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In her recent Slow Flowers Journal column, “The Business of Flowers,” Brooke Palmer of Jenny Creek Flowers shared how and why she embraces winter tulip production. Our conversation today explores Brooke’s considerations through the lens of her Slow Flowers sustainability ethos while also forcing thousands of tulips into bloom during the off-season. Brooke and I discuss how she balances building a large customer base around winter-grown tulips with her desire to run a floral enterprise that’s also sustainable from a fiscal perspective – during the time of year when outside temperatures dip to the low teens.

Today’s episode is super timely, as most of us are deep into our fall bulb planting. Brooke Palmer owns Jenny Creek Flowers, a boutique cut flower farm based in Trumansburg in the Finger Lake Region of upstate New York. My conversation with Brooke originated earlier this year when I received an email from her. She wrote:

“From April through October, my farm offers local, seasonal, and sustainable blooms. From January through April, it offers local and sustainable blooms as I force thousands of tulips into bloom. Does my farm remain aligned to the Slow Flowers mission?” she asked.

Brooke went on to evaluate our mantra: Local, Seasonal and Sustainable – through her practices.
Local?: “Hundreds of people in my community are able to get locally grown flowers during winter and early spring rather than buying imported flowers.”
Sustainable?: “Because I only use LED lights and no additional heat source, my tulip program is sustainable.”
Seasonal?: Here’s the rub. . . There are hundreds of flower farms now doing this around the country (and likely hundreds more giving it a try this coming winter). Is there a place for tulip forcing within the Slow Flowers Society?”

I was impressed that Brooke asked these questions and our subsequent correspondence and conversations led to me asking her to write a column on Winter Tulip Bulb Forcing for the Fall 2024 issue of the Slow Flowers Journal. The edition dropped last week and I would love you to read Brooke’s full essay in our “Business of Flowers”” column — I’ve included the PDF below.

We dive even deeper into Brooke’s story in today’s episode and I know you’ll love meeting her and hearing how this former HS English teacher and lifelong gardener has transitioned to a full-time, year-round specialty cut flower grower – yes – while living in upstate New York – also known as USDA Zone 6a.

By the way, Brooke’s early email was so encouraging and I’d love to share it as my parting sentiments. She wrote:

“I have so much respect for the work you have done to bring attention to local flowers. I’ve wrestled through the implications of forcing tulips into bloom and am comfortably situated in a place where it makes perfect sense from a global/local perspective. What’s more is that my customers absolutely adore winter tulips. They send me love notes about how having flowers in their home during winter boosts their mood and gives them something hopeful and beautiful to get through the dark season with. I am confident that I am doing something good and wonderful for my community. Yet I recognize that posting a photo of winter tulips and using #slowflowers is a contradiction of sorts.”

Well, Brooke, let’s put that concern to rest! We will share your social media places so our listeners can find and follow you – and cheer you on when you use that hashtag #slowflowers. Here’s to a bountiful tulip season!

Find and follow Jenny Creek Flowers on Instagram and Facebook.

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Please check out the upcoming Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit 2025 – it’s coming up in the New Year – January 9-11^th to be precise, and that’s when we’re going to do something entirely different. After staging seven consecutive, live and in-person Summit conferences, we are bringing this amazing event to the virtual, online environment. You can enjoy fifteen hours of online education for just $279 – and Slow Flowers members always receive a $50 off discount on their registration.

Please check it out – in addition to the presentations, you’ll be able to engage personally with each of our floral experts, who will be in the virtual session to chat live and answer questions. I hope to see you there.

---

Thank you to our Sponsors

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

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; Over the Fence
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

Owner of Queen Bee Blooms in St. Louis, Missouri, Elizabeth Fichter is a farmer-florist who has given a lot of thought to how she can differentiate her business from the conventional alternative. In today’s episode, she will outline six important actions you can take to better discuss the value and benefits of locally grown flowers with your B2B and B2C customers, as well as share specific things she does to keep her flowers front and center in her marketplace.

A few months ago, Elizabeth Fichter reached out to me about an article she was writing for the well-known farming publication, Growing for Market. The topic was a familiar one to the Slow Flowers community – how to change perceptions of local flowers with our customers. Elizabeth wanted to include the message and mission of the Slow Flowers movement in her piece, so we had a back-and-forth discussion as she worked on her article.

Writing her story was an exercise that helped Elizabeth fine-tune her message and understand what makes Queen Bee Blooms’ brand authentic and unique.

In doing the contemplative work on this piece, Elizbeth discovered what she wanted to share with others – and I invited her to join me on the Slow Flowers Podcast to continue the conversation.

I know you’ll find it relatable — and I hope it will inspire you to make some creative changes in your own floral enterprise.

Here’s a bit more about Elizabeth and Queen Bee Blooms:
Elizabeth is an artist and a life-long lover of flowers. She is an event designer, wedding planner, writer, dreamer and of course, farmer. For more than a century, her family has farmed the land that is now home to Queen Bee Blooms. As she writes on her website:

“This-164-acre farm has been in my family for over 100 years. When my great-grandfather purchased it, it had already been a working dairy and crop farm since the mid-1800’s. Over the years, it has been taken care of by generations before me. As a small girl, I grew up here, moved away, saw the world, worked jobs that I loved, started a family, and visited on holidays and weekends. Until my mom passed away, I never thought it would or could  be mine alone. Given the opportunity (when remaining family wanted to sell it), I stopped everything in my life to return to where I began. In over 15 years, I’ve never looked back. I believe you end up exactly where you are supposed to be…I’ve followed my passion for flowers to create a farm that does things differently.

“I grow flowers not because I have to. I grow them because it feeds my soul like nothing else. Spending my days amongst this splendor is a gift that I don’t take lightly.  I have a responsibility of stewardship of not just this land, but especially the awe-inspiring beauty and magic it nurtures and grows. “

---

I’m excited to share our conversation with you today, And a special thank you to Andrew Mefferd, editor and publisher of Growing for Market, who generously shared a free link to Elizabeth’s October 2024 article, “How to have the conversation that will change perceptions around local flowers,” with the Slow Flowers community so you can read it, too.

Find and follow Queen Bee Blooms at these social places:
Instagram and Facebook
Check out Queen Bee Blooms on Pinterest

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Join the Slow Flowers Member (Virtual) Meet-Up

In news of the week, be sure to sign up to join our November 15^th Slow Flowers (Virtual) Member Meet-Up for the month. It’s a timely and creative subject and I’m excited to welcome our member expert, Kate Punnett of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owner of The August Press. Her session, which we’re calling “The Art + Business of Pressed Flowers,” will perhaps inspire what you add to your portfolio of floral products and services next. In addition to being a farmer-florist, Kate is a pressed flower artist dedicated to sustainability. She crafts custom pressed floral art, greeting cards and fine art. The August Press also creates professional-grade flower presses inspired by the timeless art of pressing flowers.

You’re invited join us and – yes – there will be a few giveaways to names drawn from those who attend the session in person!

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Thank you to our Sponsors

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

There are small and sizable ways to improve on the practices and habits we’ve relied on for far too long. Today’s guest, wedding and events designer Blair Lynn of Sweet Blossoms, has done tons of research to bring a zero-waste focus to her studio – and she’s sharing those tips with us today. The conversation draws from a guest column Blair wrote for Slow Flowers Journal’s Summer 2023 issue, and we tease out those details in our conversation. From Blair’s perspective, your sustainable choices are good for the planet, but they can also be great for client development and help your bottom line. As a bonus, Blair filmed a late autumn floral design demonstration using chicken wire mechanics and all locally-grown and foraged ingredients. You’ll love what she has created!

This conversation builds on a Business of Flowers column Blair contributed to the Summer 2023 issue of Slow Flowers Journal, called “The Sustainable Studio.” Blair has devoted many seasons to challenging herself to eliminate waste and single-use plastic, not to mention sourcing domestically as much as possible for her designs. 

Blair  is a Maryland-based floral designer whose business focuses on green and sustainable practices wherever possible. She places a high priority on ordering flowers from domestic farms and works to cultivate relationships with as many local farmers as she can. She composts all organic waste, and recycles at least 75% of all materials used in the studio. All designs are foam free. She has been featured in Slow Flowers Journal, Washingtonian Magazine, and Florist’s Review.

She wraps up our conversation with a seasonal design demonstration using flowers from fellow Slow Flowers members Grateful Gardeners, a flower farm owned by Sarah Daken and Tom Precht. You’ll see dahlias, zinnias, cosmos, celosia, forged field grasses, not to mention hydrangeas from Blair’s own shade garden. It’s a beautiful inspiration to wrap up an inspiring conversation.

Thanks so much for joining me today!

Find and follow Sweet Blossoms on Instagram and Facebook

Here’s your free download of the PDF of “The Sustainable Studio,” Blair’s column written for Slow Flowers Journal.

Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit

And for a bit of Slow Flowers NEWS: On October 15^th, we announced the details about the Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit, scheduled for January  9-11, 2025. This will be an entirely virtual, online conference, so no worries about exhausting your travel budget. You will enjoy 15 expert sessions on all of topics that are important to the Slow Flowers Movement – ranging from sustainable business methods, to community building, to flower farming, floral design, and weddings. You’ll hear from a diversity of speakers representing floral enterprises in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia – not to mention panels from groups around the globe who are emulating the Slow Flowers Movement.

And if you grab your ticket by midnight Pacific Time on October 31^st – that’s tomorrow night – you can save $50 off the already very affordable ticket price. If you miss the deadline, remember, Slow Flowers Society members always receive a discount off of the general registration pricing. You’ll hear much more in the coming weeks – I can’t wait for you to dive into the amazing content we are curating for you and your floral journey.

Thanks 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; Jillian Bridges
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
Song by:
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

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

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Thank you to our Sponsors

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

“Diamond Day” is a charming 1970s folksong by English singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan. The lyrics about a sweet family farm inspired Caitlin Carnahan, today’s guest, to borrow its title for her business, Diamond Day Bouquet. The farm specializes in unique and old-fashioned, garden-style flowers grown organically and with love. Caitlin has developed an expertise growing for the grocery and wholesale market, which we discuss in our conversation. Join me on a visit and be inspired by the many botanical varieties that thrive in this idyllic place.

I first met Caitlin Carnahan of Diamond Day Bouquet through my dear friends, Karen and Kristina, who subscribed to Caitlin’s CSA flower service – back when she had time to offer one. They are neighbors of Diamond Day Bouquet, since all live on Egg & I Road in Chimacum, Washington, a tiny town with population of 1,500, located outside Port Townsend.

Egg & I is both a location and also a piece of agricultural history, the title of a humorous 1940s memoir by American author Betty MacDonald about her adventures living on a chicken farm. The story later hit the big screen as a 1947 film starring Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert.

Needless to say, while they do keep chickens, the farm on Egg & I Road is now Diamond Day Bouquet, known for growing unique specialty cut flowers with character, and Caitlin loves to share the story of her blooms that far surpass big-box-store options.

Here’s a little more about Caitlin: After working several years painting scenery for Seattle area theatre productions, Caitlin began her agricultural life as a vegetable farmer. She and her partner Greg Reed ran away from the city in search of the good life. After much adventuring they landed on Vashon Island, where they managed a small vegetable farm. Every season the flower patch grew a little larger, and after relocating to the Olympic Peninsula they were able to realize their dream and buy five acres to grow on – Diamond Day Bouquet was born, as well as their two beautiful children. Greg is a teacher at the local high school and Caitlin calls him the farm’s handyman, its voice of reason and saving grace.

Follow Diamond Day Bouquet on Instagram

Where you can find Diamond Day Bouquet flowers:
The Port Townsend Food Co-op
The Chimacum Corner Farmstand
The Seattle Wholesale Growers Market.

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Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 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 Rooted Farmers. Rooted Farmers works exclusively with local growers to put the highest-quality specialty cut flowers in floral customers’ hands. When you partner with Rooted Farmers, you are investing in your community, and you can expect a commitment to excellence in return. Learn more at RootedFarmers.com

And thank you to Johnny’s Selected Seeds, an employee-owned company that provides our industry the best flower, herb and vegetable seeds — supplied to farms large and small and even backyard cutting gardens like mine. Find the full catalog of flower seeds and bulbs at johnnyseeds.com.

---

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
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
Acoustic #5
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

Decades of flower farming experience add up to a new, 336-page reference guide called “Floral Standards,” compiled by members of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market. Join me for your first chance to see a preview of this book, and to learn from some of its creative team members. Learn how you can get your hands on this incredible guide to best practices and product specifications for 230 floral crops – from Abelia to Zinnia and more!

Today, I’m joined by three of the many people responsible for Floral Standards, a book that’s by flower farmers for flower farmers, introducing production and harvest know-how for 230 floral crops – all with the goal of helping specialty cut flower growers be successful.

As many of you know, I have been closely aligned with the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market since the pioneering producers’ cooperative was merely an idea hatched by a group of flower farmers in the Pacific Northwest. Established in 2011, the Growers Market is the gold standard and business model for many regional flower hubs across North America, as more cooperatives and collectives strive to professionalize flower farming. Through their leadership we have witnessed an important shift in the floral marketplace – one that has inspired thousands of flower farmers, farmer-florists, floral designers, and consumers to be more thoughtful and discerning about their floral sourcing choices.

The compilation of FLORAL STANDARDS took place over a number of years, initiated by an idea to create “specification sheets” for the many products grown and marketed by member farmers. 

Led by longtime board member and co-founder Diane Szukovathy, also co-founder of Jello Mold Farm, member growers invested hundreds of volunteer hours to document their successful approaches to selection, care, harvest, and post-harvest, as well as advice for packing, shipping, and supplying customers ranging from wedding and event designers to mass market retailers. They researched vase life for numerous varieties, noting recommended cultivars for commercial growing and singling out grower favorites. 

Floral Standards is hot off the press as of last week, and today I’m joined by Brad Siebe, the Market’s general manager, Vivian Larson of Everyday Flowers, a co-founder of the Market, and her cohort Diane Szukovathy, who share the story of how this amazing project was created and how it will help you. I’m so excited to host our conversation and to introduce Floral Standards to the Slow Flowers community of flower farmers and florists, not to mention cutting garden growers like me. Let’s jump right in and get started – and welcome Brad, Diane, and Vivian to the Slow Flowers Podcast.

As I mentioned, the farmers asked me to write the foreword to Floral Standards. It was quite special to be part of that experience as I reflected on the trailblazing strides of all my flower farmer friends whose beautiful, local, high-quality botanical product I have cherished using year in and year out since 2011.

ORDER: Copies are available from the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market.

---

Thank you to our Sponsors

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

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; Celestial Navigation
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

Nothing beats a flower farm tour – and I couldn’t say no to the chance to visit Free Range Flowers in person last week. It’s a beautiful, sustainable cut flower farm and design studio just miles away from the Canadian border outside Bellingham. I’m so happy to share my conversation with farmer-florist Celeste Monke recorded after we walked through the fields and high tunnels where dahlias were exploding and the landscape’s autumn palette glowed with rudbeckia, zinnias, amaranth, lisianthus and much more.

A few weeks ago, I previewed the South and Central ASCFG Regional meeting with Slow Flowers members and veteran flower growers Chet and Kristy Anderson and their son Chet Anderson Junior, of The Fresh Herb Co. – I hope you enjoyed that episode as much as I did. Today, I’m previewing another upcoming ASCFG regional meeting with Celeste Monke and Jay Roelof own Free Range Flowers outside Bellingham, Washington.

Longtime Slow Flowers members who cofounded the farm in 2016, Celeste and Jay bring their amazing, high-quality floral crops, to the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, which is how I’ve become acquainted with them and their shared passion.

Free Range Flowers are organically grown and rainwater fed, raised on Nooksack land in a larger farm project of environmental and social sustainability. Celeste is all about her hands in the dirt and heart on her sleeve. She has a penchant for seeds, herbs, and organization, while Jay is a plant reader with laser vision who can engineer almost anything. He keeps the equipment maintained and the plant babies happy from seed to harvest while setting the whole team up for success.

They believe their shared actions of cultivating healthy soil, sowing seeds, propagating plants and harvest create a sense of belonging and connection to place.

I’ve been wanting to visit Free Range Flowers for years, and the occasion of the upcoming ASCFG regional meeting in Bellingham, which includes a tour of Free Range Flowers, was the impetus to travel north from Seattle last week to do just that. I joined Celeste and Jay, and shared the farm lunch with them and two of their crew members, Abbie and Shef – imagine working for several hours and then sitting down to a delicious, home-cooked meal featuring veggies and herbs from the farm. Thank you Celeste and Jay!

Find and follow Free Range Flowers on Instagram and Facebook

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A special note about the ASCFG Meeting, taking place September 24 & 25 in Bellingham.

In addition to Celeste’s presentation: Profitability for Cut Flower Farmers, attendees will learn from several other Slow Flowers members, including Joan Thorndike of Le Mera Gardens and her daughter Isabella Thorndike Church of Jacklily Seasonal Floral Design, who will present “Le Mera Gardens over the Decades”; and from Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farm, whose presentation on “Making the Road as We Go,” reflects on the amazing story of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market. Erin McMullen of Rain Drop Farms will be there to welcome everyone as she has been serving as the regional director for ASCFG. It will be a wonderful two days for our community who attend.

Listen & learn from these talented women — all are past guests of the Slow Flowers Podcast:

Episode 585: Diane Szukovathy and Dennis Westphall of Jello Mold Farm on the 10-year publication anniversary of The 50 Mile Bouquet

Episode 446: Checking in with Melissa Feveyear of Terra Bella Flowers; plus, kicking off our Stories of Resilience series with Celeste Monke of Free Range Flowers

Episode 359: Slow Flowers Podcast Turns 5 — with original guest Joan Thorndike of Le Mera Gardens and Isabella Thorndike Church of Jacklily Seasonal Floral Design

Episode 213: Rain Drop Farms of Oregon’s Willamette Valley

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Thank you to our Sponsors

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

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; Turning on the Lights; Shift of Currents
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

Chet and Kristy Anderson are flower farming pioneers, having operated The Fresh Herb Co. for more than four decades, supplying farmers’ markets and Whole Foods shoppers in the Rocky Mountain region, selling their flowers direct to local customers, and hosting weddings and events at their beautiful farm in Longmont, Colorado. Joined by their adult son, also called Chet, they continue to expand The Fresh Herb Co., including its impressive, year-round lily program. Next week, they will open their farm to fellow growers as part of the regional meeting for the ASCFG – and today’ you’ll enjoy a preview.

I am especially excited to talk today with the Anderson family – parents Chet and Kristy, and their eldest son, Chet. His brother Nick is also involved in the family business. This is a forty-one-year-old operation, beginning with culinary herbs and salad greens, and for the past 20 years, having a focus on specialty cut flowers, hanging baskets, succulent bowls, and yes, of course, those beautiful herbs. The year-round greenhouse program produces 6,000- to 8,000 Asiatic and Oriental lilies each week, which is nothing short of mind-blowing.

I first met Chet and Kristy when I was invited to speak at the Denver Botanic Garden in 2011. Their embrace of my passion for Slow Flowers led to an invitation to tour their farm, and my collaborator, photographer David Perry, and I immediately knew we wanted to include their story in the book we were creating – which eventually became The 50 Mile Bouquet, published in 2012. Read that story below:

I’ve been back to lecture and teach at DBG, but also was privileged to attend two of the Field to Vase Dinners that Chet and Kristy and their family hosted during my years helping to get Certified American Grown’s farm dinner program off the ground.

What a delightful chance to reconnect today, get caught up on what these talented flower farmers and entrepreneurs are doing, and to include a discussion specifically about growing lilies in crates, under glass, for a massive year-round sales program.

Those of you who will attend the ASCFG regional meeting on September 11-12 are in for a huge treat. For the rest of you, we have a bonus video tour that the two Chets dad filmed and recorded for us.

Listen: Chet and Kristy Anderson on the Slow Flowers Podcast – Episode 177 (January 20, 2015)

Watch: Slow Flowers Member Meet-up with Chet and Kristy – April 8, 2022

Bonus: Lily Tips from The Fresh Herb Co.:
Asiatic and Oriental Lilies are some of the world’s most popular cut flowers…..and for good reasons.

They have been grown around the world for centuries, they come in a dizzying array of forms and colors, and they have an exceptional vase life of 10-14 days. A value flower if there ever was one!

Asiatic Lilies are characterized by their slightly smaller bloom size, warm tone colors (yellow, orange, red), and little to no fragrance.

Oriental Lilies, by contrast, have far larger blooms, are typically cooler tone colors (white and light to dark pink), and have an exquisite vanilla/nutmeg-like fragrance!

If you have never tried lilies before, now is the time to buy a few bunches and see if they don’t become your new favorite cut flower!

---

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 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; Don Germaine
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