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Flower farming is a magical and very personal experience for Chelsea Willis, owner of Sweet Delilah Farm. With a background in psychology and a passion for human relationships, she believes that flower work is heart work. Connecting to the land as both a grower and a designer allows Chelsea to make meaningful ties to her community. Her farm is located on Sauvie Island, an agricultural-rich destination located just minutes north of Portland, Oregon. Since planting her first flower seed in 2016, Chelsea has endeavored to make locally grown flowers accessible to everyone. She has developed Sweet Delilah Farm into a flower hub that combines her love for growing with respect for working on the land and its healing properties. The farm brings community members and healers together with the wonder of flowers through events, workshops, and you-pick experiences. Chelsea recently welcomed me to her property for a tour of the fields and high tunnels at the peak of the season, followed by our sit-down conversation as she celebrates the 10^th anniversary of Sweet Delilah Farm.

I’ve been trying to schedule a visit to Sweet Delilah Farm for a few years. There’s literally no excuse because the location is less than a 3-hour drive south of where I live in south Seattle. Thankfully, last month, I was able to sync up with Chelsea’s schedule and plan a visit. We have met in the past – I’ve interviewed her a few times for Slow Flowers content – and she attended the 2023 Slow Flowers Summit when it was here in the Seattle area. But spending time on a person’s farm, seeing how they have created a floral enterprise that reflects their aesthetic and values – nothing beats it.

Coming from a background in somatic psychotherapy, trauma studies, and social work, Chelsea believes in their power as tools to healing. One moment of beauty in someone’s day can be can be crucial – and that’s where the flowers never cease to do their job, she says. In just one decade, Sweet Delilah Farm has put down roots, enriched the land, and fed both Chelsea’s spirit and those of her customers, including a select group of couples who choose the farm as their microwedding destination.

You’ll love our tour and I know you’ll be enchanted by Chelsea’s newest endeavor, breeding dahlias. She shared several very special selections for future introduction and you’ll be wowed.

You’ll also find links to Sweet Deliah Farm’s social places:
Instagram and Facebook

Newsletter signup.

Read more about Chelsea in our Slow Flowers article on You Pick flower farming, featured in Johnny’s JSS Advantage Newsletter.

Thank you to our Sponsors

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

And thank you to our lead sponsor, My Patio Tree: Expertly Grown Plants, Perfectly Designed to Elevate Your Garden. Their second-generation family tree farm has curated the best-performing, cutting-edge, multi-zone varieties to enhance your garden, patio or special event. Every tree purchased supports Plant With Purpose, a nonprofit organization that restores hope by reversing global poverty and environmental damage. Learn more at mypatiotree.com.

Thank you to Longfield Gardens, which provides home gardeners with high quality flower bulbs and perennials. Their online store offers plants for every region and every season, from tulips and daffodils to dahlias, caladiums and amaryllis. Check out the full catalog at Longfield Gardens at longfield-gardens.com.

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

The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.6 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; Come On Over
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

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Jennifer Jewell’s long-running public radio show “Cultivating Place“ asks: “Is cultivating place well the ability to feed your family better? Is it the ability to have a say in how our climate and our environment is cared for, starting right in our own backyards? Is it, in part, the tending to your household or community economy in a healthy and sane manner? Is it carrying the culture of your ancestors forward into the future or perhaps even rewriting the culture as you found it into the one you would like to tend and grow?”
She continues, “Cultivating your place might even just be a matter of putting beautiful flowers on your bedside table every week you can, or having the gift of a public park or greenspace near enough that you can walk there, sit in the sun, or greet the trees and other neighbors there…”
Jennifer is a Slow Flowers member who has joined us in advocating and supporting for domestic floral agriculture, local and seasonal flower growing and sourcing, and sustainable floral design practices that honor the land, the people connected to that land, and their communities. Today, she joins me to share news of the first, live, Cultivating Place symposium, taking place in South Bend, Indiana, later this month. It is called “The Power of Gardeners,” which is also the title of the new, 10-part Cultivating Place documentary series set to debut on PBS nationwide next spring. I’m delighted to catch up with Jennifer and you’re invited to listen in!

I’m thrilled to welcome Jennifer Jewell as a return guest to the Slow Flowers Podcast, as she updates us about all that’s happening in the Cultivating Place community.

Jennifer is the founder and host of Cultivating Place, a national award-winning weekly public radio program and podcast that debuted in 2016. The show evolved from Jennifer’s first public radio program, “In A North State Garden,” which aired on North State Public Radio in Northern California from 2008 to 2015. Her current one-hour, interview-based program, “Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden,” is co-produced by North State Public Radio and focuses on the culture of gardening around the world. Cultivating Place is syndicated on NPR affiliate radio stations across California and in Ohio and available as individual episodes to public radio stations on Public Radio Exchange (PRX).

The Power of Gardeners speaker lineup:

Over the years, a passionate community has formed around Cultivating Place, and later this month, hosts, listeners, and friends, will gather for their first in-person symposium, called “The Power of Gardeners” The Symposium includes a full day of lectures and panels on Friday, September 25. In addition to the show’s co-hosts Abra Lee and Ben Futa, Jennifer will be joined by Wambui Ippolito and Chris Fehlhaber to round out the speaker lineup. The gathering will also include a panel on the creation of The Power of Gardeners documentary series, with filmmaker and director Myriam Nicodemus.

The Power of Gardeners will continue on Saturday, September 26^th, with a guided tour led by Ben Futa, as participants will visit his South Bend floriculture and horticulture enterprises, including the gardening boutique called Botany & Co. and the Lot Next Door Nursery. Later, guests will visit and hear more about the background and future of gardens and green spaces contributing to the reconnection of people, plants, pollinators, and purpose of place in South Bend. Ben is a new member of Slow Flowers, as he is now a cut flower farmer who grows on satellite land near Botany & Co. We’ll learn more from him in a future episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast, I promise.

Let’s jump right in and welcome Jennifer Jewell to the Slow Flowers Podcast. Together we will explore what she means by the phrase “cultivating place,” and how we all should embody the word “Gardener, with a capital G.” A program note: The first 3 minutes of today’s episode includes a trailer for “The Power of Gardeners;” it’s a sneak peek into the new PBS documentary series set to debut next April. This will be followed by my extended interview with Jennifer.

There is still time to register at the Early Bird rate of $140 to attend The Power of Gardeners – the discount continues through September 15^th. Follow the link in our show notes for more details. As I mentioned to Jennifer, this is an incredibly affordable event, so if you’re in the region and you can make the trip to South Bend, I encourage you to do so.

In South Bend, you‘ll learn lessons from people tending plants in their places, despite many odds, and in doing so growing everything better: the ecology of interdependent gardens, the look and feel of the city, the economic and cultural integrity and vibrancy of their communities, and the future history of these people and this place.

Thank you to our Sponsors

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

And thank you to our lead sponsor, My Patio Tree: Expertly Grown Plants, Perfectly Designed to Elevate Your Garden. Their second-generation family tree farm has curated the best-performing, cutting-edge, multi-zone varieties to enhance your garden, patio or special event. Every tree purchased supports Plant With Purpose, a nonprofit organization that restores hope by reversing global poverty and environmental damage. Learn more at mypatiotree.com.

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.

And thank you to the Seattle 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 seattlegrowersmarket.com.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.6 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; Heartland Flyer
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

Bloomz Flower Farm is a 25-acre farm and design studio in Zillah, Washington, with gorgeous views of Mt. Adams, surrounded by beautiful farmland in all directions, including wheat and alfalfa production. Here, owner Sara Groeneweg has infused flower farming into all aspects of her life and business. After earning an agriculture education degree at Washington State University in 2000, Sara taught high school agriculture for eight years before starting her family. Now, in addition to raising two teenage sons, she teaches middle school science – one full-time job – while also growing more than 50 varieties of flowers at Bloomz Flower Farm for weddings, events, flower subscriptions, and market bouquets – her other full-time job. A natural teacher, Sara acknowledges that she is a crazy for flowers and loves sharing their beauty with others.

Sara Groeneweg grew up in a family of gardeners and growers in western Washington. When she was young, showing livestock at the local fair, Sara noticed the 4H and Future Farmers of America kids with their teachers. They looked like they were having so much fun that she decided: “That’s what I want to do when I grow up!”

The experience led her into agricultural education where she studied at Washington State University and me her future husband, Leroy, a horticulture major. They married and settled in the Yakima Valley in eastern Washington, close to where Leroy grew up. Now with two teenage sons, life is very full. And like most competent women, Sara is a doer. She currently teaches science full-time at the local middle school in Wapato, while also operating Bloomz Flower Farm. As a farmer-florist, Sara loves designing weddings and of course, she grows everything for her events. The crops at Bloomz are arranged in beds and borders that beautify the landscape, which also has integrated structures like arbors and trellises – and an attractive and productive wood-framed greenhouse. In recent years, more of a farm vibe has crept onto the family property, with rows of dahlias and annuals occupying one huge zone.

I first met Sara when she attended the 2023 Slow Flowers Summit in Bellevue, Washington, arriving with buckets of her own stems to share for our floral design takeover there. When I scheduled a trip to the Yakima Valley a few weeks ago, I invited myself for a visit and tour. Plus, we recorded a wonderful conversation about Sara’s floral journey. I know you’ll enjoy seeing what she grows in her gorgeous garden, including the dahlias at their peak. Let’s jump right in and get started!

Find and follow Bloomz Flower Farm on Instagram and Facebook.

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to 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, My Patio Tree: Expertly Grown Plants, Perfectly Designed to Elevate Your Garden. Their second-generation family tree farm has curated the best-performing, cutting-edge, multi-zone varieties to enhance your garden, patio or special event. Every tree purchased supports Plant With Purpose, a nonprofit organization that restores hope by reversing global poverty and environmental damage. Learn more at mypatiotree.com.

Thank you to the Seattle 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 seattlegrowersmarket.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 1.6 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; Telnik Sparkle
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

Spokane, Washington-based floral personality Katie Lila is on a mission to make fresh flowers a cultural expectation. Not just a novelty, but a norm. She has navigated many facets of the flower-verse – from running a floral event business, to crafting large-scale art installations, and producing her floral-centric TV series. We first featured Katie as producer and host of “Follow the Blooms” in 2024 when it debuted on a live-streaming platform. Now the series has moved to PBS with a nationwide distribution that reaches 70% of public TV viewers across the country. I reunited with Katie last week at Bellevue Botanical Garden, where she previously filmed our Slow Flowers Summit in 2023. The “Flower Summit” episode is part of Season One. Bellevue Botanical Garden hosted a Follow the Blooms screening for members and volunteers. You’ll hear an update from Katie as we discuss manifesting one’s floral dreams, and a conversation with James Gagliardi, the BBG director, who discusses the importance of public gardens in the life of communities everywhere. Katie also generously shared a preview of her “Flower Summit” Episode. If you attended that fabulous event, you might just see yourself on the screen!

Katie Lila has spent more than two decades working in every nook and cranny of the flower industry—running a wedding and event business, holding workshops, creating massive floral installations, and producing “Follow the Blooms.” She has partnered with local growers, visited farms across the country, and inspired hands-on flower experiences in ways people never imagined.
These days, Katie is a flower-reporter who documents the world of blooms and shares their narratives through media that tells a darn good story.

This all comes together in 10 episodes of “Follow the Blooms” Season One, just picked up nationally by PBS stations in 70 percent of the viewing market. As Katie integrates fresh flowers into the mainstream fabric of society through innovative floral experiences that spark joy, cultivate community, and invite curiosity, she is living out her own dream of floral storytelling – something we here at Slow Flowers have been doing for 15 years. We’re thrilled that Katie is a Slow Flowers member and encourage you to join her as she’s following the blooms. As Katie likes to say: “If my creativity had a theme song, it would be a quirky tune on a ukulele titled, ‘What Else Can We Do With Flowers?’”

WATCH Follow the Blooms on PBS

Join me to learn more about this project and also learn how you might be able to get involved in a future episode. Let’s jump right in and get started. Enjoy a sneak peek of the “Flower Summit” episode that features Tracy Yang of Jarn Co. Flower Farm, the Seattle Growers Market, and the Slow Flowers Summit from 2023. 

Season Two of Follow the Blooms is currently filming, but Katie is collecting ideas for Season Three.

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to 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, My Patio Tree: Expertly Grown Plants, Perfectly Designed to Elevate Your Garden. Their second-generation family tree farm has curated the best-performing, cutting-edge, multi-zone varieties to enhance your garden, patio or special event. Every tree purchased supports Plant With Purpose, a nonprofit organization that restores hope by reversing global poverty and environmental damage. Learn more at mypatiotree.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 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 1.6 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; Rose Ornamental
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

In her new book, Floramama, flower farmer Chloé Roy combines ecological growing practices, proven business strategies, and the artistry of floral design into a visually rich guide to small-scale floriculture. This Quebec-based farmer-florist originally published Floramama in her native French language in 2023, and now, New Society Publishers has translated it into English for the rest of us to savor and absorb. Chloé is a biointensive ecological flower grower and flower farming educator. She learned market gardening from expert vegetable growers and then leveraged her skills and knowledge to turn Floramama Farm’s 1.5 acres into a thriving, six-figure flower business. We’re thrilled that the Slow Flowers Movement is featured in the book’s opening pages, where Chloé writes: “I discovered the Slow Flowers movement, inspired by the Slow Food Movement. American author Debra Prinzing published her 2014 book Slow Flowers (and) her work helped create a wonderful flower-growing community in the United States and eventually around the world.” It’s the Slow Flowers journey that connected me with Chloé and her work, and you’ll love our conversation today, which includes a deep dive into Floramama, the book.

In the lead up to Canadian Flowers Week, taking place August 17-23, we scheduled today’s episode to shine a light on one of Canada’s inspiring floral stories. Chloé Roy is a successful ecological flower grower, flower farming instructor, and founder of the ground-breaking start-up Floramama. After working with Jean-Martin Fortier at Les Jardins de la Grelinette for two years, she was inspired to apply her skills in human-scale agriculture to floriculture. Chloé launched Floramama, Quebec’s first biointensive flower farm, in 2014.

Since then, Floramama has grown to provide full-time employment for several women while delivering bouquets to over 550 annual subscribers and selling to the public through farmers’ markets, to florists and designers, to small local shops and a large organic grocery store chain, as well as arranging flowers for weddings and events, turning Floramama’s 1.5 acres of flowers into a $380,000 annual business. Chloé lives and farms in Frelighsburg, Quebec.

Also, check out Canadian Flowers Week’s website and Instagram to learn how you can support and celebrate this wonderful floral holiday, which Slow Flowers inspired and helped to launch. The campaign acknowledges that many of the flowers that are sold in Canada are imported and aspires to increase the percentage of local flowers used by floral designers and purchased by Canadian consumers. By raising awareness of flower seasonality in Canada and connecting with growers, both the industry and consumers can start to make locally conscious purchase decisions without having to sacrifice quality and uniqueness. 
Learn more at canadianflowersweek.ca.

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to 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, My Patio Tree: Expertly Grown Plants, Perfectly Designed to Elevate Your Garden. Their second-generation family tree farm has curated the best-performing, cutting-edge, multi-zone varieties to enhance your garden, patio or special event. Every tree purchased supports Plant With Purpose, a nonprofit organization that restores hope by reversing global poverty and environmental damage. Learn more at mypatiotree.com.

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 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 1.6 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; Stencils
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

In 2019, Corinne Bryson founded Flora Good Times, a retail plant and flower shop and design studio in Beacon, New York. Located on Beacon’s beautiful Main Street, in a lush, plant-filled jewel box of a space, Flora Good Times specializes in unusual houseplants and unconventional flower arrangements. Corinne has cared for and loved thousands of houseplants throughout her life, and has no plans to stop loving more. Proudly woman-owned, with a team of women creatives, Flora Good Times contributes a portion of its sales to fighting for justice in food and farming systems, human rights initiatives, and local community building. As Corinne says, “We believe in science and equity. We believe that plants aren’t decor, they’re a relationship. Education is the most important thing, and online advice is endless. We want to help customers weed through it all to know what really matters, so that they and their plant friends can take a deep breath and enjoy each other.”
Recently featured in the Summer 2026 issue of Slow Flowers Journal, Corinne enthusiastically said “yes,” when I told her I would be in the NYC area in late July and hoped to visit Flora Good Times in person. Located about 75 minutes by train north of Grand Central Station, Beacon is a charming town, with a vibrant downtown area. Join me on a tour of the flower and plant shop there, followed by a sit-down conversation with Corinne, filmed in the production studio located nearby.

Flora Good Times was built with a focus on supporting local in every way possible. The shop and studio source flowers locally from farms in all directions – including the Hudson Valley, northern New Jersey, and members of the nearby Connecticut Flower Collective. The products on Flora Good Times shelves come from local and national makers for everything from pottery offerings to home goods, paper, gifts, and accessories. This is a small business that walks the talk, believing that a rising tide lifts all ships. And by looking to individual small farms and makers, all rise.

As I mentioned in the intro, I spend a delightful day visiting Beacon. Ostensibly, we were in NYC to attend the USA Track and Field Championships in Manhattan, my husband Bruce’s passion, and of course, to see our two sons who live and work there. But I snuck away one morning, taking the Metro North train on a beautiful route along the Hudson River. I wish I had more time to visit other Slow Flowers members in the area, but that will have to take place on my next trip. Focusing on the story of Corinne and Flora Good Times allowed me to film a video tour of her plant and flower shop, and to sit down for an informative conversation about what gives her joy – and her inspiring story.

As a post-script to today’s episode, I dug into “The Flora Dispatch,” the blog on Flora Good Times’ website, where I learned this:

• In 2025, the shop and studio purchased Over 82,270 stems of flowers from local farmers across the Hudson Valley, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
• The off season was supplemented with over 54,470 stems from select importers, always chosen with care, to support
• 30 full-Service, A-La-Carte and Pickup weddings for couples who came from near and far to celebrate in the beautiful Hudson Valley.
• In addition to serving wedding ceremonies, Flora Good Times made 1,532 bouquets, 1,231 arrangements, tended to 3,475 specialty plants, and completed 613 deliveries.
• They did it all: From everyday gestures to corporate retreats to once-in-a-lifetime moments, it meant filling the Lower Hudson Valley with natural beauty through flowers and plants.
• Behind all the pretty stuff, the team at FGT we spent approximately 1 million hours (Rounding Down) cleaning buckets, candles, and processing stems.
• They lost 40 pairs of clippers — but Corinne admits, those might be in her car.
• The post concludes with this summary: “What we learned was immeasurable.

“None of this happens alone. We are endlessly grateful to the farmers who grow with integrity and care, the vendors and collaborators who show up ready to make something beautiful, and our customers who trust us with meaningful moments in their lives. To our floral artists and shop team: your talent, patience, creativity, and calm under pressure are the backbone of this business. We see you, and we’re so thankful for you.”

“Most of all, thank you to our community. To our local customers, our fellow small businesses, and the couples and planners who choose to work with us for their wedding day. Six years in, we still feel surprised by our good fortune. We’re crazy proud of the work we do, ridiculously grateful for the support we receive, and so excited to keep growing, one season at a time.”

I’m so grateful for Corinne’s leadership in the Slow Flowers community and I hope you draw ideas and inspiration from her story!

Find and follow Flora Good Times on Instagram and Facebook

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to 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, My Patio Tree: Expertly Grown Plants, Perfectly Designed to Elevate Your Garden. Their second-generation family tree farm has curated the best-performing, cutting-edge, multi-zone varieties to enhance your garden, patio or special event. Every tree purchased supports Plant With Purpose, a nonprofit organization that restores hope by reversing global poverty and environmental damage. Learn more at mypatiotree.com.

Thank you to Charles Little and Company for supplying our industry with some of the most beautiful and sustainably-grown design ingredients, available nationwide through their website at charleslittleandcompany.com. On August 25th, spend the day touring Charles Little & Company in Eugene, Oregon, as part of the ASCFG regional gathering. Learn how the farm operates seasonally with an emphasis on field grown crops for national sales and visit the farm stand and U-Pick fields that connect the farm to its community. Interact with Charles Little and Bethany Little to learn and be inspired. Lunch is included. Ticket details are at ascfg.org.

Thank you to the Seattle 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 seattlegrowersmarket.com.

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.6 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; Light on the Jetty
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 Snohomish County Flower Collective is a regional wholesale floral hub founded in 2023 to bring together nearly 40 growers under one roof. Frequently called the Sno-Co-Flo-Co, the group is based in the historic town of Snohomish, about 35 miles north of Seattle, and most of their members have farms in Snohomish and nearby counties. Their home base is at Fleurs Creative, a floral design studio owned by Alicia Schwede, a longtime Slow Flowers member, floral educator, and advocate for seasonal design. Having a centralized location is a win-win for both Alicia and the farmers. As a community that serves both florists and the general public with high quality, fresh, and local flowers, SnoCo Flower Collective is changing the face of agriculture in an already vibrant farming region. Most of the flower farms are women-owned and their commitment to elevating local flowers and supporting one another is a valuable model. Join me in a conversation with the leadership team’s Tracy Sundby and Beth Kendall, and a bonus chat with Alicia Schwede.

Community, not Competition is the motivating ethos for the Snohomish County Flower Collective. They say: “We believe that thriving farms start with thriving farmers. Our mission is to provide education, training, and resources that empower growers to build successful, sustainable businesses. By fostering collaboration over competition, we break down barriers, create an inclusive space, and ensure a vibrant future for local agriculture. Since our founding in 2023, our collective has been more than just a network—it’s a community. Together, we share knowledge, support one another, and strengthen the local flower movement. By working side by side, we’re not just growing flowers—we’re growing a stronger, more resilient future for small-scale farming.”

On the occasion of the collective’s rebranding and relaunch for season four, I visited last month and was treated to a beautiful experience. Today’s episode begins with a brief bonus conversation with Alicia Schwede, who many of you know for her Flirty Fleurs blog, and her studio, Fleurs Creative. Alicia’s own move to Snohomish, known for its amazing antiques, quaint main street with l9th century buildings along a river’s edge, and a thriving artists community, led to the purchase of a 1905 building, which she and her husband renovated and one portion of which is home to Fleurs Creative.

Next, I recorded a conversation with two of the four members of Sno Co. Flower Collective’s leadership team, Tracy Sundby, owner of Freedom Flower Farm; and Beth Kendall, owner of Flower Farmer Girls. Let’s welcome all to the Slow Flowers Podcast.

And on a personal note, did you hear what Alicia said about the experience that lured her to the town of Snohomish? She credits an early outing when I took her to Snohomish after she first moved to Seattle. Secondly, she credits Slow Flowers for bringing together Alicia’s Fleurs Creative with the Sno Co Flower Collective. Isn’t it serendipitous what happens when we build community with authentic relationships – I was really touched by this and I know that you must have similar stories. The connections between floral designers and flower farmers are strong and interdependent!

Find and follow Snohomish County Flower Collective on Instagram and Facebook

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to 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, My Patio Tree: Expertly Grown Plants, Perfectly Designed to Elevate Your Garden. Their second-generation family tree farm has curated the best-performing, cutting-edge, multi-zone varieties to enhance your garden, patio or special event. Every tree purchased supports Plant With Purpose, a nonprofit organization that restores hope by reversing global poverty and environmental damage. Learn more at mypatiotree.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 to Charles Little and Company. On August 25th, spend the day touring Charles Little and Company in Eugene, Oregon, as part of the ASCFG regional gathering. Learn how the farm operates seasonally with an emphasis on field grown crops for national sales and visit the farm stand and U-Pick fields that connect the farm to its community. Interact with Charles Little and Bethany Little to learn and be inspired. Lunch is included. Ticket details are at ascfg.org.

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.6 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; Telnik Sparkle
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

Designed by Alanna Messner-Scholl of Waverly Flower Co., the “Earth Dress” is a slender, floor-length gown that appears to grow from a demure pair of seed-embellished ballet flats. It seems fitting that a sustainable farmer-florist who once attended the Fashion Institute of Technology would conjure up this organic-looking garment using compost, soil, moss, roots, seeds, and vines. “I wanted it to be a concept piece with an organic, natural feeling,” Alanna said. Having designed botanical couture fashions for Slow Flowers Society’s past two American Flowers Week collections–both of which featured blooms, petals, and foliage straight from her cutting garden–Alanna wanted to highlight other aspects of flower-growing, so she turned to her potting shed. For 2026, she explores the lifecycle of a flower through botanical fashion. Her creativity helps us better understand what it means to grow and design. I know you’ll love our conversation as you learn about Alanna’s ideas and design process!

Slow Flowers Society created American Flowers Week in 2015 as a community-focused floral holiday that allows and encourages participation from everyone in the floral industry — from flower seed and bulb producers to growers; from designers to retailers; from cutting garden enthusiasts to artists. Now in its 12th year, the campaign continues to engage flower farmers, floral designers, farmer-florists, wholesalers, retailers, grocery stores, and flower lovers!

DESIGN + CONCEPT: Alanna Messner-Scholl, Waverly Flower Co. 
waverlyflowerco.com, @waverlyflowerco
PHOTOGRAPHY: Victoria Lin Photography
victorialinphotography.com, @victorialin.photography
MODEL, HAIR + MAKEUP: Amie Bantz, @amiebantz
STUDIO AND DESIGN ASSISTANCE: Morgan Feher, @morganbfeher
FOLIAGE AND SEEDLING SOURCE: Waverly Flower Co.
SOIL AND COMPOST SOURCE: Barnside Mulch and Compost
SEED SOURCE: Johnny’s Seeds, @johnnys_seeds
VENUE: Waverly Flower Co. Studio

Our first botanical couture look began with Susan McLeary’s iconic red-white-and-blue floral Afro, an impeccable floral headpiece became the branding for American Flowers Week in 2016 and inspired a decade of botanical couture looks that followed: Garments, ensembles, and accessories created by Slow Flowers members and farmer-florist teams across the U.S. Since 2016, we have celebrated an impressive lineup of more than 50 American Flowers Week botanical couture looks, designed by our members and featuring domestic flowers and foliage as the inspiration. These floral fashions hail from across the continent — Alaska and Hawaii; Maine and Florida; Missouri and South Dakota and beyond.

So today, we travel to Pennsylvania, to meet Alanna Messner-Scholl of Waverly Flower Co., and learn about her third botanical couture look for American Flowers Week. It’s great conversation and I’m happy to share it with you!

Download free social media badges, including those featuring The Earth Dress
Download flower-farming artwork by Amy Rice, whose work we licensed for this year’s campaign.

Hot off the Press: Slow Flowers Journal – Summer 2026

And please enjoy our Summer 2026 issue of Slow Flowers Journal – out this week. You can read extended stories about our featured artists and botanical couture designers, as well as some fun features about what our members are doing around the world. The stories are mostly based in the U.S., but we have a very special article commissioned by Slow Flowers Society — a report by Dee Hall Goodwin of Mermaid City Flowers who traveled to London this past May to cover the first flower farm installed at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. You’ll find all this inspiration in our 42-page digital magazine – Click on the flipbook above to read and enjoy!

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to 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, My Patio Tree: Expertly Grown Plants, Perfectly Designed to Elevate Your Garden. Their second-generation family tree farm has curated the best-performing, cutting-edge, multi-zone varieties to enhance your garden, patio or special event. Every tree purchased supports Plant With Purpose, a nonprofit organization that restores hope by reversing global poverty and environmental damage. Learn more at mypatiotree.com.

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 Seattle 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 seattlegrowersmarket.com.

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.6 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; Dream Caper
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

In the runup to our American Flowers Week’s annual Botanical Couture collection, I’m welcoming Caitlin Mathes to the Slow Flowers Podcast. A longtime Slow Flowers Member based in New York’s Finger Lakes Region, Caitlin has been cultivating the Tagetes species, also known as the marigold, since 2019. Her passion led to establishing The Marigold Gardens as a singular flower farm, specializing in more than 40 marigold varieties. When planning this year’s American Flowers Week floral fashions, we asked Caitlin if she would like to create a marigold garment – and she joined in the fun, growing, designing, fabricating, and modeling her playful look. Join me as we learn more about Caitlin’s floral enterprise, her love affair with marigolds, and her charming, Medieval-inspired garment fashioned with a multitude of colorful and uniquely-formed varieties. You, too, will fall in love with marigolds because Caitlin’s passion is contagious!

American Flowers Week was founded by Slow Flowers in 2015 as the original domestic flower promotion campaign. Each year, from June 28-through July 4, Slow Flowers members and flower lovers everywhere are invited to showcase their flowers. Some folks post their blooms across social media as red-white-and-blue creations; others use the American Flowers Week bouquet labels to adorn market wraps or to decorate take-home arrangements from events and workshops. But since 2016, the centerpiece of American Flowers Week has been the botanical couture runway, floral fashions grown, designed, and produced by flower farmers, farmer-florists, and floral designers, as well as creative fashionistas who just love the idea of dressing a model in blooms.

This year, we have four distinct looks to share in our celebration, and today, we kick things off with a magical marigold design from Caitlin Mathes, owner of The Marigold Gardens.

The Marigold Gardens is an emerging flower farm with only one crop . . . MARIGOLDS! As Caitlin puts it: “The marigold has given me so much joy and inspiration that I felt the need to become a grower, steward, advocate, and cheerleader for this wonderful flower. It is high time marigolds had their praises sung and I look forward to growing The Marigold Gardens into a beautiful destination for all things marigold.”
She calls herself a marigold monger, which is just one role this maker, performer, librarian, and agrarian represents. It was so much fun speaking with Caitlin about her marigold passion, one that inspires her to create and share in all types of ways. Let’s welcome Caitlin to the Slow Flowers Podcast and get ready for a deep dive into the world of marigolds.

Download free social media badges
Flower-farming prints by Amy Rice
Caitlin Mathes’ Marigold Look

And head’s up, today’s episode is the first a three-part series, so join us on June 24th to learn from botanical artist and educator Françoise Weeks; followed by a conversation on July 1^st with Alanna Messner-Scholl of Waverly Flower Co., as both will discuss their American Flowers week floral fashions. I can’t wait to share those wonderful conversations – and you’ll be inspired!

Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to 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 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 seattlegrowersmarket.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; Talens Bal
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