Slow Flowers Podcast

The Wild Mother Creative Studio, based in Oklahoma City; from left, Callie Palmer (seated, left); Lauren Palmer (standing) and Leah Palmer (seated, right) | All photography (c) Rachel Maucieri @maucierivisualsco Today, I have a very special episode for you and I'm thrilled to share it! Please meet the three siblings who together are called The Wild Mother: Leah Palmer, Lauren Palmer and Callie Pal...

Here's the COVER with the book jacket flap fully opened to reveal Cynthia Zamaria's charming floral studio. (c) Robin Stubbert Welcome to a very special episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast -- Episode 500 -- in our weekly podcast series about Slow Flowers and the people who grow and design with them. Since we launched this special program in July 2013, I have regularly featured the voices of influe...

Floral and Plant retail entrepreneur Katherine Raz of The Fernseed (left) and a peek at the shop's Stem Bar (c) Devon Michelle Photography (right) I'm excited about today's guest, not only because her enterprise is located right in my backyard, in Tacoma, Washington. Please meet Katherine Raz of The Fernseed. The Fernseed is a modern plant shop and floral studio with two storefront locations in Ta...

Hanna Rose Muller of Full Belly Floral (c) Sarah Ching Photograph Today's guest have been on my wish list to interview ever since we met in person at a Slow Flowers gathering in 2018, hosted by Scott Paris of High Hand Nursery, past guest of this podcast. Please meet Dru Rivers, co-founder of Full Belly Farm, one of the first certified organic farms in California, and her daughter Hannah Rose Mull...

A quick note for you garden-lovers! We are giving away five virtual tickets to the Great Grow Along, a new, three-day, virtual gardening festival taking place this weekend, March 19-21  - online, of course. The Great Grow Along features more than 40 sessions across six topic tracks and YOU might win a free ticket to attend. The first five listeners who post a comment below will receive the complim...

Victoria and Taij Cotten at Perry-winkle Farm Cathy Jones captured an iPhone photo of that "meeting" between Taij and Victoria Cotten and me at the ASCFG conference in September 2018 (I just found this photo on her IG feed!) In 2018, at the most recent Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers' national conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, I met a young couple named Taij and Victoria Cotten. I...

Lindsey Cummins of Dancing Flower Farm on Lopez Island, Washington -- showing off her first early spring bouquet of the year! Last month, I was treated to a lovely *workcation* opportunity to join two friends at a home they rented to work remotely through the covid pandemic. They promised me my own bedroom and bathroom, a dining table with a view of sea, mountains and islands, an friendly golden r...

Growers' bunches from Amelia Ihlo of Reverie Flowers and Rooted Farmers Today, we have two great guests involved in Rooted Farmers. You first met Amelia Ihlo, founder of this innovative platform for selling flowers,  a little more than a year ago when Rooted Farmers launched. What a year to launch, right? As the resilience of flower farmers large and small was tested in 2020, it was surprisingly a...

My conversation with today's guests is helping me to turn my gaze to spring 2021, with a new version of the Fleurvana Online Summit, a multi-day online floral conference that Shawn Michael Foley and Gina Thresher debuted in August of 2020. I'll tell you more about them before we jump to the full episode, but first, the headlines: This is the third Fleurvana conference and the theme is "Regeneratio...

GIVEAWAY Details Below -- Share a Comment and Your Name Will Be Added to the Drawing for The First-Time Gardener: Growing Plants and Flowers  I don't know about you, but I've got spring gardening on my mind! The hellebores are already blooming; the daffodil bulbs are pushing out of the soil an inch or so. I can even see the tiniest bump of my peonies' deep maroon tips at the crown of each plant. S...

Kelly Marie Thompson of Fleur Inc., shown here on a farm in Tuscany, scouting her upcoming Italy workshop If you want to walk through a case study of a boutique retail florist and special events florist, today's guest is here to share! I'm so pleased to welcome Kelly Marie Thompson, owner of Fleur Inc., based in Chicago. Fleur Inc is a diversified lifestyle boutique and special event design studio...

It's a very exciting day for Slow Flowers and this episode is devoted to some BIG NEWS. I'm thrilled to tell you all about it! I've invited Robin Avni, past guest of this podcast, to join me as together we tell you all about our new collaboration -- the formation of a boutique book publishing project called BLOOM Imprint. Debra Prinzing (left) and Robin Avni (right) BLOOM Imprint emerges from our...

Fawn Rueckert at her Farmers' Market stall I have a fabulous and informative conversation for you today, with Fawn Rueckert of Sego Lily Flower Farm, based in Utah's Salt Lake Valley. The emerging Utah flower farming community gathered at Poppin' Blossoms on September 7th. I'm so glad I met everyone! Fawn is seen second from the right. I first met Fawn in person in September 2019 when I was in Sal...

Hello friends! It's 2021 and I couldn't be happier to welcome you to our fun conversation today! Anyone who's been part of the Slow Flowers Community knows how deeply we value professional contacts that develop into friendships. And today, you will meet two women who are Slow Flowers members, and now, both my neighbors and friends. I live in a little suburb of Seattle called Des Moines, Washington...

The Pursuit of Nature This Forecast began seven years ago in 2014 when I began documenting shifts and changes in the Slow Flowers Movement. I recently described the origins of this important exercise in my new online course, Taking Stock and Looking Ahead [P.S. follow this link to learn how you can take this free course as my gift to you.] Here's how I remember it:In 2014, when I launched slowflow...

Welcome to the final episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast for 2020. As I have done since the beginning of 2014, I'm turning the spotlight on our year of Slow Flowers. Next week, on January 6th, I'll bring you the annual report for our 2021 Slow Flowers' Floral Insights and Industry Forecast. Last year at this time, we celebrated a successful 2019 with more members, more participation and more Slow...

It’s that time again, Welcome to our annual Slow Flowers Holiday Music Special! Remy Brault, vocalist, songwriter and owner of Labellum in Bozeman, Montana I'm so happy today to bring you an audio gift of music. Please enjoy my conversation with Bozeman, Montana-based Remy Brault, who with her husband and partner Fred Brault own the contemporary floral boutique Labellum Flowers. The couple origina...

The Regional Flower Economy panelists, clockwise from top left: Julius Tillery of Black Cotton US, Taij Cotten & VC (Victoria) Edwards-Cotten of Perry-winkle Farm, Julio Freitas of The Flower Hat and Aishah Lurry of Patagonia Flower Farm Two weeks ago, you heard from Shannon Algiere and Jessica Galen as we discussed the 2020 Young Farmers & Cooks Conference, held last week as a virtual event attra...

Flower Grower Shanti Rade, Whipstone Farm & ASCFG's South & Central Director Can you believe we are saying good-bye to 2020 very soon?! It has been a year unlike no other and the Slow Flowers Podcast has been a channel for highlighting, sharing, encouraging and challenging all that our community has faced - from silver linings and pivots to resiliency and change. We are the Voice of the Slow Flowe...

Jessica Galen (left) and Shannon Algiere (right) - two of the leaders at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture I'm really excited for this week's episode - and happy to introduce you to my two guests, Shannon Algiere co-founder of the farm at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and currently the Farm Liaison manager, and Jessica Galen, Stone Barn's Communications Manager. I've invite...

Candice Howard of Duchess Farms in South Brunswick, NJ How are you all doing, friends? It's already the week of Thanksgiving - can you believe it?! I am still racing to plant my five peony roots from Mountain Flower Farm and plant those last 100 hyacinth bulbs from Longfield Gardens, not to mention a few woody shrubs and perennials I purchased locally on a plant-buying trip last month. It WILL all...

Michelle Elston (left) and Jamie Rohda (right) Today, we return to a series I began earlier this year, featuring the regional directors of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. You'll hear from Michelle Elston of Roots Cut Flower Farm in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Jamie Rohda of Harvest Home Flowers in Waverly, Nebraska. Grocery bouquets designed by Roots Cut Flower Farm Between them, t...

Pilar Zuniga of Gorgeous and Green - all photography (c) Lauren Edith Anderson In 2013, during the first year of the Slow Flowers Podcast, I interviewed a young floral designer from the San Francisco East Bay who at the time was one of the only voices talking about sustainable design practices. I called her “Berkeley’s Eco-Floral Maven” and said this: “Pilar Zuniga is blazing a new trail and is th...

Joy Proctor, Joy Proctor Design I'm so honored today to welcome Portland wedding designer Joy Proctor, owner of Joy Proctor Design. Joy is internationally-recognized and named a top wedding designer by Harper's Bazaar and Bride's Magazine. The first Say Their Names Memorial was installed in Portland, Oregon, where Joy is based (c) Jessica G. Mangia Photography Joy Proctor's activism has sparked a...

You can see Sarah's 50-foot-long floral V-O-T-E display at 329 North Cherry Strees (along Hwy 20) in Burlington, Washington (c) Sara Welch Photo Co. Before we jump into today's main segment, I want to recognize that Election Day in the U.S. is coming up in just six days on November 3rd. I've been wowed by the creative gestures of floral activism from our Slow Flowers members around the country. I'...