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Just in time for gardening and farming season, I’m thrilled to introduce you to The Flower Farmers, my new book co-authored with longtime collaborator Robin Avni. The Flower Farmers delivers a visually compelling collection of stories and flower-growing wisdom to inspire gardeners and flower lovers alike. Immerse yourself in the stories of 29 flower farms, including the people and places where flowers are planted, harvested, arranged and brought to market. Join me in a conversation about HELLEBORES — Best Practices and Best Varieties to Grow and Design. Three of the talented Slow Flowers members featured in The Flower Farmers book — Diane Szukovathy and Dennis Westphall of Jello Mold Farm, and Rizaniño “Riz” Reyes of RHR Horticulture — pay homage to the hellebore — the “it” flower of the season. It’s only fitting, because a beautiful portrait of the luxury perennial graces the cover of The Flower Farmers — straight from Jello Mold Farm.

Today’s episode is excerpted from our monthly Slow Flowers member meet-up for April, which took place last week. We invited Diane Szukovathy and Dennis Westphall to share their expert hellebore growing advice and Riz Reyes, an accomplished plantsman, to discuss gardening and designing with hellebores. You’ll learn more about their work with hellebore crops and floral and design with hellebores and companion blooms, and get inspired for the season’s best blooms.

All three are featured in the pages of The Flower Farmers: Inspiration and Advice from Expert Growers. Robin Avni and I spent the past 18 months gathering images and interviews with 29 floral experts across North American – Slow Flowers members whose passion and know-how fill 272 pages of this gorgeous book – which will be published on May 6^th.

Find and follow Jello Mold Farm on Instagram and at Seattle Wholesale Growers Market

Find and follow Riz Reyes on Instagram and at Heronswood Garden

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 Red Twig Farms. Based in New Albany, Ohio, Red Twig Farms is a family-owned farm specializing in peonies, daffodils, tulips and branches, a popular peony-bouquet-by-mail program and their Spread the Hope Campaign where customers purchase 10 tulip stems for essential workers and others in their community. Learn more at redtwigfarms.com.

Thank you to the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com.

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com.

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!

Drone Pine; Gaena; Contrarian
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
by audionautix.com

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If you’re interested in what flower farming’s “chapter two” might look like, today’s guest shares one version of that narrative. After 8 years of intensive urban flower farming and floral design in Philadelphia, Cassie Plummer of Jig-Bee Flower Farm pulled up roots and moved to northeastern Vermont to be closer to family and to establish a simpler and quieter life. She calls it the Jig-Bee sequel, and the cinematic narrative is fitting because the rural town of Corinth, Vermont, where she settled, is also where the movie Beetlejuice was filmed. Today, Jig-Bee specializes in growing flowers for breeding and seed production and delivering fresh flowers to floral designers via two wholesale distributors in Woodstock and Brooklyn. I sat down with Cassie recently to learn how this all happened. 

I recorded a wonderful conversation last week with longtime Slow Flowers member Cassie Plummer of Jig-Bee Flower Farm. We first met years ago when I was in her backyard to speak at the Philadelphia Flower Show – Cassie gathered together a group of flower farmers and florists to meet and have lunch during my visit there.

A few years later, I featured Cassie and some of those same floral friends in a March 2019 Florists Review story about Fishtown Floral Crawl, a collaborative project in which florists transformed facades and interiors of several businesses, including restaurants and retail spaces, with beautiful and seasonal installations to showcase their art and shine a light on locally-grown flowers.
READ MORE:

Back then, amazingly, Cassie managed florist sales, a flower farm collective, a flower CSA program, full service and DIY weddings and events, grocery sales, farmers’ markets, pop-ups, and eventually a flower market style brick and mortar store with flowers grown on ½-acre urban land. She was far too busy to pay attention to what she called the “unicorn blooms” that occasionally caught her eye.

Those UNICORNS are flowers with one-of-a-kind colors that show up in your garden or flower field. They can be a volunteer plant or something unique found growing from a seed packet — standard color or mix — that you grow every year. She says she amassed seeds of a unique, bronze-crested celosia, an ombre cream-to-pink zinnia, and so many other dried flower heads and captured them in organza bags and tucked into the back of the seed stash over the years. But, until Cassie changed her business model and moved to Vermont for a simpler and quieter life, she had never found time to experiment and trial those potentially new and exciting flowers. 

Things have changed, and it’s inspiring to hear more about that major transition to growing cut flowers for wholesale channels and selecting flower varieties to introduce new varieties to the market. She is intensively farming about ½-acre of the 8-acre farm, as well as planting pollinator strips for neighbors and other local farms.

Cassie is focused on growing and selecting for:

• High-yield flowers that are popular with florists and folks who enjoy growing a cutting garden
• Hardy annuals with increased resilience
• And new colors of coreopsis, scabiosa, rudbeckia and amaranth

Let’s jump right in and learn more about this fascinating chapter two of Jig-Bee Flower Farm, and meet Cassie Plummer, the woman behind the flowers. Cassie offers about 50 different varieties/colors as fresh flowers and seed sales. 

Find and follow Jig Bee Flower Farm on Instagram and sign up for Jig Bee’s newsletter
Jig Bee Seed Collection

News of the Week

In Slow Flowers Member News, you’re invited to join us this Friday, March 14^th at the March Slow Flowers Virtual Meet-Up, 9 am Pacific/Noon Eastern. Our topic is Reconceptualized Sympathy Flowers and our expert member guest is Nicole Wright of The Pink Peony. She is the author of a new book called “Returning Home,” a guide to show families and funeral professionals the array of flowers and foliage available in the season of their beloved’s passing. Each arrangement featured in “Returning Home” was designed with local and American grown flowers and foliage. Nicole will share her experience bringing change to the non-sustainable funeral industry and answer your questions about doing so through your floral enterprise. You must pre-register to attend. Hope to see you there!

Thank you to our Sponsors!

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

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to new sponsor, Charles Little and Company, which supplies 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 Red Twig Farms. Based in New Albany, Ohio, Red Twig Farms is a family-owned farm specializing in peonies, daffodils, tulips and branches, a popular peony-bouquet-by-mail program and their Spread the Hope Campaign where customers purchase 10 tulip stems for essential workers and others in their community. Learn more at redtwigfarms.com.

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com.

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!

Music Credits:
Drone Pine; Waterbourne;Turning on the Lights; Gaena
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue

Lovely
by Tryad 
http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field
audionautix.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

Lori Poliski is reviving the forgotten art of Pot-et-Fleur, an iconic floral style, historically defined as “living arrangements with plants, cut flowers, and foliage.” Having originated in 17th century France and continuing through the Victorian era, Pot-et-Fleur offers today’s florists a contemporary, sustainable, and long-lasting method of designing with local and seasonal ingredients. The method is flexible because it uses living plants combined with flowers. Using potted ferns and lush, green tropicals, seasonal cut botanicals, foliage, and branches, Lori recently demonstrated this old-new technique at Slow Flowers SUNDAY. She introduced us to the history and benefits of Pot-et-Fleur, touching on important selling points, discussing plant sourcing, selection, and care. I’m excited to share this replay video and audio from Lori’s inspiring presentation.

Slow Flowers SUNDAY took place on February 23rd, co-located at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival. After our very successful virtual Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit in January, it was so nice to gather together in person with 45 flower friends for a half-day mini-Summit. And after which, our guests attended the final day of the NW Flower & Garden Festival.

In the past few weeks, you heard me preview the three educational sessions and hats off to each of our presenters. Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farm and Vivian Larson of Everyday Flowers introduced the audience to Floral Standards, the new book they co-authored with the farmers and staff of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, while Quynh Nguyen of Pink and Posey inspired us with her paper floral artwork and her new project, The New Art of Paper Flowers.

The day concluded with today’s guest, Lori Poliski of Flori, a Woodinville, Washington-based gardener-florist who is always pushing the envelope of sustainability. Lori treated us to a lecture on the History of Pot-et-Fleur, followed by her large-scale design demonstration with living plants, cut flowers, and foliage.

In the past, Lori and Tammy Myers were guests of this Podcast as they discussed “Farewell Flowers,” their approach to sustainable funeral and sympathy design – Episode 555 from April 2022.

This episode contains the audio from Lori’s Slow Flowers SUNDAY presentation. I encourage you to click on the YouTube link above to watch the video of her beautiful presentation and design demonstration!

Find and follow FLORI on Instagram and Facebook

Download a PDF of Lori’s materials list (below)

Membership News

In Slow Flowers Member News, we just dropped the March newsletter, filled with inspiring content, resources, and a roundup of the incredible press coverage we’ve enjoyed during the month of February – including mentions and interviews in the New York Times, Scientific American, the Oregonian, Fine Gardening magazine, Johnny’s Seeds Online, and the Growing Greener podcast. And check out the list of more than 70 new and renewing Slow Flowers members from February – you might see some peers and competitors on the list, and you might also be inspired to join our membership community yourself!

Thank you to our Sponsors

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

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to returning sponsor, the Association of Specialty Cut Flowers. The ASCFG is a gathering place for specialty cut flower growers of all levels of experience, 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. Learn more about the ASCFG and how to be a part of it at www.ascfg.org.

And thank you to The Gardener’s Workshop, which offers a full curriculum of online education for flower farmers and farmer-florists. Online education is more important than ever, and you’ll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com.

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com.

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!

Music credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; Le Marais
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

Master Gardener and writer Willi Galloway is a home gardener who loves to grow food and cook with the vegetables she harvests from her urban kitchen garden in Portland, Oregon. An award-winning writer and radio commentator, Willi is the author of “Grow Cook Eat, a food-lover’s guide to vegetable gardening.“ Originally published 13 years ago, the essential handbook has been updated and just re-issued, with a focus on 50 flavorful vegetables, herbs, and fruits. I invited Willi to tell me more, and our conversation touches on the importance of growing flowers with your food. Willi’s enthusiasm is contagious and the timing of this episode will inspire you to add food to the flower garden, too! 

I just wrapped up a fun, but crazy-busy week producing the Blooms & Bubbles floral designer’s stage at the NW Flower & Garden Festival, which featured Slow Flowers members as presenters and instructors each afternoon. We had an amazing turnout and met and shared the mission of Slow Flowers with students and audience members alike.

My friend Lorene Edwards Forkner calls the NW Flower & Garden Festival “Garden Prom,” because it seems like everyone in horticulture comes together, from places near and far-flung, to celebrate flowers, ornamental and edible plants, gardens, gardening, and community.

Lots of fun people were in Seattle this past week, including today’s guest, Willi Galloway. We’ve known one another for years, dating back to when Willi lived in Seattle and appeared weekly on the local NPR station’s gardening program. She now lives in Portland with her family, and I am excited to learn that Willi’s popular 2011 book, Grow Cook Eat, has just been updated and re-issued – just in time for garden-planting season.

Grow Cook Eat is a comprehensive guide for passionate foodies looking to grow, harvest, and cook their own produce—even in urban environments. With 50 profiles of common vegetables, herbs, and small fruits, plus practical advice for growing and harvesting, Willi’s expertise inspires both novice and experienced gardeners. The book also features 50 garden-to-table recipes and stunning photography throughout, bringing the joy of homegrown food to life.

Willi’s extensive background in sustainable gardening began with Organic Gardening magazine. She became a key figure in the urban agriculture movement in Seattle, earning her Master Gardener certification and serving on the board of the Tilth Alliance. Willi has taught gardening and cooking classes across the Pacific Northwest, collaborated with James Beard Award-winning chef Matthew Dillon, and, as I said, served as a gardening expert on Seattle’s NPR station, KUOW. Currently based in Portland, Oregon, Willi continues to inspire through her writing and teaching.

So I’m happy to bring our conversation to you, recorded in Seattle last week. You may be a passionate grower of food and herbs, and if so, you’ll love Willi’s philosophy about choosing food crops, not for their potential “yield,” but for their flavor and tastiness. If you’re like me, someone who shops the farmers’ market or subscribes to a CSA for organic produce, then Willi’s passion might just encourage you to plant some beautiful veggies and herbs – food to eat and food for the eyes, too!

Resources:
Follow Willi Galloway on Instagram
Order GROW COOK EAT
RADISH Guide from Grow Cook Eat (Download PDF)

And here are the details for our March 22^nd Spring Seed Swap and Garden Book Event at Filson!

Kick off the gardening season with a good old-fashioned seed swap! Filson is hosting a group of local garden writers, cookbook authors, and artists for a fun, laid-back community event where people can come together to talk gardening, swap seeds, discover something new to grow, and share their love for foraging, cultivating beautiful food and flowers, and being outside!

Where: Filson Flagship Store, 1741 1st Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98134

When: Saturday, Mar 22, 2025 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm

What you can expect:

• Fun swag bags for the first 50 people, plus a chance to win an awesome door prize, including merchandise from Filson, signed books from our authors, a spring garden seed kit from small local seed farms, and more!
• If you have seeds to share, bring them! We will have a seed swap set up so you can find and try some new-to-you varieties of vegetables and flowers! Any leftover seed will be donated to the Washington State Seed Library Network.
• Gardener Willi Galloway is launching the new edition of her organic vegetable gardening book, Grow Cook Eat: A Food Lover’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening. Get a copy and hand stamp some seed packets at Willi’s table.
• Artist Sarah Simon (the Mint Gardener and author of My Gardening Journal: A Weekly Tracker and Log Book) will be signing books and doing a live painting demo!
• Food writer Ashley Rodriguez (whose latest book is Field Notes from a Fungi Forager) will be signing books, chatting about mushrooms, and serving up small bites of food!
• Debra Prinzing, author and founder of Slow Flowers Society will be demonstrating how to put together local, seasonal flowers into a beautiful arrangement.
• Gardener and artist Lorene Edwards Forkner (author of Color In and Out of the Garden) who will be signing books and chatting with folks about developing a practice of noticing the depth and variety of color in the natural world.
• Tilth Alliance will be on hand to share information about their local gardening classes and summer camps, plus all the amazing work they do in the Seattle community to help build a better food future!

Filson is hosting this great event in their beautiful SoDo flagship store! You can explore their spring clothing, including their brand new women’s line! We can’t wait to see you there! Have questions? Email willi@willigalloway.com, and keep an eye out for more details in our March Slow Flowers Newsletter.

Thank you to our Sponsors

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

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to Rooted Farmers. Rooted Farmers works exclusively with local growers to put the highest-quality specialty cut flowers in floral customers’ hands. When you partner with Rooted Farmers, you are investing in your community, and you can expect a commitment to excellence in return. Learn more at RootedFarmers.com.

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

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com.

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!

Music credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; PolyCoat
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

Take a deep breath and inhale the intoxicating fragrance of a sweet pea. Who wouldn’t want to grow this stunning annual flower – beloved for its dreamy petal hues, evocative scent, and popularity in both the cottage cutting garden and the florist’s vase? Meet Marryn Mathis, whose students and customers call the Sweet Pea Queen, a Stanwood, Washington-based flower farmer who raises tens of thousands of sweet peas. She’s just published Sweet Pea School, an essential book based on her successful workshops. Marryn leads us down the fragrant path of sweet pea selection, growing, seed-harvesting, and arranging – and guaranteed, you will join me in wanting to grow many more sweet peas this season!

I’m not sure whether it’s a hard and fast rule, but I was taught to plant my sweet pea seeds on St. Patrick’s Day, which is also when the food gardener who shared this advice with me plants her edible peas. Traditionally, of course, I direct-sowed those seeds in my garden. And, depending on the vagaries of spring weather, some never sprout, while others happily flourish and climb their trellis support to bloom like crazy.

But there are much better ways to have a successful yield of gorgeous, perfumed sweet peas and it helps if you learn from Marryn Mathis, author of the brand-new book Sweet Pea School.

Marryn was recently our Slow Flowers Member Expert at the February meet-up, and she had attendees enthralled with her story of building a unique sweet pea business at The Farmhouse Flower Farm. Her family business grows tens of thousands of sweet peas to harvest their seeds for flower farmers, farmer-florists, gardeners and flower lovers to purchase for fall and spring planting. The Farmhouse Flower Farm is also known for selling dahlia tubers, but that’s a story for another day. Because we’re here to talk about Sweet Pea School, the gorgeous guide, which will be published on February 25^th – next week.

Inspired by Marryn’s popular “sweet pea school” workshops, the gardening book is a master class in the romantic bloom, including:
>sweet peas and their history;
>best practices;
>step-by-step instructions for designing floral arrangements with sweet peas;
>a color-organized overview of popular varieties;
>and Marryn’s personal story of becoming a flower farmer and building The Farmhouse Flower Farm.

Order your book here
Find and follow The Farmhouse Flower Farm on Instagram and Facebook
Sign up for The Farmhouse Flower Farm newsletter and course updates

And congratulations to new Slow Flowers member Regina Grubb of Pintsized Posies – her name was selected in the random drawing of those who attended the Member Meet-Up on February 7^th, and Regina will receive a copy of Marryn’s Sweet Pea School book.

Last Chance for Slow Flowers SUNDAY at the NW Flower & Garden Festival (February 23rd)

In other important news, don’t forget – the clock is ticking and there are only a few more days to register to attend Slow Flowers SUNDAY at the NWFGF on February 23^rd, 9:30 am to 1 pm. Slow Flowers SUNDAY is designed for YOU — flower farmers, farmer-florists, floral designers, flower lovers, and gardeners! TICKETS are just $99 per person, and include Continental Breakfast, Networking, three inspiring lectures and demonstrations, Door Prizes, a Gift Bag, plus complimentary admission to the NW Flower & Garden Festival.

Thank you to our Sponsors

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

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to the 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.

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 one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com.

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!

Drone Pine; Gaena; Cabsha; Turning on the Lights
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 Quynh Nguyen, the paper artist behind Pink and Posey, as she shares her decade-long journey in paper artistry, from crafting her first floral arrangement to co-creating the Papertalk Podcast. Quynh is the author of The New Art of Paper Flowers – just published in late 2024. She has produced fine art paper floral installations for Nordstrom, Creative Live, Fran’s Chocolates, and many more commissions, including collaborations like Greenwood Rising in Tulsa, Oklahoma; plus, CBS Sunday Morning and a recent book talk at Portland’s iconic Powell’s Bookstore. Quynh inspires creativity within the floral community and you’ll enjoy our conversation today — a glimpse into one woman’s artistic journey and her enduring passion for creating beauty through paper.

There are so many ways that artists of many media are engaged with florals, from fashion and interior design, to two- and three-dimensional interpretations of the botanical universe.

I first met today’s guest, Quynh Nguyen of Pink and Posey when we both spoke at a virtual Flowerstock event that Holly Chapple produced during the pandemic. Which is somewhat ironic, since Quynh and I both live in the greater Seattle area – so we’re here in the same floral world.

When planning our February 23^rd Slow Flowers Sunday, a live gathering taking place at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, I knew I wanted to invite Quynh to be one of the day’s featured speakers. We like to cross-pollinate at Slow Flowers events and we’ve had great feedback for past artistic speakers, including Lorene Edwards Forkner, Ronni Nicole Robinson, and Amy Stewart. It makes sense to view the floral landscape as much larger than growing and designing, because our Slow Flowers world serves people yearning for a life and lifestyle filled with plants and flowers in many expressions.

So, we’re going to learn a lot from this serial creative entrepreneur today. Quynh believes strongly in sharing what she has learned about making paper flowers and being an entrepreneur. Through speaking engagements and online courses, she shares insights from her background in marketing and finance, as well as the invaluable experience of working as a paper artist for nearly a decade.

Please consider making the investment to join Slow Flowers SUNDAY at the NWFGF on February 23^rd, 9:30 am to 1 pm. Here’s a description of Quynh’s presentation:

11:15 a.m.-Noon – Discover the Art of Paper Flowers: A Journey of Creativity and Connection
Join Quynh D. Nguyen, the paper artist behind Pink and Posey, as she shares her decade-long journey in paper artistry, from crafting her first floral arrangement to founding The Posey Box and co-creating the Paper Talk Podcast. Hear about her most remarkable projects, including fine art installations for Nordstrom, Creative Live, Fran’s Chocolates, and many more, including collaborations and features like Greenwood Rising in Tulsa, Oklahoma, CBS Sunday Morning, and a recent book talk at Portland’s iconic Powell’s Bookstore.

Quynh will also share future plans, such as her Lilac Branch workshop at the Hudson Valley Workshop in New York and how she continues to inspire creativity within the community.
This presentation offers a glimpse into Quynh’s artistic journey and her enduring passion for creating beauty through paper. She wraps things up with a beautiful paper flower display. Note: You will receive exclusive crepe paper samples and other paper flower supplies with your purchase of Quynh’s book.

SLOW FLOWERS SUNDAY – February 23rd

Slow Flowers SUNDAY is designed for YOU — flower farmers, farmer-florists, floral designers, flower lovers, and gardeners! TICKETS are just $99 per person, and include Continental Breakfast, Networking, three inspiring lectures and demonstrations, Door Prizes, a Gift Bag, plus complimentary admission to the NW Flower & Garden Festival. The details are in our show notes and can be found at slowflowerssociety.com.

Thank you to our Sponsors

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

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

We’re delighted to welcome New Sponsor for 2025, A-ROO Company. A-ROO is 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. Learn more at a-roo.com.

And Thank you to Red Twig Farms. Based in New Albany, Ohio, Red Twig Farms is a family-owned farm specializing in peonies, daffodils, tulips and branches, a popular peony-bouquet-by-mail program and their Spread the Hope Campaign where customers purchase 10 tulip stems for essential workers and others in their community. Learn more at redtwigfarms.com.

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!

Music Credits:
Drone Pine; Gaena; Paper Feather
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

Experienced plantswoman Sue Dykstra has operated nurseries for decades. She opened Creekside Growers in 2001, expanding the Middleville, Michigan business from a small plantstand to a full-service garden center with 65,000-square-feet of covered greenhouses. Over the past several years, Sue and manager Kelly Lewis have transitioned the nursery to a cut flower farm with indoor and outdoor production, retail flower shop, and the wholesale hub for West Michigan Flower Market. Their story offers a case study for the nursery industry, highlighting the economic benefits of providing a rare (but in-demand) supply of seasonal, sustainable, and locally-grown cut flowers to consumers and florists alike.

A few weeks ago, we published the 2025 Slow Flowers Floral Insights & Industry Forecast, our 11^th annual report on the emerging themes and topics influencing our movement. Today’s episode perfectly highlights one of the seven insights: Winter Farming. In our report, which you can find in the Winter issue of Slow Flowers Journal, my collaborator Robin Avni and I observed that more Slow Flowers growers are beginning to experiment with cold-weather crops, as they cheat the season with high tunnels and other bloom-forcing techniques. Innovation meets demand as more growers experiment with winter farming. And as a result, florists who have built their brands around domestic flower sourcing have more botanical options closer to them.

The timing of that insight is perfect for today’s episode. I originally reached out to Sue Dykstra of Creekside Growers and Flower Farm in order to share her story with you, but I thought that the big story was around her potting parties that for years she has offered Michiganders as a way to jump-start their container gardens. When I last interviewed Sue and her partner Kelly Lewis, it was for a chapter in our 2021 book, Where we Bloom – a collection of the artistic studios and design spaces of Slow Flowers members.

In that chapter, which you can see above, Sue and Kelly discussed their hybrid model of operating a retail garden center and a cut flower farm. Now, as you will hear in today’s interview, Creekside Growers shifted to a 100% cut flower farming and floral design operation. It’s an exciting chapter in the nursery and garden center world. I’ve long advocated that retail nurseries should put an emphasis on cutting garden plants, and stock plant collections, offer design workshops, and encourage gardeners to grow professional-grade cut flowers. What’s happening at Creekside Growers and Flower Farm is instructive and inspiring.

Find and Follow Creekside Growers:
Instagram
Facebook
West Michigan Flower Market

Thank you to our Sponsors

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

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to 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.

And thank you to Rooted Farmers, back for 2025. You just heard Sue Dykstra mention that the West Michigan Flower Market uses the Rooted Farmers selling platform – so check it out. 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 one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com.

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!

Music Credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Blue Shift
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

This year, in recognition of Slow Flowers’ annual focus on changing cultural and creative shifts in the floral industry, our Forecast hones in on seven key insights. In a year where Artificial Intelligence has become omnipresent, we find ourselves reverting to the Analog world of nature. Innovation and personal expression are being challenged by the AI-dominated ecosystem, and the authentic values of the Slow Flowers Community are its antidote. Nature’s perfection cannot be replicated by a chisel, paint brush, or computer generated image, as all these works draw from the original source. A flower produced from AI is generated from what already exists. However, a flower grown from seed is the perfect metaphor for our individual creativity.

Welcome to 2025 — a New Year that we hope brings joy, prosperity, progress, and growth for the Slow Flowers Community! This is the 11^th year we’ve produced the Slow Flowers’ Floral Insights and Industry Forecast, which originated in 2015 as a series of presentations shared with the media, our members, and you, our listeners.

This episode is accompanied by an important free resource. You can find the link in today’s show notes for Episode 698 to read the Slow Flowers Journal’s Winter 2025 issue, titled “Floral Reality” – more on that title will follow. In addition, I recorded a video of this episode to introduce you the seven insights illustrated with visual examples. This is the video companion to today’s podcast. Click above to watch.

Hot off the press, the 48-page digital magazine-style report, produced in partnership with BLOOM Imprint, our Slow Flowers publishing venture. Huge thanks to our creative director Robin Avni for designing such a gorgeous issue – I can’t wait for you to see it. Through the pages, our insights become identifiable and relatable to your floral enterprise for 2025 and beyond.

ON THE COVER: I have to tell you about this beautiful floral image on the cover of our Forecast Issue. It is designed by Rizaniño “Riz” Reyes of Seattle-based RHR Horticulture and this image is featured in the forthcoming book, The Flower Farmer: Inspiration & Advice from Expert Growers, by Debra Prinzing & Robin Avni (which will be published by Abrams on May 6, 2025.

When Robin selected this image for our cover, she commented, “It is almost hyperreal, meaning it’s so beautiful it couldn’t possibly be real — but it is! It’s a design from nature and artistically composed, almost like a Dutch still life with flowers, but modern in its form. This design is real; touched by human hands, and intentionally designed – the epitome of Floral Reality, rather than computer generated artificial augmentation.”

Riz composed this stunning spring posy with hellebore, fritillaria, Siberian bugloss (Brunnera), grape hyacinth, daffodils, and rosemary and daphne for scent. Silver gray Brachyglottis, glossy Polystichum fern, and branches of flowering Ribes and bearberry hold the delicate flowers together. Thank you for sharing your talents, Riz!

Thank you to Our Sponsors!

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

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

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

Thank you to The Gardener’s Workshop, which offers a full curriculum of online education for flower farmers and farmer-florists. Online education is more important than ever, and you’ll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com.

Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com.

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!

Music Credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; Curious Case; Feathered; Paper Feather; PolyCoat; Surly Bonds; The Big Ten; Tiny Putty
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

Back by popular demand, we’re hosting Johnny’s Seeds’ floral experts, Joy Longfellow and Hillary Alger, who will introduce some of Johnny’s Selected Seeds’ 40-plus new flower seed varieties for 2025! Hillary and Joy take us behind the scenes to learn more about the dazzling selections of floral varieties and mixes for 2025 – from the subtle to the vibrant, including four NEW introductions — straight from Johnny’s Exclusive Breeding Program. And learn from our bonus guest, Johnny’s Senior Plant Breeder Lindsay Wyatt, who discusses what it takes to select and breed gorgeous new petal palettes and bring them to market!

It’s that time of year again, when the seed catalogs arrive and as the winter solstice takes place in a few days, we turn our dreams to our 2025 cutting gardens and flower farms. Today’s show is a follow up to Slow Flowers Podcast Episode 640 from December of 2023, about one year ago, when Hillary Alger and Joy Longfellow unveiled Johnny’s Selected Seeds’ new flower seed varieties for 2024. The replay video of that show been viewed more than 5,000 times on YouTube – it was our most popular episode of 2024.

But I’m delighted to report that there’s even more exciting flower seed news for 2025, and that’s the topic of today’s show, with return guests Hillary and Joy. Hillary has more than 13 years of experience on Johnny’s Seeds’ research team, currently serving as the Product Manager for flowers and herbs, and Joy is the Flower Team Technician at Johnny’s, managing every aspect of Johnny’s flower trialing program. As a bonus, Lindsay Wyatt, their collaborator in new flower seed breeding, joins in the presentation to explain all about the “recurrent selection” method of breeding.

This episode covers some gorgeous and vigorous new introductions that the flower team has trialed, evaluated, and curated for 2025 — including agrostemma, China aster, snapdragon, strawflower, celosia, pansy and viola, and lisianthus. But what’s more exciting than that are the four new Johnny’s introductions from the breeding program that began in 2016. You’ll get to meet three lovely new zinnia introductions — Aurora, Agave, and Ballerina — and one beautiful new celosia mix called Shimmer.

Let’s jump right in and welcome the talented floral team from Johnny’s. Learn why their favorite standouts are worth considering!

More Resources:
Follow Johnny’s Seeds on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/johnnys_seeds/

Hillary Alger
https://www.instagram.com/hillaryalger/

Joy Longfellow
https://www.instagram.com/joyatjohnnys/

Lindsay Wyatt
https://www.instagram.com/lindsay564/

Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit 2025

And we’re just three weeks away from the Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit, so now is the time to grab your ticket! The SLOW FLOWERS WORLDWIDE SUMMIT takes place online – January 9-11, 2025 – and you will enjoy 15 hours of amazing floral education from Slow Flowers experts. Check out the details at slowflowerssummit.com. Slow Flowers members receive $50 off their registration!

Thank you to our Sponsors

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

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.

Thank you to Red Twig Farms. Based in New Albany, Ohio, Red Twig Farms is a family-owned farm specializing in peonies, daffodils, tulips and branches, a popular peony-bouquet-by-mail program and their Spread the Hope Campaign where customers purchase 10 tulip stems for essential workers and others in their community. Learn more at redtwigfarms.com.

Thank you to the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com.

I’m so glad you joined us today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!

Music Credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; A Pleasant Strike
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