Debra Prinzing

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Archive for the ‘Plants’ Category

Episode 732: Celebrating Taylor Swift’s Engagement as People Magazine’s Floral Expert with Ashley Greer of Atelier Ashley Flowers

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2025

The news was impossible to ignore last Tuesday, as the Internet exploded with reports of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement. For flower people like us, seeing the enchanted garden setting with a lush display of roses, hydrangea, delphinium, lilies, and masses of greenery – well, it was all too wonderful. Whether you’re a devoted Swiftie or not, the fairytale narrative is a shot in the arm for flower growers and creatives. We always want to put flowers at the center of the story, right? And thank you, Taylor and Travis for doing just that. Today, I’m so happy to welcome longtime Slow Flowers member Ashley Greer, a DC-based florist and owner of Atelier Ashley Flowers. I know you’ll love hearing Ashley’s behind-the-scenes story of how she helped editors at People magazine report on Taylor’s engagement flowers – and the conversation just might inspire how you communicate the meaning and importance of flowers to your clients.

Ashley Greer of Atelier Ashley Flowers
Ashley Greer of Atelier Ashley Flowers

OMG, well, I said it at the top of today’s episode – thank you, Taylor and Travis for placing flowers at the heart of your magical engagement news! It’s my pleasure to welcome Ashley Greer of Atelier Ashley Flowers, a true Taylor Swift devotee, who joined me at the last minute to record today’s episode about the floral phenomenon we’ve all just witnessed.

Floral Design by Ashley Greer of Atelier Ashley Flowers
Floral Design by Ashley Greer of Atelier Ashley Flowers

As one opinion writer in the New York Times described it: “The news feels like a tiny piece of joy in a sea of troubles, a little bit of brightness in the dark. Yes, it was probably all micromanaged. It still made me happy — and hopeful.

Ashley Greer is a Washington, D.C.-area studio florist whose work and commentary has been featured in People Magazine, The Washington Post, Martha Stewart Weddings and Martha Stewart Living, the Associated Press, and many other outlets, including, now the Slow Flowers Podcast.

Florals for residential clients
Florals for residential clients

After more than two decades as a floral creative, Ashley continues to believe the energy and vibrancy of plant material flowers, foliages, and fruits are elements of transformation. She writes: “They are my tools for creating an intimate experience customized to your situation and floral needs. Each bouquet is a one-of-a kind, unique work of ephemeral fine art designed with love.”

Last week, when I saw that People magazine relied on Ashley’s floral expertise for two online stories, first of all, I was so happy for her, and for the Slow Flowers community, to see that one of our members was part of the international Taylor-Travis engagement commentary. Second, I was thrilled that Ashley made time to join me in the virtual studio as together we viewed the engagement images from Instagram and discussed how she interpreted the installation’s meaning, sourcing, recipe, mechanics and more.

Ashley Greer and one of her custom designs for a residential client
Ashley Greer and one of her custom designs for a residential client

I had a big smile on my face during the entire conversation and I’m excited to share it with you today. I’m so grateful to Ashely Greer of Atelier Ashley Flowers for her membership in and support of the Slow Flowers Movement. As an artisan florist, Ashley knows that her strengths lay in the way she combines unique varieties of blooms and color palettes to produce a one-of-a-kind look that her clients may never have seen before and may never experience again. I hope her story inspires you on your floral journey and gives you confidence to reach out to your local media outlets as a floral expert.

Find and Follow Atelier Ashley Flowers on Instagram and Facebook

Read more in People magazine:
Taylor Swift’s Fairytale Engagement Flowers Likely Cost Up to $38k and Used Over 2,000 Blooms, Says Expert

What Taylor Swift’s Stunning Engagement Flowers Symbolize — Including a ‘Snake’ Lily (Exclusive)

LISTEN: Ashley’s Spotify Play List, “The Taylor in Me”
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5uG09fqxa5cw2slgkk6nmg?si=qBzeukZYSBatbkw6-5ZQAQ


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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

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

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

Thank you to 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.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

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.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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


Music credits:

Drone Pine; Gaena; Fast Pop
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

Episode 731: High Desert Dahlias on Colorado’s Front Range, with Dianne Reitan of Dianne’s Dahlias

Wednesday, August 27th, 2025

It’s dahlia season and gardeners and growers everywhere are celebrating the endless variety and exquisite beauty of the Slow Flowers movement’s “it” flower. At Dianne’s Dahlias in Colorado Springs, Colorado, founder Dianne Reitan is motivated by her own dahlia passion. Growing dahlias in dry, high desert conditions at an elevation of 7,000 feet can seem challenging, if not impossible, but Dianne has discovered that these magnificent flowers adore Colorado’s abundant sunshine and cool nighttime temperatures. Join me in a conversation with Dianne to learn about her dahlia-only cut flower farm that thrives on the grounds of a historic mining museum, as she brings together a love of dahlias, a heart for education, and her fund-raising expertise to benefit this local nonprofit cultural center.

Dianne Reitan

After working in nonprofit fundraising for most of her career, Dianne Reitan discovered the joy of gardening, specifically dahlia gardening. Her efforts have expanded from a humble 7-tuber dahlia plot at her neighborhood community garden to more than 260 different varieties and just under two thousand plants for season 2025. Dianne now grows her organic, full-sun dahlias on the grounds of the Western Museum of Mining and Industry, located in the northern part of Colorado Springs across the freeway from the Air Force Academy. As President of the Board of Trustees for the mining museum, she is devoted to supporting this unique non-profit whose mission is to educate the public about the heritage and continuing importance of the mining industry in the American West.  

Dianne's Dahlias

By leasing museum land for her dahlia farm, Dianne has created a fantastic model in which everyone wins. Customers know that for every bouquet purchased from Dianne’s Dahlias, a portion of the proceeds go to supporting the mining museum. Other activities include dahlia classes and workshops, farm tours, wholesale and retail sales of cut dahlias, a subscription program, and sales of tubers.

Dahlia cuttings

Thank you for joining me today! I’m so grateful to Dianne Reiten and Dianne’s Dahlias for her membership in and support of the Slow Flowers Movement. I hope her story inspires you on your floral journey and helps you take more creative risks in your own floral enterprise. Please let us know about your journey!

A rainbow of dahlia colors and forms

Follow Dianne’s Dahlias on Instagram and Facebook

Subscribe to: “Dahlia Talk,” American Dahlia Society’s newsletter

Subscribe to: Dianne’s Dahlia’s newsletter


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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

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

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

Thank you to A-ROO Company, your one-stop shop for in-stock floral packaging. From sleeves and wraps to labels and tags, visit 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.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

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.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you!
(c) Missy Palacol Photography

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; He Has a Way
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

Episode 730: Meet farmer-florist Colleen Raney of Diadem Flowers as we discuss her new project, Songbird Seed Co., specializing in hard-to-find British sweet pea seeds and more

Wednesday, August 20th, 2025

I truly love learning about the floral journeys that so many of our members have taken to arrive at a life immersed in flower growing, floral design, or both. For Colleen Raney, the path began when she and her husband were professional musicians. Colleen’s decades-long career as a celebrated Irish singer took her around the globe. The “flower adventure” began in 2017, followed by a move from rural Maine, back home to a small farm in Washington State where Colleen and her husband Hanz Araki both were raised. Today, she grow flowers on that 2-acre farm in the agricultural flats of Washington State’s beautiful Skagit Valley and designs for wedding and event clients through her studio Diadem Flower Co. Last Colleen launched a boutique sweet pea seed venture, Songbird Seed Co. Join us for a farm tour and conversation to learn more.

Collen Raney of Diadem Flower Co. and Songbird Seed Co.
Collen Raney of Diadem Flower Co. and Songbird Seed Co.

How do you ever explain an obsession? Obsessions can be beautifully irrational, rarely based on logic. And when you meet Colleen Raney and hear her story, you’ll conclude that she may be possessed by her love of sweet peas – that’s entirely relatable, as I discovered on a recent visit to her farm in Washington’s Skagit Valley.

Songbird Seed Co.
Songbird Seed Co. and sweet pea fields at dusk

Colleen has spent her entire life in the performing arts – working as an actor in New York City, touring the world as a musician, teaching theatre and production to young adults, and producing music festivals for several years. All of that experience, plus the several years spent growing and designing with flowers means that she is a versatile farmer-florist who helps couples achieve the floral creations of their dreams. Now, Colleen also grows sweet peas, harvests their seeds, and sells tiny packets of gorgeous and fragrant floral dreams to gardeners and flower lovers.

A rainbow of sweet pea blooms
A rainbow of sweet pea blooms

Born into a Seattle family where Irish music and dance were part of the fabric of everyday life, learning songs from her older siblings was very much a part of Colleen’s formative years. Colleen began her musical career with her oldest brother Mark. After attaining her MFA in Acting from the University of Washington, and working as a professional actor for a decade, Colleen dove back into the traditional music world with her first album Linnet in 2008. Her 2013 release Here This is Home is without question one of the finest works in recent years.

Wedding florals by Diadem Flower Co.
Wedding florals by Diadem Flower Co.

Colleen has toured extensively, both at home and abroad, and spent two months in 2017 singing for Irish-American supergroup Solas on their farewell tour. Her music can be heard on radio from Italy, to Ireland, to New York, to Hawaii, to Japan and all parts in between. And we are in for a special treat because Andrew, our podcast editor, has infused this episode with clips from some of Colleen’s albums. I know you’ll enjoy this episode as much as I did creating it with Colleen.

All-local and all-seasonal bridal bouquets by Diadem Flower Co.
All-local and all-seasonal bridal bouquets by Diadem Flower Co.
Home Page of Songbird Seed Co.

Thank you for joining me today! Thank you to Colleen and Diadem Flower Co. for her membership in and support of the Slow Flowers Movement. I hope her story inspires you on your floral journey and helps you take a leap to expand into new horizons through a your own floral obsession. We want to know about it!

Songbird Seed Co. packaging
Songbird Seed Co. seed packaging

Find and follow Diadem Flower Co. on Instagram

Find and follow Songbird Seed Co. on Instagram

Sweet Pea Seed shop: Purchase $50 or more in gift cards before the end of August and secure early access to the October 2025 seed launch. Learn more here.


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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

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

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

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


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

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.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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:

Canadee-I-O; Love & Freedom; Lullaby; I Wish The Wars Were All Over
by Colleen Raney
https://www.colleenraney.com/music
https://colleenraney.bandcamp.com

Drone Pine; 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

Episode 729: Jenny Jonak of Dragon Song Farm on building community, enriching a family’s lifestyle, and encouraging creative expression through flower farming

Wednesday, August 13th, 2025

Dragon Song Farm is located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley outside Eugene. Founder Jenny Jonak’s mission is to bring a sense of floral magic to her customers and community while promoting sustainable, earth-friendly growing practices. By using regenerative farming techniques, Dragon Song ensures that their flowers are grown in harmony with nature, restoring and enriching the soil for future generations. I recently spend a glorious morning with Jenny, touring Dragon Song’s fields, production areas and greenhouses, and discussing her belief that every bouquet should delight the senses and also contribute to a healthier planet. I’m excited for you to join the conversation.

Celebrating THE FLOWER FARMERS book with (from left) Charles Little, Bethany Little, Debra Prinzing, Erin McMullen, and Aaron Gasky
Celebrating THE FLOWER FARMERS book with (from left) Charles Little, Bethany Little, Debra Prinzing, Erin McMullen, and Aaron Gasky

My summer travels continued last week, as I joined my husband Bruce and friends at the USA Track and Field championships in Eugene, Oregon. In addition to enjoying inspiring athleticism of world-class athletes, I was inspired by world class blooms growing there in Willamette Valley.

Celebrating THE FLOWER FARMERS book with (from left) Charles Little, Bethany Little, Debra Prinzing, Erin McMullen, and Aaron Gasky
Celebrating THE FLOWER FARMERS book with (from left) Charles Little, Bethany Little, Debra Prinzing, Erin McMullen, and Aaron Gasky

On the calendar was a long-planned celebration of The Flower Farmers book with two Oregon farms featured in its pages. Bethany and Charles of Charles Little & Co. in Eugene hosted a festive Sunday morning book party at their Farm Stand, and we were joined by Erin McMullen and Aaron Gaskey of Rain Drop Farms, based in nearby Philomath, Oregon, who are also featured in The Flower Farmers. It was so fun for guests who purchased their own copies of the book to have all five of us sign our pages – what a special memento. So many longtime friends and members came to the event and I really enjoyed meeting new friends, florists, and flower farmers who are inspired by the community we have nurtured. Thank you, Charles & Bethany, for a wonderful visit.

Jenny Jonak at Dragon Song Farm in Oregon's Willamette Valley
Jenny Jonak at Dragon Song Farm in Oregon’s Willamette Valley

Also while I was in Eugene, I visited Jenny Jonak, owner of Dragon Song Farm, today’s guest of the Slow Flowers Podcast. Dragon Song Farm has been a Slow Flowers Society member for a few years, but I had not met Jenny in person, so I invited myself for a visit. The weather and views were absolutely perfect and we recorded a tour of Dragon Song’s growing areas, as well as a sit-down conversation, filmed in the barn-studio.

A custom-made farmstand, complete with dragon heads, inspired by Jenny's children's imaginations and lots of JRR Tolkien stories
A custom-made farmstand, complete with dragon heads, inspired by Jenny’s children’s imaginations and lots of JRR Tolkien stories

Here’s a bit more about Jenny Jonak. She has been practicing since 1997, and has extensive experience with commercial litigation and corporate law. Jenny graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law and obtained her undergraduate degree with high honors from the University of Virginia. She has acted as outside general counsel for several companies, ranging from start-ups to international technology conglomerates. 

Dragon Song Farm at the Lane County Farmers' Market in Eugene, Oregon
Dragon Song Farm at the Lane County Farmers’ Market in Eugene, Oregon

On her law firm’s website, we learn that when not practicing law, Jenny has contributed her time as a photojournalist to various wildlife and humanitarian projects, including photography for the World Wildlife Fund, Friends of Calakmul, Rainforest2Reef, as well as HIV and famine relief projects in Africa.  She volunteers for a number of non-profits, including serving on the Board of Directors for the Eugene 4J Schools, Board of Directors of the Asian American Council of Oregon, Steering Committee for the Lane County Campaign for Equal Justice (which fundraises for Legal Aid), Friends of Family Farmer’s Legislative Committee, Board of Directors of Oregon Mozart Players, and West Cascades Fiddle Camp & Workshops Committee – and countless past roles in the civic and cultural life of her community. I love that the section concludes like this: “When not working, she enjoys attending old-time fiddle jams and growing heirloom vegetables and flowers on a family farm in the Willamette Valley.”

Just-harvested seasonal blooms from Dragon Song Farm
Just-harvested seasonal blooms from Dragon Song Farm

Um, okay, the bio sounds like Jenny’s flower farm is a little hobby project, but that is far from reality. When you hear our conversation and (I hope) take time to watch a replay of the beautiful video of this episode, you will be left wondering how on earth does Jenny has any time to practice law?! Her fields and crops are prolific and the farm’s many activities are inspiring. I think you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

CSA bouquets from Dragon Song Farm
CSA bouquets from Dragon Song Farm

I’m so grateful to Jenny Jonak and Dragon Song Farm for their membership in and support of the Slow Flowers Movement. I hope this story inspires you on your floral journey.

Find and follow Dragon Song Farm on Instagram and Facebook


Debra in Holland, a guest of Dutch Lily Days in 2024
Debra in Holland, a guest of Dutch Lily Days in 2024

I also have some amazing news to share, just announced! I’ve been invited to co-host a special Floral and Garden European River Cruise with popular tour leader Lois Moss of Portland, Oregon-based Tour 2 Explore More. The tour dates are April 19 to 29, 2026.

An iconic scene, spotted outside Amsterdam
An iconic scene, spotted outside Amsterdam

This very special excursion is 100% tailored to the garden and flower lover. I’ve always wanted to take a European river cruise, so I’m excited to announce a tour that combines visiting some of Holland and Belgium’s most exclusive gardens and floral venues while traveling onboard an AmaWaterways ship. Lois and I will take you to inspiring garden and floral destinations and cultural sights, with custom shore excursions. Having developed and led numerous international tours to garden-themed destinations, we are in great hands with Lois’s professionalism and shared passion for experiencing floral destinations around the globe.

The main tour will be April 19-29 and includes a 7-night river cruise with custom shore excursions plus 3 nights in the charming city of Utrecht.  There will be an optional 2 day pre-tour for those who want to experience the famous Bloemencorso Bollenstreek flower parade.  

The itinerary is nearly finished and we will be wrapping up all the details soon.  With my own deep connections to the horticulture and floral community, we expect to have some exceptional and unique experiences. Registration is expected to begin on September 10th and it will probably sell out quickly.  Be the first to know by completing a simple interest form – you can find the link in today’s show notes.


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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

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

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

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


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

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.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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; Jillian Bridges
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

Episode 728: Building a Successful Floral Tourism Destination, with Lori and Jim Bochner of Bochner Farms in Indianola, Iowa

Wednesday, August 6th, 2025

The Bochner family lived in the Des Moines, Iowa, suburbs for many years, in a house surrounded by a beautiful flower garden. As gardeners with other careers, Lori and Jim never dreamed of packing up everything, moving to rural Iowa, and growing thousands of flowers on a farm. Today, they consider Bochner Farms an “unplanned accident” that emerged from 50 acres of raw land originally intended for weekend camping, fishing, hiking and sitting around the campfire —  you know, an outdoor escape from city life. One year after buying the land, Lori and Jim decided to move there permanently. They built a farmhouse, planted thousands of flowers, and have slowly transitioned the property into a botanical wonderland to share with other flower lovers and for those in search of beauty and a sense of peace. Join me on a walking tour with the Bochners and a conversation that connects the dots between an idea and the reality of being a destination flower farm.

Jim and Lori Bochner of Bochner Farms
Jim and Lori Bochner of Bochner Farms

If you’re a longtime listener of the Slow Flowers Podcast, you know that I can find great interview guests wherever I travel – and that’s because we have Slow Flowers members in all 50 states and in  most Canadian provinces! I also mange to find slow flowers-minded guests when I travel abroad, like on last year’s visit to France – and hint, hint – as part of my upcoming trip to Japan!

The Cottage Garden at Bochner Farms
The beloved Cottage Garden at Bochner Farms

Last weekend, when I flew to Des Moines, Iowa, to have a garden-and-art weekend with two of my longtime writer-editor friends, I invited myself to meet Lori and Jim Bochner of Bochner Farms. Friends in tow, I made the 30-minute drive south of Des Moines into the rural, Central Iowa countryside. When we arrived at Bochner Farms, we discovered an oasis of flowers surrounded, it seemed, on all sides by corn stalks and bean fields.

The party pavilion hosts private gatherings for up to 50 guests
The party pavilion hosts private gatherings for up to 50 guests

There, Lori and Jim Bochner greeted us and led a stroll through their event-focused flower farm and nursery. With distinctive, farm-style architecture (even for the chicken house), a huge covered pavilion for groups up to 50, a charming cottage garden, an enviable she-shed, and displays of dahlias, annuals, and their unique collection of daylilies, there was so much to see!

The Willow Cottage, a charming "she-shed"
The Willow Cottage, a charming “she-shed”

By necessity, they have installed air conditioning inside the design studio and the picture-perfect shed, as well as in the event barn, currently being upgraded for larger gatherings beginning in 2026. Climate control ensures that all guests are comfortable and never want to leave!

Daylily Collection
The ever-expanding daylily collection, on display for guests to learn and shop for their own plants.

We wore our sun hats and let our fascination with Jim and Lori’s flower farming story – and the beauty of their blooms – distract us from the Midwest heat!

I’m so grateful to Lori and Jim and Bochner Farms for their membership in and support of the Slow Flowers Movement. I hope their story inspires you on your floral journey.

Find and follow Bochner Farms on Instagram and Facebook
Subscribe to Bochner Farms’ newsletter

Digital Download: How to Build a Cottage Garden

More about GIVING COLOR:
1 for 6.  Through a collaboration with Meals from the Heartland, Bochner Farms donates a meal that feeds six people for every flower purchase from our Iowa flower farm.  To learn more about Meals from the Heartland, visit their website at www.mealsfromtheheartland.org. All flower purchases count – so the more flowers purchased, the more people are fed.  This includes Bochner Farms tours, U-pick experiences, farm-to-table dinners, all of our bouquet subscriptions, and daylilies too. Find flowers here.


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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

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

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

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.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

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.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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; Pull Beyond Pull
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

Episode 726: Navigating weddings as a farmer-florist with Julie Raymond of Bittersweet Gardens

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025

Based in Kingston, Massachusetts, on Boston’s South Shore, farmer-florist Julie Raymond grows cut flowers for her clients’ wedding florals. After an initial career in social service, Julie’s graduate work in horticulture and landscape design now informs her philosophy. She says: “That background in science and design is rooted in everything I do and has inspired my work from the very beginning.” Today, Bittersweet Gardens sources fresh, seasonal and organic flowers to serve those clients with unique, bespoke field-to-vase floral arrangements, tablescapes, wedding bouquets and centerpieces. We recently recorded a conversation about how Julie navigates weddings as a farmer-florist, a topic about which she frequently teaches and writes. Whether you grow cut flowers, design florals for weddings, or do both – this conversation will inspire you!

Julie Raymond of Bittersweet Gardens (left); inside her greenhouse (right)
Julie Raymond of Bittersweet Gardens (left); inside her greenhouse (right)

Join me today in the virtual studio as I visit with Julie Raymond of Bittersweet Gardens, based in Kingston, Massachusetts. With an emphasis on sustainably grown flowers and event design, the studio is known for organic, loose florals inspired by the changing seasons of New England and a lush, ethereal and “just picked” from the garden aesthetic.

Bridal bouquet by Bittersweet Gardens (left); the charming design studio (right)
Bridal bouquet by Bittersweet Gardens (left); the charming design studio (right)

Since 1998, Julie has farmed land up and down the eastern part of Massachusetts. Outside of growing flowers and designing floral arrangements for weekly corporate clients and couples, she also markets blooms through the Boston Wholesale Flower Exchange. 

Four Flower Shares Collections
Four Flower Shares Collections

The breadth and depth of design ingredients that Julie grows in mind-boggling – she begins the season with early tulips, ranunculus, and anemones and continues through the summer with all the unique, juicy options – annuals, perennials, and ornamental shrubs and vines – and wraps up the season with dahlias and heirloom mums.

A Bittersweet Gardens wedding
A Bittersweet Gardens wedding

Julie edited and narrated a 20-minute bonus video that leads us through a full year at Bittersweet Gardens, including some of her gorgeous design work and evocative, place-setting installations.

Bittersweet Gardens flowers

Join Bittersweet Gardens’ mailing list — you’ll be the first to learn about Julie’s upcoming course!

Find and follow Bittersweet Gardens on Instagram and Facebook


Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 700 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

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

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


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

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.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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; Vessel One
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

Episode 725: Slow Flowers returns to Sunny Meadows Flower Farm to celebrate The Flower Farmers with Steve and Gretel Adams

Wednesday, July 16th, 2025

Next year, Gretel and Steve Adams will celebrate the 20th farming season at Sunny Meadows Flower Farm in Columbus, Ohio. Far younger than the average U.S. farmer, these first-generation flower growers have built Sunny Meadows into an impressive floral enterprise encompassing more than 30 acres, employing a crew of few dozen folks, and producing tens of thousands of floral stems each year. I first met this talented couple in 2010 at the ASCFG conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is where I first realized that they were ones to watch. Over the years, they have appeared in articles I’ve written for national magazines, as guests on the Slow Flowers Podcast, and now, in the pages of The Flower Farmers. Last week, I joined Steve and Gretel and 100 of their customers and friends, at a special book signing party at their farm. Today’s episode features highlights of that event.

Gretel and Steve Adams, co-founders of Sunny Meadows Flower Farm in Columbus, Ohio
Gretel and Steve Adams, co-founders of Sunny Meadows Flower Farm in Columbus, Ohio

Turn to page 126 in The Flower Farmers book and you’ll read the story of Sunny Meadows Flower Farm, the Columbus-based family farm started by Gretel and Steve Adams in 2006, on a 10-acre parcel with a small cottage and little more. Their dream of farming together, sharing their mutual love of nature, has blossomed into an impressive source of domestic flowers for regional and national customers.

Ranunculus at Sunny Meadows Flower Farm
Ranunculus at Sunny Meadows Flower Farm

Early on, they shifted from a food-and-flower-growing operation to 100% cut flowers, inspired by a market grower who raised sunflowers, zinnias, and cosmos to supplement a teacher salary. “We quickly realized how much money we could earn with our local flowers,” Steve explained. “We found this niche that no one else was really doing in Columbus, and we went for it. What we earn per acre on cut flower production is dramatically different than what we were doing with vegetables alone.”

The landscape at Sunny Meadows Flower Farm
The landscape at Sunny Meadows Flower Farm — at one of the leased fields

By adding leased parcels in and around Columbus to their original 10 acres, the farm has expanded like a patchwork quilt. The home farm is where woody and herbaceous peonies grow – crops like hydrangeas, viburnum, willows, yarrow, and sea oats. There are more than one dozen greenhouses that produce luxury crops like ranunculus, anemone, freesia, and lisianthus, plus a farm store open to the public. The leased farmland – across the street – is filled with vibrant rows of field-grown annuals (celosia, amaranth, sunflowers, zinnias, and lots and lots of dahlias. I visited both sites while attending our book launch party, and have some video to share with you.

Scenes from Sunny Meadows Flower Farm
Scenes from Sunny Meadows Flower Farm
The crew at Sunny Meadows Flower Farm with Steve Adams (standing, far left)
The crew at Sunny Meadows Flower Farm with Steve Adams (standing, far left)

You’ll want to check out the video in today’s show notes to see highlights of my visit. On Saturday, I spent time with Gretel as we visited all of the lisianthus trials. You’ll hear us discuss CULTIVATE, which is major horticulture conference that takes place in Columbus each July. In addition to our book event, Cultivate brought me to Columbus. The conference made it possible for Takii Seeds’ flower product development manager Jessica Cudnik to attend and share her insight about lisianthus breeding. The episode concludes with Gretel’s floral design demonstration.

Pinto at Sunny Meadows Flower Farm
Pinto at Sunny Meadows Flower Farm — one of the most popular photographs in the pages of The Flower Farmers book.

I’m so grateful to Gretel and Steve Adams for their longtime support of the Slow Flowers Movement as members and collaborators. I know you will be inspired by their story.

Find and follow Sunny Meadows Flower Farm – @flowerfarmette (Gretel) and @flowerfarmer (Steve) and on Facebook

Order signed copies of The Flower Farmers book – from Slow Flowers Society

More about the lisianthus from Takii Seed


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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

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.

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.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

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.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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; Margot Zunni
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

Episode 721: Designer-Grower Annika McIntosh of Hazel Designs and a bonus tour of Bellingham’s Field to Floral Market

Wednesday, June 18th, 2025

A few weeks ago, I journeyed to Bellingham, a beautiful college town located close to the Washington-British Columbia border, where Annika McIntosh of Hazel Designs grows botanicals, designs gardens, and arranges flowers for everyday customers, weddings, and events. During what was a lovely morning in the garden and studio, I spent time with Annika to learn about how she has expanded beyond designing landscapes to fashion a floral-centric career. As she explained, rather than calling herself a “farmer-florist,” she likes to say she’s a “Designer / Grower.” Not a farmer, per se, but a grower of uncommon and unique cut florals — annuals, bulbs, perennials, shrubs, vines, trees, grasses, and other surprises that are displayed in custom hand-tied bouquets and event installations. We filmed a brief garden tour and then went right in to the backyard studio space where Annika, her husband, and their daughter are living temporarily, while renovating their home that’s located at the front of the generously-sized city property. I know you’ll enjoy our conversation while watching Annika design with early-summer botanicals.

Floral arrangement by Annika McIntosh
Floral arrangement by Annika McIntosh, which she designed during our interview (see above), (c) Annika McIntosh

Annika grew up in the gentle, old hills south of the Adirondacks and east of the Hudson River in upstate New York with two artisan parents who built an off-grid home and raised cows and a highly productive vegetable garden. Annika’s father is a fine cabinetmaker turned bass luthier (that means “maker of stringed instruments”; he is also a musician and local politician) and her mother is a basket maker and gardener (as well as a musician, educator and organizer), and they are very much rooted there in the small community where Annika was exposed to a lot of amazing gardens, music, art and progressive thinking.

Wedding bouquet by Hazel Designs' Annika McIntosh (c) Lindsey Paradiso
Glorious wedding bouquet by Hazel Designs’ Annika McIntosh (c) Lindsey Paradiso

Annika studied dance, environmental studies and studio art at Oberlin College and Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington. She lived in Montreal for a few years before moving to Seattle and has been in Bellingham for the past 6 years. National and global events have definitely shaped her career path, as the 2008 depression dashed hopes that she might join a design firm. Instead, she started Hazel Landscapes, a design/build company. The family’s move to Bellingham coincided with the pandemic. At first, that felt like starting over, but it also allowed her to stay small and scrappy and build her business again from the ground up, with word-of-mouth, in a way that she feels good about. 

Front cutting garden at Hazel Designs, Bellingham, Washington (c) Annika McIntosh
Front cutting garden at Hazel Designs, Bellingham, Washington (c) Annika McIntosh

Annika’s garden at home is a demonstration of what can be grown — for ornamental and pollinator/bird foraging purposes, as well as for cutting — with very little tending or water and no protection from deer grazing. She says: “I love to remind people that they can cut widely from their home landscape without making a designated ‘cutting garden,’ using foliage from shrubs and other plants they might not think of as ‘flowers.’ Foraging from pruning piles and then testing vase life and aesthetic utility of landscape ornamentals was what got me into cut flowers in the first place, and I still find it more engaging than growing typical field flowers. (I’m also not set up as a farm, so my home landscape is my focus and it’s all ‘fair game.’) It is definitely more of a long game, with slower-growing plants, but that’s also where I can find branches or stems with real personality that build a gestural narrative in an arrangement. I find that local, seasonal foliage is a more appealing complement aesthetically than the ubiquitous ruscus, smilax, leatherleaf fern, eucalyptus and other florist’s greens, making an arrangement or bouquet really special in a beautiful, of-the-moment uniqueness.”

A garden corner at Hazel Designs (c) Annika McIntosh
A garden corner at Hazel Designs (c) Annika McIntosh

“Floral designers create smaller encounters with nature for people to interact with — so for me it’s an easy leap to apply the same thinking to working with seasonal flowers and foliage. Florists working with a local supply chain of seasonal products (especially foliage!) will create floral experiences that are truly unique to that particular time and place. Whether the audience includes wedding guests, memorial attendees or conference participants, that brush with seasonal blooms will give them a sense of place and ground them in the season. And I believe it is vitally important to strengthen our connection to nature, especially in recurring, non-verbal, gentle and celebratory ways.”

A Hazel Designs wedding (c) Rove Coast Photography
A Hazel Designs wedding (c) Rove Coast Photography

“I got stalled in college environmental studies classes by desperately wanting to communicate the urgency of the climate crisis and be a part of some kind of solution to the waste and destruction I was so aware of, but feeling completely overwhelmed and unsure how I could ever effect change.  Over the years I’ve pieced together a working answer to that angst and need for action that is so scaled back that I sometimes have to squint to see it… but it works for me, and feels subtle yet positive and supportive: growing with kids in school gardens; designing outdoor spaces where people can connect with nature at home, and bringing flowers to celebrations and everyday occasions that speak to the season and place.”

Flowers for a May wedding (c) Bearbeau Co.
Flowers for a May wedding (c) Bearbeau Co.

There is so much packed into one episode — an inspiring moment together in the studio, in the garden. I know you’ll enjoy it immensely. Annika is part of the brand new Field to Floral Market, a Bellingham area collective with local growers and floral designers — and new members of the Slow Flowers Society. You’ll watch a short tour of Field to Floral at the end of my conversation with Annika.

Installation detail (c) Nicole Michael

Other Slow Flowers members who are part of the Field to Floral marketplace include:

Nicole Huson of Headwaters Farm; Eryn Shaughnessy of Frogsong Flowers; and Emily Hazlip-Haese of Thorncrest Rose Farm. I’m so excited to learn more about each of them on a future visit to the area.

Annika’s flowers can be found at Lakeline Cafe and Roam Cafe in Bellingham, as well as in her driveway on the weekends. You can message Annika through her Instagram account, or sign up for her newsletter – I’ll share the link in our show notes.

Links to order Annika’s mother’s garden books, which Annika designed:

Once Around the Sun, by Bliss White McIntosh
Battenkill Books and Amazon

Another Time Around the Sun, by Bliss White McIntosh
Battenkill Books


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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

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

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

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.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

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.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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; Stanza in Fuchsia
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

Episode 720: Killing Frost Farm’s Jamie Rogers on solo flower farming in western Montana

Wednesday, June 11th, 2025

Growing specialty cut flowers for retail floral shops is a very specific niche and today’s guest, Jamie Rogers of Killing Frost Farm in Helena, Montana, has a lot to share on this topic! Jamie co-founded the business with Carly Jenkins in 2014, the “killing frost” name a tongue-in-cheek reference to extreme drops to freezing temperatures that are brutal for flowers. Today, Jamie farms solo and supplies retailers between Bozeman to the east and Missoula to the west and he has maximized efficiencies to supply quantities of unique perennials and annuals to a core base of floral customers week in and week out throughout the season. We’ll wrap up this conversation with a peek into Jamie’s other passion – music – as he shares a new song from the upcoming album he recorded with Les Duck, the local band he performs with as drummer. It’s a great reminder for all of us to find work-life balance in this demanding world of flower growing and design.

Jamie Rogers of Killing Frost Farm (c) Chasing Light Photography
Jamie Rogers of Killing Frost Farm (c) Chasing Light Photography

As we continue to share the inspiring content from the pages of The Flower Farmers, our new book featuring the stories of 29 expert growers across North America, we’re taking a stop today in western Montana, to meet Jamie Rogers of Killing Frost Farm.

Delphiniums at Killing Frost Farm
Delphiniums at Killing Frost Farm

Jamie is a past guest of this podcast, and I’m so happy that he had a chance to record a new conversation with him last week. After farming in Western Montana for more than a decade, on several locations both urban and rural, Jamie and his former partner Carly Jenkins moved Killing Frost Farm to Helena in 2021. Their two-acre parcel of land in the fertile Prickly Pear Valley is surrounded by rolling hills and views of Mount Helena.

There are so many benefits of this new location, including access to well water, distance from fire threats, and proximity to city amenities. The farm pumps out an impressive crop list – including sunflower, strawflower, stock, snapdragon, foxglove, scabiosa, zinnia, gomphrena, amaranth, marigold, cosmos, larkspur, Queen Anne’s lace, sea  holly, and delphinium – the specialty crop we featured in a bonus spread in The Flower Farmers.

Killing Frost Farm
Killing Frost Farm

You’ll want to wait until the very end of our interview for a delightful bonus track of a song titled “Head Fell Off” from the upcoming album Jamie and his fellow band members produced – no surprise, inside the Killing Frost barn, which they converted to a recording studio! I loved this conversation and I love the energy and joy Jamie shares about flower farming. It can be brutal and demanding, but his story is a reminder to find balance and quality of life in the journey.

Sunflowers and Nori
Sunflowers and Nori

Follow Jamie at his new IG account @montanaflowerfarmer, and @les_duck, where details on the album release of “Love is the Dirt,” will be announced later this summer.


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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

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

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

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 www.redtwigfarms.com.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

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.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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; Stanza for Lumi
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

Episode 718: The Flower Farmers, with co-authors Robin Avni and Debra Prinzing; plus a bonus interview with Daniel Sparler, the book’s horticulture editor

Wednesday, May 28th, 2025

The Flower Farmers has been in the works for two years, as my co-author and the book’s creative director Robin Avni and I have poured our storytelling passion into the narratives and imagery that portray 29 North American growers. The book was released on May 6th by Abrams, and we’ve been in major celebration mode ever since. Today’s episode brings you  to the lecture that Robin and I recently presented for the Northwest Horticultural Society, as we introduced the flower farming lifestyle and encouraged the audience to “garden like a flower farmer.” In the second part of this episode, you’ll hear a fabulous conversation I recorded with Daniel Sparler, Seattle-based horticulturalist and expert on botanical Latin, who served as The Flower Farmers’ horticulture consultant.

Debra Prinzing (left) and Robin Avni (right), co-authors of THE FLOWER FARMERS (c) Mary Grace Long
Debra Prinzing (left) and Robin Avni (right), co-authors of THE FLOWER FARMERS (c) Mary Grace Long

Here’s the pitch for The Flower Farmers book: “Twenty–nine of today’s most inspiring flower farmers present stories, how–to–cultivate expertise, and favorite new varieties in a lushly photographed guide to feed your every floral fantasy.

“Flower farmers are the garden world’s lifestyle influencers these days, with dedicated social media channels and hundreds of thousands of avid fans who dream about having a lush and vibrant cutting garden of their own. Today’s gardeners follow celebrity growers to gather ideas and expert advice regarding planting techniques and the best varieties and seasonal plants to choose. The Flower Farmers book presents a curated group of favorite growers, from industry leaders to pioneering newcomers. Each grower shares their specialty knowledge and seasonal practices, so that readers will be able to create a similar relationship with flowers and discover sustainable techniques for their own gardens. Dedicated sidebars dig deeper, with information on everything from raising a unique cultivar to the best floral varieties for long-lasting arrangements. Gorgeous photography illustrates each farmer’s profile, highlighting the beauty of their farms, floral passions, and the flowers themselves.”

Debra and Robin at Northwest Horticultural Society lecture May 21, 2025
Book-signing with Debra and Robin, following their Northwest Horticultural Society lecture May 21, 2025

Regular listeners know all about me, and so I’ll re-introduce Robin Avni, past guest of the Slow Flowers Podcast. Robin is a creative director and experienced designer in the media + high-tech industries. Her specialties include creative management of award-winning teams and content development for high-profile projects. She has produced 18 floral and lifestyle books, including eight in collaboration with me, and together we love showcasing the floral lifestyle of creatives and entrepreneurs.

Click below to view: Robin and Debra’s lecture slides

Whether you’re a plant geek or a beginning plant parent, you’ll love hearing from Daniel Sparler about botanical Latin and how it has evolved. We are so grateful that Daniel shared his expertise with us to ensure that The Flower Farmers’ plant content is correctly identified, accurate and up to date.

Jump to my conversation with Daniel here

Click for more resources from Daniel Sparler


Join us on tour!

The Flower Farmers JUNE Book Tour — Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut & New York
Sun., June 8th (4-6 p.m.), WATERFORD, Virginia
Book Launch party and signing with Debra Prinzing and Holly Heider Chapple of Hope Flower Farm. Enjoy the afternoon at Hope Flower Farm, featured in the pages of The Flower Farmers. Books will be available for purchase and signing, and you’ll want to visit the Hope Flower Farm Winery, too!
Free; Event Details Here. NOTE: Correct time is 4-6 p.m.

Tues., June 10th (6-7:30 p.m.)
KENNETT SQUARE, Pennsylvania
Longwood Gardens hosts Robin Avni and Debra Prinzing for a lecture and book-signing about The Flower Farmers. They’ll be joined by Marly Surena-Llorens of Fenimore & Rutland (Allentown, Pennsylvania) will join as their special farmer guest.
Free; pre-registration is required; Event Details Here.

Wed., June 11th (4-6 p.m.)
MIDDLETOWN, Connecticut
The Connecticut Flower Collective is hosting Debra Prinzing from the Slow Flower Society and Robin Avni to share their latest book, “The Flower Farmers.” Enjoy light snacks and refreshments while listening to a reading followed by a Q&A from 4-5PM, and a book signing from 5-6PM. Books will be available for purchase at CTFC, as well as a late flower market where you can shop the floor during the event.
Free; Pre-Register Here

Thur., June 12th (6-8 p.m.)
BROOKLYN (Williamsburg), New York
Join Debra and Robin at Flower Aggregate, the exciting new hub for local flowers. Enjoy networking and refreshments, and meet some of the flower farmers featured in The Flower Farmers! Books will be available for purchase and signing.
Free. More Details Here.

Fri., June 13th (4-6 p.m.)
MILLBROOK, New York
Orangerie Garden + Home is hosting Robin and Debra, along with three flower farmers who are featured in The Flower Farmers. Enjoy design demonstrations of their local flowers along with refreshments. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
Free. More Details Here.


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.

Royal Anthos Lily Bulbs

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

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

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


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

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.


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

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; Cast in Wicker
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