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Today’s podcast conversation took its time arriving here. I believe I first met Missouri flower farmer Mimo Davis of Urban Buds in 2012 at the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers annual meeting in Tacoma, where I was a speaker.

We have corresponded over the years and followed what each other was doing. Mimo even once asked me when I might come to St. Louis to speak and visit.

Well, earlier this month, finally, that happened, thanks to the good people at the St. Louis Art Museum who invited me to be a featured speaker for their annual spring extravaganza called Bouquets to Art.

Bouquets to Art is a celebration of springtime, art and floral design, a tradition found in a number of top art museums across the country.

I was excited to attend and speak during the weekend of activities beginning with a gala opening dinner on March 11th, and followed by lectures, demonstrations and exhibitions from March 12^th to 14th, with ticketed events seating audience members in a luxurious theatre with plush chairs and a huge stage and screen.

It was an event complete with a celebrity speaker – this year it was Carolyne Roehme, a native Missouri daughter, fashion industry icon and author of numerous lifestyle books.

I followed Ms. Roehme and presented on the same stage, with  150-or-so floral enthusiasts learning about the Slow Flowers Movement as I created several arrangements.

I was definitely concerned about sourcing local flowers for my floral demonstration because of the time of year.

And fortunately, I had two Missouri sources from which to shop: Urban Buds, owned by Mimo Davis and Miranda Duschack – today’s guests; and Vicki Lander and Jack Oglander of Flower Hill Farm in Beaufort, Missouri.

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I have another great conversation to share with you this week, one that is both unique to this guest’s personal story while also thoroughly symbolic of so many who have embraced the Slow Flowers Movement.

Andrea K. Grist is a wedding and event florist and owner of Lee Summit, Missouri, based studio, Andrea K. Grist Floral Art, which serves the Kansas City metro area. Andrea and I met through a Facebook conversation, which is similar to many of our social media/floral connections.

Earlier this year, Andrea reached out and told me she had been listening to the Slow Flowers Podcast and that she also had been reading my books.

That was a flattering connection, of course, but what impressed me since then, over the course of the past six or eight months, is that Andrea shared with me links to one of her blog posts discussing her visits to Missouri flower farms and featuring her designs and styled photo shoots using locally grown and American grown flowers.

Eventually we set up a phone date to talk further and I asked Andrea to share her story on this podcast.

Andrea has had a successful career for more than 20 years, but in recent years, she wanted to stretch herself as a designer and as a small business owner.

She started seeking out what was going on in her profession and landed on the Slow Flowers Movement.

Even though most florists in her area weren’t asking for local flowers, Andrea began to do so.

One vase, one bouquet at a time, her work is changing the conversation in her community and for her customers.

Andrea is also a member of the Chapel Designers, and she recently self-published Gatherings in Bloom-Table Art for All Occasions with images by Freeland Photography.

The book is filled with beautiful images of table decor, floral design, and hometown stories about her inspirations and floral passions.

Meet and follow Andrea K. Grist here:

Read Andrea’s Blog Here

Andrea on Facebook 

Andrea on Twitter

Preview and order Gatherings in Bloom here

Before we sign off, I have an announcement to share.

There is an abundance of holiday floral design and wreathmaking workshops going on right now, but one scheduled for next week promises to be unlike any other workshop I’ve heard about.

On November 17th, New York-based Slow Flowers member Elena Seegers of Le Fleuriste will be teaching a fall centerpiece how-to with branches fruits and berries.

Here’s the fun twist: The workshop will be held at Fluent City and include French conversation and vocabulary.

As Elena explained it to me Fluent City is a cool language start up where you learn and converse in different languages through social gatherings and workshops.

“Students will learn how to choose and use branches and berries for their table designs, taught in a mixture of French and English.” I don’t know about you, but I would simply love to be part of this evening, which is affordably priced. [note: in the Podcast introduction I inaccurately stated a workshop price of $65. The actual price is $80 per student]

Thanks to the Slow Flowers Tribe, this podcast has been downloaded more than 71,000 times. Whether you’ve just discovered this Podcast or whether you’re a longtime listener, don’t forget that we’ve archived all of the past episodes at Debraprinzing.com – more than two years of conversations with American flower farmers and floral designers – leading voices in the progressive, American-grown community.

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

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

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