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On March 12th the first of several Field to Vase Dinners for 2016 took place inside a state-of-the-art greenhouse in Arcata, California –  Humboldt County, located way, way up north in the Redwoods.

The venue: Sun Valley Flower Farm, a leading grower of cut bulb and field flowers in the United States. According to its web site, Sun Valley chose this area as an ideal environment for growing bulb flowers, due to its mild winters, cool summers, generous humidity and coastally moderated sunlight. The fields surrounding the greenhouses also provide excellent growing conditions for spring, summer and fall iris, and summer flowers including crocosmia, hypericum, and monkshood.

On March 12th, the celebration was all about American-grown tulips and other-spring flowering bulbs — hundreds of thousands of them in all their colorful glory.

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Today’s podcast conversation took its time arriving here. I believe I first met Missouri flower farmer Mimo Davis of Urban Buds in 2012 at the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers annual meeting in Tacoma, where I was a speaker.

We have corresponded over the years and followed what each other was doing. Mimo even once asked me when I might come to St. Louis to speak and visit.

Well, earlier this month, finally, that happened, thanks to the good people at the St. Louis Art Museum who invited me to be a featured speaker for their annual spring extravaganza called Bouquets to Art.

Bouquets to Art is a celebration of springtime, art and floral design, a tradition found in a number of top art museums across the country.

I was excited to attend and speak during the weekend of activities beginning with a gala opening dinner on March 11th, and followed by lectures, demonstrations and exhibitions from March 12^th to 14th, with ticketed events seating audience members in a luxurious theatre with plush chairs and a huge stage and screen.

It was an event complete with a celebrity speaker – this year it was Carolyne Roehme, a native Missouri daughter, fashion industry icon and author of numerous lifestyle books.

I followed Ms. Roehme and presented on the same stage, with  150-or-so floral enthusiasts learning about the Slow Flowers Movement as I created several arrangements.

I was definitely concerned about sourcing local flowers for my floral demonstration because of the time of year.

And fortunately, I had two Missouri sources from which to shop: Urban Buds, owned by Mimo Davis and Miranda Duschack – today’s guests; and Vicki Lander and Jack Oglander of Flower Hill Farm in Beaufort, Missouri.

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Where do remote resort communities like Sun Valley, Idaho, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, get their flowers?

These high-desert mountain areas aren’t exactly huge agricultural regions, but today’s guests have built their successful flower farming business on serving these two luxury markets.

Please meet flower farmers Ralph Thurston and Jeriann Sabin. The talented wife-husband duo are the owners of Bindweed Farm in the southeast corner of Idaho.

I invite you to celebrate the recent publication of Deadhead~ the Bindweed Way to Grow Flowers, a new book about the joys and challenges of growing cut flowers for commercial sales.

Located about two hours from both of these upscale destination resort markets, Ralph and Jeriann have created a beautiful lifestyle that is supported by flowers.

 

Ralph is known as “il maestro”, the brain and the brawn who plans every detail, ordering all plant material, orchestrating the farm’s intricate planting schedule and irrigation scheme.

He is a genius, a green thumb wizard.  And not only that, he cuts nearly every stem, that’s thousands and thousands each season.

Jeriann is the beauty–as in aesthetics.  As an artist, color and texture are her DNA. Ralph may be responsible for the diverse varieties but Jeriann selects the colors.

Never without her trusty smart phone/camera, she photographs every flower on the farm and loves keeping the Bindweed blog.

She processes every stem–conditioning and packaging each bunch of flowers as they come in from the field.  In charge of sales and delivery, she enjoys meeting and consulting with designers each week.

Passionate about small farms and farmers, Bindweed has been a member of ASCFG, the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers for over fifteen years.  Each of them have served on the board of directors and have contributed articles for the Cut Flower Quarterly.

Bindweed occupies five acres in the heart of potato country, the eastern edge of Idaho’s high desert plain.  Surrounded by several mountain ranges and cinder cones—extinct volcanoes—the farm enjoys spectacular 360-degree views, rich soil and a short growing season.

On clear days the tip of the Grand Teton sits up like a shark’s tooth behind the foothills in the east and the resort, Jackson, Wyoming ,is only two hours away. Equidistance to the west lays Sun Valley.  Famed for skiing and hiking, both resorts are outdoor playgrounds for many of the rich and famous. Extremely popular for conferences, think tanks and destination events, they are the perfect market for our flowers.

Here’s how to find Jeriann and Ralph on social media:

Bindweed Farm on Facebook

Bindweed Farm on Instagram

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 87,000 times by listeners like you. THANK YOU to each one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.

Until next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto Itunes and posting a listener review.

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.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Wheatley and Hannah Holtgeerts. Learn more about their work at shellandtree.com.

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This week’s conversation is one I’ve wanted to record for a while. You know when you run into someone you really like — and who you want to get to know better, perhaps at the grocery store, or (for me) at the flower market — and you greet one another warmly and say “we should get together for coffee?”

Well that was the case with my friend Anne Bradfield. Owner of a design studio called Floressence, Anne was one of the very first floral designers I found myself chatting with back in 2011 when the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market launched.

At the time, I was there frequently, both because I was working on my two books, The 50 Mile Bouquet – which featured the stories of many of the flower farmers and floral designers involved with the market, and Slow Flowers, a project that relied on a steady supply of local blooms for my weekly design projects. And I often ran into Anne, who was there shopping for her major wedding and corporate event clients.

Anne soon invited me to speak at a meeting of the Greater Seattle Floral Association, where I met many of our region’s top wedding, event and retail florists. And we kept bumping into one another. . . both always in a rush, and always promising to get together.

You may recognize Anne’s voice because I recorded it for this podcast a few months ago when I interviewed several designers who participated in Lisa Waud’s hands-on large-scale floral art workshop at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market. And that encounter was the impetus for today’s conversation.

Anne studied interdisciplinary visual art at the University of Washington and she will share how her journey led her through a few career stops before she purchased Floressence thirteen years ago, when she was in her late twenties.

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My birthday falls during the last week of February and as has been the case since 2014, it’s also coincided with the annual “fly in” for America’s flower farmers to land in Washington, D.C.

You’ve heard me talk about this experience before and today is no exception. The Fly In began as an initiative of the California Cut Flower Commission seven years ago, led by CEO Kasey Cronquist.

In 2013, CCFC invited flower farmers from other states to join the effort.

I applaud that spirit of inclusion, one that significantly boosted the impact and presence of America’s flower farms beyond the California delegation.

Today, the Fly-in is still led by CCFC, but its scope is now much broader. Certified American Grown Flowers is now the “cause” with an inclusive, national message about flower farming and other key issues important to everyone in the Slow Flowers community.

Before we get started, I want to announce the launch of The Slow Flowers Community on Facebook. I was inspired to establish a virtual place where members of Slowflowers.com and those who have yet to join the Slowflowers.com directory can meet each other. You’ll be introduced to kindred spirits; you’ll talk “shop,” encourage others and receive encouragement yourself. Our focus will be creating brand awareness for your own Slow Flowers endeavors – from the field to the studio and beyond. This is a closed community, so just follow this link to request to join.

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Today’s podcast guests conjured up the most amazing room installation at Lisa Waud’s Flower House last October. It was thoroughly mesmerizing and masterful in so many ways, and while I had a chance to meet and share time with Denise Fasanello and Anne Kilcullen during the days leading up to the Flower House opening on October 16th, we never had enough minutes to record a podcast interview. However, when I was in NYC a few weeks ago, the three of us got together to record today’s episode to share with you.

Denise and Anne are the co-creators of “A Floral Whirlwind,” which occupied the upstairs dining room space at The Flower House. Sculpted of foliage, vines and a few botanical surprises, the kinetic whoosh of a gravity-defying, tornado-like experience in the center of the room was pretty darned incredible for everyone who viewed it.

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I’m so pleased to introduce you today to Gloria Battista-Collins, owner of gbc style, a design studio based in Montebello, New York.

I first met Gloria in 2014 when Holly Heider Chapple invited me to make a presentation about the Slow Flowers/American Grown Movement to the Chapel Designers Conference in New York.

At least 75 florists from around the country were gathered and I was grateful to have the platform for introducing them to American Grown values and the Slow Flowers approach.

To be truthful, I worried a little that my message would be received as something novel or just a “fringe” concept.

However, I was so pleased that Holly’s instincts were right – many wedding and event florists who make up the Chapel Designers’ membership were interested in learning how to rebrand themselves with a local and seasonal story.

Gloria was one of those in the room with whom I felt an instant connection. And in the two subsequent years, we’ve had some meaningful conversations about how she has successfully repositioned her studio, GBC Style, with a local sensibility.

Having trained with some of floristry’s top instructors, Gloria received all the technical and mechanical essentials as she developed her craft. But when it comes to sourcing botanicals, she has had to re-imagine the New York traditions of “just shopping in the 28th Street Flower District” especially when that does not align with her commitment to using only local flowers.

Certainly that’s easier said than done. And for a designer whose garden is located in USDA Zone 6b (with average minimum temperatures from zero to minus 5 degrees), winter months are challenges.

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I have two cool Flower House-related segments to share with you today.

First, I want to share a short conversation with photographer Andrew Buchanan of Subtle Light Photography as we discuss his innovative idea to document the sculptural floral art installation at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, which was led by Lisa Waud of The Flower House for the Seattle design community on January 19th. I featured highlights of the January 19th installation day in an earlier episode here.

Enjoy my quick interview that I recorded with Andrew and then view the amazing time-lapse movie that he filmed and edited – shown below. I’m amazed by the power of visual storytelling through this medium and applaud Andrew’s artistry and generosity. I’m honored and grateful that he volunteered his talents for everyone to enjoy!

Based in Seattle, Andrew Buchanan specializes in architectural photography, interiors photography, helicopter aerial photography, land design photography, and hotel and resort photography in Seattle and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Andrew offers photography of architecture, interiors, commercial and public spaces, and other built environments to design and marketing professionals, hotels and resorts, developers, magazines, and advertisers needing compelling, graphic photos of The Spaces Where We Live, Work, and Play. Please start on a Gallery page to see some of Andrew’s work or download his PDF portfolio to keep with you. Read more about Andrew here.

ENJOY THIS FABULOUS VIDEO, COURTESY OF ANDREW BUCHANAN:

SeattleWholesaleGrowersMarket-LisaWaud-16Jan from Andrew Buchanan on Vimeo.

You can find the video and all of Andrew’s “motion” work at his online gallery here.

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This week’s guest is Meridith Isaacson of Seattle-based Verde & Co., and I know you’ll find her story inspiring.

What’s particularly intriguing to me is learning that Meridith will be opening her retail flower shop very soon. In a world that has witnessed the rapid decline of brick-and-mortar floral retail, here’s a woman who is bucking the system.

You’ll learn why having a retail presence is important to Meridith’s business plan and gain insights from her fascinating journey from one creative medium to another. Those personal experiences have shaped her own aesthetic and her business philosophy.

Meridith and I got together last week to record this pre-Valentine’s Day interview. You’ll want to follow along on her crazy, whirlwind schedule as she races to open the doors of Verde & Co. less than a week before February 14th and the peak of American floral gift-giving holiday.

The new Verde & Co. retail space is designed by Strata Architects of Seattle. You can find the store at 400 Fairview Avenue in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood.

Here’s a little more about Meridith:

Originally from New York, Meridith moved to Seattle in 2007 and dove head first into her floral design career working for one of Seattle’s premier floral studios.

Verde & Co., is a labor of love for Meridith as she grew up in a family business that was founded in 1913 by her great-grandfather. Growing up she gravitated towards helping her Mom set the holiday dinner table, going to work with her Dad and collecting unicorns. She thinks of designing as a dance. Executing each floral with great technique, infused with a true sense of artistry, she lets the arch of the branch or direction of the bloom dictate where the floral may take her.

As an avid collector of unique and vintage vessels, she is always on the hunt for ways to create a personal experience for her clients.

When not in her studio, Meridith enjoys cooking, spending time with her husband and their two dogs Toby & Stella. They often find themselves cuddled up on the couch with a good movie or out and about for a long walk around town.

And check out the innovative campaign that Verde & Co. has just launched on Seattle’s Community Sourced Capital.This is not a crowd-funding effort but instead a sustainable business financing model that uses a community of supporters to make interest-free loans to socially-minded entrepreneurs.

Meridith also shared these vendor links:

I have two announcements before we conclude:

First, two weeks ago our Podcast guest was Anne Graves, marketing director of Syndicate Sales, who discussed American manufacturing and the American made collection of vases from Syndicate’s Kokomo, Indiana, factory.

Syndicate graciously donated a $100 shopping spree to one listener and we have drawn a name from those of you who took the time to comment at the show notes page of Debraprinzing.com . . . the prize goes to Cara Gilmartin of Cross Street Flower Farm of Norwell, Massachusetts, located on the South Shore, south of Boston.

Here’s what Cara wrote in an email after I notified her of her win:

Get out of town!!  I never win anything and I was just filling in my business partner, Nikki Bartley on Syndicate’s products just yesterday.  Anne, I look forward to talking to you!  

We are obviously HUGE fans of Slow Flowers.  Cross Street shares the same mission and vision to be able to provide really awesome flowers for our community and educate about the importance of local agriculture.   We look forward to joining the Slow Flowers family! 

Thank you so much for this amazing gift!!

Cara Gilmartin
Cross Street Flower Farm

Congratulations Cara and Nikki! I, too, look forward to Cross Street Flower Farm joining the SlowFlowers.com community very very soon!

Second, for those of you who love beautiful and inspiring magazines, I want to introduce you to GARDEN DESIGN.

I’ve written for Garden Design for many years, including serving as Contributing Editor in 2009-2010 when I was based in Los Angeles.

Many people feared that the best magazine for horticulture, plants and landscape design was about to disappear when former owner Bonnier Corp. folded the title in 2013.

Not much later, though, a white knight arrived with Jim Peterson.

Jim is a green industry entrepreneur and the creator of two online membership communities very similar (and much, much larger) to Slowflowers.com. One is called Concrete Network and the other is called Landscape Network.

So Jim and his team acquired the Garden Design brand and have published six gorgeous editions of Garden Design magazine since 2014.

These plump bookazines  are ones that you’ll have on your shelf forever.

What’s notable is that Garden Design is now ad-free, with 148 pages of vivid, high-quality photography printed on excellent paper stock. Not only am I a big supporter of Garden Design, the magazine’s staff has been super supportive of Slow Flowers and our mission.

In fact, publisher Jim Peterson and I have just cemented an agreement that allows us to showcase the design work of Slow Flowers members on the magazine’s web site and its well-read newsletter four times throughout the coming year.

As a special thank you to Slow Flowers members and listeners of this Podcast, Garden Design has a subscription gift for you. Follow this link to receive one free issue when you subscribe to one year of the magazine.

And if you subscribe now, you’ll receive the early spring issue which contains a feature story written by me! Photographed by Claire Takas, my story is titled: “GEOMETRIC IMPACT” — it’s all about a Brandon Tyson-designed Bay Area landscape. The tagline reads: Wild yet tame, old yet new, a Mediterranean landscape uses lush, colorful, and geometric-inspired plantings to entice an active Bay Area family outdoors.

And I have to add a fun note, a comment from Jim Peterson. He recently wrote: “Debra, taking a cue from you, maybe we should be the ‘slow magazine’? We’re American made, printed in the US, and offer high quality for those that appreciate and relish the tactile experience” of holding a beautiful magazine in their hands.” I couldn’t agree more!

Subscribe to Garden Design here. Preview the next issue here.

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 81,000 times by listeners like you and we wrapped up January 2016 as the 2nd highest month of listenership in this Podcast’s 2-1/2 year history, with 4,600 downloads — a great start to the New Year. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.

Until next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto Itunes and posting a listener review.

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.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Wheatley and Hannah Holtgeerts. Learn more about their work at shellandtree.com.