Debra Prinzing

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Episode 551: Riz Reyes shares his first book: GROW, A Family Guide to Plants and How to Grow Them

Wednesday, March 30th, 2022

It’s Spring, so it’s garden book season, of course. Last week, you met Teresa J. Speight, author of Black Flora. Today, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Riz Reyes of RHR Horticulture, a longtime Slow Flowers member and friend who has authored his first book for young readers and their families.

GROW: A Family Guide to Plants and How to Grow Them, encourages children to discover 15 plants and fungi with life-changing powers and learn how to grow them at home.

Riz profiles 15 plants, beautifully illustrated by Sara Boccaccini Meadows, and in each section, readers will meet the often surprising plant relatives (for example, the tasty tomato is a cousin of deadly nightshade!). Interesting plant stories are accompanied with step-by-step instructions to grow and care for each one, whether you have a big backyard garden or a sunny windowsill.

Here’s a little bit more about Riz:

Rizaniño “Riz” ReyesRizaniño Reyes is a horticulturalist, speaker, and educator. Growing up in the Philippines, Riz spent his childhood on a fruit plantation managed by his father before moving to the Pacific Northwest at age seven. Upon arrival in the United States, he learned the names of the new and strange flowers and continued to nurture his love of horticulture—“the art and science of plants”—at the University of Washington. Of his work, he says he hopes to inspire more young people, “especially people of color, to be involved with interacting with nature and learning about the environment . . . If everyone did this, can you imagine what a beautiful world this could be?” 

Grow Pineapple spread
The story of the Pineapple in GROW, by Riz Reyes
Orchids in GROW
The story of Orchids in GROW

I hope you enjoy our conversation, recorded a few weeks ago inside my cozy greenhouse. I’ve edited some of the whimsical, info-packed illustrations by Sara Boccaccini Meadows throughout this video.

Listen to my 2015 interview with Riz in Episode 215: Riz Reyes on Floriculture as the Gateway to Horticulture (Episode 214)

Find and follow Riz Reyes at these social places:
RHR Horticulture on Facebook
RHR Horticulture on Instagram
RHR Horticulture on YouTube


Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 880 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.

Farmgirl Flowers 2022

Thank you to our lead sponsor, returning for 2022, Farmgirl Flowers. Farmgirl Flowers delivers iconic burlap-wrapped bouquets and lush, abundant arrangements to customers across the U.S., supporting U.S. flower farms by purchasing more than $10 million dollars of U.S.-grown fresh and seasonal flowers and foliage annually. Discover more at farmgirlflowers.com.

Thank you to CalFlowers, the leading floral trade association in California, providing valuable transportation and other benefits to flower growers and the entire floral supply chain in California and 48 other states. The Association is a leader in bringing fresh cut flowers to the U.S. market and in promoting the benefits of flowers to new generations of American consumers. Learn more at cafgs.org

Thank you to Store It Cold, creators of the revolutionary CoolBot, which you just heard Carlee mention as a new addition to her studio.  Save $1000s when you build your own walk-in cooler with the CoolBot and an air conditioner.  Don’t have time to build your own?  They also have turnkey units available. Learn more at storeitcold.com

Thank you to Flowerfarm.com. FlowerFarm is a leading wholesale flower distributor that sources from carefully-selected flower farms to offer high-performing fresh flowers sent directly from the farm straight to you. You can shop by flower and by country of origin at flowerfarm.com. Find flowers and foliage from California, Florida, Oregon and Washington by using the “Origin” selection tool in your search. It’s smarter sourcing. Learn more at flowerfarm.com.


Slow Flowers Podcast Logo with flowers, recorder and mic

Thanks so much for joining us today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 830,000 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.

If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at Slow Flowers Society.com and consider making a donation to sustain Slow Flowers’ ongoing advocacy, education and outreach activities. You can find the donate button in the column to the right at debraprinzing.com


Debra in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
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. 


Music credits:
Turning on the Lights; Gaena
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue

Lovely
by Tryad 
http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In The Field; Solo Acoustic 5
audionautix.com


Episode 284: Wedding Coordinator Aimée Newlander and the new Slow Weddings Network

Wednesday, February 15th, 2017

Slow Flowers designed by Bonny Doon Garden Co. for Aimée's Slow Weddings clients

Slow Flowers designed by Bonny Doon Garden Co. for Aimée Newlander’s Slow Weddings clients

Valentine’s Day is over — are you ready to relax and celebrate your success?!

I hope so! If you’re looking  for a great way to invest in yourself and feed your creativity in a new way, please join Anne Bradfield and Jason Miller and me at the upcoming Slow Flowers Creative Workshop. It will take place in Seattle on March 6th and 7th and you can find a link to more details here. This intimate 2-day event is designed for creatives to boost their powers of language, narrative and storytelling — on the page and on video. We’re excite to share our expertise and help you develop your business and your brand – so check it out.

Postcard_Front

Postcard_Back
Before we get started with today’s interview featuring a fantastic guest, I want to share a big announcement with you.

Please put Sunday, July 2nd on your calendar and save the date to join me in Seattle at the first SLOW FLOWERS SUMMIT, a one-day conference that I’m calling a “TED talk for flower lovers.”

For years, I’ve been talking with a few of you about producing a “slow flowers summit,” essentially devoting time and space to gather thought leaders and change agents to discuss the momentum of the Slow Flowers Movement.

Now, the timing is right to hold such a forum. The 2017 Slow Flowers Summit achieves and recognizes many things.

00581_DP_AFW_Badge_2017First, it coincides with American Flowers Week, our third annual campaign to promote domestic flowers, farms and florists, scheduled again to take place June 28 through July 4th. Holding the Summit during American Flowers Week allows us to celebrate and recognize the mission of Slow Flowers.

Second, it allows people attending AIFD, the American Institute of Floral Designers annual conference in Seattle that week, to access high-quality, substantial American-grown educational programming that they will not obtain at their conference.

And third, this year’s timing allows us to bring in keynote speaker Amy Stewart to commemorate the 10th anniversary of her influential book, Flower Confidential. So many of you were inspired to change your own relationship with flowers after Amy published Flower Confidential in 2007 and we’re thrilled to bring her to the Summit.

Our other speakers are pretty amazing, too. We have Teresa Sabankaya of Bonny Doon Garden Co., a past guest of this podcast and the florist originally profiled by Amy in her book. We’re honored to welcome award-winning garden blogger and author Chantal Aida Gordon of The Horticult blog, who will moderate a panel on Diversity in the Floral and Horticulture industries. She’ll be joined by some great friends of Slowflowers.com, Leslie Bennett, principal of Pine House Edible Gardens in Oakland, Riz Reyes of RHR Horticulture in Seattle, also a past guest of this podcast, and floral artist Nicole Cordier Wahlquist of Grace Flowers Hawaii.

Emily Ellen Anderson of Seattle’s Lola Creative will speak about “reinvention,” sharing her transition from landscape architect to floral and event designer, and our favorite flower rebel Lisa Waud of pot & box will bring the insights from her experience with The Flower House and Detroit Flower Week to lead a conversation on nurturing creativity. Emily and Lisa are both past guests of this podast.

All of these important voices will be shepherded through the day by our very charming and charismatic master of ceremonies, James Baggett. He’s a top editor at Country Gardens and Better Homes & Gardens and is one of the most devoted to publishing my stories about flower farming across the U.S. We’re delighted he’ll be joining us as emcee and media sponsor.

In the coming weeks we’ll host many of these speakers as guests, so expect to hear more as we build momentum for American Flowers Week and the Summit. Tickets are $175 for the day and we have a special rate for Slow Flowers members, so check it out.

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Aimée Newlander, wedding coordinator and creator of the Slow Weddings Network

Aimée Newlander, wedding coordinator and creator of the Slow Weddings Network

SlowWeddingsLogo2Okay, let’s turn to the inspiring Aimée Newlander.

I first met Aimée in March 2015 while visiting Santa Cruz to spend time with Teresa Sabankaya. Teresa put together a little brunch and invited some of the area’s kindred spirits, people involved in the Slow Coast sustainable business community located along the fifty mile stretch of mountains & ocean in the midst of California’s famed coastline.

One of those attending was Aimée, a wedding coordinator with whom Teresa collaborates, when couples who work with Weddings by Aimée order locally-grown flowers for their ceremonies.

Aimée told me she was using “the mindful planner” as a hash-tag and that she planned to soon launch a Slow Weddings forum.

The two of us stayed in touch and continued to exchange ideas as her project took off and last August. When we held a Slow Flowers meet-up in Santa Cruz, Aimee joined us to share more details about the coming launch of the Slow Weddings Network.

Fast forward to last fall and what began as a Facebook Group with 100 members has evolved into the nonprofit Slow Weddings Network.

a SLOW WEDDING, Santa Cruz-style

a SLOW WEDDING, Santa Cruz-style

Here is the description — I think the mission will resonate with many of you in the Slow Flowers community.

We seek to shake up the status quo of the wedding industry, to reclaim the sacred space for couples who are seeking authentic and “present” weddings. But, more than that we are the nexus for a movement that is long overdue. It’s about educating from the inside out.  Own what you are passionate about.  We are about having high standards, education and building and bringing awareness to the masses.  You don’t have to have a fast wedding…. you can be well, enjoy the process and end with a wedding celebration you are present for, participate in, enjoy and will remember for the rest of your life.

“Slow Weddings Network” is a not-for-profit membership organization made up of wedding vendors around the world. Its directory of vendors includes wedding professionals, artisans, musicians and Mom & Pop shops and other small businesses.  Wellness, adventure and other ‘experience’ vendors that will enhance destination weddings are also included.

Artisan sweets, from Slow Weddings Network bakeries and pastry makers.

Artisan sweets, from Slow Weddings Network bakeries and pastry makers.

As founder and executive director of the Slow Weddings Network, Aimée Newlander wears many hats. Here is a bit more about Aimée:

She left a very successful career in and around the health and wellness corporate world to pursue a long-standing passion for organizing and managing events. That led to the founding of Weddings by Aimée in 2009 and her ‘mindful planning’ approach.  She knows that educating couples on how to feel prepared and organized for their ceremony and how to prioritize choices is so important.  Her business quickly grew, thanks to creativity and possessing a true artistic flair that has helped organize all types of individualized weddings — from intimate and organic affairs to glamorous and opulent occasions.

Aimée’s professionalism, warm personality and superb eye for detail means that couples and their families are able to truly relax and enjoy the planning process without having to worry about a thing on wedding day. Aimée considers herself a “Destination wedding planner”, specializing in areas such as Lake Tahoe, Big Sur, Carmel, California coastline as well as International locations (Italy, France, Mexico).

“Team” is a big part of who Aimée is, from her time playing international Soccer, to her passion for collaborating with other vendors at her events. She has managed budgets in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, cultivated stakeholder relationships for large scale events, and offers expertise in venue sourcing and procurement.

One of Aimée’s passions is developing venues from a raw space, molding a larger vision from scratch. She’s applied her passion, vision, and skills to founding the Slow Weddings Network, and hopes to see the global movement grow into a well known organization.

Dreamy venues and beautiful attire for Slow Weddings ceremonies.

Dreamy venues and beautiful attire for Slow Weddings ceremonies.

Follow and find Weddings by Aimée and the Slow Weddings Network at these social places:

Slow Weddings on Facebook

Slow Weddings on Instagram

Weddings by Aimee on Facebook

Weddings by Aimee on Instagram

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 158,500 times by listeners like you.
THANK YOU to each one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.

If you value the content you receive each week, I invite you to show your thanks and support the Slow Flowers Podcast with a donation — the button can be found on our home page in the right column. Your contributions will help make it possible to transcribe future episodes of the Podcast.

2017SponsorBlock

Thank you to our lead sponsor for 2017: Certified American Grown Flowers. The Certified American-Grown program and label provide a guarantee for designers and consumers on the source of their flowers. Take pride in your flowers and buy with confidence, ask for Certified American Grown Flowers.  To learn more visit americangrownflowers.org.

We’re also grateful for support from Arctic Alaska Peonies, a cooperative of 50 family farms in the heart of Alaska providing high quality, American Grown peony flowers during the months of July and August. Visit them today at arcticalaskapeonies.com

And welcome to our newest sponsor, the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Find them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com

Longfield Gardens has returned as a 2017 sponsor, and we couldn’t be happier to share their resources with you. Longfield Gardens 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. Visit them at lfgardens.com.

More sponsor thanks goes to Syndicate Sales, an American manufacturer of vases and accessories for the professional florist. Look for the American Flag Icon to find Syndicate’s USA-made products and join the Syndicate Stars loyalty program at syndicatesales.com.

And finally, thank you Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. Formed in 1988, ASCFG was created to educate, unite, and support commercial cut flower growers. It mission is to help growers produce high-quality floral material, and to foster and promote the local availability of that product. Learn more at ascfg.org

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast. 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 Brenlan. Learn more about his work at shellandtree.com.

Music credits:
Harpoon by Gillicuddy
Licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
Not Drunk by The Joy Drops
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Joy_Drops/Not_Drunk_EP
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Additional music from:

audionautix.com

Riz Reyes on Floriculture as the Gateway to Horticulture (Episode 214)

Wednesday, October 7th, 2015

The hands of my friend Riz Reyes, clipping dahlias recently at the University of Washington Farm in Seattle.

The hands of my friend Riz Reyes, clipping dahlias recently at the University of Washington Farm in Seattle.

Riz shares the floral bounty from the UW Farm.

Riz shares the floral bounty from the UW Farm.

Please meet Riz Reyes, horticultural wunderkind, floral designer extraordinaire and all-around positive influence in the gardening and botanical community here in Seattle and beyond – across North America and internationally thanks to his active presence on social media.

Riz credits an early curiosity about fruits and flowers for turning a young boy from the Philippines into an award-winning garden and floral designer in the Pacific Northwest.

His true interest in gardening began as a seven-year-old watching public television to learn English and gaining an appreciation for the natural world where the art and science of growing plants captivated him.

Riz turned a childhood hobby into a career by earning a BS in environmental horticulture and urban forestry from the University of Washington. Riz gardens in an environment that unveils an overwhelming diversity of plants each season, thanks to the Pacific Northwest typically moderate climate and cultural conditions.

Riz with one of his highly detailed, textured, botanically-inspired bouquet

Riz with one of his highly detailed, textured, botanically-inspired bouquet

After graduation, Riz logged several years working for the University of Washington Botanic Garden’s Center for Urban Horticulture, as well as running RHR Horticulture, his own horticultural enterprise, where he designs, consults, and maintains gardens he helped create.

A Riz-designed wedding bouquet.

A Riz-designed wedding bouquet.

Just a few months ago, Riz joined the McMenamin’s Hospitality group as the Gardens Manager at the about-to-open McMenamin’s Anderson School, a hotel, brewery and pub in Bothell, north of Seattle, where I predict the gardens will wow guests and those plants to which Riz tends will very soon make their way into vases of his own creation.

A sublime bouquet by Riz, using garden flowers, locally-grown farm flowers and a few surprises.

A sublime bouquet by Riz, using garden flowers, locally-grown farm flowers and a few surprises.

Riz supports and collaborates with local cut flower growers and designers to create unique floral installations for venues and special events. He is a regular speaker and writer for various local and national organizations and publications.

Colorful, textural horticultural explosion, in a bouquet by Riz

Colorful, textural horticultural explosion, in a bouquet by Riz

In 2013, Riz was highlighted in Ken Druse’s Organic Gardening article “The New Generation,”  which captured the stories of six notable young horticulturists. Ken described Riz as:  a rising star in the firmament of plant explorers and innovative nurserymen.”

If that wasn’t enough, Michael Tortorello last year interviewed Riz for a New York Times’ story about plant selection, not bad, huh?

Riz with Nicole Cordier Waldquist at the 2014 Northwest Flower & Garden Show

Riz with Nicole Cordier Walquist at the 2014 Northwest Flower & Garden Show

A detail of Riz and Nicole's "People's Choice Award" winning floral design.

A detail of Riz and Nicole’s “People’s Choice Award” winning floral design.

Riz earned a Gold Medal and the popular People’s Choice award at the 2013 Northwest Flower & Garden Show with his amazing display garden and the following year, with his collaborator Nicole Cordier Wahlquist, he won People’s Choice Award for a floral display.

From complex and multilayered . . .

From complex and multilayered . . .

 . . . to quiet and singular.

. . . to quiet and singular.

Just a few weeks ago, Riz presented at the national Garden Writers’ Association symposium in Pasadena on the topic, “Floral as a Gateway to Horticulture.”

I sat in the front row of that presentation, a huge grin on my face, following along on Riz’s personal journey that has brought him — full circle — back to flowers.

A color study in a bouquet by Riz.

A color study in a bouquet by Riz.

As I say during our interview, I’ve wanted to record an episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast with Riz forever. Listening to his presentation at Garden Writers was the incentive to schedule time together to do just that after we both returned to Seattle from Pasadena.

An autumn bouquet with a tillandsia.

An autumn bouquet with a tillandsia, foliage and hips.

More places to connect with Riz:

Riz’s web site, RHR Horticulture. You can subscribe to Riz’s newsletter here.

Riz/RHR Horticulture on Facebook

Riz on Twitter

Riz on YouTube

Riz on Instagram

Details on the October 22nd Farm Dinner at University of Washington Farm

A dreamy bouquet featuring sea holly (Eryngium sp.)

A dreamy bouquet featuring sea holly (Eryngium sp.)

Episodes of the Slow Flowers Podcast have been downloaded more than 66,000 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.