The Slow Flowers Podcast is the award-winning show known as the “Voice of the Slow Flowers Movement.” Launched in 2013 as the original flower podcast, we’ve devoted more than 10 years to covering the business of flower farming, floral design, and the Slow Flowers sustainability ethos. Listen to a new episode each Wednesday, available for free download here at slowflowerspodcast.com or on iTunes, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.
Local Washington tulips fill one of my favorite pedestal vases. The greenery and branches are all from my garden.
Here we are at the final week of the year. And I want to share with you a final look at my year-long project to create, photograph and write about 52 consecutive weeks of local and seasonal floral arrangements.
It was a fabulous ride – and one that rewarded me with so many gifts, friendships and experiences.
Today, I’m sharing a bonus bouquet – created during my one-year odyssey. It didn’t make it into Slow Flowers, but I’m not sure why. I truly love this arrangement, which was created with downed confier branches and bare twigs from my vine maple tree — all free for the taking! They’re paired with two small bunches of white and creamy-yellow tulips grown by Alm Hill Gardens and purchased at Seattle’s Pike Place Market just after Christmas.
The chicken wire is somewhat inelegant, but you’d never know it by looking at the finished bouquet above.
This is just the sort of shallow vase into which a conventional florist would stick a chunk of foam before arranging the branches and stems. But if you’ve been a reader of this blog for any length of time, you know I am a big hater of foam.
A simple square of chicken wire, formed into a mushroom-cap shape and inserted into the opening of the vase, is the perfect alternative. I use this wire over and over again, rarely throwing it into the recycling bin until I’ve gone through multiple arrangements.
Enjoy! Not sure when I’ll resume this bouquet-a-week project, but I promise to share more of my local, seasonal and sustainable floral projects in 2014.
Kelly Sullivan, floral designer, flower farmer, and owner of Botanique in Seattle.
Today’s guest is my friend and fellow Local Flowers Advocate Kelly Sullivan.
Based in Seattle, in fact, just a few blocks from where I live, Kelly is an up-and-coming studio floral designer, small-scale flower farmer and owner of Botanique.
We met a few years ago at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, just as Kelly was developing her business model for Botanique. I have to tell you, her venture has really taken off — and Kelly has lived up to her tag-line: Overwhelmingly Beautiful Flowers.
Kelly brought me this spring arrangement using all spring garden elements with a few juicy anemones from a local farmer. So enchanting!
There are so many things that impress me about this young woman. She brings a garden design and landscaping background to her floral creations; her horticultural knowledge has greatly influenced the plantings in The Botanique Cutting Garden – the backyard “urban flower farm” where Kelly grows many of the flowers she uses in her designs.
While she’s still young, Kelly is actually already on her second career. She trained and performed as a modern dancer after college. Dance plays a special role in her designs. “When people ask what defines my style, I’ve realized recently that it’s ‘movement,’” she says. “Movement is like choreography. When I compose a bouquet, it always has movement – and you see it in everything from the vines to the stems.”
One of Kelly’s beautiful arrangements shows her dancer’s sensibility in designing with botanicals.
Movement adds energy to her otherwise lush design style. Kelly isn’t interested in producing perfect, symmetrical arrangements. “When I design, that’s when the gardener in me shows up,” she says. “I love foliage, berries, wild elements. I love interlocking stems, unusual edibles and even seed pods.” What you see in her vases looks and feels alive (I guess that’s the dancer showing up, right?).
A peek inside Kelly’s new floral design studio in her Seattle garden.
Our conversation took place in Kelly’s brand new studio, a converted one-car garage that will soon be a bustling center of creativity and design. “I’m obsessed with flowers,” she confides. To Kelly, when you grow your own ingredients you can’t help but notice the seasonality of each flower. “If it’s growing right there in your garden, it’s impossible not to want to pick it and arrange it,” she points out.
Of course, I feel the same way. And as more floral designers follow Kelly’s example – either by growing some of their own botanical elements or connecting with local flower farmers – the floral community will only improve. Designs that are seasonal and local have a special character, a vibrancy and authenticity not found in distantly grown or out-of-season choices. Here are some more flowers, gathered together by this gifted and inspired designer.
So happy holidays to the flower-obsessed. And thank you for joining me in this episode of the SLOW FLOWERS Podcast with Debra Prinzing.
Because of your support as a listener, we have had nearly 4,500 downloads in 2013 – and I thank you for taking the time to join to my conversations with flower farmers, florists and other notable floral experts.
‘Joker’, a red-streaked amaryllis – perfect for a long-lasting holiday display
Ingredients:
2 amaryllis bulbs (Hippeastrum ‘Joker’), available via mail order, online and garden centers beginning in autumn. Store in a dry, cool space until planting. Can be planted and “forced” four to six weeks prior to desired bloom.
Vase:
8-inch tall x 8-inch diameter glass trifle dish used as a bulb planter
Design 101
Better than a flower pot: I realize it’s a little unconventional to fill a clear glass trifle dish with soil. But the elegant footed serving piece seems fitting for the graceful amaryllis plants it holds. Glass and ceramic serving pieces can quickly change the ordinary flowering bulb into a stylish floral display. I snagged this piece for $14 at a holiday flea market – and as a bonus, it was actually filled with the slightly faded Christmas balls!
Meet Lynn Fosbender, owner of Pollen Inc., a Chicago floral design studio with a green ethos.
Lynn Fosbender is a Chicago-based owner of Pollen Inc., a sustainable floral design studio for weddings and events. This talented young woman is a leader in the sustainable floral and green wedding industry. And to me, she’s a true Slow Flowers hero!
Here’s a selection of her floral artistry, through the seasons of the year:
Lynn knows her local sources, having cultivated relationships with flower farmers in Illinois, Wisconsin and MIchigan – all of whom serve the greater Chicago marketplace. I photographed Lynn while shopping for a wedding client at her local farmers’ market.
We met in 2010 when I was on a college visit with my oldest son. While he was getting oriented, I invited myself to tag along with Lynn as she shopped for flowers at a local farmer’s market. Afterwards, we returned to the Pollen studio, which at the time was located in an old brick warehouse next to Chicago’s famous “El” trains.
Lynn’s design philosophy is influenced by both horticulture and ecology. With a B.A. in Horticulture and graduate studies in Restoration Ecology, you might wonder why Lynn ended up working with flowers.
Her career choice can be credited to a love for great design combined with extensive experience creating bouquets and arrangements for conventional florists (including a 4-year gig managing one of Chicago’s top retail flower shops).
Seasonal and Sustainable Bouquets by Pollen
Yet even while working in the world of cutting edge-floral design, Lynn knew she wanted to use sustainable practices, something she hadn’t much observed in the industry.
“I was looking at all the stuff we were throwing away that should have been composted,” for example, she says. “For several years I thought I would like to own a full-service flower shop that was eco-friendly. I knew if anyone should do it, it should be me.”
Lynn’s vision was adopted by a group of MBA students at Loyola University who developed a business plan inspired by her ideas. Thus, Pollen Inc., was born in 2009.
A beautiful centerpiece.
After our early-morning farmer’s market stop, I followed Lynn back to the studio. With her arms filled with pale peach lilies, a bunch of verdant millet seedheads and dozens of brilliant sunflowers grown by a local Illinois flower farmer, Lynn led me upstairs to her light-filled loft-like space.
She processed the flowers while we discussed her green philosophy, the challenges of keeping brides (and grooms) happy with their flower choices, and the future for sustainable flower design.
It’s no surprise to learn that local farmers who sell to Chicago area floral designers are limited by a growing season that ranges from May through October.
A luscious color palette from Pollen.
In the colder months Lynn thinks beyond the obvious path and seeks to find sustainable options – even out of season. She orders Veriflora-certified California-grown flowers and also occasionally relies on a Chicago-area wholesale supplier for non-domestic Veriflora flowers as a second option.
“Otherwise, I would be using twigs and moss – that’s what’s local in the winter,” Lynn says with a grin. But then, she pauses and mentions a favorite local source for orchids – a popular wedding flower that’s greenhouse grown.
“I try to offer people more eco-friendly alternatives; things they might not otherwise notice,” she explains.
Lynn avoids using oasis, glues, dyes or sprays, almost always using water-filled vases for arrangements. By offering an affordable vase-rental service for weddings and events, Lynn makes it easy for clients to make the eco-friendly choice.
She also promotes and markets her studio in the green wedding world, collaborating with other vendors such as caterers, photographers and invitation printers.
Here’s a short interview with Lynn. She discusses her motivation for using sustainable flowers, as well as The Chicago Green Wedding Alliance, a collaboration she launched with like-minded businesses and artists:
It is so refreshing to meet and connect with designers like Lynn and so many of my previous Slow Flowers guests. There is a renaissance going on in the floral industry and these are the people to watch – the progressively minded designers who realize that consumer attitudes and desires have shifted – and that delivering American-grown flowers and using sustainable practices is a priority to those consumers. That’s smart business not just smart values.
Thank you for joining me in this episode of the SLOW FLOWERS Podcast with Debra Prinzing.
Because of your support as a listener, we have had more than 4,000 downloads since July – and I thank you for taking the time to join to my conversations with flower farmers, florists and other notable floral experts.
One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter. –Henry David Thoreau
Welcome to the Holiday Season, when flowers are less likely to originate – at least in my garden. This festive combination is a great option.
Ingredients:
5 paper white bulbs (Narcissus papyraceus), available at many garden centers beginning in autumn. I like to plant pots of these bulbs indoors around Thanksgiving so that their blooms (and scent) fill the house by the December holidays.
20 stems scented geranium foliage (Pelargonium citrosum), grown by Charles Little & Co.
10 stems winter berry (Ilex verticillata), grown by Charles Little & Co.
This is how all three ingredients appear together in a low tray.
Vase:
2½-inch deep x 6 inch diameter ceramic dish used as a bulb planter (this one has no drainage, so I watered sparingly)
2½-inch deep x 13-inch long x 9½-inch wide oval tray (wicker with a metal lining)
Eco-technique
Divided arrangements: When the ingredients in your bouquet have different requirements, you can devise a two-sectioned vessel. Here, the bulbs needed a small amount of soil, but the cut foliage and branches needed only fresh water.
The solution was to place a dish with the planted bulbs in the center of the wicker tray. Then, I arranged the ingredients needing water around its edges, making sure to keep the water level lower than the rim of the center dish.
Protea is a dazzling native South African flower that has adapted to California’s benign growing climate – thus, perfect for the American-grown cut flower industry.
Today’s guests are two of the most influential US growers of Protea.
Mel Resendiz, an expert grower of Protea and other South African and Australian ornamental plants.
Owner of Resendiz Brothers Protea Growers, based in Fallbrook, California (in northern San Diego County), Mel Resendiz has been growing protea for 35 years. He’s joined by colleague Diana Roy, an equally passionate protea fan who handles marketing and promotion for Resendiz Proteas.
You’ll hear us refer to this lovely flower a few ways. It’s spelled P-R-O-T-E-A, but pronounced:
Whichever way you pronounce it, Protea is a luscious native South African flower, said to have been named after the Greek God Proteus, who was able to change into many different forms.
The Proteaceae family of plants is comprised of more than 1,400 species. Ranging from 2 to 12 inches in size, Proteas typically blooms in fall, winter and spring, although the folks at Resendiz are able to harvest and ship the flower year-round to customers in the U.S., Canada & Japan, due to their growing practices and attention to detail.
Diana Roy, a board member of the California Cut Flower Commission and active protea promoter. She was captured here at an industry event in a gerbera greenhouse.
A Resendiz bouquet in which Protea is paired with Pincushion flower (Leucospermum).
Why are these South African plants now considered a valuable California flower crop? It’s because coastal California is one of five Mediterranean regions of the globe, similar to South Africa, Australia/New Zealand, Chile and Greece. Full sun, well-drained soil, good air circulation, mild winters and acid soil ensure that proteas thrive as if they were in their native environment.
Established in 1999 and today one of California’s largest supplier of South African and Australian floral products and plants, Resendiz produces more than 200 varieties of these unique native plants. Known for their exceptional value and long vase life, the protea and other blooms like Pincushions, Banksia, Kangaroo Paws andLeucadendron, create dramatic impact when incorporated in arrangements and bouquets. Many varieties are hybrids – grown only by Resendiz Brothers.
A wedding bouquet pairing protea with roses!~
Rich in color, texture and form, the protea is both dramatic and exotic. The spectrum ranges from warm to cool colored blooms — Rich reds, deep pinks, and fresh greens. Together, these blooms make stunning arrangements – and they are long-lasting – a huge bonus for the florist and DIY designer alike.
If you want an American-grown flower that will dazzle in the bouquet or the vase, look no further than the Protea.
Thank you for joining me in this episode of the SLOW FLOWERS Podcast with Debra Prinzing. Because of your support as a listener, there have been nearly 4,000 downloads since July – and I thank you for taking the time to join to my conversations with flower farmers, florists and other notable floral experts.
