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In 2014, when this podcast was in its first year of existence, I met Gillian Hodgson “virtually,” as is the case for so many of us who value the positive attributes of social media.

On February 18, 2014, appearing on what was only the 30th episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast, I introduced you to Gillian and called her the Mother of the British Flowers movement.

A Yorkshore-based flower farmer and owner of  Fieldhouse Flowers, Gill founded Flowers from the Farm in in 2011.

The not-for-profit network run and administered solely by volunteers has grown to more than 500 members.

Most members are sole traders running small or micro businesses: farmers, smallholders and gardeners, who are using their knowledge of horticulture and floristry to grow and present a different range of flowers from those available in the supermarkets and the wholesale markets.

From Cornwall up to Scotland, and every region in between, these artisan flower farmers are growing old favourites: Sweet Peas, Bells of Ireland, Dahlias and Aquilegia, as well as trying out lots of new varieties.

Flowers from The Farm’s members grow for wholesale, sell to retail and event florists, as well as to the public at farmers’ markets and craft fairs. Some have farm gate sales or have teamed up with local shops to sell their bunches and bouquets.  There are also have online retail florists, and utterly brilliant wedding and event florists among the membership. Sound familiar? It’s a lot like Slowflowers.com, of course.

On the beautiful, new, 2.0 version of Flowers From the Farm’s website, relaunched recently, we learn this: Although the majority of British flowers are sold during the summer months, flowers can be grown in Britain all year round.  Scented Narcissi start to come out of Cornwall and the Scillies in October; tulips from Lincolnshire are in the shops for Christmas. Many members are skilled at forming gorgeous winter foliage, scented shrubs and the winter flowers into amazing displays during the shortest days.

Flowers from the Farm brings together all these growers and florists and provides local meetings and events, encouraging members to come together to build displays at all the big flower shows, holding workshops to improve members’ skills and – equally importantly – provide the place where you’ll make friends with like-minded people who will become your new work colleagues. Again, sounds a lot like our Slow Flowers community, right?

Just over a year after Gill and I recorded our long-distance Podcast interview via Skype, I met her in person! Along with many other Flowers from the Farm colleagues, farmers and florists in the Yorkshire region, we gathered at a very special high tea hedl at RHS Harlow Carr, a beautiful botanical garden.

On that same trip, I met and interviewed Helen Evans of London’s New Covent Garden Flower Market who encouraged me to emulate British Flowers Week and launch American Flowers Week. I also met Sarah Statham of Simply by Arrangement, who hosted me in Hebden Bridge, a village in Yorkshire, and showed me (and my mother, Anita) the most magnificent, unforgettable time.

Here are links to those conversations, captured for past episodes of the Slow Flowers Podcast:

Learn About British Flowers Week with Helen Evans of London’s New Covent Garden Flower Market (Episode 197)

A Perfect Recipe: Floral Design Workshops and Delicious Local Food, with Sarah Statham of UK’s Simply by Arrangement (Episode 198)

Why am I going on and on about these wonderful British friends and their homegrown flowers?

Well, today, I have a lovely update for you — a new conversation with Gill Hodgson. To my complete surprise, and delight, I reunited with Gill in person last week at the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers’ regional meeting in Ontario, Canada.

I attended the fabulous and well-attended 2-day conference, hosted by many ASCFG Canadian members, after spending a few days at the Garden Writers Association symposium in Buffalo, NY. Once I realized that I could add a few days to my travels and spend time with ASCFG members, many of whom are involved in the Slow Flowers Community, I jumped at the chance.

And there, walking alongside me during a tour at Green Park Nurseries was my friend, Gill! On a whim, she decided to fly over to Canada to attend the conference and have a fun vacation with her husband.

Of course, with my digital recorder in my backpack, Gill had little choice but to sit down with me for a 30-minute interview. I asked her to update the Slow Flowers Community on news about the British-grown flower community and you’ll love hearing about what’s happening in a very dynamic hub for local, British-grown flowers ~seasonal, local and sustainable, much like the Slow Flowers narrative.

Here’s how you can follow Flowers from the Farm:

Flowers from the Farm on Facebook

Flowers from the Farm on Instagram

Flowers from the Farm on Twitter

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 222,000 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.

Thank you to family of sponsors

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.

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

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 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.
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.

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. Check them out at johnnysseeds.com.

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 KineticTreeFitness.com.

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Welcome to our second episode celebrating British Grown Flowers. It’s timely because this is British Flowers Week in the UK, where flower farmers, florists, retailers and wholesalers across the country join forces to raise awareness among consumers and the media about the renaissance of their domestic floral industry. Take note, because we’ve got big plans here at Slow Flowers to launch American Flowers Week very soon.

My guest today is more than just a professional contact. I’ve gotten to know her and spend time in her home and community and I’m so happy to call Sarah Statham a personal friend.

Sarah and I were introduced virtually by British flower farmer Gill Hodgson of Flowers from the Farm, a UK-based organization of flower farmers and florists promoting British flowers. You may have listened to my podcast interview with Gill last year.

When I knew I would be traveling to England last month, I reached out to Gill and suggested that I schedule a visit to Yorkshire, where her farm is based.

As it turned out, Gill and Sarah teamed up to create an entire itinerary for me and my mother Anita, my traveling companion.

Sarah and her husband James Reader opened the doors to their home to invite us to stay for three amazing, flower-filled days.

Their generosity blew us away, and beyond that, Sarah made sure that we met many others in the local floral community.

A highlight was a gathering and full-on British afternoon tea at the RHS Harlow-Carr Botanical Garden in Harrowgate. Forty kindred spirits gathered to listen to my short presentation about Slow Flowers and the American Grown flower movement, but I have to say that what I learned from them in return was so valuable.

That afternoon we tagged along for one of the photo shoots of the Yorkshire community of growers and designers, all part of the PR campaign to coincide with British Flowers Week.

The Yorkshire flower farmers commissioned the very talented Sarah Mason whose images of Yorkshire-grown flowers, flower farmers and florists have been showcased on this blog all week.

On our last morning together, I turned on the recorder to interview Sarah about her own business, as well as about her British Flowers Week activities.

You’ll hear me refer to the fact that we are seated in a cottage in the Cotswolds and just to explain, Sarah and James brought my mom and me with them for the first day of their week-long vacation in a charming village called Snowshill. Yet another amazing bonus of this visit and of their hospitality.

The co-creator of Simply by Arrangement, which she started two years ago with Christie Buchanan, Sarah Statham is a floral designer and educator based in Hebden Bridge, in Yorkshire.

Christie calls herself a cook, but having eaten her delicious food, I’d say she’s a chef extraordinaire.

 

Their artisan flower and food business. pairs floral workshops with delicious food, which easily turns the educational aspect of a day playing with flowers into an entire luxury experience.

Simply by Arrangement also provide flowers and food for private clients as well as flowers for larger events and weddings.

Sarah grows many of our flowers used in her own beautiful cutting garden (which, by the way, the bedroom in which I slept conveniently overlooked).

Christie sources her menu ingredients locally from farms in Lancashire, where she is based.

I know you’ll enjoy my conversation with Sarah and please follow Simply by Arrangement at these social places.

Simply by Arrangement on Facebook

Simply by Arrangement on Twitter

Simply by Arrangement on Instagram

And if you find yourself in the UK, a Simply by Arrangement Workshop that feeds your creativity and tempts your palate is certainly in order.

Sarah and Christie would love to include you at the table.

After wrapping up our interview Sarah and I continued to chat about the similarities in our philosophies.

I asked her to write something for me to use at the close of this podcast relating to how she uses British flowers in her work, and here is an excerpt:

We would dearly love to use British flowers for all of our work. Sadly, maybe because British flower growers have yet to be able to match supply with demand there aren’t always the quantities available and also the British climate does mean that in winter months supplies of cut flowers are relatively limited as are the varieties available especially in our more Northern parts. 

Our philosophy is this: locally grown flowers are our first choice always. We grow some unusual varieties ourselves but don’t yet grow as many as we need. We are lucky to have some amazing Yorkshire growers relatively nearby and they are the ones who we go to first. 

Next will be a grower in Cheshire ( but that demands a 3 hour journey which is well worth it as her flowers are of such high quality ).   

We also have a supplier in Cornwall called Flowers by Clowance, who is reliable and sends supplies by Fed Ex. During winter months we do have to obtain more flowers from the flower market although we still have some supplies from Cornwall. We look forward to the day when the British flower growing market is back to full strength and can meet our needs and hope that the ‘quiet revolution’ in British flowers will give the growers confidence to produce more quantities. Our workshops through spring and summer to around October are British flower based. 

What I have tried to do at workshops is to show our attendees the real difference between locally grown flowers which haven’t been ‘traumatised’ by transportation from abroad and haven’t been grown in ‘battery farm like’ conditions and so I will have a small selection of non British flowers available for comparison. I can say without doubt that everyone always goes for the locally grown varieties. I think I mentioned the lady a couple of weeks ago who has vowed never to buy supermarket flowers again and who I have put in touch with a local grower in her area and who is already buying from her. 

I have to be completely honest though, there are times when a bride might have her heart set on roses and they are not available here. Whilst I will always try and steer our brides towards seasonally grown ( and thus British) flowers, sometimes it just isn’t possible. 

This description sounds so familiar to what I hear from florists and designers here in the U.S. I applaud transparency but I also want to respect that people have to make tough choices as small business owners.

At Slow Flowers I want to support anyone who engages with American grown flowers at any level, while also encouraging them to strive toward 100% American grown flowers as the ultimate goal. And I hope to be a resource to help equip those who make such choices.

Thanks again for joining me today for another wonderful conversation.

Yes, I am devoted to celebrating American flowers and the designers and farmers who are changing this entire industry for the better.

But as I said last week, I’m also thrilled to introduce you to ways we can borrow ideas and inspiration from places like the U.K., where many parallels occur between our two marketplaces.

Next week is our 100th podcast and you will hear from an established American flower farmer with a long history and deep Midwest roots, and where one doesn’t always expect to find year-round blooms.

Listeners like you have downloaded this podcast more than 52,000 times. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.

Until next week please 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.