The Southern California farm synonymous with breathtaking blooms and gorgeous flowers and foliage is celebrating its 100th year in business this year. Founded by Giovanni Mellano in 1925, Mellano & Company is embarking on “Blooming into a New Era,” a year-long celebration highlighting the generations of families and faces who have played an integral role in the company’s success throughout the years, while also looking ahead to its next century of leadership in the floral industry. I sat down with 3rd generation flower farmer Mike A. Mellano to reflect on this huge accomplishment and to discuss both memories and highlights of this influential, family-owned American floral enterprise.
Mellano & Co. is a Certified American Grown flower farm.
We all know that successful flower farming requires passion, grit, and endurance. It’s so rare that any U.S. flower farm can sustain those traits for a century, but Mellano & Co., is one of the few.
Early days at the Los Angeles Flower Market. The Mellano family has been involved for more than 90 years.
From their humble beginnings in the bustling Los Angeles Flower Market to becoming a trusted name in the floral industry, Mellano & Co.’s flowers and foliage are present in every niche of the floral marketplace. They are based in Southern California, but their botanicals can be found in all 50 states, from wholesale to mass market outlets.
Mike A. Mellano, photographed at The Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California
Today, I’m sharing a wonderful conversation with Mike A. Mellano, a third-generation family farmer, longtime CEO, and new Chief Science Officer. We’ll reflect on the past and look to the future of domestic floral agriculture.
https://youtu.be/9s3VxbOMgp8?si=68mNhXErwK6CmXzM
ABOVE: Watch the inspiring 15-minute documentary that Mellano & Co. produced to celebrate their centennial.
LISTEN: Mike Mellano’s first appearance on the Slow Flowers Podcast, when he was a guest on Episode 244 in 2016. I know you’ll enjoy learning more about the company whose flowers and foliage is widely used and loved.
Thank you to our Sponsors
This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.
Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.
Thank you to The Gardener’s Workshop, which offers a full curriculum of online education for flower farmers and farmer-florists. Online education is more important than ever, and you’ll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com.
Thank you 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. Learn more at www.a-roo.com.
Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com.
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!
Jordan Wach (left), Hannah Brannan of Gather Flora (center), and Jessica Hole of Sonoma Flower Mart (right), photographed in 2020 on the Sonoma Flower Mart truck, preparing to deliver flowers pre-ordered on the Gather Flora platform
Today, we have two guests who will bring us up to speed on some exciting floral news happening in and around the Bay Area. As many listeners may recall, there was considerable disruption in the floral marketplace last year with COVID and yet so many flower farmers and florists prevailed, pivoted and innovated as they figured out how to get local, seasonal and sustainably-grown blooms into the hands of consumers.
Now, with 2021, the pressure comes not from a pandemic but from a vulnerable global supply chain, and here’s where my first guest enters. Please meet Hannah Brannan, a software engineer and founder of Gather Flora, a web platform that connects farmers and florists to facilitate convenient and improved local flower sales.
Hannah’s love of flowers traces back to a childhood, playing barefoot in her grandmother’s magical garden in Texas. In 2014, Hannah moved to California, home to 80% of U.S. domestic floral production, where she rekindled her childhood enchantment in flowers.
Hannah has spent the past several growing seasons embedded in Northern California’s floral community. Last year, she ran the sales platform for the Sonoma Flower Mart (with 8 farms and 44 weekly active users) and volunteered on the Board of the Sacramento Valley Flower Collective, all while beta testing gatherflora.com .
Hannah Brannan, founder of Gather Flora, loving on some code and software testing specs
As Hannah recently wrote: The most inspiring, locally grown flowers that make it to flower shops today are produced by small and medium-sized, mission-driven, dedicated growers and brought to us by wildly dedicated local florists. However, the time, energy, and multiple rounds of back-and-forth communication aren’t always feasible for busy, hard-working florists. I learned that the sentiment of being overstretched resounded from farmers and florists alike and it was clear that there was a need to apply technology in a thoughtful way to alleviate these challenges. Ultimately, I found that I could best serve the community by merging flowers and software and the result is Gather Flora
Carlos Pavon, on Team Gather Flora, helping to set up the flower stall for Day 1 Gather Flora at the San Francisco Flower Mart
You’ll hear about Hannah’s path to flowers from software coding and engineering to volunteering in a flower shop and on flower farms. It all comes together in her newes chapter — running the Gather Flora Flower Stall at the San Francisco Flower Mart.
Studio Mondine’s first order on Gather Flora to fundraise for the AAPI community (left); Setting up for Gather Flora’s Day One at the SFFM 2021 (right)
To finance the Flower Stall launch, Gather Flora created a Kickstarter Campaign to raise $13,500 needed funds. As of last week, the campaign had met and exceeded its goal at $15,588 and counting. You’ll hear Hannah discuss more in our episode — please join me in wishing this young collective endeavor a huge success. I think the main insight here is that while buying flowers online is very convenient, there are still times when florists want to use their senses and shop in person. Now Gather Flora has a hybrid way to connect farms and florists in the Bay Area.
More resources from and about Gather Flora:
CA-based florists and wholesalers sign up for pre-orders here.
Gather Flora+ Max Gill Master’s Workshop Scholarship Application here
In 2021, we are looking to expand our network to 50 CA flower growers. If you are an interested, CA-based grower, please apply here
For all non-CA-based growers (US and international) who are interested in receiving future updates about Gather Flora regional expansion click here.
Follow: @gatherflora (IG) and Gather Flora (Facebook)
Bonus Guest: Elise Schultheis
The Flower Wagon
When Hannah and I began planning this episode, I suggested we bring in a second guest — a Slow Flowers member who uses the Gather Flora platform.
And I’m delighted to introduce you to Elise Schultheis ofThe Flower Wagon. We recorded this episode on Earth Day, April 22nd, which was also the date Elise debuted her new, sustainably-minded business in the Bay area. How fun is that!?
Elise’s business emerged from her love of flowers and her entrepreneurial spirit, formed while also completing an MBA with a focus on Sustainability and Social Impact. The Flower Wagon, also named “Flora” is a 1963 Volkswagen Single Cab fueled by flower power. After several months of tuning her up and converting her into a flower shop on wheels, Flora is now filled with fresh blooms and is on a mission to celebrate the San Francisco Bay Area’s sustainable, locally-grown flowers and the people who grow them.
A Post-Script: You heard Hannah talk about working with the Sonoma Flower Mart in 2020, and now comes news that the business is for sale. Sonoma Flower Mart, an amazing local flower distribution business based in Sonoma County, California is looking to connect with interested buyers. Sonoma Flower Mart is an established local flowers business with access to a great network of farms connected through the Gather Flora platform. There is so much community support behind this business and the local flowers community is excited to welcome a who shares the value for community & local.
If you are interested in learning more, contact Sonoma Flower Mart at flowers@sonomaflowermart.com. Let’s help local flowers flourish in an important hub — California wine country! Sending everyone involved our best wishes to see this endeavor continue under new leadership!
Help me Celebrate our NEW BOOK: Where We Bloom!
As you’ve been hearing over the past weeks, my new book Where We Bloom, recently debuted and the response has been so encouraging!
And if you’re in the Seattle Area, you’re invited to join us at one of two upcoming book-signing events. Meet me, my partner in BLOOM Imprint, creative director Robin Avni, and several of the Slow Flowers members whose beautiful studio spaces are featured in the pages of Where We Bloom!
On May 1st, 2-4 p.m., we will be at Ravenna Gardens at Seattle’s University Village shopping center, signing books and greeting kindred spirits. Farmer-florist Lori Poliski of Flori, featured in Where We Bloom, is bringing flowers from her garden to give away while supplies last.
On May 8th 1-3 p.m., you can find us at PaperDelights in Burien, just south of Seattle, where we are joining Teresa Rao of Belle Pétale, also featured in Where We Bloom, for a booksigning and mother’s day flower pop-up.
Hope to see you there! We’ll have our masks on as we respect all COVID social distancing guidelines, but hey – it’s spring, it’s almost mother’s day, and we are ready to bloom with you!
Thank you to our Sponsors!
This podcast is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 875 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.
And thank you to our lead sponsor for 2021, Farmgirl Flowers. Farmgirl Flowers delivers iconic burlap-wrapped bouquets and lush, abundant arrangements to customers across the U.S., supporting more than 20 U.S. flower farms by purchasing more than $9 million dollars of U.S.-grown fresh and seasonal flowers and foliage annually, and providing competitive salaries and benefits to 240 team members based in Watsonville, California and Miami, Florida. Discover more atfarmgirlflowers.com.
For each Podcast episode this year, we thank three of our Major Sponsors. 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.
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.
Mayesh Wholesale Florist. Family-owned since 1978, Mayesh is the premier wedding and event supplier in the U.S. and we’re thrilled to partner with Mayesh to promote local and domestic flowers, which they source from farms large and small around the U.S. Learn more at mayesh.com.
Thanks so much for joining us today! The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 720,000 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.
I value your support and invite you to show your thanks to support Slow Flowers’ ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right at debraprinzing.com
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 Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com.
Music Credits:
Game Hens; Waterbourne; Turning on the Lights; Gaena by Blue Dot Sessions http://www.sessions.blue
FILOLI: the recently-renovated “High Place” at Filoli in Woodside, Calif., destination for the Slow Flowers Summit 2020
Today I’m bringing you a special edition of the Slow Flowers Podcast! We’re airing this segment on Monday, December 2, 2019, the day we open up Early Bird ticket sales for the 4th annual Slow Flowers Summit.
We have an incredible and inspiring lineup of speakers to introduce you to in the coming months, but first, to entice you further, I want to start with our Venue: Filoli.
Clockwise from top, left: Susan Mcleary, Kellee Matsushita-Tseng, Molly Culver, Lorene Edwards Forkner, Debra Prinzing, Jennifer Jewell, Pilar Zuniga and Emily Saeger
For 2020, the SUMMIT returns to the West Coast with a strategic partnership with Filoli Historic House and Garden in Woodside, Calif., outside San Francisco.
We are so excited for the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the beauty and legacy of this Bay Area cultural institution. Summit attendees, speakers, sponsors and guests will spend two full days experiencing the historic residence, as well as Filoli’s legendary landscape and cutting gardens. We also will have unprecedented access to design a ‘floral takeover’ in ‘The House,’ California’s most triumphant example of the Georgian Revival tradition and one of the finest remaining country estates of the early 20th century.
Our two FILOLI guests today: Kara Newport (left) and Emily Saeger (right)
I’m thrilled today to introduce two Filoli voices to share more about what you can expect at this amazing venue. First, please meet Kara Newport, CEO and Executive Director. Next, I will speak with Emily Saeger, lead horticulturist and the go-to cut flower expert at Filoli.
Kara Newport became the Executive Director of Filoli Center in August 2016. Previously, she served as Executive Director for Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, a developing public garden, from 2006 to August 2016. Before serving in this capacity, Kara’s career was focused on fundraising at organizations including Winterthur, Philadelphia Zoo, and Outward Bound. Kara has a BS in Botany and a graduate degree from the Longwood Program.
Emily Saegar’s eight years of horticultural experience blend production agriculture, landscape maintenance, garden and floral design. She has worked for several notable Bay Area farms including, Fifth Crow Farm, Bluma Farm and Hidden Villa; and as Lead Horticulturist at Filoli she looks after the rose garden, cutting garden and orchard. Her design aesthetic is a blending of her work experience – foraged and cultivated, wild and formal – always designed with seasonality and senescence in mind. A strong believer in the healing powers of nature, through her gardens and floral design she hopes to facilitate this connection for all.
(c) Gretchine Nievarez
As you will hear in our conversation, Emily was the instigator behind Filoli’s invitation to me to bring the Slow Flowers Summit to the Bay Area. We wanted to return to the West Coast and little did we know that she was working her influence and stirring up enthusiasm with Filoli’s leadership behind the scenes.
Thanks so much for joining my conversations with Kara and Emily — you’ll have a chance to meet them both when you join me at the Slow Flowers Summit. As I mentioned, Emily will be one of our presenters at the Summit, joining Kellee Matsushita-Tseng as moderator and fellow panelist Molly Culver of Molly Oliver Flowers, on the Sustainable Farming x Floral Design panel.
Filoli’s amazing Historic House, the site of our Summit Floral Takeover! (c) Julie Bly DeVere
Registration: Your all-inclusive 2-1/2-day Summit experience is affordably priced at $599, including refreshments, meals and evening receptions. Slow Flowers members receive discounted pricing of $549.
Early-Bird Pricing: Starting today, take advantage of our Early Bird Ticket Promotion – now through December 31st. The EARLY BIRD Tickets are available to you at $100 off each level, so Slow Flowers members will pay $449 and general registration is $499.
If you’re not a Slow Flowers member, this means you can join Slow Flowers for as little as $50 annually and take advantage of member pricing — you’ll still save $50!
At Filoli, we will be surrounded by the natural beauty of the SF Peninsula, enriched by the cultivated formal landscape and prolific cutting gardens, and inspired by the artistry of our presenters.
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 Brenlan. Learn more about his work at soundbodymovement.com.
Garden Writers get to play with California Flowers at their annual symposium in Pasadena last week.
Last weekend, more than 300 members of the Garden Writers Association attended the annual symposium in Pasadena. As the past president, I was there. Two people asked whether I could involve the California Cut Flower Commission in the conference and it worked out beautifully to combine those opportunities.
Vice President and Program Chair Kirk Brown asked me to lead a floral design workshop at the Table Topics session on Saturday afternoon. That’s where hundreds of attendees move through 30 tables, speed-dating-like to engage with various experts and explore subjects of interest to the horticulture, communications, and media professions.
Local Arrangements Chair Lydia Plunk asked me to procure California-grown flowers to adorn the banquet tables at the Media Awards Ceremony Monday. Both requests were doable, made even easier because of the help of these incredibly generous companies:
Syndicate Sales donated USA-made hurricane-style vases for the centerpieces.
Chris Sabbarese of Corona Tools tweeted out this photo.
I loved sharing these California blooms as a tangible example of the Slow Flowers movement.
We brought to life the conversation about local, American grown flowers and engaged my fellow garden communicators (writers, photographers, bloggers and educators) by getting them up close and personal to these fresh, beautiful botanicals.
After the workshop, the flowers were used to adorn the banquet tables at the Media Awards Banquet, held at the Pasadena Convention Center this past Monday evening.
My Slow Flowers project won a Silver Award, so it was indeed fitting to have local flowers on the tables that night. As a bonus, one lucky guest at each table “won” a bouquet to take home.
These are some of the photos that showed up on social media, which gives the local, American-grown story a very long shelf life!
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter photos from the Garden Writers event.
As a bonus, Stargazer Barn provided guests with a 15%-off coupon on a future order. If you missed it, feel free to use this one here:
Three Days. Six Workshops. Hundreds of American Grown Flowers, including some very special Florida-grown varieties.
Having Fun on the Festival Stage at Disney Epcot.
Last week, the Slow Flowers Challenge took place in Orlando, at the International Flower & Garden Show at Epcot. This was the third time I’ve been invited to present at Epcot since 2010 – and I was thrilled to return. If you love horti-tainment (and that’s what I call the combination of talented horticulture staff let loose on plants, Disney-style), you’ve got to visit this 10-week spring celebration of flowers and gardening, usually staged between March and May.
There are no fewer than 21 planted topiary characters throughout the park, from my personal favorites, Farmers Mickey & Minnie, to the hottest new offering: Anna and Elsa from the animated film “Frozen.”
Each morning for three days running I shared the story of “American Beauty: the Slow Flowers Movement,” featuring the successful renaissance of flower farming and creative floral design that’s inspired by local and domestic American-grown flowers. Each afternoon, audiences were able to see that same story brought to life with flowers and foliage. Here are some of those arrangements:
Love this all-California-grown palette featuring grevillea, Gerrondo gerberas, bupleurum, pink wax flowers,’Green Ball’ dianthus and an echeveria.
An all Florida arrangement featuring three types of foliage and ferns combined with trailing clematis.
A whimsical arrangement with a Disney-fun palette of yellow lilies, hot pink Matsumoto asters and ‘Green Ball’ dianthus – California grown – arranged into a base of variegated Florida-grown pittosporum foliage.
A truly favorite nearly all-Florida bouquet with ferns, foliage and clematis, topped off with an echeveria. White waxflower is from California.
The big takeaway? People want to know more! They understand the importance of keeping things local – from saving farmland to the environment to jobs! I consider it a privilege to tell that story while playing with the flowers grown by people I respect and admire!
Something really exciting happened last week – my friends at the San Francisco Flower Mart, the premiere flower market in the U.S., came onboard as presenting sponsors of the Slowflowers.com directory. This is my other passionate project, and it dovetails nicely with the Slowflowers Podcast.
In the works right now, Slowflowers.com is a free online directory to help you find florists, studio designers, wedding and event planners, supermarket flower departments and flower farmers who are committed to American grown flowers.
Inside the San Francisco Flower Mart: Connecting Bay Area florists and flower lovers with fresh, seasonal and local blooms.
I happened to be working in SF this past Monday, so I stopped by the management office and grabbed General Manager Bob Otsuka and Jeanne Bose, the SFFM’s marketing/promotions director and social media strategist, for a quick conversation, recorded as a Bonus to the Slow Flowers Podcast. Listen to what Bob and Jeanne say about the Market’s decision to bring their support to the Slowflowers.com launch.
It’s fascinating to learn about the history of this amazing center for locally grown flowers – and inspiring to know that we’re on the same path to promote more American Grown Flowers to the floral industry and consumers alike.
Seasonal blooms, six days a week.
There’s a huge selection of local California-grown roses . . . in awesome colors~
Here is a little slice of history, as told on the Market’s web site:
With beginnings paralleling the growth and development of the San Francisco Bay Area, the origins of the San Francisco Flower Mart go back to the late 1800’s when land was plentiful. Local flower growers could bring their product to Lotta’s fountain in downtown San Francisco three days a week, selling their product to local flower shops. [Note:Lotta’s fountain is located at the intersection of Market, Geary and Kearny streets in downtown San Francisco.]
A need for a centrally located market bringing together the three ethnically diverse groups of flower growers was fulfilled with the opening of a market located at 5th and Howard Streets in 1924. As flower growers expanded production areas outside of the Bay Area and as product from other parts of United States came in, the need for a larger more modern permanent facility led to the design and construction of our current market at Sixth and Brannan Streets in the South of Market area of San Francisco.
The grand opening of the San Francisco Flower Terminal in September 1956 marked the establishment of an industry icon. Today, officially known as the San Francisco Flower Mart, we now have over 60 vendors, purveyors of cut flowers, potted plants, blooming plants and floral supplies. We have evolved from being a “growers” market to being a marketplace for floral wholesalers. Product, which at one time was only from the immediate Bay Area, now comes from the far reaches of the world.
As you will hear in this podcast interview, more than a century after it was established, the San Francisco Flower Mart continues to reflects the character of locally-grown flowers and the farmers who grow those blooms.
In addition to family flower farms selling direct to the floral industry and consumers, you will also find wholesalers who stock flowers from growers in other parts of California, as well as Oregon and Washington. And while people in “the flower biz” are served here as wholesale customers six days a week, some days as early as 2:00 a.m., the DIY flower lover/designer is also welcome to shop – after 10 a.m.
A bustling center for flowers – with more than 60 vendors.
Racks of California-grown hyacinths recently offered by Torchio Nursery, a vendor at the San Francisco Flower Mart.
This is truly a flower mecca and you must add it to your flower bucket list if you haven’t been to visit. I’m thrilled to feature the San Francisco Flower Mart and doubly thrilled that this important center for local flowers will be a Presenting Sponsor on the Slowflowers.com site for the year to come, connecting More American Flowers with Customers, One Vase at a Time.
All photographs used here, courtesy (c) Jeanne Boes, SF Flower Mart
