Debra Prinzing

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Take a Virtual Tour of Four Rooms and their Designers at The Flower House (Episode 216)

Wednesday, October 21st, 2015
Upstairs and downstairs, the open-air porches of The Flower House were designed by Lisa Waud

Upstairs and downstairs, the open-air porches of The Flower House were designed by Lisa Waud

This week’s episode is dedicated to my friend Lisa Waud and to the flower farmers and florists who created The Flower House. Here’s a recap, by the numbers:

(c) Heather Saunders the official photogapher of The Flower House, captured this opening day image from Oct. 16th

(c) Heather Saunders the official photogapher of The Flower House, captured this opening day image from Oct. 16th

theflowerhouse_graphic1 Elderly home, circa early 1900s

15 rooms, closets, hallways and porches

30-plus floral designers

3 days

2,000-plus visitors

25,000 to 40,000 individual stems of flowers and foliage; the count keeps climbing and changing!

hundred of potted plants

dozens of American flower farms and farmers

180 Field to Vase Dinner Guests

And now that the Flower House event is over? There will be one glorious Detroit flower farm called Flower House Farm.

image

(c) Heather Saunders. The doors to The Flower House opened on October 16th.

(c) Heather Saunders. The doors to The Flower House opened on October 16th.

Last week I had the honor and privilege of returning to The Flower House, a project I visited the first weekend in May when creator Lisa Waud and her fellow designers decorated two rooms of an adjacent building, now called “the little house,” for a press preview to introduce the ultimate exhibition to come in October.

That event took place last weekend, a three-day, flower-themed wonderland that has garnered international attention, including a huge story last Thursday in the New York Times.

This podcast has the distinction of being the first media outlet to share the story of The Flower House when we aired the original interview with Lisa Waud this past February.

I now feel like the fairy godmother who granted a tiny wish to help Lisa get the word out — and look what a fantastic and beautiful dream it blossomed into!

Officially, I was at The Flower House in Hamtramck, Michigan, a hamlet just outside downtown Detroit, to co-host the final of 10 Field to Vase Dinners for 2015.

What a perfect way to go out with a huge bang — a floral fireworks show that sold out days in advance (for tour tickets and dinner tickets), making this the most successful Field to Vase Dinner of all.

"Nature Takes Back," the upstairs kitchen of The Flower House, created by Sally Vander Wyst and Courtney Stemberg of Wisconsin Flower Co.

“Nature Takes Back,” the upstairs kitchen of The Flower House, created by Sally Vander Wyst and Courtney Stemberg of Wisconsin Flower Co.

Look at this charming cupboard, which Sally and Courtney styled with vintage goods.

Look at this charming cupboard, which Sally and Courtney styled with vintage goods.

I arrived at The Flower House late last Wednesday, having grabbed a lift from the airport with my Seattle flower gal-pal Bev Burrows. Bev is a Detroit native who works in the floral, events and visual display world here in Seattle and she simply could not stay away from the lure of The Flower House in her hometown.

We jumped out of her brother’s car and started hyperventilating as we saw florist friends new and old (a few of our friends from the PNW had flown in just to volunteer for a few days, Slow Flowers members Adria Sparkhawk of Thicket in Portland and Erica Knowles of Botany 101 in Seattle). Then I found Lisa and greeted her with hugs, smiles and a few tears of happiness.

There was much going on with the opening less than 36 hours away. Lisa was busily installing her 2-story display on the home’s upstairs and downstairs porches (see that portion above).

And 14 other spaces were in various stages of installation, too. Buckets of American grown flowers were stacked everywhere and the orderly chaos promised something huge was about to be unveiled.

A tiny, wild moment in Sally and Courtney's kitchen. "If Mother Nature was a Florist . . . "

A tiny, wild moment in Sally and Courtney’s kitchen. “If Mother Nature was a Florist . . . “

Over the next several weeks I’ll be sharing clips from interviews with as many of the Flower House designers as have been able to record.

Today you will hear from designers of four of the rooms; I grabbed these conversations as the designers introduced me to the specific space they embellished with flowers, and as they described the inspiration, vision and design process.

There is one unifying thread that weaves together these stories. Each designer cares deeply about sourcing American grown botanical ingredients from local flower farms and from farms in other parts of the U.S.

They want to showcase the bounty and beauty of the season and help tell the floral industry and the floral consumer that it’s important to make a conscious choice when buying flowers.

Susan Studer King and Caroline Waller, Ohio designers, in the child's bedroom they designed.

Susan Studer King and Caroline Waller, Ohio designers, in the child’s bedroom they designed.

First up, you will meet SALLY VANDER WYST of the MILWAUKEE FLOWER CO., a Slowflowers.com member who created a Wisconsin-filled kitchen called “Nature Takes Back.”

Then you’ll hear from SUSAN STUDER KING of BUCKEYE BLOOMS, Slowflowers.com member and a past guest of this podcast, and her collaborator, fellow Ohioan CAROLINE WALKER of PASSIFLORA STUDIO as they introduce us to the child’s bedroom entitled “Foraged Foliage.”

The third space I visited was entitled “Sweet Mossy Dreams,” a closet and tiny hallway decorated in a most fantastical way by Slowflowers.com member SUSAN KELLY of THREE SISTERS FLOWERS, based in East Palo Alto, California.

And finally, you’ll meet past podcast guests and Slowflowers.com members JENNIFER HAF and LARISSA FLYNN of BLOOM FLORAL DESIGN, based in Petosky, Michigan, as they describe the vivid and electrifying upstairs bedroom, “Wild, Floral Graffiti.”

The walls of Susan and Caroline's "Foraged Floral"-themed bedroom are banded with wooshes of floral color.

The walls of Susan and Caroline’s “Foraged Floral”-themed bedroom are banded with wooshes of floral color.

A wider view of the bedroom, sunshine pouring through the windows.

A wider view of the bedroom, sunshine pouring through the windows.

I’ll introduce these Flower House designers individually at the beginning of each clip, so follow along and enjoy this first installment and virtual tour of the rooms within The Flower House.

Susan Kelly of Three Sisters Floral Design, tucked into her "Sweet Mossy Dreams" closet and hallway.

Susan Kelly of Three Sisters Flowers, tucked into her “Sweet Mossy Dreams” closet and hallway.

The botanical medallion on the ceiling of Susan's tiny closet space - amazing!!!

The botanical medallion on the ceiling of Susan’s tiny closet space – amazing!!! Incorporating 237 leaves and a sunflower, it was inspired by a ceiling she saw at the Museum of the Hunt in Paris.

I think it’s so exciting that you’ll be hearing from designers who hail from Wisconsin, Ohio, California and Michigan – they’re just a few of the many talents whose voices will appear here in the coming weeks.

I especially love the contagious passion and urge to create that exudes from this project. Whimsy, joy, wonderment, sentiment, poignancy, surprise — all combine in this dream of a project.

Larissa Flynn and Jennifer Haf of Bloom Floral Design in their "Wild, Floral Graffiti" space.

Larissa Flynn and Jennifer Haf of Bloom Floral Design in their “Wild, Floral Graffiti” space.

The floral-inspired graffiti underlay seen on the walls of Jennifer and Larissa's space pays homage to Detroit's street art.

The floral-inspired graffiti underlay seen on the walls of Jennifer and Larissa’s space pays homage to Detroit’s street art.

Love these giant flowers on the walls of "Wild, Floral Graffiti," that complement the all-American flowers.

Love these giant flowers on the walls of “Wild, Floral Graffiti,” that complement the all-American flowers.

My hat is off to all of the designers and especially to Lisa Waud. Once the dust settles and Lisa has transitioned from her role as Flower House creator to urban flower farmer for her successful design business Pot and Box, we’ll invite her back for a recap of the project.

In the meantime, I leave you with this impression that Jen and Larissa shared. It has stuck with me as a perfect description of their room and many of the other rooms within the four walls of The Flower House: In designing their room, the women said they experienced a WILD CRAZY FREEDOM.

Extra dahlias grown by Summer Dreams Farm, a local Michigan resource -- spontaneously woven into the chain link fence in front of The Flower House.

Extra dahlias grown by Michael Genovese of Summer Dreams Farm, a local Michigan resource — spontaneously woven into the chain link fence in front of The Flower House.

And I wish that sentiment for you to experience as well. It can happen when you connect with nature and with flowers that have been grown by the hardworking hands of American flower farmers.

Episodes of the Slow Flowers Podcast have been downloaded 68,000 times. I thank you and others in the progressive American-grown floral community for supporting this endeavor.

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. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.

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.

Destination Weddings in North Michigan, with BLOOM Floral Design (Episode 200)

Wednesday, July 1st, 2015
Bloom_Floral_Design

Jennifer Haf (left) and Larissa Flynn (right) of BLOOM Floral Design, collaborating on a floral headpiece at a recent Francoise Weeks workshop in Michigan

web_2015AmericanFlowersWeekLogoWe are in the middle of celebrating the inaugural American Flowers Week, June 29th through July 4th. We created American Flowers Week as a grass roots education, promotion and advocacy campaign to highlight our nation’s farms, florists, flowers and foliage — and to raise awareness among consumers, the media and policymakers about supporting domestic flowers!

If you haven’t joined in, there is plenty of time to get involved.

The easiest thing you can do is to make a red-white-and-blue bouquet using all American-grown, local and seasonal blooms. Please post that photo on your social sites and tag #americanflowersweek. I believe this effort will grow from a small idea into a significant annual event – and by adding your voice (and creativity) to American Flowers Week, you’re helping sing the praises of our homegrown blooms.

bloomlogoI’m so pleased today to introduce you to Jennifer Haf and Larissa Flynn of BLOOM Floral Design based on the beautiful North Michigan shore, in the communities of Petoskey/Charlevoix.

Jennifer founded BLOOM floral design in 2008 in response to her love for sharing cut garden flowers from her Northern Michigan backyard.

Having since studied under some of the most celebrated designers and with her team executed hundreds of regional and destination events, Jennifer radiates her love for all things natural into the designs BLOOM creates.

With a talented design team, BLOOM offers exclusive services to Northern Michigan and destination wedding clients — in fact, for 65 ceremonies this year alone.

Jennifer Haf, founder of BLOOM Floral Design.

Jennifer Haf, founder of BLOOM Floral Design.

Along with Jennifer, you’ll also meet Larissa Flynn, the creative director for BLOOM.

Trained as a graphic designer and fine artist, with extensive gallery and arts management experience, Larissa joined the floral business several years ago after meeting Jennifer and realizing they were creative kindred spirits.

I love the philosophy of BLOOM, as described on the studio’s web site:

We believe that flowers are most beautiful in their natural state.  When combined with other blooms in a customized palette, color and texture create a distinctive design that exudes the feeling you wish to create.  BLOOM sources flowers from only the finest growers, sourcing as much as we can locally and domestically.  Hand selected from tried and true varieties of the highest standards, our blooms will be sure to please.

Behind the scenes our creative team works meticulously at our production design studio where all of the magic happens the week leading up to your event.  Hand processing all of our flowers and prepping and designing each arrangement per event, our designs will charm and delight you and your guests.

Larissa Flynn, BLOOM's creative director.

Larissa Flynn, BLOOM’s creative director.

As you will hear in our conversation, I recorded the interview with Jennifer and Larissa rather spontaneously – at a gathering hosted by Lisa Waud of pot and box and Detroit’s The Flower House, a prior guest of this podcast.

I had flown to Detroit for a 24-hour visit to attend the preview for this amazing art installation, which will be held over the weekend of October 16-18.

Jennifer and Larissa will create the florals for one of the rooms at The Flower House and I can’t wait to see what kind of botanical magic they conjure up.

Please follow links to all of BLOOM’s social sites, shared below. These are talented Slow Flowers floristas you will want to follow:

BLOOM on Facebook

BLOOM on Twitter

BLOOM on Pinterest

BLOOM on Instagram

Here’s a gallery of the beautiful design work from BLOOM Floral Design, used with their permission. These gorgeous images give me a keen sense of place and an appreciation for the character of their region’s landscape, climate and flora. A large percentage of their floral elements are local, Michigan-grown flowers. You’ll want to visit Northern Michigan at the peak of the season to see these lovelies yourself!

Bloom4

Bloom5

Bloom9

Bloom7

Bloom10

Bloom11

Bloom14

Bloom15

Bloom17

Bloom13

Listeners like you have downloaded this podcast more than 54,000 times. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.

Please join the American Flowers Week excitement and check out these resources to help your efforts. With your involvement, I believe this public awareness campaign will gain momentum and become an established annual event in the floral industry.

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.