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Get Ready for American Flowers Week!
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American Flowers Week will kick off in less than seven months and in the coming issues of the Slow Flowers Newsletter, I'll share tangible and practical ideas that you can employ in your own branding and marketing efforts to leverage this major promotional effort for our community.
Our dedicated American Flowers Week web site contains useful stories and resources from past years' campaigns, dating back to the 2015 launch. There is also a recent post about two of the top-secret floral fashion styled shoots that have already taken place for our 2018 branding, as well as this beautiful NEW graphic you see above!.
I'm especially excited to show off this red-white-and-blue botanical piece commissioned exclusively for American Flowers Week 2108 from Ellen Hoverkamp, a Connecticut-based artist and friend.
Ellen's unique scanner photography technique renders exquisitely-composed portaits of what's in season in the garden or flower field at any given time of the year. Most of the flowers featured in the American Flowers Week piece come from Trout Lily Farm, co-owned by Slow Flowers member and farmer-florist Michael Russo.
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"The Flower Tribe"
Slow Flowers' member Debbie Bosworth is one of five lifestyle bloggers for Mary Jane's Farmgirl Sisterhood. In her latest post, Debbie recaps the wonderful gathering of nearly 75 flower farmers, floral designers and farmer-florists who filled Flowers by Semia's studio in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 5th. It was a privilege for me to be part of this illustrious gathering -- and to be given a chance to share the Slow Flowers story with kindred spirits.
Debbie's piece is so fun to read, and if you're inspired to plan a Meet-Up of your own, you'll want to read her event-planning tips.
Her words resonated with me:
Every New England state was represented. I love the mix of ages and varied types of flower farmers and floral designers who came to learn, share and connect.
(We had) retired people excited about starting something new with passion and purpose; young, optimistic farm-minded couples just starting out, and families who farm together; mother-daughter floral design teams, and home gardeners too.
Being in a room filled with that much energy and entrepreneurial spirit is a golden experience. There was so much creativity and ingenuity, courage, boldness, and plain can-do spirit floating around you couldn’t help but get carried away.
Sound familiar? It’s the very same feeling you get when you gather with a gaggle of your best farmgirl friends and you know you’ve found your tribe with other farmgirls at heart. That good old-fashioned farmgirl spirit is some pretty powerful stuff!
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What's New in the Slow Flowers Journal
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"Slow Flowers Journal" (print edition) appears in the pages of Florists' Review. Inspired by our online magazine, also called Slow Flowers Journal, the print edition is packed with beautiful, relatable stories about florists, flower farmers and other pioneers in the Slow Flowers community. Discover more fresh, original content online at SlowFlowersJournal.com.
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SLOW FLOWERS on the Road: Arizona
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“Artisanal Flowers” invited gardeners, florists and flower enthusiasts to spend two evenings with our group of presenters, including me, Morgan Anderson of TheFlori.Culture, Anne J. of Anne ES Garden Fresh and Shanti Rade of Whipstone Farm. The four of us reunited after our fantastic meet-up earlier this year when a number of Slow Flowers members visited Shanti and Corey Rade’s farm in Paulden, Arizona. You can read more about that event here and listen to my past Slow Flowers Podcast episodes with Shanti and Morgan.
Our dream for this workshop was to introduce the Slow Flowers, Arizona-grown message to students at the state’s largest public garden.
And it was an unqualified success! Thanks to all three of my co-instructors for making the event so rewarding.
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Last Call: Johnny's Seeds & Valentine's Day
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It's not too late to talk about Valentine's Day 2018!
Consumer print and broadcast media outlets plans well in advance, so we're working with Mediaworks Nashville to develop Valentine's Day 2018 story pitches to editors at lifestyle magazines, broadcast media and wire services.
Do you want to get involved? Yes?! Great!!
Click on the link below to complete our story-starter survey. We'd love to include you in the press roundup of progressive and sustainable floral design for Valentine's Day giving!
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It's time to share What's Now, New & Next in the 2018 Slow Flowers' Wedding Report
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The upcoming JANUARY article 2018 article will highlight the forthcoming WEDDING SEASON. Share your story with us!
Here are the questions to answer when you submit photos:
- Describe NOW -- how do you approach growing and designing for Wedding Clients?
- What NEW flowers are couples interested in (or that you're encouraging couples to consider)?
- What palette is NEXT for 2018 bouquets and boutonnieres?
- Are you marketing FULL-SERVICE, DIY-BULK FLOWERS or a HYBRID Pacage to wedding clients?
- What tips to you have for anyone interested in jumping into the wedding world?
Deadline is December 15th! As a small measure of our thanks, Johnny’s would like to send you an offer code for use on your next purchase if your material is featured in the article.
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LISTEN: Slow Flowers Podcasts for November
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Each week the Slow Flowers Podcast releases a new episode featuring timely interviews with flower farmers and floral designers whose wisdom and insights will inspire you! Listeners have downloaded more than 257,000 to date!
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Welcome to our New Slow Flowers Members
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We welcomed 11 new & renewing members to Slowflowers.com in November! Check them out and be sure to say hello!
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I've been called a "Disruptor"
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Rochelle Greayer of "Pith & Vigor," an online magazine, recently named me a "Distruptor." Rochelle explains why she started the Disruptor Series: "Meeting and talking to people who I admire and who inspire the kind of work I value, serves many purposes. It helps me to continue to thrive. I need to hear their stories, see their struggles, and learn about how they did 'it' - what ever 'it' is. I also hope it helps to cheer them on and I hope it inspires you."
Well, I thought that was pretty cool. But then, something more amazing took place. A package arrived last week from Mary Kate Kinnane of The Local Bouquet, a longtime Slow Flowers member based in Little Compton, Rhode Island. Inside was this amazing work of art -- a hand-illustrated homage to the term "Disruptor," designed just for me.
Mary Kate wrote this in the note she enclosed:
Dear Debra,
Because of your passion, your boldness and your determination, you have brought so much awareness and growth to the Slow Flowers Movement. Because of you, I am able to have the mission I have with my company! So I thought you should be reminded daily of all your hard work, with this picture.
My sister-in-law Jance Kinnane, who is an amazing artist and who owns 'Charlie Lov,' paitned this for you. You will notice some personal touches within the picture, including nods to your green thumb, Washington's state flower, a microphone for your fabulous podcast, all your books and your work with the American Grown organization. I hope it inspires you to keep going -- to keep pushing forward and to keep sharing the Slow Flowers story.
THANK YOU, Mary Kate! I consider this gift one I will cherish forever -- and I hope to share its meaning with the entire Slow Flowers Community! xoxo Debra
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THANK YOU to our family of sponsors for 2017
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