SLOW FLOWERS NEWS for May 2019
Bring a Friend with our Plus-One Ticket Promo
One of the top reasons our attendees love the Slow Flowers Summit is the opportunity to mix-and-mingle with other kindred spirits. So we want to make it easy for you to experience the Summit and bring along your BFF, partner, colleague or team member with our Plus-One Ticket Promotion!
For a limited time -- through May 15th only -- when you register for the Slow Flowers Summit, you can add a guest for $275! This applies to anyone who has already registered, as well as new ticket-buyers.
We'll meet you in St. Paul-Minnesota, aka the Twin Cities, on July 1-2, 2019 for the best and most inspiring floral mind-meld around! Join an amazing community of progressive designers, farmer-florists, flower farmers and leaders in the sustainable floral marketplace.
Announcing Our New Speaker: TOBEY NELSON
TOBEY NELSON, TOBEY NELSON EVENTS AND DESIGN
Tobey Nelson will join Carly Jenkins of Killing Frost Farm on the Slow Flowers SummitStage -- and you're in for a fabulous treat from this duo! We've renamed their presentation as "Sustainable Sourcing and Installations." The women will share their advice and experience about designing and flower selection with sustainability as their core value. Learn from Carly about how she forages ethically, with an artistic approach that communicates a personal design vocabulary to truly reflect season and place.
Learn from Tobey about her commitment to no-foam installation and event design, including methods you can immediately implement in your own practice.
After Carly and Tobey's presentation, they will be joined by Christine Hoffman, co-host of the Slow Flowers Summit, to demonstrate a large-scale "botanical tapestry" in the Paikka Courtyard. During lunch and afternoon breaks, all participants are invited to join in the creation of this sculptural structure.
Here's more about Tobey Nelson. She is a flower-loving plant-a-holic and owner of Tobey Nelson Events and Design, a wedding and event floral design and planning business based on Whidbey Island, Washington. Tobey is firmly committed to sustainable floristry best-practices and to advocating for change in the floral industry. Tobey's mission includes sourcing locally-grown botanicals, using eco-friendly, sustainable floral design mechanics (never any foam), teaching these approaches to fellow florists and educating consumers so they can make better choices. Tobey is the founder and creator of Whidbey Flower Workshops, a forum for sustainable design education.
Note: Louesa Roebuck has cancelled her Slow Flowers Summit appearance for personal reasons.
LISTEN: Slow Flowers Podcast Episodes for March
Each week the Slow Flowers Podcastreleases a new episode featuring timely interviews with flower farmers and floral designers whose wisdom and insights will inspire you!
Listeners have downloaded more than 450,000 episodes to date!
Check out the wide range of guests introduced to you last month and join the thousands of listeners we educate and inform each week:
 
LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR? Please consider writing a listener review!
The Seattle Times just called this podcast "a lively platform for voices in the local-flowers movement throughout the country, which will have you craving blossoms and blooms."
If you want to support this Podcast, please post a review on iTunes or other platforms. It means a lot!
Episode 395 (April 3): Petals and Alpacas at Gholson Gardens in Walla Walla, Washington, plus State Focus: Idaho
Episode 396 (April 10): Floral Artist Whit McClure of Los Angeles-based Whit Hazen, plus State Focus: Illinois
Episode 397 (April 17): On Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden with Jennifer Jewell of Public Radio’s Cultivating Place, plus State Focus: IndianaEpisode 398 (April 24) Join me at the Slow Flowers Dinner on the Farm, plus State Focus: Iowa
Welcome New & Renewing
Slow Flowers Members
Debra Prinzing launched Slow Flowers in 2014 with this mission: "To inspire the floral industry and its consumers to embrace local, seasonal, and sustainable flowers."
It has been a joy to watch our community grow as flower farmers, designers, farmer-florists, wholesalers and retailers continue joining our cause!
Our 2019 Membership Renewal
Campaign is Underway!
Slow Flowers has grown considerably since we launched in 2014! Our membership has reached 1,000 talented floral professionals and it's gratifying to continue learning from you while sharing your stories across all of the Slow Flowers Platforms.
For the first time, we're launching a Membership Program, which longtime member Lisa Waud of pot + box is helping to spearhead. As Lisa helps to update and modernize the Member Database and Subscription System, you may be hearing from her! If you have any questions in the meantime, please reach out by email: membership@slowflowers.com
New and renewing members for April 2019
43 New and renewing members for April, including members from 24 states and 1 Canadian province
*Denotes Renewing Member
*a bit of earth flowers, Scotts Valley, CA
*ABloom Ltd., Walkersville, MD
Alexandra Chamness, Cincinnati, OH
*Alice Blue Collective, St. Louis, MO
*Aunt Willie's Wildflowers, Blountville, TN
*Blossom Thyme Hill, Springfield, MO
*Celebrate the Seasons, Bend, OR
*Dancing Flower Farm, Lopez Island, WA
*FLORETRY Design, Mountain Park, GA
Flower Tribe, Ft. Collins, CO
Fox Fodder Farm, Brooklyn, NY
*Gorgeous & Green, Oakland, CA
Inspired Design, Chamberlain, SD
Kawartha Flower Co., Lindsay, ON, Canada
*Killing Frost Farm, Missoula, MT
*Mandalion Designs, Bolinas, CA
McKenzie Botanicals, Maggie Valley, NC
Nature Composed, Middleburg, VA
Nicewicz Peonies, Bolton, MA
Petals + Ink, Chicago, IL
*Pine State Flowers, Durham, NC
*Rain Drop Farm, Philomath, OR
Studio Artiflora, Granville, OH
The Flower Bar, Bozeman, MT
The Kokoro Home, Albuquerque, NM
*Vanita, Bainbridge Island, WA
PROMOTE YOUR EVENTS During
AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK 2019 
We’re so excited to announce that American Flowers Week now has a comprehensive Events Calendar – AND – an easy way for you to add your event to it.
The goal: To share as many American Flowers Week floral events on the calendar, coast-to-coast. Emphasis is placed on all June and July Events! Add your events now!
New in the SLOW FLOWERS JOURNAL
 
The Slow Flowers Community is beautifully represented in the April issue of Florists’ Review.
Our April 2019 (Issue No. 21) highlights Outdoor Weddings, and we have two great features to share with readers on this topic: the first is “A Flower Farm for Brides,”featuring farmer-florist Kelly Hill of Blossom Thyme Hill Flower Farm in Nixa, Missouri, and her photographer-daugher Shelby Lung.
Continuing the outdoor wedding them is a beautiful, five-page spread, “Big Island, Intimate Nuptials,” featuring the tropical ceremony of Grace Flowers Hawaii’s Alison Grace Higgins to architect Nick Civitano. There is also a bonus essay, guest-authored by Bethany Karn of ButterKup Flowers.
More from the SLOW FLOWERS JOURNAL
DIY Wedding Flower Tips from the Farmer
By Marybeth Wehrung, Stars of the Meadow
Note: this article originally appeared in Wedding Vortex 2019 (Hudson Valley, N.Y.)
In deciding to get married in this gorgeous valley with its long farming tradition, you might have considered a local and seasonal menu, rustic event venues, local bands, photographers, and other services that will imbue your event with the spirit and energy of the Hudson Valley. You might not have considered that verdant foliage and flowers, grown right here in these soils, will be a source of Hudson Valley terroir and reflect values of sustainability, seasonality and locally-sourced materials for your floral decor.
SLOW FLOWERS Members in HOUZZ
April: Floral Design with Spring-Flowering Tulips & Narcissus for Houzz.comFrom the members of SLOW FLOWERS
Our April Gallery features design inspiration with flowering shrubs and trees that are suitable for indoor forcing.
The series aims to showcase Slow Flowers members' designs and inspire Houzz.comreaders to make local and seasonal floral choices. The above design is from Jessica Broyles of Starry Fields Farm in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
PR Opportunities for
SLOW FLOWERS Members 
Our full year of Slow Flowers Galleries for Houzz.com continues for MAY with a focus on PEONIES in your floral designs! Each Month's floral themes are noted below. SHARE YOUR Best Designs for OUR NEXT Houzz.com Gallery!
You're invited to be part of this ongoing member-only editorial opportunity. Here are more details:
Future months:
June 15 (6/10 deadline) Red-White-Blue floral designs for American Flowers Week
July 15 (7/10 deadline) Lisianthus floral designs
August 15 (8/10 deadline) Dahlias in floral design & bouquets
September 15 (9/10 deadline) Sunflowers & Rudbeckia floral design
October 15 (10/10 deadline) Pumpkins and gourds for tablescaping
November 15 (11/10 deadline) Heirloom mums in floral design
December 15 (12/10 deadline) Poinsettias in floral design and decor
SLOW FLOWERS in the News
THE SEATTLE TIMES
Flower season kicked off with a lovely piece in the Seattle Times' Sunday magazine supplement, where GROW columnist Lorene Edwards Forknerfeatured Slow Flowers in "Homegrown Blooms." She wrote: "What’s in your vase? Just ask: Where did these flowers come from? Who grew them? And how? Fortunately, there are multiple ways to find locally grown, remarkably fresh blossoms, stems and foliage.
"A Seattle-based writer and a lifelong gardener, Debra Prinzing is a passionate advocate for American Grown Flowers and the people who grow and design with them. “The market for flowers is growing. People hunger for blossoms as a way to infuse their lives with beauty and nature,” she told me.
"In an effort to support the domestic flower market, Debra created a nationwide online directory at SlowFlowers.comas a way to connect flower farmers, floral designers and consumers with local flowers. Tune in to her weekly “Slow Flowers” podcast, a lively platform for voices in the local-flowers movement throughout the country; it will have you craving blossoms and blooms."
CANADIAN FLORIST
Slow Flowers member Becky Feasby of Prairie Girl Flowers is a gardener-florist working and growing flowers in Calgary, Alberta. She uses only Canadian-grown flowers (mostly B.C.- and Alberta-grown) and recently wrote a great piece about Slow Flowers for Canadian Floristmagazine (March-April 2019 issue)
SUNSET MAGAZINE
The April issue of Sunset Magazine features a package about three Pacific Northwest flower farmers, including member Beth Syphers of Crowley House Flower Farm. Beth says: "When I was starting out, Debra Prinzing's book, Slow Flowers, was the first book I picked up. . . I couldn't put it down."
Thanks for sharing your story with Sunset's readers, Beth! We love it when you members include Slow Flowers in press opportunities!
GLOBE & MAIL
The Globe And Mail, Canada's national newspaper, featured Slow Flowers in an April story. Author Gayle MacDonald wrote: "Flowers are being used as political statements again, but this time to critique the floral industry. The Slow Flower Movement was born to teach consumers about the ethical and environmental issues around the floral trade."
Slow Flowers members Becky Feasby of Prairie Girl Flowers (Calgary, Alberta) and Ingrid Koivukangas of Alchemy Farm Flowers (Salt Spring Island, B.C.) are quoted, as is Natasa Kajganic of Canadian Flowers Week, which Slow Flowers helped incubate.
SUPERFLORAL MAGAZINE
We featured member Jeanie McKewan of Illinois-based Brightflower Farm in the latest issue of SuperFloral magazine. The story explores how Jeanie supplies Chicago area Whole Foods stores with Illinois-grown flowers, bouquets and plants.
GFJ: GOOD FOOD JOBS
Contrats to Slow Flowers member Hedda Brorstrom of Full Bloom Flower Farm in Sebastopol, California, for wrapping up our great media month of April with an interview in GFJ (Good Food Jobs). The profile sheds light and insights into the challenges of growing sustainable cut flowers.
Author Katie Brimm writes: "With Full Bloom's founding six years ago, Hedda got her start at the precipice of the 'Slow Flower Movement'. Complete with its own manifesto and a fresh wave of local flower farmers, it parallels the US food movement with similar calls to get small, buy local, be seasonal, and even to decolonize your flower."
Upcoming SLOW FLOWERS Presentations
Local Flowers + Slow Bouquets
Saturday, May 4th (Noon-3 p.m.) Allovus Studios, 8811 N. Harborview Dr., Gig Harbor, WA 98332
Expand the way you view your own backyard, the flowers sold by vendors at your local farmer’s market and even the “weeds” in our area’s wilder places.
Each attendee will express their personal style and learn to employ eco-techniques. You’ll create a lavish (and healthy) arrangement, using natural or easy-to-recycle materials like twigs, excelsior and chicken wire, Debra will also demonstrate the best ways to harvest, process, and prolong the vase life of the ingredients.
This Slow Flowers: Hands-On Workshop is hosted by:
bricolage* offers high-quality creative and cultural arts programming for entrepreneurs and artisans in the Northwest. Our workshops are instructed by experienced professionals in a inspirational waterfront studio in Gig Harbor, WA.
Registration: $95
Slow Flowers: Seasonal Floral Design
Wednesday, June 5th (6:45-8:30 p.m.)
NORTHWEST HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 NE 41st St. Seattle, WA 98195
Debra will speak about the significant changes in floral agriculture and sustainable floral design that she’s witnessed and documented over the past 10 years.
She will illustrate her presentation with three floral design demonstrations incorporating botanical ingredients sourced locally from area growers. Debra’s books will be available for purchase and signing.
Floral vendors from Pacific Northwest flower farms will have flowers for sale at the lecture.
Reception begins at 6:45 pm, lecture at 7:15 pm.
Cost:Members: $5.00 Non-Members: $10.00
Program Notes: Be Part of Our
2019 Slow Flowers Podcast 
We're excited about a new weekly feature in the Slow Flowers Podcast that will debut on January 16, 2019. It's called "50 States of Slow Flowers," and that means for each of 50 consecutive weeks on the Slow Flowers Podcast, we'll focus on what's happening in the Slow Flowers Movement, state-by-state -- from Alabama (Jan 16th) through Wyoming (Dec. 25th). For the month of April, we featured:
IDAHO -- Jeriann Sabin & Ralph Thurston of Deadhead Cut Flowers
ILLINOIS -- Kat Wilrett of Willret Flower Co.
INDIANA -- Amy Beausir of Molly & Myrtle
IOWA -- Martha Pineda of Martha's Gardens
There will be lots of love for Canadian Slow Flowers members, too -- We'll also feature Slow Flowers news from each Canadian Province during the course of 2019!
Get in touch if you have news to share about locally-grown flowers and regional design in your State or Province! Email: debraprinzing@gmail.com.
Meet the Slow Flowers Team
MEMBERSHIP & SPECIAL PROJECTS Manager Lisa Waud of pot + box.
Lisa Waud has an extensive (12 years) history as owner and creative director of pot + box, managing the daily operations of a small entrepreneurial business. She knows how to get answers and what to do with them. She is hungry for continued education, graduating from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program and attending countless Zingtrain Business Betterment Courses. Like our founder Debra Prinzing, Lisa is a connector, and she is really, really well connected locally and nationally. She is smart, anticipatory, observant, proactive, enthusiastic, supportive, and lastly, freakishly strong {muscle arm emoji}. We are thrilled that Lisa is bringing her skills to improve our Membership Services. Follow Lisa @potandbox.  
SOCIAL MEDIA MAVEN Niesha Blancasof Fetching Social Media.
If we feature you on Instagram or Facebook, it's Niesha you have to thank! She loves giving shout-outs to Slow Flowers members, our Podcast guests, our Event Partners and our Summitspeakers. Niesha has more than doubled the followers on @myslowflowers since we teamed up last fall. You can learn more about Niesha and her consulting packages for creatives here. Follow her @fetchingsocial or @nieshamonay
EVENT DIVA Karen Thornton of Avenue 22 Events.
Karen Thornton is the talent behind the Slow Flowers Summit and I'm so grateful for her counsel, her organizational genius, her strategic planning and her generally chill approach to anything that makes me panic. We've worked together on two previous events for creativepreneurs and I have to say, Karen's involvement in any event is the *secret sauce* to success! If you attend the Summit, you'll meet both Karen AND Niesha! Follow Karen at @avenue22events. 
Slow Flowers Sponsor Thanks for 2019
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Christina Burton-Fox AIFD floral artist & instructor
