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We’re diving deep into the world of lily growing, with two experts who share their advice and know-how. Today’s episode was recorded as our October Slow Flowers Member Meet-Up and we have had many requests for the replay video and audio – so you’re in for a real treat. Gretel Adams of Sunny Meadows Flower Farm and Ko Klaver, a plant and bulb specialist at Zabo Plant discuss LA hybrid lily planting and harvesting methods and more. You’ll also learn how Sunny Meadows Flower Farm uses lilies in their mixed bouquet program for mass market and grocery customers. It’s a true lily fest to inspire us all!

Thanks to the team at Flowerbulb.eu, we have a fabulous episode to share with you today – and yes, it’s all about lilies!

Gretel Adams is a longtime Slow Flowers member, who with her husband Steve Adams, owns a thriving and diversified flower farm in Columbus, Ohio – Sunny Meadows Flower Farm. We asked Gretel to team up with Ko Klaver, Zabo Plant’s bulb specialist who’s well known in growing circles as a bulb and plant supplier for farms of all sizes.

Together, they presented a fabulous tutorial for our community’s October member meet-up and we want to share the video and audio with you today. We’ll start with Gretel’s presentation about Sunny Meadows Farms’ lily-growing program, learn about her favorite cultivars (and why she loves them), as well as her planting calendar for a 33-week program that allows her to have lilies basically from Easter to Thanksgiving – amazing.

Enjoy Gretel’s Slide Show here:

Ko adds his expertise as a lily bulb broker, as he walks us through the recently published Lily Master Class resource developed with funding from Flowerbulb.eu.

Download the Lily Master Class PDF here:

Also, Gretel and Steve Adams teach a great course called Growing Cut-Flower Crops in Hoop and Greenhouses, offered by our sponsor The Gardener’s Workshop. You can find a link in today’s show notes to Sign Up for a FREE sneak peek into the course, including special tips for growing lilies in greenhouse environment, maintenance and ventilation.

Learn more:
Follow Sunny Meadows Flower Farm at these Instagram accounts: @sunnymeadowsflowerfarm, @flowerfarmer  and @flowerfarmette

Follow Flowerbulbsdotcom on Instagram

Follow Zabo Plant on Instagram

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.

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

Thank you to The Gardener’s Workshop, which offers a full curriculum of online education for flower farmers and farmer-florists. Online education is more important than ever, and you’ll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com.

And 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; Kid Kodi
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

At this time of year, I’m feeling those back-to-school vibes — and more importantly, seeking more knowledge – so I’m happy to feature floral educator Sarah Berquist, who teaches sustainable flower farming and floral entrepreneurship to college students at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. Join me to learn about her inspiring approach to educating farmer-florists of the future.

I’m so happy today to share an extended episode that introduces our community to what’s happening in flower farming and floral design education at the university level.

Over the past two years, I’ve so enjoyed getting to know Sarah Berquist, a Slow Flowers member based in Amherst, Massachusetts. She originally joined as a member under her business name, Flowers by Sarah B, but I later learned that she is a floral educator at University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

While Sarah’s entre into floral design began as a fun side-gig, she has taken a leadership role at U-Mass’s Stockbridge School of Agriculture in developing floral design and farmer-florist curriculum for college students in the Sustainable Food and Farming program.
Here is the Stockbridge Floral Program’s new home on the Stockbridge website!

I’ve been so inspired to learn about the first credited Retail Floral Design course, which is in its second year, as well as the farmer-florist practicum that will also be offered again next semester.

I invited Sarah to share the story of her emerging floral education program. After you hear our 30-minute conversation, you’re in for a treat. Last week, during the first week of the fall semester, Sarah gathered with some of her returning students to record their insights about growing and designing through a sustainability lens. You’ll hear their voices in the podcast audio, but if you have time, I encourage you to watch the video above, where you’ll see them in the field harvesting, and follow them into the drying room. I know you’ll be as inspired as I was to hear from the future leaders of our Slow Flowers Movement!

Let’s jump right in and welcome Sarah Berquist of Stockbridge Floral Design at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. Head’s up – we’re going to be working with Sarah and her students to identify internship opportunities, so if you’re interested to learn more, I’ll share Sarah’s contact information in our show notes, as well.

Follow Stockbridge Floral Design on Instagram

Download Sarah’s recap of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture Floral Design Program (2023-2024 Summary)

Slow Flowers Member Meet-Up for September

And a quick note to remind you that coming up this Friday, September 13^th (9 am PT/Noon Eastern), we are resuming our monthly Slow Flowers Member Virtual Meet-Up. Join me in the Zoom Room! Our special guest experts will be Casey Schwartz and Kit Wertz of Flower Duet, an LA-based studio. The sisters will share how they have built a special niche serving corporate and event clients – you’ll be sure to learn something new!

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

Thank you to 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.

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.

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; Homin Brer
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

Like me, so many of our Slow Flowers practitioners have careers rooted in horticulture. And today’s guest, Lisa Dailey of Highlands, North Carolina-based Cultivation, shares how she brings Slow Flowers to her community by melding landscape and cutting garden design and consultation with organic floral design. It all comes together for Lisa and her colleagues at this weekend’s Dazzling Dahlia Festival, the 14^th annual celebration that includes a dahlia bloom competition, floral vignette installations throughout the community, workshops, bouquet and tuber sales, and more. Join me to learn all about the floral fun.

Lisa Dailey’s path to flowers is probably genetic, as she credits her grandmother and mother for teaching her and nurturing a love of nature.

As she notes, “having such pure intentional gardeners cultivate me, how could I be anything else but a horticulturist?” Lisa grew up in Savannah, surrounded by live oaks, camellias and azaleas, not to mention centuries-old gardens. She was equally influenced by the mountains of Highlands, North Carolina, where she spent childhood visits to family. Now, she spends time in both communities, while living and working year-round in Highlands.

With a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the University of Georgia, Lisa spent much of her early career working in consumer gardening as an educator. In Highlands, she has returned to her horticultural roots through a consultancy called Cultivation, a business that combines all of Lisa’s areas of expertise — gardening, landscape design, healthy soil and botanical floral design. She works with residential clients to enhance their gardens. But she is also deeply involved in programs to promote native plants and horticulture.

Lisa joined me this week to share how her love of dahlia growing has inspired her volunteer efforts to promote the Dazzling Dahlia Festival, a program of the Highlands Historical Society, which takes place this weekend, September 5-7^th. There are many facets to this event, which began quite modestly as an exhibition of single dahlia blooms submitted by individual growers. Through the efforts of community volunteers, the celebration has exploded, especially post-COVID. “Flower Power,” the 2024 festival, includes dahlia competition for amateur and professional growers, a floral vignette invitational with installations throughout the community, plus music, storytelling, food, docent tours, and other community activities.

Let’s jump right in and learn more. Lisa invited fellow dahlia lover Kim Daugherty to introduce us to the festival; and then we talk floral design, dahlia growing, and more.

Find and follow Lisa Dailey of Cultivation on Instagram

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.

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

Thank you to The Gardener’s Workshop, which offers a full curriculum of online education for flower farmers and farmer-florists. Online education is more important than ever, and you’ll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com.

And 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; Wingspan
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

When she owned and operated Silver Lake Farms, Tara Kolla was one of Los Angeles’s pioneering urban flower growers.

She helped change legislation to approve backyard flower farming and was a popular vendor at Hollywood Farmers’ Market.

In 2016, Tara and her husband dramatically reimagined their lives and moved to the La Rochelle region of France. They bought a 18^th century stone millhouse and poured just as much love and care into its renovations as Tara had once devoted to growing flowers.

Earlier this month, I visited Mill on the Rock and today, I’m sharing a beautiful conversation to catch up listeners on the next chapter of Tara’s floral story.

Today’s episode is a very special one as we reconnect with former Los Angeles organic flower farmer Tara Kolla – consider this a new installment of our collection of “where are they now?” follow-up shows!

Fans of the Slow Flowers Movement first met Tara in 2012 in the pages of The 50 Mile Bouquet, the little book that launched so much awareness around local, seasonal, and sustainable flowers. I featured Tara in a chapter called “Flower Patch Politics,” profiling Silver Lake Farms, her urban, organic food and floral enterprise. Hers is an inspiring story of transitioning from a career in PR and Marketing in 2003 to become a farmer growing a diversified mix of flowers, organic greens, and vegetables. Tara’s story not only wowed our readers, but wowed her customers across the City of Angels. She became a passionate advocate who revived a 1940s-era “truck gardening” ordinance that neighbors insisted only permitted residential gardeners to sell the excess food they grew – NOT their flowers.

We captured Tara’s story with photography by David Perry, and I’ll share a PDF of the full chapter as a bonus in today’s show notes for you to download and read. In April 2014, Tara also appeared as a guest on the Slow Flowers Podcast, Episode 314.

By then, I was living in Seattle, so I managed to stay in touch with Tara long-distance. She visited us in Seattle once; I visited her in Los Angeles; IG was just taking off, so of course we followed one another – and then, to my surprise, in 2016, Tara posted that she was moving to France! I was enthralled by her story – seemingly ripped from the pages of Peter Mayle’s bestseller, A Year in Provence, about the renovations of an ancient edifice and a new life built around it.

If you followed Tara’s Silver Lake Farms account on IG, you also saw news of her transition to Mill on the Rock. Today, you’re in for a treat because I visited Tara when I was in France earlier this month – and we recorded a laughter-filled episode that continues her amazing tale.

Flowers are (of course) part of the story, and Tara’s upcoming event at Mill on the Rock, a retreat venue in France’s La Rochelle region, is at the heart of it. Learn more about the upcoming Flower Art Workshop, taking place at Mill on the Rock on September 28th.

The session includes lessons in hand-held bouquet-making, wreath creation and vase composition. Lunch and snacks are included, plus tips for growing your own as well as a flower foraging as you are invited to wander through Tara’s garden at Mill on the Rock. If you’re in Europe, it’s just a day’s trip to attend – and I encourage you to check it out!

Stay tuned for next week’s Episode 678 – you’ll want to watch and listen to Slow Flowers Visits France Part Two, and tour Les Singulieres, a French flower farm that Tara took me to. I can’t wait to share it with you!

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

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

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

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; Le Marais
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue

Lovely
by Tryad 
http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

After building her studio’s wedding and event portfolio, Lexi Richards knew she wanted to pursue channels that combine her floral art with commerce and civic commissions. Join me as we discuss her branding approach to attract corporate bookings and public artist-in-residency work.

Today’s guest, Lexi Richards, owns Twiggage & Bloom, where she and her family grow beautiful, sustainable flowers on their Mission, British Columbia micro farm and provide those blooms to couples and clients in the Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver area.

Flowers have always been part of Lexi’s life growing up and learning from the women in her life to whom growing flowers came easily and naturally. She explains that when she started working in a traditional florist shop, it was the fragrance and variety of the flowers grown at home that she missed.

As a creative individual and a lifelong learner, Lexi knew she wanted to grow a huge variety of flowers with delicious colours, romantic forms, and soul- stirring fragrances – rather than just the basics.

She has invested her time, energy, and resources to acquire the skills to successfully grow exquisite flowers or source them from fellow growers to create Twiggage & Blooms’ signature floral designs. Whether it’s for a wedding, a corporate event, or enthusiastic flower club fans, the focus is on designing arrangements tailored to the client’s needs. From the smallest boutonniere to a large scale floral installation, Lexi want her designs to be fresh, unique, and rooted in time and place.

Poetry & Posy

This exhibition is the beautiful result of a Poetry & Posy workshop with City of Abbotsford Artist in Residence, Alexandra Richards at the Kariton Art Gallery on August 10, 2023.  Participants made a posy (a small bouquet) and matched it to words using floriography (the symbolism of flowers) to create short poems. Each of the posies and poems were photographed to create this collection. 

Find and follow Twiggage & Blooms at these social places: Facebook and Instagram

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.

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

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

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.

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; 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

Based in Burlington, Vermont, Jayson Munn owns Jayson Munn Design. He specializes in creating inspired arrangements for weddings, corporate events, and photo styling throughout New England, but Jayson never veers too far from his gardening influences. Join me for a heartfelt conversation with Jayson as we chat about nature, flowers, plants, and living slow & seasonally – our interview wraps up with Jayson’s perfect summer floral demonstration.

The roots of today’s conversation began in 2018 when I traveled to Virginia to teach at Holly Chapple’s Flowerstock. That’s where I met floral artist Jayson Munn of Burlington, Vermont-based Jayson Munn Design, who was there to help produce Flowerstock, as a member of Holly’s team.

We had some wonderful encounters during a number of days there, and it was such a lovely surprise when, the following year, Jayson reached out to invite me to teach a creative writing workshop at Green Mountain Floral Supply, the major flower wholesaler and floral hub in Burlington, Vermont. I’ve now taught at two of Green Mountain Floral Supply’s Spring Flower Shows – in 2019 and 2023 – as their guest, but truly, I was there because of Jayson, who coordinates the annual educational program for the florists in their community.

He is a thoughtful community builder and educator, not to mention a fabulous floral designer, and I’ve been wanting Jayson to record a conversation with me for years. We finally found time to connect recently – virtually. As I mention during our chat, the timing never worked before for us to record when we’re together, so we decided to record this virtual interview.

As I alluded to in the intro, Jayson is a garden guy. You’ll hear us discuss his formative years, when Jayson’s love of botanicals was nurtured in the woods, fields, and at the river’s edge. That chapter transitioned into a career working in the field of professional floral design. With more than two decades of experience and a life-long passion for plants and the garden, Jayson continues to create floral masterpieces –from classic, modern, rustic and elegant, to something new altogether.

Find and follow Jayson Munn on Facebook and Instagram

Listen to Episode 394 (March 2019). Our interview with Tom Jennings of Green Mountain Floral Supply, which we recorded during my first visit to Burlington’s floral community.

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

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

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

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; A Pleasant Strike
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

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

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

We’re taking a deep dive into the world of lilies today, featuring my conversations with experts I met while attending Dutch Lily Days in Amsterdam earlier this month. Most lily bulbs are produced in Holland, but the cut flowers you can grow from them are an important opportunity for domestic farmers and florists to offer the beautiful, value-added bulb flower for their retail, wedding and event customers.

If you have a love-hate relationship with lilies, I’m pretty sure today’s episode will change your perception about what I believe is one of the most elegant, classic flowering bulbs.

According to the 2023 National Gardening Survey, there has been an increase in bulb sales of 36 percent from 2021 to 2022 in the United States. The U.S. is the largest flower bulb importer in the world and the largest importer of European flower bulbs.

We have just kicked off a new partnership with Royal Anthos, the bulb trade organization, to educate and promote U.S.-grown lilies.

Royal Anthos’s support of Slow Flowers Society aligns with its desire to increase education about flower bulbs and American-grown cut flowers like tulips and lilies that are grown from European bulbs.

The timing was perfect for me to take a short, four-day trip to Amsterdam last week to participate in Dutch Lily Days, a showcase for all the many forms, colors, and innovations in the lily bulb market. Dutch Lily Days is a unique gathering of breeders, growers, and trade companies to showcase all the attributes of lilies for cut flowers and gardens. The annual event draws thousands of visitors, including press, to study lilies and network with industry experts. Its focus on trends in the assortment, on pollen-free lilies, and other innovations like double-flowering lilies did not disappoint.

I’ve compiled a series of interviews with the many experts I met during our three-day tour. Included are voices from Jawin van der Steen and Ko Klaver from Zabo Plant; Tyler Meskers from Oregon Flowers, a U.S. grower; breeder P. J. Kos of World Breeding B.V.; Sjuart Onings from Onings Holland Flowerbulbs; and Frans van der Weiden of Van den Bos Flowerbulbs. You’ll also hear some background voices, including from the Chinese translator who accompanied one of the journalists in our group.

A special thank you to my host and tour guide, Anne Verdoes of ibulb.org. We had a fantastic group of journalists from around the world, and you can see a photo of our group – all women – in the show notes. As the only American, I learned so much from flower and horticulture journalists who joined our tour – people from Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and China. We met up with a few Dutch journalists, as well, including the editorial team from THURSD.com, Floraculture International, and Flormarket Global Magazine.

I know you’ll enjoy this extensive, hour-long, special focus on lilies. Let’s jump right in and get started.

Slow Flowers Summit

It’s countdown time to the Slow Flowers Summit 2024 – which launches in less than two weeks on Sunday evening June 23^rd, followed by two full days of floral education for sustainably-design-minded growers and florists. You have just a few more days to register and take advantage of the $100-off pricing for all Slow Flowers Society members.

As a fun preview of Day One of the Summit, you’re invited to join me this Friday June 14^th at the virtual June Slow Flowers Meet-Up, 9 am PT-Noon ET, as we learn from two Canadian farmer-florists who will be featured speakers at the Summit. Melanie Harrington of Dahlia May Flower Farm and Janis Harris of Harris Flower Farm, both based in the province of Ontario, will join us to talk about their enterprises and what you can expect as they lecture and design at the Summit. The Meet-Up is free for members and nonmembers alike, but you do need to pre-register.

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 sponsor 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.

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 at longfield-gardens.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:

Music Credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; Tiny Putty
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue

Lovely
by Tryad 
http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field
audionautix.com

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