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Join me in a virtual tour of Hautau & Sons, a third-generation greenhouse grower of uncommon specialty cut flowers. Founded in 1902, Hautau & Sons is now run by Brian and Kimberley Hautau, who are both stewarding the family business that Brian’s grandfather started; it was later operated by Brian’s father and uncle, until, in 2010, Brian and Kimberley acquired the business. With Brian’s decades of experience in horticulture and landscape design-build contracting; and Kimberley’s decades in financial accounting, the couple has turned to flower farming for their second chapter. In doing so, they both honor the past and turn to future innovations in how this business serves the greater New York City region. I’ve heard about their amazing winter ranunculus for years, and because I traveled to New Jersey to lecture last week, I invited myself for a tour and conversation with these passionate Slow Flowers members. Learn how their strategic growing calendar keeps Hautau & Sons’ relevant and essential for their marketplace.

In many parts of North America, we’ve already marked what my flower farmer friends call “Frost-Mas” on the calendar. It’s that moment when you’re possibly quite exhausted at the end of the growing season . . . and then Mother Nature’s hand and the first frost of the season gives you a respite. The field crops take a hit and while the garden cleanup (and dahlia digs) are on the horizon, you can take a moment to exhale. It’s also a time, depending on your crop mix and selection of woody and evergreen plants, when your income stream may begin to look quite different from peak of summer.

On my visit last week to interview Kimberley and Brian Hautau in Branchville, New Jersey, I learned how these third-generation greenhouse growers celebrate Frost-Mas. They don’t skip a beat because they have a clever strategy to grow premium floral crops that bloom early or late, depending on the variety.

Under cover of historic 1920s glass greenhouses and a few younger poly-covered structures, Hautau & Sons is still celebrating dahlia, zinnia, and marigold season. These flowers are cut, bunched, sleeved, and delivered each week to NYC’s floral district, fondly known as West 28^th Street. Hautau & Sons supplies many of the established wholesale florists in this district and each stem is clearly branded with their family name.

I first met Kimberley through New Jersey based floral designer TJ McGrath, and he helped facilitate our inviting Hautau & Sons to join Slow Flowers Society as members several years ago. It was thrilling to tour the greenhouses with Kimberley (who has an artist’s understanding of floral color and style trends) and fellow hort-head Brian (who is always on the hunt for an unusual landscape shrub that he can introduce to the floral marketplace).

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Join us at the Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit 2026

Don’t forget to grab your registration to the 2026 Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit, taking place ONLINE January 30-31. We’re so excited to welcome many top floral experts in sustainable farming and floral design, and you’ll gain both inspiration and knowledge to directly invest into your own floral enterprise. The countdown to the Summit is underway and I encourage you to follow us on Instagram at SlowFlowersSociety or SlowFlowersSummit where you’ll see weekly IG live conversations with our speakers.

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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 700 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 A-ROO Company, your one-stop shop for in-stock floral packaging. From sleeves and wraps to labels and tags, visit www.a-roo.com for their full selection of eco-friendly items or to start the process of developing a look that is uniquely yours.

Thank you to Charles Little & Company for supplying our industry with some of the most beautiful and sustainably-grown design ingredients, available nationwide through their website at charleslittleandcompany.com. Based in Eugene, Oregon, the farmers at Charles Little & Company have been growing and drying flowers since 1986. New products and dried flower collections are added to their website at the first of each month. Check it out at charleslittleandcompany.com.

---

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.5 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 Garden
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

The beauty of dried botanicals is a fitting topic for our first episode of November, as the interest in and demand for these preserved florals represents significant financial influx for flower farmers and floral designers. My recent visit to Charles Little & Co. in Eugene, Oregon, illustrates the story as I interviewed both Charles and Bethany Little, return guests of the Slow Flowers Podcast. Join me on a farm tour with Charles as we discuss interplanting strategies for annuals and woody ornamentals, plus check out his favorite annuals to grow for drying. Then, we’ll explore the dried floral operation, from packaging to shipping techniques, with Bethany and her team. I left my visit with a deeper understanding of the ways a dried floral program can enhance fresh-floral farming and retail floristry – with the allure of color, texture, character, incredible variety, and long-lasting beauty.

In the past year, I’ve spent hours speaking with growers to learn of the many ways they are diversifying their crop mixes and product offerings, especially in non-perishable (or less perishable) categories. Dried flowers are having a renaissance, which should be no surprise to you. I wanted to dig deeper into what the folks at Charles Little & Co., are doing in this category. Charles and Bethany are established dried flower growers and experts when it comes to selecting the best varieties and supplying the floral marketplace with their huge inventory of dried floral crops.

My co-author Robin Avni and I featured Charles Little & Co. as one of 29 North American growers in The Flower Farmers, published earlier this year. In their profile, we write: “Trends are often cyclical, especially in the floral marketplace. Charles is delighted that dried flowers are again fashionable. He points out that fresh flower wholesalers who in the past had no interest in stocking dried flowers are now ordering large quantities, thanks to increasing customer demand. One difference between the dried statice, goldenrod, celosia, and lamb’s ears of old and today’s dried flower palette is the explosion of botanical choices – even premium blooms like peonies and dahlias are sold as dried flowers.”

Today’s interview includes some bonus content, filmed during my farm tour with Charles. He discusses the practice of interplanting rows of annuals between rows woody ornamental shrubs, explaining how this makes the land doubly productive. By the time those shrubs are more mature and are shading out the space where annuals previously grew, it means they are also shading out weed production – improving efficiency and reducing labor. I love this idea of permaculture and I remember learning about it from Charles on my very first visit to his farm in 2010.

This episode is a visual one, so I hope you check out the video version above. You’ll love the experience.

As a bonus, I’ve added the two-page Dried Flowers sidebar that accompanies the Charles Little and Co. chapter in The Flower Farmers. It includes their 10 best annual flowers to dry and tips on harvesting, drying, and maintaining colorfastness.

Follow Charles & Bethany Little at these social places: Instagram and Facebook

Subscribe to Charles Little and Company’s newsletter here

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Slow Flowers November Newsletter

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Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit 2026

We continue to count down to the 2026 Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit, taking place ONLINE January 30-31, and I hope to see you there. We’re so excited to welcome many top floral experts in sustainable farming and floral design, and you’ll gain both inspiration and knowledge to directly invest into your own floral enterprise. Thank you to Dee Hall Goodwin of Black Flower Farmers for co-producing the Summit with us and creating two special presentations that she will moderate. You can see the entire lineup of topics and speakers in our show notes at slowflowerspodcast.com!

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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 700 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 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.

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 for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.5 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; Fast Popa
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’ve been working closely this past year with lily bulb growers around the country, with the goal of providing more lily education to both farmers and florists. For today’s Lily Episode I wanted to learn more about what’s required to have a year-round lily program. I began my conversations with Jessica High of Flamingo Holland Bulbs, a Southern California-based vendor of Dutch-grown lily bulbs for specialty cut flower growers. That’s followed by a visit to Peterkort Roses, a longtime Slow Flowers member, known not only for growing beautiful roses, but also for Oriental, Asiatic, and LA Hybrid lilies around the year. I toured the lily greenhouse with Norman Peterkort, followed by a more extensive conversation with his sister, Sandra Laubenthal, who manages their lily program. What a great introduction to this beautiful and classic flower – I’m mesmerized and you’ll be, too.

I’m excited to bring you today’s conversation about the world of easy-to-grow lilies. If you’re a field farmer, or a garden grower like me, lilies are stars of the summer season. But, amazingly, lilies can be planted to bloom in succession, with  year-round availability. At Peterkort Roses, that means growing Oriental, Asiatic, and LA Hybrids undercover in their heritage greenhouses in Hillsboro, Oregon, outside Portland.

By planting lily bulbs in crates on a weekly succession of about 1,500 lilies per rotation, Peterkort ensurses that lilies are available for Portland and Seattle area florists who have standing orders for their coolers, and for event designers who need dazzling lilies for statement pieces and installations. For each floral holiday, from Christmas and Valentine’s Day to Easter and Mother’s Day, to the fall harvest table, the lily has a perennial presence in Peterkort’s lineup of local blooms.

As we discuss, innovations in lily breeding are pushing the envelope with double lilies, a wider palette of lilies, as well as fragrance and pollen-free varieties. And those features are attracting a new batch of customers, from the farmers’ market buyer to the client with a luxury vibe.

The episode introduces lily bulb vendor Jessica High, of Flamingo Holland, based in Southern California. Then we jump to Peterkort, which sources lily bulbs from a number of distributors, including Flamingo Holland.

Find and follow Peterkort Roses on Instagram and Facebook
Find and follow Flamingo Holland Bulbs on Instagram and Facebook

More Lily Resources from Flowerbulbdotcom, a Slow Flowers Podcast sponsor

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Free Download: Lily Master Class

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Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit 2026 — Save $50 off Early Bird Tickets

In Slow Flowers Summit NEWS, this is the last week for grabbing your Early Bird Ticket to the 2026 Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit, taking place online, January 30-31. Join Slow Flowers’ doers and thinkers for two days of progressive ideas, creative connections and business inspiration. You’ll learn from some inspiring floral experts covering must-know intel, from sustainable floral design and botanical couture, to growing gorgeous flowers for weddings, events, and the everyday market, to business advice for your future. Thirteen incredible presenters will are joining the two-day event at a great price.

Save $50 off Summit Registration through October 31st. Members pay only $189. Thank you to Dee Hall Goodwin of Black Flower Farmers for co-producing the Summit with us and creating two special presentations that she will moderate. You can see the entire lineup of topics and speakers in our show notes at slowflowerspodcast.com – We hope to see you there!

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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 700 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.

---

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.5 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; Feathersoft
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

Join me for a great conversation with farmer-florist Kelly Brown, owner of Do Right Flower Farm in Santa Cruz and founder of the Santa Cruz Flower Hub. We also welcome return guest Amelia Ihlo, founder of Rooted Farmers, a longtime Slow Flowers partner and podcast sponsor. Together, they will discuss Santa Cruz Flower Hub’s origins and growth, touching on the many opportunities and logistical challenges that farmer collectives are facing. Kelly and Amelia walk us through these topics and highlight some of the ways that the Rooted Farmers platform has helped the flower farmers of the Santa Cruz Flower Hub expand their market, reach more buyers, and interpret sales data to guide future decisions on crop planning and more. It’s a fabulous snapshot of what one group of collective growers is doing to create a more sustainable market for their farms.

Today’s episode dives into a hot topic that we here in the Slow Flowers community have been tracking ever since 2011, when I featured the origin story of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market in my book, The 50 Mile Bouquet. The natural evolution of cooperative and collective selling continues in today’s conversation. It’s an appealing model to which flower farmers are drawn for economies of scale on the operational side and for market creation on the selling side.

Our friends at Rooted Farmers have become an important resource to the Slow Flowers community – for sellers and buyers alike. Amelia Ihlo, founder of Rooted Farmers and a flower farmer herself (she owns Reverie Flowers in Etna, New Hampshire), is a return guest to the Slow Flowers Podcast. She introduced me to Kelly Brown, founder of Do Right Flower Farm and the Santa Cruz Flower Hub, a new Slow Flowers member.

They join me today to walk us through some of the challenges and opportunities facing farmer groups who want to collectively sell. A lot has changed in terms of available technology, distribution systems, expectations that florists have for pre-ordering and more. Rooted continues to innovate and Amelia uses the story of Santa Cruz Flower Hub to illustrate some of the improved tools for growers. We’ll take a tour of Rooted’s data analytics tools available to individual producers and collective hubs and discuss how Kelly is using them in crop planning and management of the hub.

Amelia founded Rooted Farmers in 2019 after pulling her hair out using existing sales platforms to manage her own farm sales. She realized that none of them effectively solved the challenges specific to farming, so she decided to create a solution. Amelia lives on her flower farm in rural New Hampshire, where she runs a wholesale-only annual and perennial operation and is raising a flock of children and animals. Prior to founding Rooted, she spent her career in private equity and finance. Working with farmers every day is much more fun, of course.

Kelly Brown established Do Right the end of 2020, at a time described on their website as “post Me Too, amidst a global pandemic and worldwide call for racial justice and an insistence that BLACK LIVES MATTER. These crises emphasized the need for us to follow our hearts and minds to create the future we want to live in. Do Right is a gesture of that clarity.”

After 11 years of gaining knowledge and experience at Blue Heron Farms in Corralitos, California, Kelly saw a massive need for local flower growers specializing in cuts for florists. Just as fine dining now features local, high-quality produce, floral trends were shifting to favor a more natural and garden-inspired aesthetic. This look can only be reached with small-scale, locally-grown blooms that would be destroyed if shipped from across the globe. Kelly adds that growing for florists and events is a great excuse to indulge in unusual flowers and an opportunity to connect to a passionate community of florists and small-scale growers.

Find and follow Do Right Flower Farm and Santa Cruz Flower Hub on Instagram. Find Santa Cruz Flower Hub on Rooted Farmers.

Find and follow Rooted Farmers on Instagram.

READ: The 5 W’s + H of Starting a Hub, Coop, or Farm Collective, which provides a checklist for people exploring this option.

For YOU: Rooted Farmers has shared a new coupon code that enables you to receive $75 off any individual farm plan on their platform. The code is SLOWFLOWERS26 and it’s good through next year.

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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 700 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 Charles Little & Company for supplying our industry with some of the most beautiful and sustainably-grown design ingredients, available nationwide through their website at charleslittleandcompany.com. Based in Eugene, Oregon, the farmers at Charles Little & Company have been growing and drying flowers since 1986. New products and dried flower collections are added to their website at the first of each month. Check it out at charleslittleandcompany.com.

Thank you to the Association of Specialty Cut Flowers. The ASCFG is a gathering place for specialty cut flower growers of all levels of experience. It is a hub of knowledge, where seasoned experts and budding enthusiasts come together to learn, share, and support one another. The ASCFG is dedicated to empowering its members with the knowledge and resources needed to thrive in the world of cut flower farming. From educational workshops and conferences to online resources and publications, they provide a wealth of information and support for all things related to growing exceptional cut flowers. Learn more about the ASCFG and how to be a part of it at ascfg.org.

---

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.5 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 Burst of Light
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 Penflora, sustainable floristry meets thoughtful design. Founder Melissa Olson recently hosted me for a book-signing event at her Bay Area shop where we celebrated the publication of The Flower Farmers and enjoyed her beautiful floral design demonstration. It was one stop during a full weekend of floral, garden, and book events and you’ll love joining me on a tour through Melissa’s Slow Flowers-centered business. She founded Penflora in 2017 as a design studio that has expanded into a beautiful retail shop in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, where the goods are curated and selected for the flower lover. After my reading and short introduction The Flower Farmers, Melissa demonstrated a seasonal arrangement complete with foraged garden elements and locally-grown blooms. It’s the perfect inspiration for autumn and I know you’ll connect with Melissa and her story.

Today, you’ll learn from Melissa Olson, owner of Penflora, a design studio and lifestyle store in Burlingame, California, just south of San Francisco.

I’ve met Melissa on a few occasions, including at the Slow Flowers Summit in 2021 when it took place in her backyard at Filoli historic home and gardens, and in Seattle when she traveled here to join the design workshop with Shane Connolly a few years ago. But I’ve been wanting to spend more time getting to know her and more about her path to florals.

When I knew I would be in the Bay Area for a weekend of book events, I reached out to schedule an interview for this podcast. That turned into Melissa suggesting we hold a book-signing in her shop. We both managed to achieve our goals and today, you’ll meet Melissa, join me on a tour of Penflora, and learn about her business model.

Growing up surrounded by nature and parents who loved to entertain, Melissa developed a deep appreciation for how plants and flowers can transform a space, whether in a garden, a vase, or as part of a thoughtfully designed interior or table scape. Melissa says she loves layers! 

Penflora specializes in bespoke floral designs and is home to a unique and relaxing boutique where nature meets design through sustainable floristry and an offering of curated items and gifts. There’s a fabulous mix of vintage and contemporary items for gift giving and the home. It’s filled with a residential-style ambiance that enhances workshops, private parties, and (of course) shopping.

Melissa studied landscape design at Filoli, and she continues to provide commercial and Residential plant and floral design work for events and clients as a service of Penflora.

Find and follow Penflora on Instagram and Facebook

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Join Us at the Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit

In Slow Flowers news, remember, you still have time to grab your Early Bird ticket to the Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit, taking place January 30-31, 2026. The speaker lineup is truly inspiring and as we start to record and capture the tours, design demonstrations and presentations on film, I’m more excited than ever! I have been previewing the expertise you’ll soon learn from Francoise Weeks, Joan Thorndike, Max Gill, Diane Szukovathy, Katherine Raz, TJ McGrath and many other floral luminaries! I’m also excited to be partnering with Dee Hall Goodwin of Mermaid City Flowers and Black Flower Farmers, a she is curating two sessions for the Summit.

You’ll enjoy your $50 discount on registration now through October 31^st and receive a link to our bonus gift for early bird registrations: A special viewing of five sessions from the 2025 Slow Flowers Summit – that’s right, five free hours of floral education from past instructors, including Pilar Zuniga, Hannah Morgan, Kristin Griffith-VanderYacht, Mara Tyler, and Toni Reale (shown above). That’s an incredible value. Check out the details and grab your discounted registration – click on the link below.

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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 700 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 A-ROO Company, your one-stop shop for in-stock floral packaging. From sleeves and wraps to labels and tags, visit a-roo.com for their full selection of eco-friendly items or to start the process of developing a look that is uniquely yours.

---

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.5 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; Bridgewalker
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

Compared to the way today’s guests view the role of herb plants for the landscape, for culinary and medicinal purposes, and especially for floral design, I feel like the herb repertoire in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden is in need of a major makeover. Learning from herb-lover and edible landscape designer Stefani Bittner of Homestead Design Collective and Rose Loveall, herb grower and nursery owner at Morningsun Herb Farm, both based in the San Francisco Bay Area, has been so eye-opening and enriching. We recently collaborated on a Flower & Herb event to celebrate The Flower Farmers book while also exploring herbs for the garden and the vase. You might be surprised at some of the herbs Stefani and Rose use for floral design, and trust me, I now have a big order of scented geraniums heading my way – just in time to get them established in my greenhouse before the season ends. Immerse yourself in today’s herbal extravaganza – I just wish you could smell all the plants we discussed.

Today’s episode was filmed and recorded last weekend when I was on a book tour for The Flower Farmers book. Slow Flowers members around the Bay Area partnered with me to fill four glorious days of talks, readings, floral design demonstrations, and community connections. It was a fabulous autumn weekend and I’m excited to share it with you.

My conversation with Slow Flowers member Stefani Bittner of Homestead Design Collective and her frequent collaborator, Rose Loveall of Morningsun Herb Farm took place during an herb-and-floral-filled morning at Rose’s nursery, located in the countryside of Vacaville, California, on 3 acres, between Sacramento and San Francisco.

This is a two-part plant tour, followed by Stefani and Rose’s presentation on growing herbs for the cut flower garden and design tips.

Here’s a bit more about each woman:

Stefani Bittner is the owner of Homestead Design Collective, a San Francisco Bay Area landscape design firm focused on creating beautiful gardens that provide harvest. Stefani is the co-author of The Beautiful Edible Garden, Harvest: Unexpected Projects Using 47 Extraordinary Garden Plants and The Fragrant Flower Garden (all published by Ten Speed Press). She is a past guest of the Slow Flowers Podcast.

Rose Loveall-Sale is owner of Morningsun Herb Farm, a family-owned nursery specializing in culinary, medicinal and specialty herbs. She has spent the last 30 years growing more than 700 varieties of herbs and perennials, starting the nursery as a weekend venture and expanding it to a plant lover’s destination, as well as a mail order nursery. Rose is originally a forester by education (University of California, Berkeley), but she discovered that herbs were her favorite plants to grow and enjoy. An M.S. in Environmental Horticulture from the University of California at Davis rounded out her education and piqued her interest in owning and operating her own nursery. Her family’s farm in northern California proved the perfect spot for her horticultural endeavors.

Rose and her team propagate and sell culinary, medicinal and landscaping herbs, as well as many unusual perennials for hummingbird and butterfly gardening, drought tolerant perennials, scented geraniums, succulents, and heirloom vegetables in the spring and fall. They specialize in a huge selection of lavender, propagating over 45 varieties in our greenhouses.

Check out Morningsun’s plant catalog – they ship across the country and are a fantastic resource.

Find and follow Homestead Design Collective on Instagram and Facebook
Read Homestead Design Collective’s Newsletter on Substack

Find and follow Morningsun Herb Farm on Instagram and Facebook

Follow the link to the waiting list for the forthcoming details for their 2026 retreat to Puglia, Italy, at Trulli Trazzonara, Stefani’s vacation rental there. I’m fascinated with their plans and want to share them with you.

---

Herb Resources from THE FLOWER FARMERS

As a post-script, I want to highlight The Flower Farmers’ HERB EXPERT, whose story I shared with the audience at our Herb & Flower workshop at Morningsun. I’ve been so inspired by Xenia D’Ambrosi, owner of Sweet Earth Co., whose story is featured in the book. As a bonus for you, here is Xenia’s list of her 10 favorite herbs – excerpted from her chapter – it’s a great starting point for gardeners and flower lovers and the perfect reference for your herb plant shopping!

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Join Us to Tour Holland and Belgium for a Slow Flowers Experience

Speaking of garden travel, remember that I’ll be leading a luxury garden and floral river cruise and tour through Amsterdam and Belgium next spring. Lorene Edwards Forkner, author of Color in and Out of the Garden, will be my partner and our artist in residence on this excursion scheduled for April 19-29, 2026. Nearly half of the cabins are already spoken for on this one-of-a-kind tour, so check out the link below to learn more. It’s a Slow Flowers Experience and I hope you can join us!

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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 700 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 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.

---

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.5 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

A visit to Japan for two weeks in September was the ultimate dream come true. My husband Bruce and I, joined by three dear friends, experienced some of the country’s incomparable beauty, culture, history, and tradition during our time in Kyoto and Tokyo. We watched World Class athletes compete in Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium at the World Track Championships, ate authentic ramen, sushi, and tempura, and put in our 10k+ steps each day. I also had the wonderful experience of spending one day away from my traveling companions, immersed in Japan’s emerging slow flowers community. Thanks to Megumi Hagiuda, my guide and translator, I visited an organic flower farm, stopped by several flower shops, and enjoyed floral-centric menus at two amazing restaurants. The day culminated with a community meal where I met with more than one dozen slow flowers-minded professionals representing many facets of the floral industry. Today’s episode is a recap of some of those highlights!

As you heard in my opening summary, I just spent two weeks traveling with my husband and friends in Japan. Two weeks barely introduced me to the wonder and mystery of this beautiful country. I left wanting to return and experience Japan’s gardens and landscape during a different time of year, like spring or fall. Let’s just say September is still the hot and humid summer season. I marveled at how cool and crisp everyone there looked in their fashionable wardrobes! So I’m taking notes!

I first met Megumi Hagiuda in 2023 when she traveled to Bellevue, Washington, for our Slow Flowers Summit. She was immediately adopted by a group of Slow Flowers members, and made some lasting friendships. We learned a bit about Megumi’s background and her journey from owning a Tokyo-based flower shop called Afrika Rose, which was followed by her shift to promoting organic flower farming and sustainable floral design in Japan.

Watch this BONUS session above: Earlier this year in January, during the Slow Flowers Worldwide Summit, our first online conference, Megumi recorded a presentation about Slow Flowers Japan. We featured the presentation as one of our four international bonus sessions. Megumi invited organic flower farmer Ai Takahashi of Green Field Flowers to co-present with her and together, the two women introduced our community to the business aspects of Japan’s small but growing organic floral industry, shared the story of Green Field Flowers, and discussed the Slow Flowers advocacy work that Megumi began in 2022 with two other colleagues.

It was so serendipitous to hear from Megumi earlier this summer when she reached out to suggest I come to Japan and host a Slow Flowers Summit in person. I told her about my September trip and asked if we could get together. The result was an incredibly generous, day-long itinerary that Megumi planned for me.

Today’s podcast features highlights of that day, including interviews with husband-and-wife team Kazuya and Shiho Yoshigaki, owners of Yoshigaki Organic Flower Farm, a century-old, third-generation flower farm in Asao Ward, Kawasaki City, about 50 minutes by train from the city center. Megumi served as translator for Kazuya and Shiho, and you’ll hear her speaking in English after their comments. I am so grateful that she helped facilitate these inspiring conversations.

My delightful morning at Yoshigaki included my first time drinking a refreshing tea made from the leaves of a plum date tree, which Megumi said is called the mame gaki in Japanese, translated as “bean shaped persimmon.” We also harvested zinnias, salvia, cosmos, and asclepias for our bouquet-making – what a full and enriching morning.

Afterwards, we returned to Tokyo for a fun lunchtime stop at Lorans. Lorans is a flower shop and café with many unique facets, including providing employment for individuals with disabilities who make floral gifts from dried botanicals – wall hangings and arrangements. This mission-driven company operates several locations in Tokyo, owns a cut flower farm, and design studio. Manager Mie Sato joined Megumi and me and led us on a tour of the production facility – so impressive.

The next interview you’ll hear today features our visit to Gingko Flowers, a charming plant and flower shop owned by Mari Yamaoka. Mari is fluent in English having studied floral design in Switzerland, so you’ll hear her introduce us to her design philosophy, and her commitment to sustainability. She also introduces us to Fladambo, her innovative flower and plant stand made from recycled cardboard. It’s replacing the metal easels that are often disposed of in land fills and she sells the product wholesale to other florists across Japan.

A special note about our dinner gathering. Thank you to the owners and head gardener of Hibino, a creative bistro that embraces seasonal cuisine, including edible flowers, herbs, and fruits grown in their own farm. They participated in the conversation, and I was especially delighted by the herb-centric floral arrangements created by Takeyuki Shiraiwa for our event.

The Japan Slow Flowers Tour and the Summit Presentation each run about 35 minutes, so feel free to watch in two parts. You can listen here or watch the replay video – which I encourage you to do!

Thank you for joining me today! I truly loved my day of flowers with Megumi and friends. I hope you get to visit in person some day!

---

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 700 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 Association of Specialty Cut Flowers. The ASCFG is a gathering place for specialty cut flower growers of all levels of experience. It is a hub of knowledge, where seasoned experts and budding enthusiasts come together to learn, share, and support one another. The ASCFG is dedicated to empowering its members with the knowledge and resources needed to thrive in the world of cut flower farming. From educational workshops and conferences to online resources and publications, they provide a wealth of information and support for all things related to growing exceptional cut flowers. Learn more about the ASCFG and how to be a part of it at ascfg.org.

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 swgm.coop.

---

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.5 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; Allston Night Owl
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 The Little Farm on Olga Road on Orcas, Carol Wetzel and Allan Tone live in a small house and have devoted much of the surrounding three acres to growing a food-herb-and-flower farm and seasonal plant nursery to serve their neighbors and island visitors, including destination wedding clients. The Little Farm is a Big Endeavor that began when Carol and Allan arrived at the beginning of the Pandemic. The move was possible because they also own a small software company and are able to operate it remotely. So you might think The Little Farm is a side hustle, but it’s much more than that, as the couple embraces permaculture, environmental biodiversity, and organic practices while caring for a once-neglected hayfield turned magical, plant-centered experience for everyone who enters its gates. Join us on a tour of The Little Farm and a conversation with Carol – I know you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

I recently mentioned that I’ve been busy in the field, gathering stories and interviews to share with you in anticipation of my upcoming 2-week trip to Japan, so today, you’re in for a real treat – a visit to The Little Farm on Olga Road, based in Eastsound on Orcas Island and owned by Carol Wetzel and Allan Tone. I reached this gorgeous destination in a tiny airplane piloted by Allan. The short but breathtaking flight in and of itself was like a luxury vacation to one of the most popular of the beautiful string of islands that make up the San Juan archipelago.

Overlooking a beautiful bay on Orcas Island, The Little Farm on Olga Road offers a spectacular seasonal array of perennials and annuals to enjoy in a multitude of ways. Carol and Allan’s cutting garden bounty begins in early spring with tulips, anemones, hellebores and irises; summertime welcomes fragrant sweet peas, followed by zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, and specialty dahlias – all of which were thriving at their seasonal peak when I arrived. To come, the arrival of more than 60 varieties of heirloom chrysanthemums later this fall.

What I learned on my visit is that The Little Farm is not just a flower farm. With three distinct orchards, a mini vineyard of wine and table grapes, hardy kiwi, and seasonal vegetables, the gates open to visitors who can enjoy a You Pick experience or shop in the Farm Stand that’s also stocked with fresh farm eggs, plant starts and a selection of the farm’s soap and skincare line made from locally sourced-tallow and essential oils pressed from the flowers. 

Carol, a lifelong gardener and educator with a Doctorate in Education, says her real delight is the joy her garden creations bring to friends, neighbors and visitors on Orcas Island, people who want to immerse themselves in the wonderful world of flowering perennials and annuals. 

Allan’s role at The Little Farm is evident everywhere you look, including artfully built barns, farm stand, hoop houses, and an innovative irrigation system. Allan is the President of Orcas Aviation Association, which provides Mercy Flights for individuals and family members that need a quick flight off the island for non-life-threatening treatment such as chemotherapy or other medical emergencies.  He and a handful of volunteer pilots fly thousands of missions each year.  

Their commitment to community and their Little Farm is inspiring and I’m delighted to share it with you today. I’m so grateful to Carol and Allan for their hospitality and for their membership in the Slow Flowers Society. I left my 24-hour visit to The Little Farm filled with a shared sense of wonder. As Carol and Allan continue to work hard and pay great attention to what brings joy to their visitors, their original vision for The Little Farm and what it represents is taking shape beautifully.

Subscribe to The Little Farm’s newsletter mailing list and follow The Little Farm on Instagram and Facebook.

---

Thank You to Our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 700 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.

---

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.5 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; Lissa
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

Alicia Houston is the founder of Healer’s Harvest, based in Poulsbo, Washington. After moving to the Pacific Northwest from San Diego to care for her grandfather, a long-time veggie grower and farmers’ market seller, Alicia found her own passion for flower farming. Her lifelong interest in medicinal plants led her to take courses, attend workshops, and eventually launch Healer’s Harvest in 2022. Alicia provides floral designs for weddings, events, and pop-ups; she offers DIY flower buckets and hosts design workshops. She is committed to sustainability, using locally sourced flowers and eco-friendly techniques to create unique, seasonal arrangements that reflect the beauty of the Kitsap Peninsula where she lives. Join me on a field tour with Alicia as she harvests her healing floral ingredients for a beautiful design demonstration.

Now that we’re officially into September, I’ve been motivated to schedule as many in-person interviews for the Slow Flowers Podcast as possible. The floral palette is at its peak and yet there’s an awareness that we’ll soon arrive at the fall equinox. Knowing that I’m heading to Japan for two weeks, I spent the early part of September recording three back-to-back farm visits with beautiful video and delightful conversations. The first of those three is today’s interview with Alicia Houston of Healer’s Harvest.

I met Alicia at the leased field where she has farmed annuals and dahlias for two seasons, land that Alicia recently learned she will have to give up. That’s bittersweet, but as she evolves her young floral enterprise, Alicia is discovering that there’s still plenty of garden space where she lives with her grandfather, as well as a possible new location for 2026. As she points out, with her increased focus on floral design and freelancing, Alicia has deepened her ties with other farmer-florists in the Kitsap Peninsula from whom she can source – even if her growing space is reduced.

Thank you for joining me today! I’m so grateful that Alicia and I met when she was just getting started. I think it was 2022 when she and her sister came to the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival and our membership manager, Tonneli Gruetter, brought them to the floral stage to introduce us. Fast-forward to 2025 and Alicia was a featured Blooms & Bubbles instructor leading one of our Slow Flowers floral design workshop. I love how these connections continue to deepen.

Find and follow Healer’s Harvest on Instagram and Facebook

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Learn More from Alicia at the Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit 2026

Top Row, from left: SHANE CONNOLLY, Shane Connolly & Co.; DEE HALL GOODWIN, Mermaid City Flowers and Black Flower Farmers; MAX GILL, Max Gill Design; and FRANÇOISE WEEKS, Françoise Weeks Floral
Row 2, from left: RIZANIÑO “RIZ” REYES, RHR Horticulture; DIANE SZUKOVATHY, Jello Mold Farm and Seattle Wholesale Growers Market; KATHERINE RAZ, The Fernseed; and MONIQUE MORRIS, Epiphany Eight Flower Farms
Row 3 from left: MARILYN GRIFFIN, Griffin Gardens; CELESTINA ROBERTSON, Forever Green Flower Co.; TJ MCGRATH, TJ McGrath Design; and DEBRA PRINZING, Slow Flowers Society
Row 4 from left; ALICIA HOUSTON, Healer’s Harvest and JOAN THORNDIKE, Le Mera Gardens

For the 2026 Slow Flowers Worldwide Summit in January, Alicia will join Dee Hall Goodwin, Monique Morris, and Marilyn Griffin on a panel discussion: Building a Farmer-Florist Business. As I mentioned last week, we’ve invited Black Flower Farmers to join Slow Flowers Society as the Summit’s co-host, and Dee is producing two of the sessions, including this one. We’ve just announced the full speaker lineup for the online Summit and Tickets will go on sale October 1^st.

---

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 700 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 swgm.coop or seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com.

And 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.

---

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.5 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; Topslides
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