"We have neglected the truth that a good farmer is a craftsman of the highest order, a kind of artist." Wendell Berry
I don’t recall ever thinking of a farmer as a “kind of artist’, but I am loving this! A colorful flower field is truly the working palette of our flower growers. Stunning, fresh blooms may be the beginning of a florist’s creation, but these blooming treasures are the result of meticulously, planned color selections, trial and error planted varieties, and seasons of hope, sweat, tears, and celebration.
I’ve always been grateful to share the stories and insights from flower growers in our industry. They pour so much into these wonderful blooms, and I believe it is important for us to acknowledge and understand the challenges and obstacles they overcome every day. Every July, I’m thrilled to highlight the flower heroes featured on The Flower Podcast over the last 12 months!! If you’re a grower I hope you find encouragement and helpful tips from the experiences of past guests. If you’re a floral designer or enthusiast, I hope you find inspiration with each farm-fresh bloom.
Let’s celebrate the flower growers as they tirelessly supplied the floral community when trucks were late, inventories were limited, and continued to bring joy to their local communities through difficult times. Our floral industry is stronger when we all work together and show our support for one another. We have had amazing stories this year, and I believe you will be touched by their journeys.
Jennie Love
Love N’ Fresh Flowers
Jennie Love is the Creative Director of Love N’ Fresh Flowers and President of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. A Certified Naturally Grown urban flower farm and a premier wedding florist in Philadelphia, Jennie’s story will inspire you to think outside the box, get your hands in the dirt, and revaluate what you can do to grow your business. With a passion for educating florists and future farmers, Jennie is sharing her knowledge and experience from both perspectives. Jennie also shares her Guiding Beliefs of why she created Love N’ Fresh Flowers.
Natasha McCrary
1818 Farms
Natasha McCrary, of Mooresville, Alabama, owns and operates 1818 Farms. She started the business in 2013 when her son fell in love with Southdown Babydoll Sheep. She had no experience raising the sheep, let alone running a farm, but she had an idea of how she could make it work: combine a farm with a small business that would help cover the cost of food for the animals. The result was 1818 Farms: a working flower farm, event venue, Babydoll sheep, and a hand crafted line of bath and lifestyle products. Besides being featured in several magazines, in 2019 Natasha won Amazon’s Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year award, thanks to these best-selling products.
Melanie Harrington
Dahlia May Flower Farm
Dahlia May Flower Farm, founded in 2014, is a small family farm specializing in growing specialty cut flowers. Melanie brings a background in art and horticulture to her work in building community through locally grown flowers on her family’s third generation farm. Melanie is a tremendous source of information and I’m excited about her suggestions for extending your season and finding new streams of income. After speaking with her, it was very clear why she’s won so many awards for entrepreneurship.
Jonathan Leiss
Spring Forth Farm
Jonathan Leiss, along with his wife Megan, have settled their small, family farm in Hurdle Mills, NC. and are committed to drawing from a wide range of ecologically-friendly farming practices, including no-till, to grow outstanding cut flowers. Members of The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers and Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, they are passionate about learning and teaching others about their farm and no-till practices.
Lisa Ziegler
The Gardeners Workshop
It all started in 1998 and a desire to make working in her garden a career. Lisa's business, The Gardener's Workshop began as a small market farm but grew into so much more. Please join Lisa and me as she share's her floral journey through the world of gardening. A leader with the ASCFG, author of several books, an online store, Lisa helps others grow their own love of flowers.
With new workshops coming soon with topics covering the basics of flower farming, florist-farmers wedding process, growing in structures, local flower sourcing and more, Lisa is truly sharing her passion and love of flowers with us this week.
Kara Jamison
Blooming Joy Flower Company
After suffering a family loss, Kara Jamison and her family embarked on a life changing adventure from city life to farming. That adventure flourished into the Blooming Joy Flower Company located in Murfreesboro, TN. Kara began this heart project with the desire to grow and share flowers for spreading joy. She now grows flowers, does custom designs, hosts floral workshops, and farm events. Kara shares her flower journey, her approach to social media with Instagram, and a few of her farm favorites. She juggles a lot, but always finds time for her “Flower Friends” that she connects with regularly on her IG feed @bloomingjoyflowerco .
Deanna Kitchen
Twig and Vine/ The Growing Kindness Project
Image by @ryleafoehlphotos
Deanna Kitchen, flower farmer, designer, and educator, along with her family started Twig and Vine Farm, a micro cut flower farm specializing in dahlias.
Deana shares a little about her floral story, the family farm, and her heart for gathering, teaching and community service that ultimately led her to founding The Growing Kindness Project. The Growing Kindness Project now leads a team of gardeners and growers across the world on a mission to change the world, one stem at a time.
Deanna quickly learned the joy and power of giving flowers freely in her community and she set out to find ways to support, encourage, and assist others to do the same.
Eric Tanouye
Green Point Nurseries
Entering their 3rd generation of the family business, Eric Tanouye, President of Green Point Nurseries, continues his father's legacy growing gorgeous tropicals and foliages and connecting clients to the beauty and romance of Hawaii.
Eric continues to study farming methods of ancient Hawaiians, developing customer relationships, and leadership involvement in trade and flower associations. We discuss connecting with the land and protecting the natural resources along with sustainable improvement to flower farming.
Amelia Ihlo
Rooted Farmers
From her personal experience as a flower farmer, Amelia Ihlo saw the need to improve the process of actually selling the harvested flowers. So the research began, and the end result was the creation of Rooted Farmers. An online marketplace that connects local flower farmers and floral designers, Rooted Farmers Simplifies the process of purchasing local and seasonal blooms, Saves you time to focus more on the crucial areas of your business, and Connects farmers with wholesale and retail buyers to sell flowers more efficiently. We were excited to sit down with Amelia and record this tutorial demonstrating all of the features and benefits of Rooted Farmers. Amelia also demonstrated the buyer side, allowing florists to shop from all the farmers in a given area.
Janis Harris
Harris Flower Farm
Following in the footsteps of her parents as organic farmers and passing that love of growing to her children, Janis Harris, owner of Harris Flower Farm, operates her mulitgenerational farm in southwestern Ontario. Janis discusses flower production, working with local farmers, and how she approaches cracking the code of flower farming. As regional director for Canada’s branch of ASCFG, Janis also shares her personal experience as a member and the benefits of membership in this great organization for cut flower growers.
Image by @photographybykayleigh
Ed Coughlin
Southern Eucs
Some may have a like/dislike relationship with the continued trend of eucalyptus but there is no mistake it is among one of the most requested greeneries still. I am actually a fan but perhaps that may be because I have had the opportunity to explore the numerous varieties. Most are familiar with a few varieties but did you know there are other eucs besides 'Silver Dollar' and Seeded? And this tree is a wonderful choice for your landscape design too! Ed Coughlin, owner of Southern Eucs. Ed has been seeking species of eucalyptus that have a resilience to colder temperatures allowing for more production in these regions.
Sarah Daken & Tom Precht
Grateful Gardeners
Sarah Daken and Tom Precht, Founders of Grateful Gardeners were disenchanted with their corporate careers and desired to go back to the basics and be stewards of the environment. Committing themselves to farming beautiful flowers through sustainable practices such as no-till farming, cover crops, worm and compost tea fertigation, and hydroponics, Sarah and Tom are also committed to serving their own local community and sharing their knowledge of flower growing.
Kimberley Hautau
Hautau and Sons, LLC
'Kerry Patel of the Flowery realized the economic impact that was facing the floral industry. Seeing an opportunity to help ease this economic impact more locally, Kerry reached out to Kimberley Hautau and the two joined forces to begin selling bouquets of gorgeous greenhouse-grown flowers within their community - donating the proceeds from the sales to local charities that helped both struggling restaurants feed front line workers and the furloughed employees of the community YMCA.' A beautiful story of what is possible when we embrace friendship, flowers, and life's challenges.
We at The Flower Podcast are thankful to be a part of the floral industry and delighted to have the opportunities to share with others. Thank you again to all of our guests and listeners in allowing us to spread flower goodness throughout the world. As we begin a new season, we are looking forward to more exciting guests and hopefully more personal interactions with all of you. As always, please feel free to contact me with your thoughts, suggestions, and requests.
Scott Shepherd