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Last month we visited Santa Cruz, California, to hear from Christof Berneau of the UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.

On that same trip I met up with mom & daughter flower farmers Nancy Abramson and Haley Wall of Rooster Ridge Farm, a USDA Certified Organic and California Certified Organic farm located in nearby Aptos.

I briefly met Nancy and Haley in 2012 when they attended the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers annual conference in Tacoma, where I had been invited to speak about The 50 Mile Bouquet. I remember their unbridled enthusiasm and at the time I recall thinking what a great “story” they would be.

Fast-forward to 2015 and we reconnected through Teresa Sabankaya of Bonny Doon Garden Co., a recent podcast guest. Teresa hosted a Slow Flowers/Slow Coast gathering in the Santa Cruz area when I was there in March and Nancy and Haley attended.

They reminded me that I had an open invitation to visit them at Rooster Ridge.

That visit took place in June. Nancy and Haley welcomed me and led a wonderful walking tour of the grounds, which includes orchards, a vineyard, cutting gardens and production fields.

We enjoyed some delicious refreshments on the deck of the family home. And then we recorded this podcast.

This is a bountiful 20-acre place where flowers, herbs and fruit flourish. The farm is a labor of love for Nancy, and now, for Haley, who is also providing floral design services for brides and other local clients. You can find Rooster Ridge’s harvest at Aptos area farmers’ markets and pop-up flower stands in the community.

From cut flowers to citrus and avocados to an abundance of herbs, Rooster Ridge is deeply connected to its region. Florists, supermarkets, and farmers market customers are delighted with the quirky, uncommon ingredients gathered into the mixed bouquets.

Our podcast interview asks Nancy and Haley to share how they grow, market and design, and how they develop new market opportunities.

Thanks for joining me today as we toured an organic California cut flower farm where sustainable practices and growing profitable crops are guiding principles.

As Nancy so aptly said,

“Being a farmer is a lifestyle choice. “

I’m so glad she and her family has found a way to make a living from their land, and to share their beautiful flowers with their community, offering seasonal and local alternatives to imported stems.

Listeners like you have downloaded this podcast nearly 59,000 times. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.

Until next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto Itunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Wheatley and Hannah Holtgeerts. Learn more about their work at shellandtree.com.

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Author/photographer, lecturer and radio host Ken Druse has contributed to nearly every garden and home design magazine in America.

He is probably best known for his books, which the New York Times called “bibles for serious gardeners.”

The American Horticultural Society chose his book, The Passion for Gardening, as best book of the year; and the Wall Street Journal recommended it as one of the “five garden books to own.”

Ken has authored 20 gardening books, including recent titles PLANTHROPOLGY: The Myths, Mysteries, and Miracles of My Garden Favorites and Natural Companions: The Garden Lover’s Guide to Plant Companions, which features both Ken’s photography and that of digital artist Ellen Hoverkamp.

In 2004, the Garden Club of America awarded Ken the Sarah Chapman Francis medal for lifetime literary achievement. In 2013 Garden Writers Association awarded Ken the gold medal for photography and the silver medal for writing. In 2013, the Smithsonian Institute announced the acquisition of the Ken Druse Collection of Garden Photography, comprising 100,000 images of American gardens and plants.

I have interviewed Ken for stories about his work that appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, so it is with great pleasure that I welcome him to the Slow Flowers Podcast. Ken is a pioneer of gardening podcasts, having been on the air for a decade with his national podcast and public radio show “Ken Druse Real Dirt,” which listeners can hear through their computers and iPods.

We’re here today to discuss Ken’s timely new book, The New Shade Garden: Creating a Lush Oasis in the Age of Climate Change, published in May by Stewart Tabori & Chang.

Ken reveals the low-stress environment of shade (cooler temperatures; fewer water demands) and how shade is extremely beneficial for our plants, our planet and us.

The thriving garden of the future might just exist in the understory!

I come to floral design from the residential garden and a love of plants. And the floral designers in my world are always on the lookout for uncommon, ephemeral lovelies.

Guess what? Many of those special fronds, flowers, leaves and branches can be found in the shade garden. Learning from a master like Ken Druse is a huge treat — I hope you found what he shared as inspiring as I did.

I highly recommend this comprehensive guide to “all things shade.” For gardeners and floral designers alike, “The New Shade Garden” is packed with inspiration and with ideas for having a lush, textural and fragrant garden where many colors exist!

And just for fun, to get a flavor of Ken’s wonderful and welcoming interview style (and to hear his radio-perfect voice!) here are links to the two Ken Druse Real Dirt episodes where I appeared as his guest:

May 11, 2012, “Field to Vase”

March 22, 2013, “The Local Flower Movement’s Champion”

On his web site, Ken writes:  Spending time in nature, especially nurturing plants, strengthens our connection with the natural rhythms of life. In the garden, we often experience a kind of “meditation therapy”–weeding actually becomes a time to sort through the other parts of our busy lives. 

I couldn’t agree more, and like Ken, I see the garden as a metaphor for life.

On August 15th, if you are in the Northeast, you have a chance to hear Ken Druse lecture on shade; take his hands-on garden-photography workshop; shop a rare-plant sale; and tour the garden of fellow garden writer, editor and podcaster Margaret Roach in Copake Falls, New York as part of the Garden Conservancy Open Day in her area. Here are details for purchasing tickets and to find the full day’s schedule.

Follow Ken Druse on Facebook here.

Find Ken Druse on Great Garden Speakers here.

Ken Druse’s “The New Shade Garden” floral arrangement includes:

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’

Foliage from three different hostas

Flowers from two hosta varieties

Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’ (slightly faded to green)

Pachysandra terminalis ‘Variegata’

And “whips” (actually flower spikes) from Persicaria virginiana ‘Painter’s Palette’

Listeners like you have downloaded this podcast nearly 58,000 times. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.

Until next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto Itunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Wheatley and Hannah Holtgeerts. Learn more about their work at shellandtree.com.

Much is blooming early here in the Pacific Northwest. The flower farmers report that their crops are exploding weeks ahead of past seasons. It’s good news for the floral designers who yearn for local dahlias to take center stage in their creations — now through the first frost.

I love the tawny palette that started with this pinky-coral dahlia grown by my friends Diane Szukovathy and Dennis Westphall of Jello Mold Farm in Mt. Vernon., the source of some of the most prolific offerings at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market.

That pink baby’s breath, which they also grow, literally took away my breath! I had to play with it and I love its blush-pink color echo of the dahlias.

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Today’s episode celebrates the 2nd anniversary of the Slow Flowers Podcast.

This podcast has been downloaded more than 57,000 times during the course of two years — and that means more and more people are hearing the message of American grown flowers and the farmers and florists who bring those blooms to you.

The popularity of this podcast shouldn’t be measured in numbers alone, but here is a telling metric: On our first year anniversary, I remember being thrilled that 15,000 individual episodes had been heard.

In our second year, for the same 12-month period, 42,000 individual episodes have been downloaded — that’s nearly triple the frequency.

I’m honored and humbled that you’re listening today and that so many wonderful voices have agreed to be part of this podcast celebrating American flowers.

I’ve invited Kasey Cronquist to be my 2nd anniversary guest, a role he is repeating after last year’s first anniversary episode.

It’s fitting to have you hear from Kasey especially because he’s one of the most significant people in the local flower movement. He has certainly influenced my journey through America’s fields and design studios and he’s been a kindred spirit in the cause about which we care so deeply – saving and nurturing the domestic cut flower industry – from field to vase.

Kasey is the CEO and Ambassador for the California Cut Flower Commission. He’s served in this capacity since 2007. He also administers the Certified American Grown Flowers brand program.

To learn more about Kasey, listen to our previous recorded interviews:

Episode 107 (September 18, 2013) American Grown Flowers from a California Point of View

Episode 151 (July 23, 2014) An All-American Celebration for our One-Year Anniversary

Here’s where you can find and follow him:

Kasey Cronquist’s Field Position Blog

Twitter: @kaseycronquist and @cagrown

Instagram: @kaseycronquist

TAKE ACTION!!! Here’s how to support the efforts of the Congressional Cut Flower Caucus by asking your own Representative to join!

I’m eager to begin Year Three, sharing more conversations with listeners like you.

THANK YOU for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing as part of the Slow Flowers Community. And a very special thanks to the flower farmers, floral designers, authors, educators and marketers whose voices have appeared on the Slow Flowers Podcast this past year.

I’m sharing a $35 off promotional discount for you to attend any of the remaining six Field to Vase Dinners in 2015. Reserve your seat at the flower-laden table by clicking here and use the code SLOWFLOWERS.

Until next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto Itunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Wheatley and Hannah Holtgeerts. Learn more about their work at shellandtree.com.

This week’s Slow Flowers Challenge comes to you from the flower farms of Colorado!

I spent several days last week as a guest of Chet and Kristy Anderson, owners of The Fresh Herb Co., based in Longmont, Colorado. We featured the Andersons and their beautiful farm, flowers and philosophy in The 50 Mile Bouquet – in a chapter called “Rocky Mountain Flowers.”

You can learn more about this couple in our Slow Flowers Podcast episode that aired earlier this year.

Returning to Colorado was a delightful excuse to play with flowers picked from fields just steps away from the back door. I was there to co-host the fourth Field to Vase Dinner of 2015 – farm-to-table dining experiences held on flower farms across the country.

Chet and Kristy graciously welcomed this very special gathering at The Fresh Herb Co. Eighty lucky guests enjoyed a delicious meal, local wine and an unparalleled setting next to the gurgling Left Hand Creek. Flowers were on the table and the conversation was all about American grown flowers, the Slow Flowers movement, and the important reasons to focus on domestic, local, seasonal and sustainable flowers. Check out this beautiful and engaging blog post about the dinner from Boulder photographer Kirsten Boyer, “Slow Flowers and Slow Friendships.”

When Chet was asked to speak, he uttered a very simple sentence that resonated with me: “Without people buying our flowers, we wouldn’t exist!”

I deeply believe in his statement. And this is what motivates me, to honor and value the lives and work of flower farmers like Chet and Kristy.

I share this lovely bouquet and I really can’t take credit for the design. This is a market bouquet similar to those that they harvest, gather and sell each week at the Boulder and Longmont Farmers’ Markets. 

While in Boulder, I had a fun chance to speak about the Slow Flowers Movement and local, American-grown flowers at an evening sponsored by the Boulder Co. Farmers’ Market.

The Market also promoted the Field to Vase Dinner by giving away two free tickets. The winner was Matt Carson of 934 Farms LLC, based in Milliken, Colorado. A relatively new flower farmer, Matt and his wife Jonie grow gladiolas and also sell them at the Boulder Co. Farmers’ Market.

I couldn’t make it to their farm, about 45 minutes outside Boulder. But I did get to shop at Matt’s stall and purchase some gorgeous glads from him on Saturday morning. It was a treat to add those tall, elegant stems to the bouquet given to me by Nick Anderson, Chet and Kristy’s son.

I’ll try and list all of the flowers included below.

Colorado-grown LOCAL and SEASONAL bouquet:

From The Fresh Herb Co.: Oriental lilies, zinnias, goldenrod (Solidago sp.), bachelor’s buttons and MINT!!! Boy, does it smell glorious!

From 934 Farm LLC: Eight variously-hued gladiolas

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Last month, my travels returned me to one of the most prolific flower growing regions in the U.S. – Monterey Bay, California.

I was there to co-host the Field to Vase Dinner Tour at Pajarosa Roses, a fantastic American flower farm known for luxury roses grown with sustainable practices. I was also able to connect with some other influential people in the cut flower industry in order to record interviews for the Slow Flowers Podcast.

You’ll hear today from one of those voices. Please meet Christof Bernau, the farm garden manager of the UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.

A veteran of the UC Santa Cruz program, Christof is a totally hands-on farmer-educator, working closely with the graduate apprentices, undergraduates and members of the public interested in land stewardship through farming.

Here’s more about Christof:

Christof has been part of the CASFS since coming to the Santa Cruz area as an Apprentice in 1994. He has been an Apprenticeship instructor since 1999.

Christof has extensive experience in nursery management, propagation, vegetable, and specialty cut flower production.

He is especially interested in floral design with specialty crops, high nutrition crops, small-scale grain production, the cultivation of a wide range of fruit crops, and creating a learning environment where everyone can thrive.

He holds a BA in Asian History from Reed College and an MA in Equity and Social Justice in Adult Education from San Francisco State University.

When not immersed in the farm, Christof cherishes his time with his wife Jennifer and their daughter Eleanor Wren, spending time in the mountains, pursuing wildflowers, studying natural history, water cycles, and local ecology.

And more about the Center:

It is a research, education, and public service program dedicated to increasing ecological sustainability and social justice in the food and agriculture system. And yes, thankfully, flowers are a part of that equation!

The Center operates the 3-acre Alan Chadwick Garden and the 33-acre UCSC Farm, which serve as research, teaching, and training facilities. Proceeds from produce, flower and plant sales support the UCSC Farm & Garden facilities, and the Center’s Apprenticeship training course in organic farming and gardening.

“The Farm,” as it is called, is the hub of activity for the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture, which teaches the concepts and practices of organic gardening and small-scale farming.

This full-time, six-month  program includes approximately 300 hours of classroom instruction and 700 hours of in-field training and hands-on experience in the greenhouses, gardens, orchards, and fields.

Since its founding in 1967, the Apprenticeship has developed into an internationally recognized program that blends the virtues of experiential learning with traditional classroom studies.

Topics covered during the six-month course include instruction and daily work experience in organic gardening and farming, focusing on ecological interactions amongst plants, soils, climate, insects, and pathogens.

In a hands-on education approach, apprentices work alongside staff in the greenhouse, gardens, fields, and orchards, as well as attend lectures, demonstrations, and field trips.

Apprentices are exposed to the different aspects of growing plants organically on both a hand-dug garden scale and a tractor-cultivated field scale. The Apprentices selected to attend the course each year are interested in practical training that will prepare them to teach others and/or to run their own operations.

The goal of the Apprenticeship is to increase the number and diversity of individuals who have a command of the fundamental skills and concepts associated with organic horticulture and agriculture, such that they will be prepared to actively participate in commercial or social service projects that aim to improve human health and environmental quality through organic practices.

If you find yourself traveling to Northern California, the SF Bay Area or Santa Cruz, check out the ways you can connect with the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.

For flower farmers and floral designers, something really exciting is coming up at The Farm on Saturday, July 25th: Growing and Designing Special Event Flowers.

Join professional flower grower Zoe Hitchner of Front Porch Farm in Healdsburg, and Sky DeMuro of UCSC’s Alan Chadwick Garden for a day-long workshop on special event flowers. If you are a bride, groom, farmer-florist, or simply love playing with flowers, this workshop will delight and educate.

Zoe and Sky will lead participants in demonstrations and hands-on activities as we make unique, seasonal arrangements that are farm-fresh and elegant. In addition to basic floral design techniques including hand-tied bouquets, centerpieces, corsages, and boutonniers, this workshop will also cover organic growing and selection tips for those who want to grow their own bouquets.

The cost of the all-day workshop is $125 (or $95 for members of the Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden. Discounts available for beginning farmers (see contact information, below, to inquire about discounts). Space is limited to 20 participants and you’ll take home your arrangements. Pre-registration required. Click here to read a lovely profile about Zoe and Front Porch Farm that was featured on the Field to Vase blog.

Check out these Social sites where you can follow year-round activity of The Farm:

The Farm on Instagram

The Farm on Facebook

Application details about the 2016 Apprenticeship program.

You never know, this may be your introduction to a whole new world of sustainable flower and food farming!

Listeners like you have downloaded this podcast nearly 56,000 times. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.

Until next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto Itunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Wheatley and Hannah Holtgeerts. Learn more about their work at shellandtree.com.

What a week. Our last to enjoy the home and garden we’ve occupied for the past four years. Downsizing is wonderfully aspirational, but boy is it a lot of work. In fact, I’m rushing to post this because the Garden Lovers’ Garage Sale resumes in 1-1/2 hours!

But with only 72 hours left before closing on the sale of our nearly 3,500-square-foot home and moving into a not quite 1,200-square-foot apartment (still in Seattle), I had to take a Slow Flowers Challenge “moment” yesterday.

The cause for my joy? These amazing hydrangeas! I inherited numerous hydrangeas from this home and garden’s previous owners, more than a half-dozen. In one shaded corner beneath the fir and cedar trees, there is a trio clustered between the fence and the driveway. Occasional irrigation; otherwise much neglect.

Still, they are glorious come summertime. Look at these iridescent hues ranging from powder blue to French blue to rosy purple. These flowers do not disappoint – even when there are piles of garage sale junk strewn at their feet.

PS, don’t you LOVE this metal carrier? It was designed and custom fabricated by Silver Lake Farms, the urban flower farm based in Los Angeles’s Silver Lake neighborhood, owned by flower maven Tara Kolla. You can read about Tara in a chapter of my book The 50 Mile Bouquet – and at her beautiful web site here.

Tara designed these carriers so she and her crew can harvest flowers, pop them into the jars of water, and bring them to their various sales outlets. One of the most popular is Hollywood Farmers’ Market, where you can find Silver Lake Farms every Sunday, February through July. You can also join Silver Lake’s FLOWER CSA for custom-picked beauties – straight from Tara’s urban growing fields. And, you might get lucky and be able to purchase a carrier. It’s a perfect tool for gardeners and flower farmers alike!

I’ve been preoccupied with thoughts of Patriotism this week, especially with the Slow Flowers launch of American Flowers Week, which runs through today – July 4th.

Hundreds of folks have joined me in making red-white-and-blue floral arrangements and posting photos of their fields, flowers, bouquets and arrangements across the social media spectrum, all tagged with #americanflowersweek.

I’ve had a lot of fun making red-white-and-blue bouquets this week, too!

So, for a softer take on #americanflowersweek, may I present floral patriotism with pastels?

I love the distressed quality of this white cast-iron planter, recycled from a Better Homes & Gardens photo shoot from a few years back.

With a plastic liner converting it to a vase, the urn fits right into this week’s restful floral palette. P.S., I used a small flower frog, secured inside – for stabilizing the stems.

From my garden:

• Dusty Miller foliage ~ intensely white at this time of year

From Seattle Wholesale Growers Market:

• Pale peach foxgloves from Triple Wren Farms
• Astilbe from Ojeda Farms (purchased fresh last week, but preserved as a dry element)
• Globe thistle (Echinops sp.) and raspberry foliage from Jello Mold Farm
• Nigella ‘Black Cumin’ and double Shasta Daisies from Everyday Flowers

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We are in the middle of celebrating the inaugural American Flowers Week, June 29th through July 4th. We created American Flowers Week as a grass roots education, promotion and advocacy campaign to highlight our nation’s farms, florists, flowers and foliage — and to raise awareness among consumers, the media and policymakers about supporting domestic flowers!

If you haven’t joined in, there is plenty of time to get involved.

The easiest thing you can do is to make a red-white-and-blue bouquet using all American-grown, local and seasonal blooms. Please post that photo on your social sites and tag #americanflowersweek. I believe this effort will grow from a small idea into a significant annual event – and by adding your voice (and creativity) to American Flowers Week, you’re helping sing the praises of our homegrown blooms.

I’m so pleased today to introduce you to Jennifer Haf and Larissa Flynn of BLOOM Floral Design based on the beautiful North Michigan shore, in the communities of Petoskey/Charlevoix.

Jennifer founded BLOOM floral design in 2008 in response to her love for sharing cut garden flowers from her Northern Michigan backyard.

Having since studied under some of the most celebrated designers and with her team executed hundreds of regional and destination events, Jennifer radiates her love for all things natural into the designs BLOOM creates.

With a talented design team, BLOOM offers exclusive services to Northern Michigan and destination wedding clients — in fact, for 65 ceremonies this year alone.

Along with Jennifer, you’ll also meet Larissa Flynn, the creative director for BLOOM.

Trained as a graphic designer and fine artist, with extensive gallery and arts management experience, Larissa joined the floral business several years ago after meeting Jennifer and realizing they were creative kindred spirits.

I love the philosophy of BLOOM, as described on the studio’s web site:

We believe that flowers are most beautiful in their natural state.  When combined with other blooms in a customized palette, color and texture create a distinctive design that exudes the feeling you wish to create.  BLOOM sources flowers from only the finest growers, sourcing as much as we can locally and domestically.  Hand selected from tried and true varieties of the highest standards, our blooms will be sure to please.

Behind the scenes our creative team works meticulously at our production design studio where all of the magic happens the week leading up to your event.  Hand processing all of our flowers and prepping and designing each arrangement per event, our designs will charm and delight you and your guests.

As you will hear in our conversation, I recorded the interview with Jennifer and Larissa rather spontaneously – at a gathering hosted by Lisa Waud of pot and box and Detroit’s The Flower House, a prior guest of this podcast.

I had flown to Detroit for a 24-hour visit to attend the preview for this amazing art installation, which will be held over the weekend of October 16-18.

Jennifer and Larissa will create the florals for one of the rooms at The Flower House and I can’t wait to see what kind of botanical magic they conjure up.

Please follow links to all of BLOOM’s social sites, shared below. These are talented Slow Flowers floristas you will want to follow:

BLOOM on Facebook

BLOOM on Twitter

BLOOM on Pinterest

BLOOM on Instagram

Here’s a gallery of the beautiful design work from BLOOM Floral Design, used with their permission. These gorgeous images give me a keen sense of place and an appreciation for the character of their region’s landscape, climate and flora. A large percentage of their floral elements are local, Michigan-grown flowers. You’ll want to visit Northern Michigan at the peak of the season to see these lovelies yourself!

Listeners like you have downloaded this podcast more than 54,000 times. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.

Please join the American Flowers Week excitement and check out these resources to help your efforts. With your involvement, I believe this public awareness campaign will gain momentum and become an established annual event in the floral industry.

Until next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto Itunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Wheatley and Hannah Holtgeerts. Learn more about their work at shellandtree.com.