Rebecca as she reflects on her floral journey and shares her approach to combining art with flowers.

Alice Blue Collective is a St. Louis-based artistic project bringing the unexpected to everyday spaces and local places with flowers. Founder Rebecca Bodicky’s creative life began in childhood, when she took classes at the St. Louis Art Museum; later, she studied art at NYU, and worked in New York as an artist and artists’ assistant.

A high school job as a florist’s shop-assistant drew her back to floristry Rebecca returned to St. Louis. Her love of nature informs everything Rebecca creates, and she strives to honor that love in her designs by mixing local, seasonal, and foraged flora with nursery flowers.

Her experiment with urban farming has produced ninebark, river birch, thornless blackberry, and native grasses for taller arrangements and installations. Rebecca has studied herbalism with Rosemary Gladstar, and holds a certificate in aromatherapy.

Her commissions can be seen in some of St. Louis’s best restaurants, cafes, and businesses. You heard us discuss Rebecca’s idea of creating watercolors of her arrangements, and after we ended the recording, her assistant Kim told me that when Rebecca delivers arrangements to some of her restaurant clients, she makes a quick sketch for them – which is usually displayed in the reception area. What a wonderful way to connect restaurant patrons with the art of local flowers!

Find and follow Alice Blue Collective
Alice Blue Collective on Facebook and Instagram

Slow Flowers Summit Recap

It’s been a few weeks since the 7^th annual Slow Flowers Summit wrapped up and I’ve spent some really enjoyable moments reflecting on the amazing education and deeply meaningful connections that I and our attendees experienced. Earlier this week, we posted a recap story about the 2024 Summit, featuring highlights of our sessions, the afternoon of floral immersion, and the people who invested their time and talents to make this conference such a success. I hope you enjoy reading my reflections and enjoy photography of our time in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

And for those who have asked . . . we will announce the 2025 Slow Flowers Summit details on September 1^st – you’ll hear about it here, of course, but if you want to make sure to see the announcement, click here to sign up for future announcements.

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.

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.

Thanks 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’m so glad you joined us 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; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; 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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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What is it like to grow cut flowers in Zones 2-4 for only three-to-four months each year and run a successful small-scale flower farm with those constraints? Kristen Primrose does just that and I’m so excited to share our conversation and a tour of her Southern Alberta-flower farm.

I know you’ve heard me talk about the 2024 Slow Flowers Summit, held last week, June 23-25, in Banff, Alberta, Canada. I’m recording this episode just days after returning home from the Canadian Rockies, the gorgeous, natural setting where nearly 100 of us gathered to inquire and include, be informed and inspired – and, we hope – instigate new ideas, projects, and approaches to our floral enterprises.

While on my 700+ mile drive home to Seattle, I took the somewhat out-of-the-way and incredibly scenic route to southwest Alberta, where I visited Primrose Lane Farm in Mountain View, outside Cardston, Alberta, and recorded an interview with Kristen Primrose, its resident flower farmer.

I’m so grateful to Kristen for her support – she was one of the very first Alberta floral professionals to join Slow Flowers Society as a member. Not only that, but Kristen brought a few buckets of blooms with her to the Summit in Banff, wowing the instructors and audience alike with her just-picked peonies. Thank you, Kristen!

I know you’ll love this conversation – it was a very windy day and we’ve tried to knock back the audio a bit, but that’s the deal with recording outdoors on a flower farm. Kristen is an inspiration and I’m so grateful for the in-person visit.

Find and follow Kristen Primrose:
On Facebook and Instagram

Get Ready to Celebrate Canadian Flowers Week – coming up August 15-21^st — with flower pro’s like Kristen Primrose. Learn more here.

Thanks so much for joining me today!

It’s American Flowers Week (June 28-July 4)

We are in the heart of American Flowers Week – now through tomorrow – July 4^th. Please share photos of your flowers, too, and use the hashtag #americanflowersweek so we can spot your posts. Follow these links to download free American Flowers Week social media badges, including of our entire botanical couture collection.

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.

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 johnnyseeds.com.

I’m so glad you joined us 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; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; Skyway
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

American Flowers Week encourages flower farmers, floral designers, flower enthusiasts, and gardeners alike to promote their blooms across social media with the hashtag #americanflowersweek. The campaign debuted in 2015 as the original domestic flower promotion holiday. Our annual botanical couture collection is one of our most popular projects – and today, I’ll speak with all five creators and preview their floral fashions.

Happy American Flowers Week! The relevance and importance of local, seasonal, and sustainably-grown flowers continues to influence the professional floral marketplace, as well as consumers who want make mindful purchases and ensure that we support our flower farmers for generations to come.

Since 2015, Slow Flowers Society has designated a single week to our promotion – June 28^th to July 4^th, with the goal of elevating awareness and highlighting the many reasons to support local flowers — and those who grow and design with them.

Each of this year’s American Flowers Week botanical couture collection is unique to the location and season where it was produced and photographed, with design narratives that elevate and reimagine flowers and foliage as botanical couture. Today, I’m delighted to welcome the creators of our five floral fashions that showcase domestic flowers as wearable art.

You’ll meet Niesha Blancas of Fetching Social Media and Jenny Diaz of Jenny Diaz Design – both of whom are part of the Slow Flowers Creative Team and who regularly pour their love into this project. Both Niesha and Jenny have designed garments for three prior campaigns and they’re back with new floral fashions for 2024.

Linda Spradlin of In the Garden Flower Farm, based in Seven Mile, Ohio, has returned with her third botanical couture garment (she’s collaborated with Nan Matteson of Queen City Flower Farm in prior years). Thank you, Linda, for your constant enthusiasm for American Flowers Week!

And I’m thrilled that we can showcase the talents of two first-time creatives in the American Flowers Week collection – Alanna Messner-Scholl of Waverly Flower Co., located outside of Philadelphia, and Hannah Muller of The Wreath Room and Full Belly Farm, based in Guinda, California.

For anyone who’s thought about designing a botanical couture garment, this episode will serve as inspiration. You’ll love the narratives behind the fashions, and the conversation with all five of our creatives, not to mention the gorgeous garden-inspired floral ensembles they’ve produced for this celebration.ach look has a design narrative that elevates and reimagines flowers and foliage as botanical couture – and, it’s my desire that those who view them will gain a new appreciation for locally-grown flowers.

As I mentioned, American Flowers Week kicks off on Friday, June 28^th, continuing through July 4^th. Each day during this week of floral promotion, we will be posting stories, content, and resources to highlight locally-grown flowers. Please share your flowers, too, and use the hashtag #americanflowersweek so we can spot your posts. You can download free American Flowers Week social media badges for our entire botanical couture collection.

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.

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   

Our next sponsor thank you goes 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 https://www.redtwigfarms.com/

Our final 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.

I’m so glad you joined us 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; Gaena; One Eight Four; The Big Ten
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

Get ready for our inspiring conversation with Janis Harris and Melanie Harrington as these two farmer-florists bring us a preview of their upcoming presentations at the Slow Flowers Summit, taking place next week in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

In just a few days, I’ll be gathering with nearly 100 attendees at the Slow Flowers Summit, which will take place June 23-25 at the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

It is our seventh annual Slow Flowers Summit – our first in Canada and our first international conference. We planned this Summit to showcase the expertise and knowledge of Canadian floral, horticultural, and sustainability experts – most of whom are Slow Flowers Members. We are thrilled with the deep body of knowledge that our Summit attendees will receive from 10 inspiring speakers!

I’m delighted that we are partnering with the Cooperative Flower Network based in Edmonton to ensure that our speakers and attendees will have a chance to experience designing with Alberta-grown flowers. I’m also thrilled that we are partnering with the team behind Canadian Flowers Week to share the story of Slow Flowers across Canada.

The first day of the Summit kicks off with two back-to-back presentations under the banner of “Meet the Farmer-Florist,” and it’s my pleasure to introduce today’s guests, Melanie Harrington of Dahlia May Flower Farm in Trenton, Ontario, and Janis Harris of Harris Flower Farm in St. Thomas, Ontario. At the Summit, these women will share the stories of their floral enterprises, each of whom will close out her lecture with a design demonstration.

As a preview, we recently hosted Janis and Melanie as special guests of the June Slow Flowers (Virtual) Membership Meet-Up. We recorded the session for you to hear today. You’ll find it so enlightening to learn about these two farmer-florists and their businesses, as they discuss the challenges (and rewards) of balancing flower farming with design services through a variety of channels. 

Find and follow Melanie Harrington, Dahlia May Flower Farm on Instagram and Facebook

Find and follow Janis Harris, Harris Flower Farm – on Instagram and Facebook

Listen: Melanie’s and Janis’s past appearances on the Slow Flowers Podcast:
Melanie on the Slow Flowers Podcast – Episode 312 (August 30, 2017)
Janis on the Slow Flowers Podcast – Episodse 304 (July 6, 2017) and Episode 450 (April 22, 2020)

Slow Flowers Summit 2024

I’m departing for Alberta in a few days to make the trip to Banff, and I want to encourage you to follow @SlowFlowersSociety and @SlowFlowersSummit on Instagram next week, as I know our social media manager Niesha Blancas will be filming some fun IG Live segments straight from the Slow Flowers Summit to share with you! We wish you were with us in person, but you’ll still catch some of the amazing education through our social media channels.

And as a footnote, we’re so grateful to all of our Slow Flowers Summit Sponsors, including Red Twig Farms, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, New Age Floral, Sakata Seeds, OLMS Bamboo Floral Sticks, Ball Seed, and Rooted Farmers. Our partner thanks goes to BLOOM Imprint, our publishing partner. We are also grateful for the support from our Alberta host, and member, Becky Feasby of Prairie Girl Flowers. You can learn more about our sponsors, speakers, program, and schedule at slowflowerssummit.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.

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 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

I’m so glad you joined us 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; Gaena; One Eight Four
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

Ariella Chezar’s new book – Home in Bloom – is a vivid, inspiring look at the role of flowers and plants in interior design. Through her stunning, wild work, Ariella invites us to revel in the inherent drama of nature, encouraging us to infuse our living spaces with beauty and abundance, while fundamentally altering a room’s energy through the transformative power of flowers.

It’s been many years since today’s guest Ariella Chezar appeared on the Slow Flowers Podcast, so I’m thrilled to welcome her back for our first video episode.

The occasion is the recent publication of Ariella’s fourth and newest book, Home in Bloom, written with Julie Michaels. The benefit of recording for our Slow Flowers YouTube Channel is that you can see a preview of the interior pages of Home in Bloom as Ariella describes many of her beautiful designs and installations.

ARIELLA CHEZAR is a master floral designer and the author of Seasonal Flower Arranging, The Flower Workshop, and Flowers for the Table. Her work has graced the cover and pages of Martha Stewart Living, O Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Town and Country, and many more publications. She is a highly sought-after teacher and lecturer and has designed flower arrangements for The Obama White House. Ariella lives in The Berkshires of Massachusetts, where her garden serves as inspiration for her designs.

Home in Bloom celebrates the seamless integration of architecture, light, and natural landscapes into floral design. Ariella layers colors and combines improbable wild elements, resulting in arrangements that are as gorgeous as they are dynamic. With each page, she invites us to revel in the inherent drama of nature, encouraging us to infuse our living spaces with beauty and abundance, while fundamentally altering a room’s energy through the transformative power of flowers.

Home in Bloom is organized into chapters that celebrate every room in the home—Welcome, Nourish, Celebrate, Pause, and Wilding, as it takes us on a journey through flower-filled living spaces. The arrangements in each chapter are accompanied by detailed captions that inspire us to walk outside and bring the wilds of nature into our environments. The book features hundreds of gorgeous photographs by renowned photographers Andrea Gentl and Martin Hyers.

Thanks so much for joining me today!

READ: Mary Ann Newcomer’s review of Home in Bloom, recently published in Slow Flowers Journal online.

LISTEN to Ariella’s past guest appearances on the Slow Flowers Podcast
March 2014 (Episode 133)
June 2016 (Episode 251)

Follow Ariella on Instagram

Order Home in Bloom

Thank you for an inspiring conversation, Ariella!

Slow Flowers Summit 2024 – News

We are swiftly into the countdown phase before the amazing 7^th annual Slow Flowers Summit – taking place June 23 through 25^th. I can’t wait to see you there! Today, we dropped our FINAL ticket promotion, so take note. Now through June 11^th, next Tuesday, you can take 10 % off your Slow Flowers Summit registration. Use the promo code LETSDOTHIS — all one word – to take 10% off your registration at slowflowerssummit.com.

And speaking of good news, last week, we were delighted with some incredible press coverage about the Slow Flowers Summit. In its coverage of the Slow Flowers Summit, the online floral lifestyle magazine called THURSD.com called it the “must-attend event for floral fanatics.” Thank you for affirming all that’s gone into creating such a valuable educational experience for flower farmers, floral designers, and farmer-florists interested in enhancing their skills and understanding around sustainable and slow flowers. The link to the article in THURSD is in our show notes.

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.

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.

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.   

I’m so glad you joined us 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; Gaena; Blue Straggler; Long Await
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 continuing our conversations with multi-talented Slow Flowers members who grow flowers, design for weddings and events, and operate a retail flower shop. I call them the triple threat talents, and we have lots to learn from Sydney Garvey of Flowers by Garvey’s Gardens in Grand Junction Colorado.

I am so pleased to have recorded a podcast interview with Sydney Garvey of Garvey’s Gardens, a flower farm based in Palisade, Colorado, and its sister business, Flowers by Garvey’s Gardens, a retail flower shop and wedding design studio in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Garvey’s Gardens joined Slow Flowers as a member several years ago, prior to Sydney Garvey deciding to add retail floristry to her original focus as a farmer-florist. We met last June at the Slow Flowers Summit and we joke that we’ve been trying to schedule the podcast interview ever since.

I will make note that you may have seen us highlight Flowers by Garvey’s Gardens in the 2024 Slow Flowers Floral Insights & Industry Forecast, in the Floral Literacy insight that featured a number of parallel trends, including Retail Expansion. In that insight, we noted: Contradicting the story that floral retail is declining, several Slow Flowers members are opening retail destinations to attract “floral literate” shoppers. “Our storefront allows us to support additional local growers and to get more local flowers into the community,” said Sydney Garvey of Flowers by Garvey’s Gardens.

For today’s interview, Sydney joined me from her flower shop in downtown Grand Junction and later shared a video tour of the retail space interiors as well as a visit to the flower farm.

Find and follow Garvey’s Gardens on Instagram and Facebook

Subscribe to Garvey’s Gardens Podcast here.

Take 50% Off Your Slow Flowers Society Membership!

Remember, we’re in the midst of a month-long celebration to recognize the 10-year anniversary of slowflowers.com — our online directory to local flowers. This is an amazing milestone and as a thank you for our community, we’ve created a special gift to share with new and renewing members. If you’ve always wanted to join Slow Flowers, we are extending a 50%-off discount for you to make it so! Use the discount code HAPPY10 to join or renew for one year’s membership at half the regular price – this offer is good at all levels, from Standard and Premium to our special 3-year perennial membership. Check it out! This offer expires on June 7, 2024.

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.

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 next 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 at longfield-gardens.com.

Our final sponsor thanks goes 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’m so glad you joined us 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; Gaena; Sun Spots
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

Flowers are fleetingly beautiful, but dried floral arrangements are both lovely and lasting. In her new book, Designing with Dried Flowers, Slow Flowers member, Hannah Muller of The Wreath Room and Full Belly Farm shares her unique methods to naturally dry flowers that hold their color and delicacy – and how to design small arrangements for every day, wreaths for all seasons, and celebration showstoppers that will look gorgeous in the moment and for months to come.

Last week, the Slow Flowers community gathered online for a virtual meet-up with our featured expert, Hannah Rose Rivers Muller, of Full Belly Farm and Wreath Room. With her family, especially her lifelong mentor and mother Dru Rivers, Hannah grows 15 acres of cut flowers in Guinda, California, located about 45 minutes west of Sacramento.

We’ve had Dru and Hannah as past guests of the Slow Flowers Podcast, Episode 498 (2021). Click to listen to the replay of that conversation.

Today, we’re welcoming Hannah back to the Slow Flowers community as she shares her passion for dried botanicals. She spent two years working with photographer Molly Decoudreaux to capture all the seasons of growing, harvesting, processing, drying and designing with flowers, herbs, floliages, grains, and grasses.

Their new book, Designing with Dried Flowers, will be published on June 4th. Follow along with Hannah as she inspires people to embrace and celebrate the joy and beauty of drying flowers for long-term enjoyment.

Find and follow Hannah Muller at these social places:
Full Belly Farm on Instagram and Facebook
Farmer Hands on Instagram
Wreath Room on Instagram

The video that accompanies this episode includes Hannah’s centerpiece design demo, and a discussion of some of the varieties she prefers for wreathmaking, bouquet making and creating arrangements.

It’s the 10th Anniversary of Slowflowers.com!

Remember last week’s announcement. To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of slowflowers.com — our online directory to local flowers –we created a gift for our community. If you’ve always wanted to join Slow Flowers, we have a special 50%-off discount for you. Use the discount code HAPPY10 to join or renew for one year’s membership at half the regular price – this offer is good at all levels, from Standard and Premium to our special 3-year perennial membership. Check it out! This offer expires on June 7, 2024.

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.

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   

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.

I’m so glad you joined us 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; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; Paper Feather
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

Going from flower farmer to full-service retail florist and juggling both – is it possible? Hear from Tammy Osselaer, who started Little Petal Farm in 2019 and then in 2022, opened a retail full-service flower shop as an extension of her farm. Learn how she grows all of her flowers during the farming season AND produces floral designs for her community and beyond.

On this podcast, I love it when a listener contacts me with a suggestion for an episode that underscores something I’ve mentioned, such as an interesting observation or shift in the Slow Flowers Movement.

Today’s guest did just that. Tammy Osselaer is a loyal Slow Flowers Podcast listener and member who owns Little Petal Farm in Noblesville, Indiana. After an earlier episode when I commented about flower farmers opening companion retail stores, both on farm and as separate businesses, Tammy reached out to introduce herself.

Little Petal Farm was established in 2019 as a specialty cut flower farm producing high-quality blooms & branches for floral designers, event planners, subscription holders, weddings, and all-around flower lovers.

Its origins are rooted in Tammy’s personal interest in flower gardening and landscaping, a passion she’s had for more than 25 years. After designing, planting and nurturing her own gardens with perennials, flowering woodies and graceful ornamental grasses, she turned that passion into Little Petal Farm, first as a farm; then as a farm plus retail shop.

Let’s jump right in and learn about her path to flowers – and how she manages to run two sister businesses that are infusing Noblesville and the surrounding area with locally-grown botanicals.

Find and follow Little Petal Farm on Facebook and Instagram.

As mentioned, the Indiana Peony Festival is coming up this weekend, May 18^th, so if you’re in the area, find Tammy and say hello!

This Week’s Good News

I want to share an important piece of news, a major milestone for the Slow Flowers Movement. Last week, we celebrated the 10^th Anniversary of the launch of slowflowers.com!

One decade ago, on May 8^th 2014, we launched slowflowers.com just before Mother’s Day, as a free, nationwide online directory with more than 200 listings of florists, shops, studios, and farms with local, seasonal, and sustainable flowers.

It all began with the book – Slow Flowers – which was published in the spring of 2013, quickly followed by the debut of the Slow Flowers Podcast. The Slow Flowers Movement was born with the book, the podcast, and slowflowers.com, and what an amazing decade we’ve experienced ever since! As part of my announcement last week, I shared these observations:

We have achieved so much in the Slow Flowers Community during the past decade – and we have YOU to thank. Your shared passion for promoting local, seasonal, and sustainable flowers has propelled Slow Flowers to become an international phrase, used in millions of hashtags around the world.  #slowflowers has generated more than 200 million social media impressions in the past four years alone.

The term is much more recognizable and powerful that merely using “local flowers,” because SLOW instantaneously communicates a wider range of values than just geographic proximity.

We believe in the sustainable and ethical practices outlined in our Slow Flowers Manifesto, and our members are the embodiment of those values. We have grown to 750 members – flower farmers, floral designers, and farmer florists who align with our mission

Inspiring the floral industry and its consumers to embrace local, seasonal, and sustainable flowers.

Our goals are many, but I just want to highlight two that I know will resonate with you:

         To change the flower sourcing practices of consumers and professionals through outreach and education that highlights the benefits of local, seasonal and domestic floriculture.

         To build a movement that promotes cultivation and sales of local, seasonal and sustainable flowers, while nurturing authentic connections between consumers, farmers and florists.

To celebrate, I wanted to share a gift to our community. If you’ve always wanted to join Slow Flowers, we have a special 50%-off discount for you. Use the discount code HAPPY10 to join or renew for one year’s membership at half the regular price – this offer is good at all levels, from Standard and Premium to our special 3-year perennial membership. This promotion expires on June 7, 2024.

Join our May 17th Slow Flowers Member (Virtual) Meet-Up:

And don’t forget to preregister to join this month’s Slow Flowers Member Meet-Up, coming up on Friday, May 17^th – scheduled to take place one week later than usual to accommodate for Mother’s Day. The session is devoted to Designing with Dried Flowers and our expert member is Hannah Rose Rivers Muller of The Wreath Room and Full Belly Farm. We’re so excited to feature Hannah as she talks about flower farming with her family in Northern California and developing her special approach to drying the flowers she grows. This will be a very special preview of Hannah’s brand-new book, out on June 4^th – Designing with Dried Flowers, so bring your questions! We will have one copy of to give away to one lucky attendee. Pre-registration is required. I’ll see you on May 17^th!

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.

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 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 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.

I’m so glad you joined us 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; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; Nu Fornacis
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

You love floral design, but running a business is so not your thing! Longtime Slow Flowers member Althea Wiles has been there, too. She knows how many of us started out because we love flowers, but then realized there’s so much more to the business than just making pretty things! Althea joined us recently at the Slow Flowers Member Meet-Up to share her Spring Tune-Up tips for your floral business and we’re bringing the conversation with you today.

Today’s guest, Althea Wiles, is the creative force behind Rose of Sharon Floral Design Studio and J. Althea Creative, based in Springdale, Arkansas. With a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hendrix College, an Arkansas Master Florist Certification and 30 years of experience, she orchestrates 75-100 weddings and events annually, receiving industry accolades and shaping a lasting legacy. As the education director of J Althea Creative, she imparts her expertise to mentor budding florists, cementing her reputation as a visionary and influencer in the field. She annually contributes striking installations to the Art in Bloom exhibit at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, further solidifying her impact on the industry.

When Althea and I were brainstorming about her presentation for the April Slow Flowers Member (virtual) Meet-Up, we decided to take some of the content of her coaching sessions and distill it down to one hour. She has discovered that many floral pro’s have an abundance of creative design skills, but are juggling time is spent on paperwork, office work, accounting, management, writing proposals and interacting with clients—pretty much everything except design.

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.

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.

Our next thank you goes 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.

Join Us!

Today, you heard from one of our members who shared her expertise at the April Slow Flowers Member Meet-Up. And now, I want to give you a head’s up about the next member meet-up, comping right up on Friday, May 17^th – postponed by one week to accommodate for Mother’s Day.

The upcoming session is devoted to Designing with Dried Flowers and our expert member is Hannah Rose Rivers Muller of Full Belly Farm and her IG account, The Wreath Room. This is the topic of Hannah’s brand new book, out on June 4^th – Designing with Dried Flowers. We’re so excited to feature Hannah as she talks about flower farming with her family in Northern California and developing her special approach to drying the flowers she grows. This will be a very special preview of the book, so bring your questions! We will have one copy of Designing with Dried Flowers to give away to one lucky attendee. Pre-registration is required and you can find the link to register in our show notes. I’ll see you on May 17^th!

I’m so glad you joined us 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; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; Spindash
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