Plants Archives - Page 44 of 60 - Slow Flowers Podcast with Debra Prinzing

Archive for the ‘Plants’ Category

SLOW FLOWERS Podcast: Peonies from America’s Last Frontier (Episode 102)

Wednesday, August 7th, 2013

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More

I’m standing in a Homer, Alaska, peony field at Scenic Place Peonies. It’s owned by Beth Van Sandt and Kurt Weichhand – check out the views!!!

Last summer I visited Alaska and toured about 12 cut peony farms from Fairbanks to Homer – in one week! It was a wonderful trip, made all the more special because of the many cool, welcoming flower farmers I met along the way. They hosted me for meals, spent quality time walking and talking with me along the rows of robust and beautiful plants, lent me a bed for the night, and generally adopted me into their Alaska Peony Tribe! If you want to learn more about the Peony Growers of Alaska and how to order cut flowers from some of them directly, visit the Alaska Peony Growers’ web site.

It was a thoroughly freeing time for me as a journalist because I was my own client. No editor gave me the assignment. No publication had their dibs on how the story would be reported. I used my Alaska Airlines’ frequent flier miles to book my flight into Anchorage and then rented a car with another set of airline miles.

I made reservations to tour Denali National Park on the first day – mainly because Dr. Pat Holloway, my trip advisor, insisted that I couldn’t just drive past the majestic national park while seeking peony farms! After that first day, I spent the following seven preoccupied with peonies, their cultivation, harvest, post-harvest care and ultimate journey to the hands of satisfied customers. It was pretty sweet – and I can’t wait to get back. I wrote a fun post about the week in Alaska here.

Other than selling a *tiny* story about Alaska peonies to Sunset magazine, I am happy to announce that my first big editorial placement appears in the current issue of Alaska Airlines magazine. How fitting! You can read the feature here [PDF].

This week’s podcast features interviews with the owners of two farms I visited during my tour. First, you’ll hear my conversation with Rita Jo Shoultz of Alaska Perfect Peony in Fritz Creek on the Kenai Peninsula, one of the first growers to jump in feet first to plant peony roots. You will hear the sounds of nature around us, as we sat in her garden near the pond to talk. For some crazy reason, Nicco, her cat, was fascinated with the audio recorder’s microphone. You’ll hear a few bumps in the audio, thanks to the curious cat!

Here are some photos from Alaska Perfect Peonies:

Rita Jo with a double-headed peony that we discovered in her growing fields.

SLOW FLOWERS: Week 31

Monday, August 5th, 2013

PASSION FOR PEONIES

I came home from Alaska with these luscious peonies – and it seemed as if no other flower could compete for room in the vase.

Ingredients:

10 stems ‘Sorbet’ peonies, grown by Echo Lake Peonies in Soldotna, Alaska

5 stems ‘Kansas’ peonies, grown by Midnight Sun Peonies in Soldotna, Alaska

Vase:

9-inch tall x 7-inch diameter vintage Haegar urn, cream pottery

Series of vintage one-pint glass milk bottles (7-inch tall), each holding two or three stems

From the Farmer

Peony harvesting and design: Cut peonies during the coolest part of the day. According to Dr. Holloway, “Cut once you see the true color of the flower with one or two petals separating at the top – or any time after that. Then, the flower will continue to open in your arrangement.” If you cut prior to this stage the buds either will not open or they will be stunted. Fully-opened blooms can also be harvested, but their vase life is shorter. Based on years of peony research and field trials, Dr. Holloway offers this commercial growers’ tip: “Once cut, your flowers should be chilled in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours and up to one week before putting them into a vase. That chilling very definitely extends vase life.” Wrap the peonies in paper towels and lay them flat in the crisper drawer, away from the refrigerator’s other contents until use.

Posted in American Grown, Creativity, floral design, Gardening, General, Plants, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | Comments Off on SLOW FLOWERS: Week 31

SLOW FLOWERS: Week 30

Sunday, July 28th, 2013

FLIGHTS OF FANCY

A summer bouquet for my friend Stacie Crooks’s annual garden girlfriend soiree.

This charming arrangement is even more interesting when viewed from the top as the gooseneck stems appear to be flying in all directions!

Ingredients:

7 stems Dahlia ‘Coral Gypsy’, grown by Jello Mold Farm

15 stems white love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena), grown by J. Foss Garden Flowers

5 stems chartreuse Hypericum perforatum (a florist’s variety selected for its colorful fruit), grown by Jello Mold Farm

7 stems goldenrod (Solidago sp.), grown by J. Foss Garden Flowers

11 stems white gooseneck loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides), grown by Jello Mold Farm

20 stems burnet foliage (Sanguisorba obtusa), grown by Charles Little & Co.

Vase:

6-inch tall x 4-inch diameter glass vase

Eco-technique

Transporting bouquets: Save your arrangement and your car with a smart stabilizing trick I learned from flower farmers who make frequent bouquet deliveries. Use a box that is at least half the height of your vase; seal the

top and bottom so you have an empty “cube.” Using a utility knife, cut a large X on one side of the box. The cuts should be approximately the same size as the vase diameter. Push the bottom of the vase into the X-opening. The

triangular cardboard flaps created by the cuts should bend inward to hold the vase securely while you drive.

Posted in Creativity, Entertainment, floral design, Gardening, General, Plants, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | Comments Off on SLOW FLOWERS: Week 30

Meet Village Green, a Neighborhood Nursery for Plant Lovers

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013

Just look for the hand-painted lavender sign when you’re driving down 26th Avenue Southwest in Seattle. There’s plenty of places to park on the street . . . and then you’ll wander down the long drive to the nursery.

Earlier this spring, I had the delightful experience of giving a floral-design workshop at Village Green Perennial Nursery in West Seattle’s White Center neighborhood. This place is like a secret garden, although there are many, many customers who have been in on the secret for years. This is a plant-centric business, one neighbor to the next.

Village Green Perennial Nursery was founded by Teresa Romedo over 30 years ago. In 2003, she passed the torch to Vera Johnson, who has owned and operated the nursery ever since.

Vera Johnson, plantswoman, horticulturist, designer, educator and artist, presides at the helm of this magical destination. Her mission is to inspire the neighborhoods of White Center and West Seattle by providing the very best resources available to create sustainable outdoor living spaces, one block at a time. As a little garden center with big ambitions, Village Green is known for high-quality customer service and healthy plants. It has evolved as a community center that showcases local artists, musicians, and events.

Vera has just announced her first farm-to-table event, scheduled for August 31st. This has the potential to be an unforgettable moment in time, an experience that celebrates food, wine, plants and flowers. Tickets are $100 per person. Order yours here.

Take a virtual tour of the beauty at Village Green Perennial Nursery – and save the date for a fabulous event! I hope to see you there!

SLOW FLOWERS: Week 29

Sunday, July 21st, 2013

STUNNING SUCCULENTS

The rose-shaped echeveria pairs beautifully with the garden rose.

Ingredients for arrangement above:

Several rosettes from Echeveria plants, with wire “stems.” I took these cuttings from my friend Cristi Walden’s Southern California garden and brought them home to Seattle in my suitcase; they lasted the entire summer in a number of arrangements.
7 stems of rose-red, multipetal garden roses, variety unknown, harvested from my Seattle garden

Vase:

6½-inch tall x 4½-inch diameter glass jar with 3½-inch opening

A beautiful green Aeonium rosette and cactus-style summer dahlias

From the Farmer

Succulent success: Robin Stockwell, owner of Succulent Gardens Nursery in Castroville, California, says it’s easy to remove rosettes with a clean, sharp florist’s knife or clippers. After several days, the succulents will likely be the only part of your bouquet that still looks attractive. They can be re-used in your next arrangement. Or, remove the wire and set the cuttings in a bright window where they’ll soon produce roots. That’s when you can replant your succulent in a pot or in the garden.

Posted in American Grown, Creativity, floral design, Gardening, General, Plants, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | Comments Off on SLOW FLOWERS: Week 29

SLOW FLOWERS: Week 28

Sunday, July 14th, 2013

Heavenly Hydrangeas

A simple bouquet of hydrangeas – one of my favorites in this book

The details are quite sweet!

Ingredients:

10 stems mop-head hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla), grown by Oregon Coastal Flowers

8 stems Geranium ‘Rozanne’, harvested from my garden

6 stems pincushion flower (Scabiosa sp.) in bud, grown by Choice Bulb Farms

Vase:

11-inch tall x 10-inch diameter ceramic glazed vase (the opening is 5 inches)

From the Farmer

Give your hydrangeas a refreshing drink: Summer-harvested hydrangeas are considered to be shorter-lived than ones cut in autumn, giving them a reputation for not lasting long in a vase. You can revive wilting hydrangea

flowers, though. Five days after I made this bouquet, I took the entire arrangement apart, re-cut each hydrangea stem and submerged them in a cool, soaking bath in the kitchen sink for about 15 minutes. With the excess water shaken off, they were refreshed and re-hydrated, guaranteed to last a few more days in the vase.

A favorite out-take from Slow Flowers: Our dog Zanny decided to pose with the flowers.

Posted in American Grown, Creativity, floral design, Gardening, General, Plants, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks, Writing | Comments Off on SLOW FLOWERS: Week 28

New summer articles by Debra

Saturday, July 13th, 2013

It was fun to visit the newsstand yesterday and pick up three new magazines with my articles.

When you see them in one place, it might feel like I’ve been super productive. But there is a back-story about each, and I have to be honest with you. Sometimes it takes YEARS for a story to see the light of day.

Case in point: The Southern California garden owned by Cheryl Bode and Robin Colman, featured in the July-August issue of Horticulture, was photographed in 2009. Since then, it has often seemed to Cheryl, Robin and me that the story would never appear in print. When I finally saw the issue, just out on newsstands, I understood why. The photos are incredibly disappointing. I have so many wonderful photos of their garden and the magical feeling one experiences when visiting there was simply not expressed in the Horticulture magazine. Click over to my articles page to read the story and see my photos rather than the ones printed below. Theirs is an inspiring story of two homeowners who yearned to bring an old house back to life, along with its garden. To physically walk through it is truly special.

A field-to-vase celebration

Wednesday, July 10th, 2013

Welcome to the Slow Flowers Dinner

Imagine a table set for 40 . . . inside a flower-filled greenhouse. Vintage vases overflowing with just-picked blooms adorn the table and a locally-grown menu is served.

Last month I joined with the California Cut Flower Commission to host a “Slow Flowers” dinner as part of the 2013 Monterey Bay Greenhouse Growers Open House & Tour.

The table was set for local food and local flowers.

We called it “Farm-to-Table; Field-to-Vase” and held the dinner in the gerbera-filled greenhouse at Kitayama Bros. Farms in Watsonville, California. The event was a gathering of like-minded persons. Each of us — farmer, florist, media, community advocate — cares deeply about the role of American flowers in the greater agricultural environment. And everyone in attendance contributed an important voice around the table, a table with locally-grown food and locally-harvested flowers.

SLOW FLOWERS: Week 27

Sunday, July 7th, 2013

AMERICAN ROSES

There are three sultry-smoky elements to this simple bouquet: roses, smoke bush foliage and a type of Queen Anne’s lace.

When all three colors, forms and textures are seen together – up close – it’s simply beautiful!

Ingredients:

20 stems Rosa ‘Wild Blue Yonder’ roses, grown by Westmont Park Roses

7 stems smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’), grown by Jello Mold Farm

10 stems Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota var. sativus ‘Black Knight’), grown by J. Foss Garden Flowers

Vase:

7-inch tall x 7½-inch diameter McCoy jardiniere, 1940s era, with a raised design of vertical bands and flowers

From the Farmer
When to cut for the vase: Commercial rose growers like Westmont Park Roses have special procedures for harvesting their flowers and processing them with a hydrating solution before making florist deliveries. The home gardener who grows old English roses and David Austin garden roses isn’t faced with these storage and delivery demands. Get the most out of your garden roses by cutting them when temperatures are coolest on the day you plan to arrange them. I like to pick a mix of roses at different stages to create more interest: in bud; slightly open; two-thirds open and fully open. This technique reminds grower John Martin of a single, beautiful grandiflora cluster, “with five or six roses, each at a different blooming cycle.”

Posted in American Grown, Creativity, floral design, General, Plants, Slow Flowers: 52 Weeks | 1 Comment »

Travels with Debra & James (and friends)

Thursday, July 4th, 2013

I was on the road last week, working in Oregon for six days (counting 1,000-miles of travel). My companions were James Baggett, editor-in-chief of COUNTRY GARDENS magazine and photography team Laurie Black and Mark King of Laurie Black Photography.

James Baggett, showing off the many titles he creates with coworker Nick Crow, his art director. It’s simply mind-boggling to grasp their huge productivity – and it’s an honor to be one of their writer-producers.

Wherever I can discover locally-grown flowers, that’s where you’ll find me!~

We spent the week photographing awesome landscapes, inspiring new plants and a fabulous farm-to-fork dinner (complete with locally grown, organic wine, food and flowers). A busy schedule, but filled with great experiences. It will be my privilege to write the stories to accompany Laurie’s photos for publication in 2014.

I’ll keep this short. I mostly have photos to share.