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"Flowers grown in the United States are fresher and subject to stricter labor and environmental laws. So why do imported blooms dominate the domestic market?"
By Kristine Wong | Photographs by Kyle Johnson
Modern Farmer | Spring 2016
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Your Slow Flowers Membership helps us pay for public relations efforts to position Slowflowers.com as a content resource for print and digital media outlets. The payoff is often great media coverage that members may not be able to achieve individually, but that's entirely possible when we come together with a unified voice (and PR buying power).
And like all good things, sometimes great press comes slowly - no pun intended! The Spring 2016 Modern Farmer article written by environmental journalist Kristine Wong is one example of how we nurture sustainable and meaningful relationships with the press, rather than take a shotgun approach to PR.
This story's origins date to the fall of 2014 when Kristine agreed to meet with Slow Flowers founder Debra Prinzing for an informational briefing. The introduction was made by Lola Honeybone, who ran PR for the Slowflowers.com launch in 2014. From that simple cup of coffee in Oakland, Kristine's interest was piqued. We helped to connect her with a number of florists and flower farmers for background interviews.
By August 2015, she let us know that Modern Farmer had commissioned a story (and as it turns out, we brokered her introduction to an editor there). From that point, we assisted in providing even more background material, contacts and resources as Kristine reported and wrote her story.
Above: a Modern Farmer Infographic
By March 15, 2016, the story hit the newsstands with a provacative coverline that reads: "How the War on Drugs Screwed America's Flower Farmers." Yikes! Well, sensational cover lines sell magazines, right?
Inside is a comprehensive, very well-reported story that you'll want to read. In addition to Diane Szukovathy, Kristine quoted Debra Prinzing, creator of Slowflowers.com, and she interviewed Kasey Cronquist of Certified American Grown/Field to Vase Dinner Tour, Fair Field Flowers of Wisconsin and Molly Culver of Molly Oliver Flowers based in Brooklyn.
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Member "Perk" Added to Home Page
As of Spring 2016, we have activated the Event Section on Slowflowers.com. This feature appears in a scroll-down menu on the home page's top navigational bar by category.
Gain attention when you add your Floral Design Class, Flower Farming Workshop or Meet-Up to our Event Section.
This feature is $15-per-month and Premium Members receive one FREE Event Listing each month. Follow the link below to learn more details and add your event today! Sign Up Here.
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Slow Flowers Welcomes CANADA!
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NEW Section Launched With 10 Members
Consumers in search of local, seasonal and sustainable blooms from Canadian flower farms and floral designers can now visit Slowflowers.com and be assured of the Canadian origins of each stem they purchase.
Ten Canadian floral businesses joined the launch, with the goal of connecting flower lovers to retailers, designers, studios and farms that supply and sell locally-grown and Canadian-grown flowers.
The announcement generated some great reporting from Kathy Renwald, a writer for The Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator. Click on the link below to read her story, titled "Slow, Seasonal Flowers Have Their Day."
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Join the Slow Flowers 1,000 Campaign!
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There are nearly 700 members who have added their Floral businesses on Slowflowers.com, but we know there are so many others who follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, frequently using the #slowflowers hashtag to indentify their brand.
Our goal is to recruit those flower farms, floral designers and farmer-florists to add their support to the Slow Flowers Movement and grow Slowflowers.com to 1,000 members!
Why is this important? It will give us a more credible presence with the media, with policymakers and with consumers -- that's why!
If you want to help, download this graphic seen above (we have Instagram and Facebook versions) and invite your friends and followers to get involved. Let's Grow the Movement!
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The Slow Flowers
Facebook Community
In the Slow Flowers Community, we value everyone's involvement in raising awareness for the domestic floral industry. Please take an active part in this group. You'll find that helping others allows you, in turn, to receive help for yourself.
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When you create your Slowflowers.comListing, there is an important field: KEY WORDS.
We've noticed that many of you skip this field. Don't!!!
Here is where you can add
up to 10 words/phrases to differentiate your business and attract those searching for you.
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Welcome Syndicate
Our Newest SponsorSyndicate Sales has joined Slowflowers.com as a major sponsor of the directory, the podcast and American Flowers Week 2016!
This American manufacturer of vases and accessories serves professional florists and event designers. Look for the American Flag Icon to find Syndicate's USA-made products.
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