Slow Flowers Journal SUMMER 2022 (FREE)

AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK | SUMMER 2022

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

FLOWER CONFIDENTIAL TURNS 15

TERRA BELLA IS WHERE WE BLOOM

FLORI COGNOSCENTi FOAM FREEDOM

FLOWERS FROM THE HEART

SPECIAL SECTION

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS REPORT

botanical couture

Copyright ©2022 by SLOW FLOWERS JOURNAL and BLOOM Imprint. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Debra Prinzing

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Robin Avni

COPY EDITOR

Brenda Silva

IMAGE EDITOR

Heather Marino

CONTRIBUTORS

Allison Ellis, Misty Vanderweele, Myriah Towner, Teresa Sabankaya

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Niesha Blancas, Maudie Conrad, Erika Diaz, Kristen Earley, Joanna Fisher, Sally Semonite Green, Rachel Kempker, Missy Palacol

ON THE COVER

Bridgerton Bright designed by Niesha Blancas

COVER PHOTOGRAPER

Niesha Blancas

COVER MODEL

Danielle Claybon

celebrate.

This debut issue of Slow Flowers Journal, a quarterly digital magazine, is a celebration marking many milestones. In these pages, we celebrate creativity in many forms in storytelling, floral design, fashion, illustration, and photography. Yet another reason to celebrate is American Flowers Week and its Botanical Couture collection. This is the seventh year for which Slow Flowers members, flower farmers, florists, and partners, collaborate to outfit live models in floral fashions. For the two of us, producing a quarterly magazine signifies a celebration of collaboration, furthering the partnership between Slow Flowers Society and Bloom Imprint.

The creatives featured in this issue are compelled to draw inspiration from nature and connect with our community. Design and art bring deeper layers of meaning to their work.

The topics and subjects within are your conduit to the world of flower farming, floral design, and the sustainability mission of the Slow Flowers Movement. We strive to connect flower-lovers with the producers and artists who supply those blooms. We value local, seasonal, and sustainable flowers above all else, and we work tirelessly as advocates for domestic flowers. It is our hope that this content will further engage you in the world of domestic and local flowers. Welcome!

NEISHA BLANCAS. Niesha is a social media expert based in Fresno, California, and is Slow Flowers Society's social media manager. She formed Fetching Social in 2017 to serve creative clients, including florists and flower farmers, nightlife companies, and the fashion industry. After graduating from Fresno State University, where she studied fashion merchandising and public relations, Niesha found a focus to her passions: social media and flowers. fetchingsocialmedia.com

TERESA SABANKAYA. Teresa founded Bonny Doon Garden Company in Santa Cruz, California, and served as its creative director until closing the floral studio in 2022 to pursue speaking and writing. She is author of The Posy Book (Countryman Press, 2019). Teresa can be seen throughout the country giving her highly popular book presentations, which always include a demonstration showing audiences they, too, can make a gorgeous posy. teresasabankaya.com

MISTY VANDERWEELE. Misty is a born-and-raised Alaska resident, author, farmer-florist, and community leader who believes flowers are medicine. She has authored nine self-published books, including Flower Power (2017). At All Dahlia'd Up Flower Farm in Palmer, Alaska, which she founded in 2014, Misty grows award-winning blooms and hosts farmto-table dinners in her flower fields. mistyvanderweele.com

MYRIAH TOWNER. Myriah is the founder of Black Farmer Stories, a digital platform and multimedia project that preserves the history, legacy, and agricultural knowledge of Black farmers and ranchers in the U.S. through storytelling. It increases the knowledge of the general public about these important histories and stories. blackfarmerstories.com

ALISON ELLIS is a Vermont-based floral designer and author of Falling into Flowers: A Step-by-Step Guide to Today's Modern Wedding Business (Wildflower Media, 2020). She founded realflowerbusiness.com to share step-by-step business training that helps build long-term success, including "Flower Math," which teaches florists how to maximize profit margins realflowerbusiness.com

54 departments features

18

FLORI COGNOSCENTI freedom from foam.

9

6 SLOW FLOWERS HEROES flower confidential turns 15.

12

WHERE WE BLOOM terra bella flowers.

54

FROM THE HEART the purple dahlia.

63

FLORA CULTURE preserving our heritage.

58

THE BUSINESS OF FLOWERS are you sustainable?

18

AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK 2022 botanical couture

Presenting the 2022 American Flowers Week Botanical Couture collection — eight stylish and artistic floral expressions that stimulate curiosity and help to change our relationship with a simple flower.

65

SPECIAL SECTION: ANNUAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS floral

reawakening

Released earlier this year, for the eighth year in a row, Slow Flowers Society looks at the emerging themes, topics, and categories in the floral marketplace that will influence the coming year.

What is your go-to foam-free design mechanic and WHY?

gina lett shrewsberry

INSPIRATIONS BY GINA

SACRAMENTO, CA inspirationsbygina.com @inspirationsbygina

blair roberts lynn

SWEET BLOSSOMS LLC FREDERICK, MD sweetblossomsllc.com

@thesweetblossoms

hannah morgan

FORTUNATE ORCHARD

SEATTLE, WA fortunateorchard.com

@fortunate_orchard

tobey nelson

TOBEY NELSON EVENTS & DESIGN LANGLEY, WA tobeynelson.com, @tobeynelsonevents

For an average-sized centerpiece, my go-to mechanic is chicken wire. I prefer plastic-coated chicken wire because it is gentle on my fingers and the stems, and it lasts longer since it doesn't rust in the vase water. I like this method because it is zero waste. I can reuse the mechanic again and again. It also fits with my loose, gardenesque style and allows me to work in a low, horizontal fashion. For larger or vertical arrangements, I use chicken wire over a pin holder. I layer chicken wire over the top of the vase and secure it with either tape, twine or bind wire. The pin holder supports vertical stem placements, and the chicken wire provides greater stability for other stems.

SOURCE: FLORAL GENIUS

My favorite go-to, foamfree design mechanic is the “burrito,” a roll of chicken wire filled with moss. I learned this mechanics technique from Susan McLeary during her presentation at the 2021 Slow Flower Summit. It has been a game-changer for me. I have one burrito that is almost a year old. I use it again and again and again!

SOURCE: SLOW FLOWERS SUMMIT

My current favorite mechanic is chicken wire in water. I like this method because it ensures that the flowers have fresh water, and it allows the stems to be placed into the arrangement and bend naturally. I love using Holly Chapple’s pillow mechanic as an armature for foam-free arch designs. The pillows are perfect for attaching to a structure and creating a beautiful shape with greenery. Then, you can add reliable flowers that can last out of water and use water tubes for delicate flowers.

SOURCE: HOLLY CHAPPLE FLOWERS

tj mcgrath

TJ McGRATH DESIGN | PLAINFIELD, N.J. tjmcgrathdesign.com @tjmcgrathdesign

For any sized vase arrangement, my favorite and go-to mechanic is a hair pin holder I have them in every size available! I teach this mechanic in all my private 1:1’s and workshop series “Designing with Local Blooms.”

SOURCE: FLORAL GENIUS

My go-to foam-free mechanic involves placing chicken wire in shallow trays for creating lowprofile installations. I use the Oasis trays (ironically made for bricks of floral foam), but I add layers of chicken wire instead and affix that with a heavyduty tape grid.I can build an arrangement with no visible vessel, giving the impression that the botanicals are directly connected to the Earth (or the tabletop or mantel).

SOURCE: SMITHERS-OASIS

amy stewart.

I met Amy Stewart on a Saturday morning Santa Cruz, California, while working at my little flower shop on Pacific Avenue. I had just finished setting up the display out on the sidewalk and contemplating my stock. It was what I call "shoulder season" in my garden, that time in a garden when some blooms were finishing and producing seed pods, and others were coming into their prime, but not there yet. It was a suitable time to introduce a few fun botanical alternatives to blooms, and on that day, I brought in some sweet silene seed heads. Those little whimsical bubbles dancing in the breeze caught Amy’s eye and ignited our conversation. She made a comment that she had never seen anything like it, and that was my cue for a friendly conversation with this lady with a Texas accent just like mine.

We talked flowers and gardens for a while before she shared she was writing a book about the floral industry, and asked to interview me for its pages. She said to me then, "I think you’re doing something really unique and different here, and I like it."

Amy planned to travel to Ecuador, Holland, Miami, and every other place that played a role in the industry. She was working on a book, or exposé, about the flower business and explore where the U.S. stands in the landscape and how folks like me a small independent florist fit in to it.

At the time, I didn’t really think I was doing anything all that special. I was simply following my old-fashioned, environmentally friendly heart. The year was 2004, and Bonny Doon Garden Co. was already five years into the business of growing boutique blooms and selling from a little kiosk in downtown Santa Cruz. I went into the retail florist business knowing I wanted to carve out a niche for a new way of growing, buying, and selling flowers. I didn’t know if I had a market for what I was doing or not, but I was bound and determined to source locally grown flowers and organic flowers (if possible).

"Sustainable" was not a word in the flower business, or even in agriculture at the time. To be honest, I was thoroughly

FLOWER CONFIDENTIAL TURNS 15

Flower Confidential is an aroundthe-world, behind-the-scenes look at the flower industry and how it has sought for better and worse to achieve perfection.

This truly was a book ahead of its time. When Amy Stewart wrote about the huge machine that relies on cheap floral imports, she started a conversation that resonated with me and with so many others it was a dialogue I wanted to join. She inspired me to continue seeking out and telling the stories of American flowers and the people who grow and design with them, and that led to the formation of the Slow Flowers Society and all of its programs.

- Debra Prinzing Slow Flowers Society

FLOWER CONFIDENTIAL

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers

Algonquin Books, 2007

YOU CAN FIND AMY'S BOOK AT AMYSTEWART.COM

SLOW FLOWERS HEROES BY TERESA SABANKAYA

disappointed with what florists were offering to the marketplace then. All I saw were stiff, out-of-a-box roses that never opened their hearts up to us. Or, snapdragons that looked and felt like 2 x 4 pieces of lumber, and arrangements laden with baby’sbreath and leather-leaf fern and inserted, leaves and all, into standard glass vases. I wanted to offer billowing, earthy, organic, fragrant, romantic floral arrangements displayed in beautiful vessels. At that time, there were little to no local and organic flowers to be found. It wasn’t possible for me to grow them all myself and finding local flowers was entirely different back then; I realized early on that if I wanted my business to survive I would need to actively search to find local growers or any small farm or backyard specialty crop grower that would sell to me.

Eventually, word got around that I was looking to buy locally grown flowers. One day, a lady pulled up to my kiosk with the backseat of her car filled with buckets of sweet peas from her garden. Wonderful! Little by little, other small independent specialty growers began to approach me with their flowers. This was not a quick process, but rather, several long years.

Meanwhile, Amy and I had kept up our correspondence. She would call me occasionally with a few questions for her book, and I would share more about how things were going in the flower shop. Then one day in 2007, a package arrived in the mail from Algonquin Books and inside was a paperback book titled Flower Confidential Could this be it? The book? I was excited to see what she wrote, to say the very least, and of course I wanted to get to ‘my part’ as quickly as possible. But I could not get past the title of the book, and especially that subtitle, The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers. I sat and contemplated that title and subtitle and thought this is going to be GOOD and it was. Amy writes with such charm, humor, and wit that you forget you are learning about the breeding, growing, and the selling of flowers. The book is chock-full of industry enigmas; all the technicalities became understandable to me, and I met some amazing people with heartwarming and mind-blowing stories along the way. Who knew there was so much that went into breeding a flower? And in a lab at that? I was delighted to learn

YOU CAN FIND AMY'S BOOKS AT: AMYSTEWART.COM

that just up HWY 1 from me was Don Garibaldi, one of the country's only growers of heirloom Italian violets. Reading Flower Confidential for the first time was an epiphany. It was like each page anchored my beliefs and made me proud of what I was doing. And at the end of the book, I felt inspired, sad, motivated, and loved all at the same time.

Amy shed a light on our flower industry, we can now source local, organic, and sustainably grown flowers for our floral enterprises. The everyday flower consumer can easily look at labels and know where that bunch of tulips comes from, and even the method in which they were grown.

What Amy wrote about my business was an enormous pat on the back and a warm hug. There were times I thought I had lost my mind trying to educate every single person who bought even a solitary bloom from me, as I told the story of where that flower came from and what went into growing it. Finally, someone recognized, and then brought to light what I was and still am trying to do, and in such a dynamic way. It was an honor to be included in this book, and especially alongside her narrative of 19th Century florists who did things the way I do. It is because of this feature, I feel I can more easily leave my own mark in the world, and for that I am so very thankful.

By writing Flower Confidential, Amy made us all look at the ephemeral beauty of flowers in a unique way. Now, we seek a SLOW perspective in a world full of speed and haste, thankfully. And now we honor a flower-grower and designer, or nowadays we call it a farmer-florist; either way — and we celebrate backyard garden-grown blooms, as well as commercial greenhouse-grown blooms cultivated with thought and care for our environment, for our workers, our economy and personal well-being. What Amy did with this book changed our minds for the better, and put into our hands the knowledge and tools that inspired the origins of our community, while also empowering us to change directions not only as businesses, but also as consumers.

SLOW FLOWERS HEROES BY TERESA SABANKAYA

OTHER BOOKS BY AMY WORTH A LOOK

Flower Confidential changed our industry forever. It’s as simple as that.

terra bella flowers.

Slow Flowers Journal introduces a new series inspired by BLOOM Imprint's first title, Where We Bloom: Thirty-Seven Intimate, Inventive, and Artistic Studio Spaces Where Floral Passions Find a Place to Blossom

Twenty years ago, Melissa Feveyear's first flower shop was called The Pleasure Garden, and it was housed inside a vintage, 18-foot Airstream trailer with a blue-and-white striped canopy parked in Seattle's Greenwood-Phinney Ridge neighborhood. "Every morning, I would pull open the canopy and put out my buckets of flowers," she says. "I had a little workstation inside, and even a flower cooler."

In 2006, Melissa spotted a neighborhood flower shop for sale on Craigslist and bought it, renaming it Terra Bella Flowers. Since then, she has always leased storefronts on the west side of the pedestrian-friendly Greenwood Avenue three different spaces

This is a welcoming escape from everyday pressures, great or miniscule. Indeed, one's metabolism slows down markedly upon entering.

ranging from 900-square-feet up to the current location, double Terra Bella's previous space just next door. "When this location became available in 2019, it was a wonderful opportunity for us to have everything in one location, including storage, and to add more gifts, a lot more plants, offer classes, and hold private events," she explains.

Melissa has witnessed a shift in customers' understanding and embrace of her mission. "I wanted to focus as much as possible on organic and locally grown flowers and shift away from the conventional wire-service model of the shop I had purchased," she says. "Early on, there was a lot of me trying to justify

WHERE WE BLOOM BY DEBRA PRINZING

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MISSY PALACOL

the expense of using local flowers. We also had to work past stereotypes that local flowers were shorter-lived."

Her old-new, early-1900s space might easily become Terra Bella's forever home, because it is spacious enough to function as a mercantile for gifts, cards and paper products, bath goods and candles, local pottery, and house plants galore, as well as a wine shop and a production studio that doubles as a classroom for workshops and events. "I could have given this shop a modern twist, but there's something just so romantic here, something timeless," she says.

It feels like a Victorian conservatory inspired by "The Pleasure Garden," Melissa's first business name, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows that flank both sides of the front doorway. The Old World character comes from wood flooring, soft green walls, and original moulding around the ceiling. Comfortable vintage chairs and loveseats are upholstered in velvet. Branches and foliage and ferns festoon the space, specimen plants are displayed under glass

cloches, and the cooler reveals a plethora of flower choices. Melissa has procured used fixtures from other retailers, but laughingly adds, "Generally, I'll find something on the side of the road and just repaint it."

Melissa and her husband, Martin Feveyear, built wood shelving with cast-iron brackets on either side of the sales counter, perfect for more plants and containers. And, of course, there is an iron bed filled with succulents. "It's our plant bed," Melissa points out.

Obtaining a retail wine license and stocking a selection from regional wineries allows Terra Bella to offer bottles as add-ons to flower orders. Wine is also the perfect pairing for the Wine and Design workshops. The series is popular, attracting returning students for sessions named Peonies and Prosecco; Roses and Rosé; and Drinks and Dahlias. Each 2 1/2-hour class includes tools, florals, and supplies. Area winemakers participate by pouring the tastings for students, and Terra Bella provides the appetizers and inspiration.

"Each class also has a historical theme, so in the fall, we design

This store invokes what you would envision a classic flower shop to be.

BACK IN THE DAY

Terra Bella Flowers is a pioneering floral business that was devoted to a slow and seasonal mission long before other florists adopted a similar approach. More than a decade after Melissa was featured in The 50 Mile Bouquet she continues to walk the talk and embodies her sustainable values in the operation of Terra Bella Flowers.

It's no surprise to learn Melissa was a founding member of the innovative farmer-owned flower cooperative, Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, when it opened in 2011. Today, thanks to years of education, she notices more consumer mindfulness about their purchases of goods, including flowers. Melissa's early efforts to source organically grown flowers once attracted clients with chemical sensitivities and chefs who needed edible flowers for their cocktails or recipes. Now, she leads with her beautiful aesthetic and the underlying message of seasonality and sourcing.

a Victorian centerpiece," Melissa says. "The dahlia class is midcentury focused, and we'll try and find some earthenware pots for those. The Roses and Rosé class is more about the Rococo period. History is really important to me, and I love to share my knowledge of the history of floral design through the ages, such as in our classes where students recreate the style of florals they see in paintings by the Dutch masters."

The workshops also showcase the expertise of Terra Bella's employees, such as a frequent Ikebana class taught by Kyoko Hasegawa, a knowledgeable team member. Sustainable design mechanics factor into all the courses. "Our mechanics are sustainable — so no floral foam," she points out. "We use wood excelsior occasionally, but another material I really love is angel vine, which is stiffer, and you can create these beautiful nests and weave the flowers through it." She assures customers and students that the entire arrangement can be composted once it has been enjoyed. For those who don't wish to keep their vase, Terra Bella has a clever "Recycle with Us" program: "Bring this vase back for a $5 gift card. We'll take the card pick and box too," reads the label that goes out with deliveries.

Like an open-concept restaurant where diners view the chef preparing meals, Terra Bella's production counters are not hidden. Customers see florists designing and they are often inspired to ask for something similar. "It used to make me very nervous, because I like to be behind the scenes," Melissa admits. "But now I love providing that interactive experience that invites people to see what we're doing."

This is a welcoming escape from everyday pressures, great or miniscule. Indeed, one's metabolism slows down markedly upon entering. "Our focus is community-based, and we are in a wonderfully supportive neighborhood. We want to be the retail flower shop that people can come into and literally stop and smell the roses," Melissa says. "So many flower shops have closed down over the years, and we want to provide this sensory experience. I want people to feel like they are coming through a forest of filtered trees into the light. It's a little moment of solace when someone walks through the doors."

TERRABELLAFLOWERS.COM | @TERRABELLAFLOWERS

botanical couture

OF LEAF AND FLOWER, A FESTIVAL OF FLORAL FASHIONS

In 2015, Slow Flowers Society launched American Flowers Week (June 28-July 4) as an annual advocacy, education and outreach campaign to promote domestic and locally grown flowers. The project encourages flower-farmers, floral designers, flower enthusiasts and gardeners alike to share photographs of their blooms across social media with the hashtag #americanflowersweek

Elevating local flowers and communicating the many reasons to support domestic floral agriculture and sustainable floristry are at the heart of the campaign. According to the 2022 National Gardening Survey, research sponsored by the Slow Flowers Society, 65 percent of Americans say it is very or somewhat important that the flowers they purchase are local (up from 58 percent in the 2021 survey). These numbers are trending up!

Sharing red-white-and-blue bouquets to commemorate Independence Day celebrations, is one way to woo the eye of the beholder. When the cutting garden is transformed into floral fashions, viewers can't help but respond to the unexpected and unforgettable beauty of botanical couture.

AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK 2022

DESIGN BY XENIA D'AMBROSI + NATALIE COLLETTE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SALLY SEMONITE GREEN

PAYING HOMAGE TO THE EASTERN BLUEBIRD, A SONGBIRD WITH DISTINCTIVE PLUMAGE AND GLORIOUS TAIL FEATHERS

take fligh t .

Botanical artists Xenia D'Ambrosi of Sweet Earth Co. and Natalie Collette of The Gardenist were drawn to a charming winged character as inspiration for their tribute to American Flowers Week. “The bluebird is the state bird of New York,” Xenia points out. “However, what really spurred my interest was seeing these birds at my farm. It was a direct result of the annuals and perennials we were planting, specifically with a focus on biodiversity and sustainability. As a result, there have been more pollinators here, and in particular, bluebirds.”

In the past, Xenia designed floral headpieces and other wearables for the Eco-Chic Fashion Show in her hometown of Pound Ridge, New York. "It had whet my appetite and I wanted to create more than a headpiece," she explains. "I started thinking about the bluebird concept. For three years I pieced it together, little by little." Natalie, who lives just 30 minutes from Xenia across the state line, in Norwalk, Connecticut., was an ideal collaborator. After meeting several years ago, the women discovered their similarities as farmer-florists who offer garden design services with cut-flower growing and floral design.

Like Xenia, Natalie is a collector of nests, so she immediately liked the project's bluebird theme. With a television production background, Natalie wasn't daunted. "I've done a bit of set design for some television productions. The need to work well under pressure is clearly similar to what floral designers face — thinking on your feet in a fast-paced setting with a timeline!"

Natalie and Xenia sketched out their concept, choosing blue annuals and spring-flowering bulbs to echo real feathers and

FLORAL PALETTE

Delphinium, bachelor's button, and snapdragons from CamFlor Inc. (California); muscari from The Gardenist (Connecticut); local hyacinth from East Coast Wholesale (Connecticut); and dried amaranth and miscanthus from Sweet Earth Co. (New York)

DESIGNERS

Xenia D'Ambrosi, Sweet Earth Co., sweetearthco.com @sweetearthco; Natalie Collette, The Gardenist, thegardenistgallery.com @the_gardenist

MODEL

Ryan Matthew, Ryan Matthew Interiors, ryanmatthewinteriors.com @ryanmatthewinteriors

MAKEUP

Xenia D'Ambrosi and Natalie Collette PHOTOGRAPHY Sally Semonite Green

LOCATION

Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Pound Ridge, New York

adding dried flowers to depict chest plumage. They discussed how to build wings and a headpiece and how to attach botanicals to the costume. "It came together in layers," Natalie explains. "We spent hours and hours and used over 400 stems of delphinium to create the wings." Adds Xenia, "We wanted to keep to a simple blue palette, adding drama with repeat flowers and various textures."

They tapped Xenia’s friend, Ryan Matthew, an interior designer and event planner, as their model. He donned a blue bodysuit as his base garment and added black leggings and boots to emulate bird legs. Natalie and Xenia constructed a hood-like floral headpiece and created the wings, body feathers, and tail components in sections using wire, glue, and needle-andthread mechanics. "We made five distinct floral pieces, with close to 700 individual stems of flowers," they explained.

Natalie relied on her sewing and patternmaking skills to fabricate five "capes" and "aprons" of varying shapes. A cape with folded edges created sleeves for Ryan’s arms, allowing him to move the "wings." Another apron-like piece was formed with hardware cloth tied around his waist to suggest the bird's white feathers, which emerged beneath the rounded bluebird "chest" — an apron covered in dried amaranth and miscanthus grass. "We wanted Ryan to be able to move in a certain way, lifting the wings as if he's about to take off and fly," Xenia explains.

The designers and model met up with their photographer at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, a 4,000-acre nature preserve in New York's Westchester County. They knew that the forested location was ideal for photographing their botanical bluebird but were thrilled when they stumbled upon a large-scale metal sculpture of a bird nest on site. The remote New York location, with deciduous and evergreen trees and dappled sunlight, allowed their narrative to unfold: A bluebird in his environment.

"We wanted that golden hour for photography," says Xenia. The woodland grass glowed, and just as they were leaving, the clouds rolled away and the sun came out, allowing the photographer to capture those magical, golden field shots. “This was a beautiful, creative release for everyone involved," the designers say.

"WE ENVISIONED THE DELPHINIUM AS THE BIRD'S LONGER FEATHERS. THE CAPE DRAPED IN THE FRONT AND OVER RYAN’S BACK SO WHEN HE LIFTED HIS WINGS, ALL YOU SEE ARE BLUE FLOWERS."

AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK 2022

DESIGN BY LISA LARSEN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIKA DIAZ

A MOD 1960S MINI-DRESS COMPOSED OF PETALS, LEAVES AND FLOWERS, EVOKES A SHAG SHIFT STYLED WITH TWIGGY-INSPIRED LASHES AND A FLORAL PILLBOX HAT

flower flutte r .

Sunborn Gardens' Lisa Larsen is a farmer-florist and partner with her husband, Hans Larsen, in their family's Wisconsin flower farm and design studio. Sunborn has a long history in cut-flower growing, founded 46 years ago by Hans' mother, Carol Larsen. Admittedly, Lisa married into the family business and initially had no interest in leaving Milwaukee for Mt. Horeb. She explains, "When Hans first had the idea to take over his mother’s flower farm, I was skeptical. I was about to move my entire life to a new place and become a farmer? I eventually found myself helping in the design studio and it was there I found my calling. I had studied fine arts in college and was set on becoming a teacher, but through long days at the workbench creating art by using flowers as my medium, I was hooked."

"All the elements and principles of design I once studied were being applied on a daily basis and I wanted more, more, more! I apprenticed with my mother-in-law for a few years, learning all I could. I now run the design studio with a small, incredibly talented staff, producing weddings almost every weekend. I am constantly inspired by what is growing all around me. There really is nothing better than a fresh-cut local stem."

This year, in anticipation of opening their first Sunborn Gardens shop, Lisa thought it would be fun to participate in American Flowers Week's call for botanical couture floral fashions. "When our shop opens this summer, we are going to offer domestic and

FLORAL PALETTE

Dusty Miller, hellebores, muscari, and tulips from Sunborn Gardens (Wisconsin); Larkspur and scabiosa from CamFlor Inc. (California)

DESIGNER

Lisa Larsen, sunborngardens.com @sunborngardens

MODEL

Ali Thomas, @heyheyitsalij HAIR/MAKEUP

Chelsea, B Beauty Bar, @b.beautybarwi

PHOTOGRAPHY

Erika Diaz Photography, erikadiazphoto.com, @erikadiazphoto

LOCATION

Sunborn Gardens, Mount Horeb, Wisconsin

locally grown flowers only. What better project to celebrate our new adventure than with American-grown fashion?"

Lisa's mood board reveals her influences: A 1960s fashion model wearing a sleeveless, melon-orange shift adorned with shaggy feathers; illustrations of women in pillbox hats a la Jackie Kennedy; and a black-and-white portrait of British style icon Twiggy, with her dark, dramatic eye makeup.

With Wisconsin's flower season just getting started in May, Lisa planned to use a combination of dried flowers from Sunborn Gardens and fresh flowers from American Flowers Week sponsors CamFlor Inc. As it turned out, she harvested plenty of spring-flowering bulbs and a few hellebores from Sunborn's greenhouses, adding dried dusty Miller and the California stems.

She started with a thrift shop find as the base garment, and worked with a tailor's dress form to give the garment its body shape. "I attached hundreds of pieces of dried dusty Miller to the fabric, layer by layer," she explains. "Some of the leaves face up; others reveal the underside, and the alternating placement creates a wonderful texture. Dried dusty Miller has much more dimension than its just-picked, fresher leaves."

Lisa tucked in dozens of pale blue muscari blossoms to the bodice, emulating bangles that peek between the silvery dusty Miller. White scabiosa flower heads cloak the dress's formfitting side panels. For the miniskirt's flirty hemline, she added overlapping stems of white California-grown larkspur, the long stalks with delicate blooms adding movement. A collar of vivid vermillion tulips looks like the chunky jewelry of the era.

Lisa wanted two styling options and photographed the model with her dark hair and straight bangs unadorned, as well as in a 1960s pillbox, with its flat crown, upright sides, and no brim or veil. She attached tulip and hellebore flowers heads around the felt base to create a cheeky botanical pillbox.

The styling continues with graphic eye makeup reminiscent of Twiggy, including vibrant blue shadow, black eyeliner, and layers of mascara. The petal "lashes" add whimsy in keeping with the dreamy floral fantasy.

"WHEN OUR SHOP OPENS, WE ARE GOING TO OFFER DOMESTIC AND LOCALLY GROWN FLOWERS ONLY. WHAT BETTER PROJECT TO CELEBRATE OUR NEW ADVENTURE THAN WITH AMERICAN-GROWN FASHION?"

AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK 2022

DESIGN

BY NIESHA BLANCAS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY NIESHA BLANCAS + ANA QUINATA

SHE'S A "DIAMOND OF THE GARDEN," FIT FOR A FASHIONABLE TEA PARTY WITH ALL THE ROYALS

bridgerton brigh t.

For the second year, our Slow Flowers Society social media manager (and resident fashionista) Niesha Blancas of Fetching Social Media has designed a floral look reflecting her own style.

"As I typically do when searching for inspiration, I scrolled Pinterest to look at runway collections from the 1990s and 2000s and found some interesting silhouettes," she says. "I liked the abstract-looking ones, especially for botanical couture. I feel like you can get away with a lot of drama." Niesha knew that Carlos Cardoza, CamFlor Inc.'s sales representative, was going to ship her a "surprise box" of California-grown flowers and foliage. She hoped for several bunches of acuba — the glossy, golden-flecked broadleaf evergreen, also known as Japanese laurel — because those leaves factored prominently in the two futuristic bodysuits she designed and fabricated for American Flowers Week 2021.

"I knew I had to have the speckles," she jokes. "That was my favorite element last year and, no surprise, it's going to be my signature now."

The resulting garment for this year is a floral-covered short strapless gown which is worn with a floating hoop skirt — part Marie Antoinette and part futuristic gal with heavy influences from a couture gown in Oscar Carvallo's Fall 2014 runway collection. Niesha also borrowed from Bridgerton, Netflix's popular period drama from Shonda Rhimes, based on Julia Quinn's bestselling series. "Once I binge-watched Bridgerton, I just fell in love with the costuming and I couldn't get it out of

FLORAL PALETTE

Ornamental kale, scabiosa, statice, veronica, goedetia, and acuba from CamFlor Inc. (California) DESIGNER

Niesha Blancas, Fetching Social Media, fetchingsocialmedia.com, @fetchingsocial DESIGN ASSISTANCE

Cathy Blancas, Ana Quinata MODEL

Danielle Claybon HAIR/MAKEUP

Danielle Claybon PHOTOGRAPHY

Niesha Blancas and Ana Quinata LOCATION

Private garden, Fresno, California

my brain," she admits. In the series, Queen Charlotte chooses a favored "diamond" among the season's debutantes. Naturally, Niesha calls her creation "Diamond of the Garden."

Bridgerton's costume designer Ellen Mirojnick told Vogue that she looked at the Regency period in London for silhouettes and shapes but drew from today's fashions for her color palettes. Niesha takes a similar approach, echoing Bridgerton's ball gowns with décolletage, vivid fabrics and patterns, and opulent jewelry. Her dress design has three sections: a strapless mini, a see-through hoop skirt, and an exaggerated bow at the back.

Starting with a $2 thrift-store dress, Niesha glued petals, leaves and stems to create an abstract ombré brocade, transitioning from purple to pink to white flowers that encircle the dress. She found a way to incorporate almost everything CamFlor sent her.

"I used the kale stems on the bodice, as boning on a corset," she says. "I’ll be honest, it was a difficult, but I'm so grateful for the challenge because I loved how it turned out."

Niesha also found the hoop skirt at her local thrift store. She used it as a see-through overskirt, revealing the floral mini-dress underneath. It took hours to attach what felt like thousands of green leaves onto the surface and underside of each hoop and strap, and admittedly, Niesha's mother's backyard shrubbery was sacrificed in the process. Her mom, Cathy Blancas, lent further support, shaping a large bow from chicken wire and covering it in fabric. To this Niesha glued layers of the speckled acuba foliage, overlapping the leaves to emphasize their pointed tips.

What makes this look even more successful is the model, Danielle Claybon, who embodies many of the ladies of Bridgerton, with the heavy-on-pearl and hot pink styling, including hot pink elbow-length opera gloves and heels. "I told Danielle to bring the attitude for the photos," Niesha explains.

With pearls around the neck and wrists, the final royal touch is the pearl tiara, which was Niesha's own, saved from her quinceañera 15 years ago, an early nod to her style sensibility.

"I wanted her to be a cool girl, the cool girl of the ball with an unapologetic style. She felt like a representation of me."

"I LOVE THE CONTRADICTION OF SOFT AND HARD, SO WE HAVE A DRESS OF SMALL, DAINTY FLOWERS WORN BY A MODEL WHO'S OOZING IN CONFIDENCE, BOLD ATTITUDE, AND A WHOLE LOT OF SASS."

AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK 2022

DESIGN BY LINDA SPRADLIN + NAN MATTESON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAUDIE CONRAD

FLORAL PALETTE

CINCINNATI IS

NICKNAMED THE QUEEN CITY, INSPIRING A PAIR OF OHIO FLOWER-FARMERS TO CELEBRATE WITH A FLORAL-ADORNED MONARCH

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Friends and flower-farmers Linda Spradlin of In the Garden Flower Farm in Seven Mile, Ohio, and Nan Matteson of Queen City Flower Farm in Cincinnati, looked to themselves and their "Queen of the West" Cincinnati hometown for inspiration.

"We thought, let's show an older, wiser woman, because she's still very capable," explains Linda, who served as lead designer. "Even though she has a few wrinkles, she's accomplished a lot of things and can still have fun and be glamorous.”

Their fashion cue came from both current and historical events. "Queens are in the zeitgeist right now," Nan says. "Queen Elizabeth just had her Jubilee, and there’s a Broadway musical called 'Six,' about the six queens married to Henry VIII."

Linda agreed to model their regal garment, prompting Nan to play the role of "lady in waiting." Working from a costume pattern, Nan stitched the bodice, adding sheer fabric sleeves and fashioning the collar from screen door mesh. She and Linda embellished the bodice with a mix of flower heads.

Cuffs of ornamental grass tie around Linda's wrists and echo lace details found in another historic illustration. A chicken wire-shaped skirt is clad in aspidistra "ribbons" topped with fluffy carnations to suggest ruffles. Regal accoutrements include a scepter, royal orb, and botanical crown. Adds Linda, "Anyone who lasts this long deserves a crown."

Bunny tail and explosion grass, ornamental kale, scabiosa, cornflower, paper daisies, leucadendron and artichoke leaves, from CamFlor Inc. (California); wild-foraged grasses from In the Garden Flower Farm (Ohio); button mums, aspidistra foliage and carnations, sourced from Cincinnati Wholesale Florist.

DESIGNERS

Linda Spradlin, @inthegardenflowerfarm.com and Nan Matteson, @queencityflowerfarm

MODEL

Linda Spradlin

PHOTOGRAPHER

Maudie Conrad, @mcphotographybymaudieconrad

LOCATION

In the Garden Flower Farm, Seven Mile, Ohio

AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK 2022

DESIGN BY HILLARY ALGER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRISTEN EARLEY

ONCE GROWN AS A FOOD COMMODITY, UPRIGHT AMARANTHUS CRUENTU AND TASSELED A. CAUDATUS ARE VALUED FOR THEIR ORNAMENTAL BEAUTY, INCLUDING WEARABLE FASHIONS WORTHY OF THE RUNWAY

great grain s .

For their fourth botanical couture contribution to American Flowers Week, Johnny's Seeds flower specialists Hillary Alger and Joy Longfellow headed straight to the trial gardens where all the magic happens during the year, as they test and evaluate thousands of cut flower and herb varieties.

From late summer to early fall, one of the seed company's star annuals is the amaranth. Johnny's has seven varieties in its catalog, from upright burgundy, coral, and copper forms to the long, trailing options in lime-green and deep red. "They contribute such a nice color palette for fall arrangements," says Hillary, Johnny's floral and herb product manager. Just like flower-farmers, the team plants a succession of amaranth to ensure continual harvest late into the season's first frost.

The amaranth is reminiscent of chenille, a tufted fabric often associated with vintage robes or bedspread. The notion of creating an amaranth coat captured Johnny's Seeds' imagination. "I had my doubts that amaranth would lend itself to this project or be as beautiful as it came out, because the colors are a little faded," Hillary observes. "But it seems obvious now, because the texture of the flowers and the structure of the plumes are very much like textile fibers."

Hillary and Joy, who manages Johnny's floral trials, harvested hundreds of amaranth stems, keeping them from getting brittle with an occasional spritz of water after drying. "We have a space in a barn here that we use for just drying flowers," Hillary says.

FLORAL PALETTE

Maine-grown amaranth and ornamental grasses from Johnny's Seeds, johnnyseeds.com @johnnys_seeds

DESIGNER

Hillary Alger, Johnny's Seeds

PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE

Joy Longfellow, Johnny's Seeds

MODELS

Kristina Alofaituli and Lindsey Peter PHOTOGRAPHY

Kristen Earley, Johnny's Seeds

LOCATION

Johnny's Trial Gardens, Winslow, Maine

To begin the design process, Hillary found a pair of velvet women's blazers at a discount store. "The velvet was the same color as the copper-colored amaranth," she recalls.

She wanted two distinct coat shapes and the blazers were easily transformed to fit the two models, Kristina and Lindsay, two friends and fellow Johnny's employees. "They both work in shipping in the winter and on the farm here in the summer."

For Kristina's coat, Hillary cut off most of the sleeves and folded them over make a cap. She deconstructed amaranth plumes, treating them like strands of rope. "It's not efficient, but even though it was so much work, I found the process really fun, and it gave me some quiet, 'Zen' time," she says.

To create the separate "hood" piece, Hillary used a handloom to weave a tapestry-like cloth with more lengths of ropey amaranth and some of the plumes. The flat surface application and contrasting fringed detailing transform a basic blazer. Amaranth-covered booties complete the styling.

For the second garment, modeled by Lindsay, Hillary used the dark red amaranth to apply dramatic detailing across the back and shoulders. The chunky coat is paired with short-shorts and Ugg-style boots, embellished with layers of dried amaranth.

The benefit of using dried flowers for botanical couture design is that you can work on a piece over many days, or even weeks.

"I have a dress form at home, so I worked on the coats in the evenings," Hillary explains. "Then Joy and I had a couple sessions where we worked together and she also tackled some of the detailed smaller pieces on her own."

Kristen Early, Johnny's staff photographer, met up with the design team and models late one autumn day to document the project. The setting was simply perfect to showcase garments made from seasonal amaranth, traditionally grown as a grain.

Months later, the dried garments are hanging in Hillary's office at Johnny's, including one coat that's still "worn" by her tailor's dress form. "Once it's warm enough for the seeds to germinate, I think it will be fun to take the boots home and put them in my garden. With enough moisture and heat, they might just sprout. And it could become another art project."

"WE WANTED THE OUTFITS TO LOOK MODERN AND EDGY, LIKE SOMETHING THEY WOULD ACTUALLY WEAR."

AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK 2022

DESIGN BY CARRIE WILCOX PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOANNA FISHER

1950 s AMERICANA MEETS THE BEACH VIBE, COMPLETE WITH PINUP-GIRL STYLING

yellow polka-dot bikin i .

Carrie Wilcox lives on the Connecticut shoreline, so when she dreamed up a botanical couture look, she wanted to portray vintage Americana and the beach lover's lifestyle.

Owner of Carrie Wilcox Floral Design based in Milford, Connecticut, Carrie operates a full-service events and wedding studio. For the past two years, she has served as lead floral designer for the First Lady's Luncheon, an annual charity event staged by members of the bipartisan Congressional Club to honor America’s first lady. The program features all U.S.-grown flowers provided by Certified American Grown farms.

Carrie has increasingly come to rely on locally grown flowers. She is a regular customer of the Connecticut Flower Growers Collective, a regional wholesale flower hub involving more than 25 area specialty cut-flower farms.

Assisted by her lead designer, Tina Ahlberg, Carrie "wanted to design something that hasn't been done before," she explains. "The 1950s was such a girly time and the two-piece swimsuit is fun, light and happy, which we need right now."

They covered the swimsuit straps with diminutive white paper flowers. Bright yellow Billy balls (Craspedia sp.) appear at the center of each daisy mum, continuing the motif across the shorts and bikini top. Addie Priest, their swimsuit model, is Tina's niece. Thanks to her California upbringing, she pulls off the retro look in style, complete with daisy sunglasses and a flowery bathing cap (shown on page 19).

FLORAL PALETTE

Craspedia and paper flowers from CamFlor Inc. (California); Daisy mums and gerbera daisies from local wholesaler.

DESIGNER

Carrie Wilcox, Carrie Wilcox Floral Design, carriewilcoxfloraldesign.com @cwfloraldesign

DESIGN ASSISTANCE

Tina Ahlberg, Floral Surroundings LLC, floralsurroundingsllc.com @tinasfloralsurroundings

VINTAGE SWIMSUIT

Unique Vintage, unique-vintage.com, @uniquevintage

MODEL

Addie Priest, @addiepriest HAIR/MAKEUP Blow Dry, blowdrysouthport.com @blowdry_sw

PHOTOGRAPHY

Joanna Fisher, joannafisher.com, @joanna_fisher

LOCATION

Connecticut shoreline

AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK 2022

DESIGN BY JENNY M. DIAZ

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENNY M. DIAZ

SHADES OF PINK, LAVENDER, AND BLUE REFLECT CALIFORNIA'S BRILLIANT SKY

IN A FLORAL FROCK WORN BY THE DESIGNER'S MOTHER

purple pastora l .

To create a floral experience to celebrate her mother, Jill Moore, designer Jenny Moore Diaz crafted a feminine botanical dress with a fitted bodice and handkerchief hemline."I am turning 40 this year, and I remember my mom telling me that she found her passion for running and hiking when she turned 40," Jenny recalls. "She inspires me, and I wanted to honor her with this project."

Jenny is Slow Flowers Society's longtime graphic designer, who has created two botanical couture looks for past American Flowers Week celebrations, both modeled by "real women" and photographed by Jenny. In discussing her palette with Carlos Cardoza of CamFlor Inc., which donated the flowers, she asked for shades of purple and blue. "I knew those colors would flatter my mom and look great with her complexion," she says.

Flat flower heads (scabiosa and bachelor's button), petals (godetia) and leaves (ornamental cabbage) form a color-block pattern on the bodice. Lavender sprigs adorn the shoulder straps. For the skirt, Jenny chose long-stem flowers like larkspur, limonium, statice, and dianthus, plus vining sweet peas. The flower heads face downward toward the hemline, falling into a soft drape with each section of the skirt.

Photography took place on the 20-acre property where Jenny lives with her family in Central California's Sierra Mountains foothills. "The grasses, the trees, the sky — together it all felt like the perfect setting for a woman who loves to hike and who loves nature," Jenny says.

FLORAL PALETTE

Bachelor's button, dianthus, godetia, larkspur, lavender, limonium, ornamental cabbage, scabiosa, statice, and sweet peas from CamFlor Inc. (California).

DESIGNER

Jenny M. Diaz, jennymdiaz.com, @jennymdiaz

DESIGN ASSISTANCE

Jim Moore

MODEL

Jill Moore

HAIR/MAKEUP

Jill Moore

PHOTOGRAPHY

Jenny M. Diaz

LOCATION

Prather, California

AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK 2022

DESIGN BY JEN HINSON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY RACHEL KEMPKER

ILLUSTRATOR SHELLEY ALDRICH COVERS THE COUNTRY IN DELICATE, HAND-DRAWN BOTANICALS

a floral ma p .

ABOUT

INSPIRED BY THE ARTS & CRAFTS MOVEMENT AND THE FLORAL TEXTILES OF 19TH CENTURY ARTIST WILLIAM MORRIS

garden moti f .

Jen Hinson turned to her cutting garden and her relatives' historic gardens to create carefree and naturalistic floral designs for Clara's Garden, a retail flower shop in Mediapolis, Iowa, founded in 2000 by Meredith Hinson, her mother and partner. While providing the floral decor for a historic home tour in Burlington, Iowa, home of the state's first capitol, Jen was attracted to the classic floral wallpaper of British artist William Morris. His designs feature leaves, vines, and flowers — often against a dark green or black field.

Jen reimagined those prints as a botanical maxi skirt, fashioned with viburnum foliage supported by a wraparound structure of chicken wire. Into this matrix, she inserted just-clipped peonies, roses, and irises, creating a nostalgic floral print.

FLORAL PALETTE

Garden roses, peonies, heirloom iris, and viburnum foliage, harvested from Quail Creek Flower Farm, Mediapolis, Iowa

DESIGNER

Jen Hinson, clarasgardenia.com, @clarasgardenmepo

PRODUCTION SUPPORT

Tracy Nelson

MODEL

Lauren Sieren, @laurensieren

HAIR/MAKEUP

Lauren Sieren

PHOTOGRAPHY

Rachel Kempker kapturebykempker.mypixieset.com @kapturedbykempker

LOCATION

Clara's Garden at Quail Creek Flower Farm

The 2022 American Flowers Week branding was created exclusively for Slow Flowers Society by Shelley Aldrich, a painter and illustrator, based in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Like some of our past commissions, we discovered Shelley on Instagram, drawn to her whimsical and lyrical painting technique that depicts botanical patterns, flowers, and gardens, wildlife, and people.

Shelley brainstormed several ideas for an original American Flowers Week illustration — and the final concept became an utterly charming USA map with red, white, and blue blooms. The flowers are intended to be playful and familiar, while not literally replicated.

We recently caught up with Shelley for a conversation:

Q. How do you describe yourself and your art?

A. I would say my art is playful, bright, and imperfect. Without formal training, I paint and draw using my instinct versus learned techniques. So, it has a childlike simplicity.

Q. How did you develop your unique style and aesthetic?

A. Initially, I wanted to illustrate children's books. If you look at some of my earlier work, you'll see I drew characters. Last November, I started drawing patterns, which felt more natural for me. It was a whole different way of thinking to switch from illustrating a children's story to making surface patterns. It was almost a relief for me to just draw freely and not think about

Shelley is a self-taught artist who began painting four years ago. She studied Business Administration at the University of Southern California and worked as a financial professional for two decades in the entertainment, technology, and auto industries. In 2014, she quit the corporate world to spend more time at home with her two daughters. She has always enjoyed creative hobbies, but her decision to become self-employed allowed her to study and practice painting. She started with The 100 Day Project in 2018 and has not stopped. Her joyful and playful painting style is still evolving but is always inspired by the natural world.

FOLLOW HER @shelleyaldrichminimuseum shelleyaldrich.com

etsy.com/shop/ShelleyAldrichArt

getting a character and environment just right.

Q. When you draw florals, do you work from your imagination?

A. I almost always work from a reference photograph when I draw landscapes and florals. When I was drawing children's book illustrations, I often worked from my imagination, but flowers are a lot different.

Q. What is your drawing process?

A. I used to always start with a tiny thumbnail sketch to test composition and color before a final painting. But this year, I discovered Procreate. I never thought I would go digital but it’s immensely easier, especially when it comes to surface patterns.

Q. What other media do you use?

A. When I draw landscapes, I like to work with acrylic gouache. It has a beautiful opaque, matte finish to it and the layers dry quickly so I can paint colors on top of each other. It allows me to achieve landscapes with a graphic feeling that I like.

Q. How did art and drawing "sneak up" on you?

A. I always loved doodling and making crafts, but I took a more traditional route, studying business in college. I worked in finance for 22 years. While I was working, I would find moments to be creative like teaching art at my daughters’ school, scrapbooking, and even starting a handmade party goods business called Pipsqueak & Bean. I never fully committed to art — most likely out of fear. It wasn’t until 2018, almost exactly a year after losing my mom, that I finally decided I was going to learn to paint. I guess you could say art has been slowly sneaking up on me for many years.

Q. What kind of commissions are you receiving?

A. My illustrations are being used for journals, cards, phone cases, fabrics, scarves, and some clothing.

Q. Are you surprised at the response to your illustrations?

A. It is crazy because things are starting to take off for me. Suddenly, I'm hearing from clients and getting commissions from people who like my style. I always remind myself about Julia Child and Grandma Moses, women who started careers even when they were told it was too late for their age. Finally, it feels like the right time to start my art career, a new adventure.

the purple dahlia.

I was a true, no seat-belt-wearing flower child of the 1970s with baby's breath in my hair. In my early childhood memories, I'm bellying up to the dining room table, feet dangling, planting plump sunflower seeds in those just-add-water expandable pots.

Growing up in the 1980s, in what was considered rural Alaska, barefoot and riding bikes down the dirt road, was mostly good until it wasn’t. Navigating the waves of my mother's unpredictable emotions and temper, it was natural for me to be outside away from her, lost in nature. I was always digging up clumps of lupine, yarrow, and other wildflowers to replant them somewhere I thought would be prettier, never minding Mother Nature. Later, in high school, as my first real job besides babysitting the neighbor kids, I worked at a nursery transplanting a summer's worth of lobelia and other flowers. I loved every minute of having my hands in the dirt, the earthy smells, and the sweet warmth of the greenhouse.

Not only is purple my favorite color, I knew Luke's dahlias were wonderful to have and to remember him each time they bloomed.

Through my very early twenties, the birth of my son and subsequent divorce, the iris was “my” flower. I loved its deep colors: blue reflecting hues of dark purple. Since then, I’ve learned the meaning of the iris is, “I have a message for you.” Was I listening? Not really. Like most 20-year-olds, I was searching for happiness, love, and meaning in my life.

Also at this point, although flowers were present around me, I really didn’t know their significance. But they kept showing up.

Enter the potato guy, Glen, my all-of-the-above Dutch farmer who chose me and a sick little boy with Muscular Dystrophy named Luke to call his own. On our bed there is a pillow with a

FLOWERS FROM THE HEART BY MISTY VANDERWEELE PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMBER LANPHIER

FLOWERS FROM THE HEART

pretty font that reads," It all started with a paper rose.” We first met at the local “hot spot” and after a couple failed attempts to get me to dance with him, Glen made me a flower out of a bar napkin, beer logo and all. So cheesy, so sweet. How could I refuse? Besides, we all know the rose to be a classic symbol of love. To honor how we met, we held a rose ceremony during our wedding. It reminds us it is love that brought us here, and it is love that will keep us together.

During the early days of our relationship, before our daughter Jenna was born, I planted flowers in some halved wine barrels. I also found some weathered wooden crates, which made perfect mini flower gardens around the yard. Every summer, Glen would load up our son for an outing and they’d return with a bouquet of dahlias purchased at a roadside stand where you put the money through a slot in the box.

LUKE'S DAHLIAS

When Luke was in kindergarten, he brought home a spindly little dahlia that he planted at school for Mother's Day. It didn't look so well. Pathetic, really. Not knowing much about dahlias, I wasn’t sure I could revive it. Days later the seedling perked up. My father-in-law, the seasoned Dutch farmer that he is, told me dahlias grow tubers that can be divided, so could have more and more dahlias every year. The idea intrigued me. When my seedling bloomed into a purple flower, I knew I had to learn how to divide the tubers in the fall. Not only is purple my favorite color, I knew Luke's dahlias were wonderful to have and to remember him each time they bloomed.

Those were busy times, raising the kids and working the farm to pay the bills. We had one child starting to walk while the other was declining, taking his last steps before full-time wheelchair use. We were in the throes of day-to-day living, trying to provide Luke with the best quality of life we could for however long we had him.

Part of being so optimistic and focusing on quality of life had me noticing how few parents were speaking up or even advocating for Duchenne care and research. So, in my in-between times while Duchenne ravaged my son’s body, stealing his muscles, I decided I would be that parent. I knew sharing our journey would help others. What I learned, I shared. And sharing brought me comfort. At least I was doing something about it. Sort of. And no matter how busy or stressed out we got, I always made time to plant flowers.

We had our beautiful boy for 21 years and 21 days. Trying to bring comfort while I said my last goodbyes, I made Luke a promise that I’d find a way to thrive through the tears of missing him. I had absolutely no idea how on Earth I was to accomplish something like this. At the time, it felt nearly impossible, but I made the promise anyway.

My entire being hurt from the worst nightmare a mother can endure. Nothing could’ve prepared me, even knowing my son’s

life was shortened by the monster, Duchenne, a 100% fatal, muscle-wasting disease. When Luke was four, we were told he’d be lucky to graduate high school. Which he thankfully did in 2010. He died in 2013.

Numb, debilitating exhaustion was my new normal. I sought refuge in a long-ago gift from him. Eyes closed, with tears streaming down my cheeks, I plunged my face into the depths of the large, magenta-purple dahlia bloom like my life depended on it. Every ounce of me ached from missing him. It had only been seven months. Flashes of memories came to me, shooting like stars. I could hear, smell, and practically taste them on my tongue. Suffocating emotions swept me down the river of grief I was becoming all too familiar with. When I opened my eyes would I see him before me? Wait, what was that I felt? A shimmer of lightness or was it a glimpse of pure joy? The color of warmth enveloped me with golden white light, thick as honey with a soft feathery feel. For a few minutes the expanding, painful pressure throughout my body was gone, leaving a peace within me I had never felt before in my life! I thought, "Thank God I had the forethought to save Luke's dahlias." I cried out, falling to my knees, saying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you," over and over.

I planted all the tubers that propagated since that very first dahlia seedling he brought home to me when he was in kindergarten all those years ago. Dahlias fulfilled my mission to have something from Luke, long after he was gone. At the time, I had no idea of the bounty I bestowed upon myself. I was following my mother's broken heart's need to feel connection, which turned out to be wisdom before its time. Little did I know that with the assistance of a flower I was creating a channel for me to feel my son’s love. With every bloom it's like he is loving me from heaven.

They say grief comes from not being able to receive love from the departed and lack of being able to express ours in return. But I’m here to tell you, death doesn’t stop love and a flower showed me.

They say grief comes from not being able to receive love from the departed and lack of being able to express ours in return. But I’m here to tell you, death doesn’t stop love and a flower showed me.

When we talk about running a more sustainable floral business, we usually think about flower sourcing and environmental issues such as limiting chemical use and embracing foam-free mechanics, but what does it look like to build sustainability into your business strategy?

Sustainable businesses aim to balance profits, people, and the planet when creating company practices, but the truth is that most floral designers and flower-farmers I know started their business because of a passion for flowers — not because they are experts in supply chains and sustainability. If you’re an experienced florist or farmer, you already know that it takes more than a love of flowers to maintain a profitable flower business.

It takes a combination of passion and planning to run a business and there are four basic elements that contribute to long-term success and sustainability in the floral industry — no matter how big or small your operation may be. I refer to these as the four Floralpreneur® Fundamentals, each of which can be learned and improved upon over time, including flower care and design skill, pricing and profitability, attracting great clients, and closing sales consistently.

While there’s no such thing as a self-sustaining business, when you acquire (or become proficient in) these basic elements your business plan and sales systems start to become more sustainable, teachable, and transferable (if you ever want to train employees, sell your business, or retire).

Let’s break down the four fundamentals:

1. FLOWER CARE AND DESIGN PRINCIPLES. This is #1 on the list because understanding basic flower care and handling, as well as botanical nomenclature, is foundational in professional floristry. Naturally, the artisanship and quality of your flowers will be critical to your long-term success, as this establishes your signature style and serves as the visual representation of your

Here are questions to answer when it comes to your own sustainable business strategy:

Are you tracking your profit margins on every event?

Are you reaching your ideal clients people who can afford you and are willing to pay you?

Or do you need to redefine your ideal customer and start talking to them more specifically?

Are you reaching your sales goals?

What is your business known for?

Are you happy with your work schedule or do you need to scale back?

In what way is your company growing or nailing down your niche?

What are your current clients saying about their experience with your company?

YOU CAN FIND MORE TIPS: REALFLOWERBUSINESS.COM

Don’t be afraid to find the "growth edges." And to continue with the plant metaphors here, it’s also important to prune offerings or services from your business that no longer make sense. What do you need to shed to find more joy in your work?

brand (much more important than a perfect logo).

2. PRICING FOR PROFITABILITY. Turning a profit is a key distinction between running a business and having a hobby. That’s why it’s essential to have a clear understanding of how you bring money into your business, as well as how much money you’re actually keeping.

Pricing for profit is not just about how much you charge, it’s also about how much you spend. Instead of underpricing or overfilling orders, a sustainable business tracks profit margins and avoids overbuying.

Remember, the first rule of business ownership is to “pay yourself first.” If you want to be sustainable, price your work so that you can pay yourself, pay your bills, and save for retirement.

3. ATTRACTING GREAT CLIENTS. The ultimate goal of any business is to establish a reputable brand that delivers on its promise, and attracts great clients who are willing to pay you. Marketing, branding, referrals, and website design are all important to help customers find your company, but what best defines your long-term success is what people actually experience when they collaborate with you. That is what keeps customers coming back (or not).

4. BOOKING CLIENTS AND CLOSING SALES CONSISTENTLY. Once you attract your dream clients, you need to lay out clear steps in your sales process to help lead them to “yes.” If you want to book more clients, create a sales system to help you and your staff close sales quickly and confidently.

If any of these four elements are out of balance, a business will begin to struggle.

This is why, in addition to more sustainable sourcing and eco-friendly design mechanics, your business should plan to incorporate sustainability into a balanced, overall strategy for profitability, sales, and customer experiences so that you can focus on the people you most want to serve, and build a brand that lasts for the long run.

Slow Flowers Podcast Episodes (January-May 2022)

EPISODE 539

Meet Gina Lett Shrewsberry of Inspirations by Gina and Valerie Crisostomo, founder of Black Girl Florists.

WATCH HERE

EPISODE 542

Welcome to 2022 and the Slow Flowers Floral Insights & Industry Forecast with Debra Prinzing and Bloom Imprint's Robin Avni.

WATCH HERE

EPISODE 546

Oregon-grown flowers with Bethany Little of Charles Little& Co. and Beth Syphers of Crowley House Farm.

WATCH HERE

EPISODE 554

A garden and studio tour with Lorene Edwards Forkner, sharing her new book Color In and Out of the Garden

WATCH HERE

EPISODE 559

Flowers as Artist's Muse: Meet Ronni Nicole Robinson.

WATCH HERE

preserving our heritage.

BLOOM Imprint invited storyteller and documentary producer Myriah Towner to contribute an Epilogue for Black Flora: Profiles of Inspiring Black Flower Farmers + Florists, by Teresa J. Speight. We have excerpted her piece here as the first Flora Culture essay for Slow Flowers Journal

I started working as a freelance floral designer in the summer of 2018 when I met New York-based florists Molly Culver of Molly Oliver Flowers and Sylvia Lukach of Cape Lily Flowers. I was inspired, delighted, and comforted by the beauty of flowers, and knew then my hands had to work with blossoms, but I never had done so professionally and had no idea where to begin. I also hardly ever saw people who looked like me pursuing floristry or flower-farming. While there are still very few of us represented in the industry, I am so inspired by the powerful stories of the Black flower-farmers and florists in Black Flora who all have such a deep connection to, and larger motivation for, floristry work.

From my conversations, I realized there was a real issue at hand: no one is documenting and preserving the legacy of Black farmers in this country.

Each and every single one has expressed brilliant creativity, flourishing entrepreneurship, and a deep and strong desire to bring joy and healing to their communities through blooms and bouquets of natural beauty. You can find Black joy in each of their stories, and I love the way flowers are a constant and central part of their work.

As background, I come from a family of farmers. My maternal grandparents worked the fields, picking cotton in East Texas, and my grandfather was a farmer. My uncle, Jimi, still today carries on our family’s legacy of farming in rural Texas, a job he has held now for more than 40 years. It was not until I was older and did a short

YOU CAN FIND THE BOOK AT BLOOMIMPRINT.COM

LEARN MORE

Black Farmers Collective, @blackfarmerscollective Black Farmer Fund @blackfarmerfund

Black Farmer Stories, @blackfarmerstories

Black Flower Farmers @blackflowerfarmers

Black Girl Florists, @blackgirlflorists

Ethos West Collective, @ethoswestcollective Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust @NEFOCLandTrust

FLORA CULTURE BY MYRIAH TOWNER | BLACK FARMER STORIES

BLACK FLORA Profiles of Inspiring Black Flower Farmers + Florists by Teresa J. Speight BLOOM Imprint, 2022

stint as a farm-based educator and volunteer farmer when I really started connecting with him and his work as a farmer. Over the last few years, we have had several important conversations about his legacy: Where will all his farming knowledge go when his time on this Earth comes to an end?

From these conversations, I realized there was a real issue at hand: no one is documenting and preserving the legacy of Black farmers in this country. Therefore, I have felt compelled to do my part in preserving this incredible knowledge in the best way I know how — through storytelling. As founder of Black Farmer Stories, my work is to preserve the knowledge, cultural heritage, and legacy of Black farmers by telling their stories. I aim to capture the heart of resilience and joy embodied in so much of their work. By documenting the stories of Black farmers, my hope is to connect Black people to our ancestral histories and our relationship to land. I hope and trust sharing these stories will inspire people, help increase support and resources for Black farmers, and ultimately elevate their voices and demonstrate the vital role they hold in this country.

As my Uncle Jimi says, “There’s a lot of Black farmers in this country, but you don’t hear much about them.” He hopes the next generation of Black farmers will return to the land and carry on the legacy of his and others' work, and I deeply hope so too.

Ashley Pellerin, a dear friend and advocate for Black farmers in Texas, once told me, “We stand to lose a wealth of knowledge and important history if we do not collect the stories of our Black elders and those of the younger generation who

are making the choice to continue to farm.” This work is not only important. It is critical.

Despite a history of systematic oppression, Black farmers — through resilience, endurance, determination, and creation of opportunities of financial and cultural independence — have continuously played a critical role in the economic and agricultural growth of the U.S., as well as in the liberation and sustainability of Black communities. Through farming, Black farmers have made incredible advancements to improve their own families' livelihoods along with the livelihoods of their communities.

a fact resulting in the horrific theft and loss of millions of acres of Black-owned land. To quantify and underscore this tragic history, Black farmers owned 15 million acres of land in 1920, a number decreased today to just about 1 million acres. This is a tremendous and urgent public crisis still needing to be addressed. The words of Black farmer champion Ralph Paige — as quoted in a 1992 article in The New York Times — still ring true: “This isn’t just another Black farmer going out of business, it is our community losing a piece of the country.”

The harm is doubled as we consider what is at risk if we also lose the stories of sacrifice, the tales of resilience, and the personal anecdotes of creating to survive, in addition to the loss of land. It's particularly vital to tell these stories of Black flower-farmers and florists at a time when so much of the history of our people has already been erased.

It is precisely this intergenerational exchange of knowledge, the act of passing down knowledge from one generation to the next, that I am personally committed to in my own work. I know this activity is also vital for sustaining and preserving our work in these industries, particularly in agriculture. As each generation passes, we stand the risk of losing the history, knowledge, and legacy of these Black flowerfarmers — stories such as those shared in this book's earlier pages — that have been, and still are, so crucial to this country’s legacy.

Even with these significant contributions to America’s success, Black farmers, to this day, continue to be subjected to racial discrimination,

Thank you to all the Black farmers, florists, and land stewards who continue to cultivate and care for the land and bring joy to us through flowers. Your hands, your creative minds, and your determination are an inspiration and an incentive.

As my Uncle Jimi says, “There’s a lot of Black farmers in this country, but you don’t hear much about them.”

He hopes the next generation of Black farmers will return to the land and carry on the legacy of his and others' work, and I deeply hope so too.

about the forecast

For the eighth year, Slow Flowers Society heralds the New Year with predictions of emerging themes, topics, and categories for the floral marketplace.

This year, Slow Flowers has partnered with BLOOM Imprint, its publishing partner, to compile and release the 2022 Slow Flowers Floral Insights and Industry Forecast.

Our report has become an important gauge for our members, as well as for the greater floral marketplace and business media, as we evaluate prevailing cultural shifts, notable changes, and breakout ideas influencing flower-farming, floral design, and consumer attitudes about flowers.

The Slow Flowers Floral Insights and Industry Forecast debuted in December 2014 when Founder Debra Prinzing first compiled her top predictions for 2015 and shared them with the media and the floral profession. The Forecast continues in 2022, as we gathered intelligence over the course of each year, conducting hundreds of magazine and podcast interviews, and soliciting feedback through the annual Slow Flowers member survey.

BLOOM Imprint's creative director Robin Avni has contributed her unique point of view and expertise in developing this year's forecast with Slow Flowers. Robin has successfully managed innovative, award-winning teams and high-profile projects, as well as receiving numerous national design awards. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies, national advertising agencies, and award-winning media properties, applying timely lifestyle insights to their businesses.

floral reawakening

We are weary of the overused term pivot, as we suspect you are, too.

What we do know is that during the past two years, we have experienced unprecedented and accelerated change, due to the impact of COVID, social and cultural shifts, and environmental pressures. At the very least, each of these variables has stimulated introspection, if not radical transformation in our personal lives and businesses. We believe that from crisis comes creativity and new ways of thinking. The positive story is that often periods like 2020-2021 result in major innovation and radical new attitudes emerging from the type of constraints a pandemic imposes.

Our Forecast has a through-line of personal activism and a collective desire to make the world a better place, and we expect those themes resonate with you, wherever you and your floral enterprise may be. As we gaze toward the horizon of what 2022 brings, a number of key topics of interest caught our attention that we wanted to share with you. Floral Reawakening relies on a research and reporting framework as we illustrate each insight with examples from the broader culture and the Slow Flowers Community. In addition, we share how this insight impacts

ANNUAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS REPORT 2022

COVER IMAGE: COURTESY PEPPERHARROW FARM

now or never

"WhatamIdoingwithmylife?"is a frequent refrain in the last two years, especially in the face of the pandemic, economic challenges, and social justice issues we are facing. As each of us evaluates our mission and purpose, it's important to recognize that COVID has taught us that nothing's guaranteed. The enforced "pause time" provided moments (weeks? months? seasons?) of reflection, as well as introspection. Unfulfilled dreams surfaced and called many to take the leap to a new life, profession, creative pursuit, or purpose.

THE LARGER CULTURE

SHIFTING ATTITUDES

Over half of Slow Flowers members made some kind of change during the past two years, including:

51% launched a new product or service in their floral career or enterprise

36% phased out a product or service they no longer enjoy

14% relocated in the last 2 years

11% left a full time non-floral job for flowerfarming or floral design

This insight speaks to the larger economic themes dubbed the "Great Resignation" or "The Big Quit" — in which record numbers of people left jobs in response to the pandemic. The term "Great Resignation" is attributed to Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at Mays Business School (Texas A&M University). According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR BUSINESS

More people are getting seeds into the soil and growing their own flowers, including florists who welcome the physical and mental benefits of growing flowers, not to mention the economic opportunities, while fulfilling a now-or-never passion.

We're inspired by floral entrepreneurs who are flipping the script, changing their established or safe models to fit a reimagined lifestyle, such as Seattle florist Anne Bradfield who rebranded as Analog Floral, shifting away from an 18-year career in wedding and event design to create a business based on a four-day work week to design and deliver everyday flowers.

According to Anne, the pandemic gave her the space (due to postponed or cancelled weddings) to evaluate her lifestyle. She wanted to reclaim family time and especially her weekends, as well as reconnect with her original love of flowers and art.

Jennifer Kouvant and Hans Li (at right) of Six Dutchess Farm, a fiber and flower farm based in Hudson Valley, shared a similar sentiment about leaving behind a former lifestyle.

We made the decision to let go of our apartment ... and pack up many decades of belongings and move them to the farm, all part of the process of letting go of our NYC home of many years. Life evolves, and we know it's time, and that is a shift we hope to finalize in 2022.

READING: THE GREAT RESIGNATION (THE ATLANTIC); GREAT RESIGNATION HAS CHANGED THE WORKPLACE FOR GOOD (CNBC)

plant your bouquet

Increasingly, flower-farmers, cut-flower growers, and retailers see the potential in sharing floral expertise with customers who want to plant flowers for their own use. The new twist: Gardeners and floral enthusiasts want the same unique cultivars that the pros grow, opening opportunities for flower-farmers to introduce collections of starter plants. While demand for flower seeds is on the rise, aspiring flower gardeners also want to jumpstart their patches with 4-inch pots of perennials or pre-started seedlings — satisfying the instant gratification urge.

THE LARGER CULTURE

With 20 million new participants picking up the trowel in 2020, the garden bug has bit across all demographics, especially with male gardeners. After experimenting with edible crops, veggie gardeners are discovering that flowers do double-duty, providing both beauty and pollinator sources for their pea patches. We believe that vegetable growing is the gateway hobby for flower growing and our research underscores this trend. The spike in flower seed, bulb, and plant sales in the past 24 months has left retailers and online suppliers scrambling.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR BUSINESS

Package your expertise — crop planning, seed selection, garden and floral design. It's just smart business to empower your customers to grow anything. Integrate this insight into your existing business model, whether you develop a scalable planting plan for customers (by theme, season, or palette), teach floral design classes, or sell the plants and seeds as a new product offering.

Sarah Buerkley of Sarah's Cottage Creations Flower Farm in Stillwater, Minnesota, offers full-service cutting garden design services to her landscape design clients. Jen Healy of J&B Garden Center in Albany, Oregon, markets cut garden plant collections to home gardeners, curating the best annuals for her region's cultural conditions.

The team at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, in Pocantico Hills, New York, has introduced a "Cut-Flower Gardening Kit" for members and CSA subscribers. Last year, the kits included plants and compost for two 3-x-7-foot beds. With a collection of cutting garden plants curated by Blue Hill Restaurant at Stone Barns' resident florist Philippe Gouze, and a sample planting plan, the kits appeal to home-bound foodies, many of whom never before considered growing flowers in their vegetable garden.

DIVERSIFIED OFFERINGS

Slow Flowers members found new opportunties to help their customers plant their own:

47% offer cut-flower garden design services

42.5% sell tubers and bulbs

35% sell cut-flower plant starts

15% offer seeds and seed collections

24% OTHER (books, tools, dirt, pots and containers)

READING: NEW TURF TRENDS—FROM WILDFLOWERS TO FESCUE; POTTERY BARN GETS ITS GARDEN ON

There is no downside to teaching someone to appreciate growing their own flowers. You'll unlock a new passion and expand the awareness of local and seasonal flowers in your marketplace.

local boost

At the consumer level, we're seeing a resurgence in hyper-local pride as people want their purchases to benefit businesses in their communities. As one Slow Flowers respondent said: "I didn't really need to source from China; I had everything right here."

The COVID-threatened global supply chain, along with the recent economic pressures, have disrupted all businesses and the answer for many flower-farmers and florists is in their own backyard. More are motivated to seek out and forge new relationships and in the process becoming vocal and local farming advocates.

THE LARGER CULTURE

DID YOU KNOW?

From the 2022 Edition of the National Gardening Survey by the National Gardening Association:

65% of respondents stated it was somewhat or very important for cut flowers/flower arrangements to be grown locally

From the recent Slow Flowers survey:

48% of Slow Flowers members diversified their sourcing practices in 2021

54% of Slow Flowers members grow between 76-100 percent of the flowers they use in their own design work

As container ships drift offshore and the global supply chain witnesses unprecedented delays, continuity, and consistency (and cheaper prices) are no longer available through imported goods, including flowers.

Consumers are noticing this, too. Slow Flowers has partnered with the National Gardening Association and GardenResearch.com to include cut flower questions in the 2021 and 2022 National Gardening Surveys.

This year's findings, published April 2022, reveal encouraging national attitudes about local and domestic cut flowers. Sixty-one percent of survey respondents say it is very or somewhat important to them that the flowers they purchase are grown in the U.S. (up from 57 percent in 2021), while 65 percent say it is very or somewhat important that the flowers they purchase are locally grown (up from 58 percent in 2021).

"I have expanded the volume of flowers I'm growing and started buying more from other farms," one grower noted.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR BUSINESS

Drive home the local message to your current customer base and to new markets. Promote the harvest beyond cut flowers. Can you diversify into non-floral agriculture, or offer services that connect with (often repeat) customers? New channels and new ways to engage customers throughout the year add up to new cash flow.

We really pushed through the flower shortage and just tried different flowers and combinations of flowers — and our clients loved the results. At the end of the day, we embraced the challenge and our creativity flourished.

READING: SLOW FLOWERS SLOW FLOWERS 2022 NATIONAL GARDENING SURVEY RESULTS

beyond the pale

Remember the recent shortages of white and blush roses? Given shipping issues and delivery problems, limitations will continue. It's time to embrace other hues on the floral spectrum. We're seeing new color shifts reflected in fashion, home interiors, film and television, advertising, and consumer goods. Back in 2017, our Forecast noted "Beyond Blush," as the move from pale has continued over a five-year period. We've noted palette changes in recent reports: Polychromatic (or rainbow palettes, 2020) and Color Wheel Opposites (contrasting floral combinations, 2021). What does 2022 portend?

THE LARGER CULTURE

It's no surprise that influences from past periods of cultural and artistic disruption are emerging, with references ranging from the Pre-Raphaelites, the 1960s, and the bling of the 1990s. New home design trends identified as "Granny Chic," a mash up coined by House Beautiful, and "The Coastal Grandmother," as reported in the Wall Street Journal, celebrate home design and color pallettes often associated with the grandparents of Millennials. The Pantone Color of the Year is "Very Peri," a periwinkle hue that, fortunately, is found in many cut-flower cultivars (did you struggle with "Illuminating," a pale yellow, and "Ultimate Gray," in 2021 like we did?).

WHAT IT MEANS FOR BUSINESS

Palettes are taking on a greater reflection of what's in season, rather than having on-demand, 24/7 availability of specific bloom options like white and blush for weddings. Rather than a limitation, this reality gives Slow Flowers growers, designers, and florists a distinctive edge: The reality is that local flowers offer a broader palette than the limitations of pale and blush.

How does this all influence floral style? There is no single expression, but a distinct way to personalize floral palettes depending on the client's generation, region, and point of view. In wedding and floral design, the shifts are all over the place from more traditional design requests to bits of sparkle here and there! We love the emphasis on hopeful, optimistic and joyful palettes it is contagious!

COLOR DEMOGRAPHICS

Slow Flowers members identify their palette preferences:

26% Organic Neutrals

20% Warms and Saturated

16% Mixed Medley

9% Bright Pastels

9% Muddy and Sultry

6% White and Blush

5% Cool and Vibrant

9%

grounding rituals

Floral Wellness was a top theme of our 2021 Forecast, along with the continued urge to steep ourselves in nature — soul, body, and spirit. Whether we're seeking practices to stay sane or to create new (better) habits, acknowledging gratitude and thankfulness with intention is visceral. Walking the farm (or the garden) at dawn and dusk to anchor ourselves, taking stock of our beloved crops, and observing the seasons — all are literally grounding practices that ensure a sense of peace and calm. Finding those moments are highly sought after. Is it any wonder that so many rituals are nature-based?

THE LARGER CULTURE

MINDFUL WAYS

Jenni Hulburt of Portersville, Pennsylvania, operates Forest & Flowers Retreat House, a cabin getaway with amenities for self-guided wellness retreats, as well as a specialty cut-flower farm that offers botanical workshops for customers to experience the beauty of flowers and healing essences of nature.

Bethany Little of Charles Little + Co., devoted a full year to her #sundaywreaths2021 project, sharing a colorful array of dried and fresh botanical wreaths on her feed.

When the average American spends 93% of his or her time indoors, any activity that lures people outdoors is important. We're fascinated with the practice of Shinrin Yoku "Forest Bathing" and we'd love to see "Flower Bathing" adopted as a botanical extension of it. In Japanese, Shinrin means "forest," and Yoku means "bath." This practice takes place outdoors (near trees; an actual forest is not required). It isn't about literal bathing, but it is about taking in the forest through all of your senses, and since the 1980s, it forms an integral part of preventive healthcare in Japan.

Researchers have established a robust body of scientific evidence connecting peaceful time outdoors with boosted immune system functioning, reduced blood pressure, increased ability to focus, improved sleep patterns, and more.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR BUSINESS

We have witnessed a renewal of what a life in flowers represents. How can you infuse grounding rituals into your floral enterprise?

Your clients and customers are seeking mindfulness and wellness — help them tap into ritual and find a sense of calm through bouquetmaking, art projects, journaling, watercolor, or other meditative activities. Rituals are being shared and in turn, Slow Fl,owers members are inspiring their communities, clients, and followers to do the same. Beyond commerce, what advice can you share and how can you nurture those relationships through flowers? Provide opportunities for people to visit your farm for unstructured time or to experience a mindfulness or floral immersion workshop. Turn off phones, be in the moment, and resist the urge to take selfies!

Felicia Alvarez, of Menagerie Farm & Flower, shows the rugged beauty of her Sacramento Valley rose farm on regular Instagram video tours.

READING: THE PERSONAL MEADOW WE ALL NEED FOR DAILY MENTAL HEALTH BREAKS; PHILADELPHIA FLOWER SHOW 2022

forever flowers

Non-edible agriculture gains relevance as a legitimate facet of farming, translating into countless and inventive uses for botanical crops. Plants grown for fiber, pigment, surface design, as well as for drying, pressing, and edible uses (cooking, baking, and mixology) and other art media, mean flowers have a beautiful and beneficial afterlife. New uses for flowers extend the season through a new medium or application. What's more organic than plant-based dye and artwork?!

THE LARGER CULTURE

Interest in repurposing, reuse, recycling and preserving all add up to this theme. It taps into the culinary world's nose-to-tail approach of using every portion and reducing waste, as well as a sustainable agriculture.

Artists who draw inspiration from flowers are gaining attention from new collectors, galleries, and the media. Forever Flowers taps into a holistic understanding of, and appreciation for, growing flowers beyond the vase.

Florals have always been a part of fashion, home goods, and products, but these innovative approaches take it a step further by using flowers that might not make the cut for bouquets or arrangements, and turning the rejects and discards into amazing artisan works and products.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR BUSINESS

One of Slow Flowers' most popular 2021 member sessions focused on Forever Flowers and Dye plants used for pigment and fiber art, with presentations on growing plants for farm-based value-added products (table linens, ribbon, and clothing, for example).

Presenters included Elaine Vandiver of Old Homestead Alpacas & Gholson Gardens of Walla Walla, Washington, who grows dye plants to create natural pigments for alpaca wool and yarn; Lourdes Casañares-Still of Masagana Flower Farm and Tinta Studio in La Broquerie, Manitoba, Canada, who is teaching dyeing workshops at her flower farm; and Julie Beeler, a flower-farmer and artist at Bloom & Dye in Trout Lake, Washington, who has tapped into the hidden world of mushroom pigments, having just released the online tool Mushroom Color Atlas

Why not choose one crop for creative experimentation? If you don't know where to begin, invite a local artists' or makers' collective to visit your farm and tour the fields. You may be surprised to learn what attracts their attention and interest for possible artistic collaborations.

FLOWERS

SECOND LIFE

Popular uses for flowers: Fabric Dye for silk, yarn, linen Watercolors

Natural Inks

Cooking and Baking Mixology

Scented Lotion Candles

Sachets

Soaps

Paper Products

READING: NATURAL INK MAKING - BASIC TECHNIQUES, RECIPES, SAFETY + SUPPLIES; RONNI NICOLE ROBINSON FLORAL FOSSILS

Florals have always been a part of fashion and home goods. Innovation repurposes flowers that might not make the cut for bouquets or arrangements for amazing artisan works and products.

black flora

The year ahead will witness further emphasis on BIPOC representation across the green profession, as the voices of flower-farmers and floral designers of color are amplified. Nurturing the inclusion of more diverse points of view infuses the marketplace with energy, meaning and a recognition that gardening, flower growing, and floral design have long been too one-dimensional. In terms of human sustainability, this embrace of equity and inclusion is essential to the future of agriculture, land access, food access, and access to the marketplace for all.

THE LARGER CULTURE

Teresa J. Speight, Cottage in the Court and author of Black Flora:

"With ancestral sharecropping roots, connecting with the earth is authentic to me. My ancestors' hands have helped build and feed our family for generations. To not honor this earth would disrespect my heritage. I am passionate about sharing the stories of Black voices in the green world."

There's a collective shift in the faces and stories presented by media and highlighted elsewhere in floristry, farming, and the wedding/ event industry. Seeing Black and Brown floral entrepreneurs move to the forefront as experts, sources, and subjects is long overdue. We're seeing major news media like The New York Times publish features and profiles, notably in the recent series: Black Gardeners Find Refuge in the Soil (October 2021).

It begins, "Something feels different. You might have noticed it on your social media timelines, in your local community or even in your own backyard. With the proliferation of Instagram accounts like Black Men With Gardens and Black Girls With Gardens, initiatives like Black Sanctuary Gardens garden-centered podcasts like Black in the Garden and even a boom in Black-owned seed companies, this is a moment in which Black gardeners are turning or returning to traditions of sustenance, solidarity, and sanctuary. They are finding a new sense of refuge in a traditional act of horticulture."

WHAT IT MEANS FOR BUSINESS

How can your actions support the success of farmers and florists who have not benefited from privileges that you may have received? In small and significant ways, make a step to support businesses of color, including vendors and suppliers, in collaborations and connections. Offer mentorship and apprentice opportunities to students. Hire Black photographers, models, and other creatives to showcase their talents. The energy and creativity that comes through these connections elevates the floral profession in an important new way that all should model.

DREW RIOS | LA

THE WILD MOTHER | OK

GINA LETT SHREWSBERRY | CA

K. GRIFFITH-VANDERYACHT | WA

NATASHA GRAHAM CA

TAIJ + VICTORIA COTTEN | NC

READING: BLACK FLORA; BLACK GIRL FLORISTS; ABRA LEE CONQUERS THE SOIL

sustainability + climate

This is the third consecutive year we have included climate concerns in the Slow Flowers Floral Insights & Industry Forecast, and we suspect the topic will never leave our annual roundup. Climate change touches every aspect of our lives, and people in agriculture are more aware of its impact than many. In 2021, we highlighted the numerous ways growers are addressing climate concerns in an extensive report called Heat & Drought, which examined how five flower-farmers across the U.S. are adapting to changing and challenging climactic conditions.

THE LARGER CULTURE

Headlines and breaking news are on a continual-loop as extreme weather disasters occur around the globe in all seasons. With ominous headlines like a recent CNN report titled: "The Last 7 Years Have Been the Warmest on Record as Planet Approaches Critical Threshold," the larger culture is ahead of policymakers, shifting from the abstract to the everyday awareness that climate change is an existential crisis. When media, sports and popular culture personalities join the conversation, the urgency and awareness goes mainstream.

As flower-farmer Marybeth Wehrung of Stars of the Meadow in Accord, New York, noted, small and large daily actions are needed. "Climate change is not a concept; it is real and it is here. It is altering our ability to continue to farm in the same old way and still make a living, as well as the way we care for our health and our work. We have to normalize the conversation toward the reality, rather than push it away."

WHAT IT MEANS FOR BUSINESS

There is higher-than-ever awareness among consumers, as upcycling and recycling/repurposing waste-reduction programs proliferate. Retailers and e-commerce companies are responding to consumer demands for no or reduced packaging; municipalities across North America are enacting noplastic-bag policies; and enterprising zero-waste services like TerraCycle and Ridwell are filling in the recycling gaps for specialty items that the local utilities aren't able to handle.

One of the top sustainability issues for Slow Flowers members is a critical mass-rejection of floral foam and plastics, which we forecast in our first report in 2015. Members are teaching sustainable design practices and communicating no-plastic messaging in their branding and services.

What can your business do to telegraph your climate-friendly practices?

FOAM-FREE?

From the recent Slow Flowers survey:

76% of Slow Flowers members design using alternatives to floral foam

Foam alternatives include the following:

Floral Tubes and other water receptacles

Recycled Containers

EcoFresh Wraps for installation work

Rebar Armatures

Agra Wool

Lacing Stems

Attaching Vases to ceremony structures

READING: MOLBAK'S RETHINKS THE GARDEN RETAIL LANDSCAPE

FEASBY, PRAIRIE

the metaverse?

Are there flowers in the metaverse? It's certainly true we need technology for our floral businesses to function but are we ready to for a simulated digital floral environment?

The metaverse may seem light years away, but that's what we thought about digital wallets. The virtual world is a reality and will impact the floral world with immersive garden experiences, design and planning visualizations, and retail storefronts popping up along its virtual Main Street.

THE LARGER CULTURE

SOCIAL COMMERCE

From the recent Consumer Pulse by McKinsey & Company:

45% percent of consumers say social media is influencing their purchases.

Social commerce is already a phenomenon in China, however it is nascent in the U.S. market. But one in 10 omnichannel shoppers said they’ve already made purchases directly via social media. It’s a channel that’s only growing in importance—yet too many consumer and retail executives still haven’t taken the time to educate themselves in social media and are missing out on powerful opportunities to reach and engage consumers.

The Metaverse is a computer-generated, idealized virtual world. In this alternative space you can meet people, work and play together, shop, and explore other virtual spaces and places. But back to the current reality. There are so many tech themes that fall under this insight that we'll limit them to a few:

• Most certainly, the pandemic increased online purchases across all retail outlets; however customers are sticking with a hybrid model for pursuing and purchasing.

• More than ever, floral enterprises can, and should, control their branding and marketing through the many affordable digital platforms. The fact is, when you own your own content, you can leverage across multiple platforms. Facebook is no longer the go-to social media source, but, Instagram/Reels, YouTube, and TikTok all hold influence.

• In business management, there are more floral- and farmingspecific technology tools available than ever before, from selling platforms like Rooted Farmers to Details Flowers Software, a digital proposal tool designed for the florist and farmer-florist, to apps like DoorDash, which leverages the gig economy for ondemand delivery services.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR BUSINESS

As a result, It's more important than ever that you control your own content and messaging be it on your website, blog or other media like e-books, social media or future digital onramps. It's vital to your business to manage and protect your digital assets. To bring it full circle, we must paraphrase an oft-quoted line: Control technology; don't let it control you.

ECONOMIC

Virtual Reality is focused on creating a digital sense of presence, which many experts agree will be key to creating an attractive experience and retaining users.

READING: GEN Z SET TO LEAD RETAILERS INTO THE METAVERSE; 3 TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THE METAVERSE

about BLOOM Imprint

BLOOM identifies, develops, and publishes projects that shine a light on the floral lifestyle, showcasing the stories of floral personalities, creatives, entrepreneurs, farmers, artisans, and makers.

OUR BOOKS FEATURED IN

BOOK PUBLISHING

Our books invite and engage readers to experience a new relationship with flowers, inspiring them to embrace local, seasonal, and sustainable practices. BLOOM publications reveal the authentic voice and vision of each author, pairing their written narratives with beautiful imagery and strong graphic design concepts. Located in the Pacific Northwest, our independent boutique publishing company works with creatives from the beginning of a great concept to the final printed publication, including book marketing and worldwide distribution opportunities.

CUSTOM PUBLISHING

We provide custom publishing solutions for companies, florists, farmers, and artisans in the floral industry. As content developers, we design specialty packages that align with your needs, goals, and initiatives. Our creative content services include development and production of books, magazines, e-books, and reports. We offer a menu of content and design services including writing, editing, graphic design, informational charts and graphics, image editing, and production for printed and digital collateral.

CONSUMER INSIGHTS + CULTURAL ANALYSIS

In addition to our yearly Slow Flowers Forecast, we offer custom services, including reports, white papers, and research on specific industry topics. Each is developed to align with business goals and translated into comprehensive strategic plans for the client.

Bloom Imprint and Slow Flowers leverage their experiences and relationships to support a portfolio of industry-leading clients through research, cultural analysis, market insights, and advisory services about the floral industry and the floral consumer.

We have provided industry research and analysis to leading home and lifestyle companies, including Johnny's Seeds, Longfield Gardens, Scripps Network, Home Depot, MASCO, Moen Corporation, allrecipes. com, Microsoft Home, and General Mills, as well as major shelter and trade media outlets.