Episode 418: A visit to Utah’s emerging cut flower community with Laura Pittard of Poppin’ Blossoms; plus, our state focus North Dakota

Laura Pittard (right) of Poppin' Blossoms, today's guest, recently hosted my visit to her flower fields in Orem, Utah

I just returned from a short trip to Salt Lake

City, where I attended the GardenComm annual conference, the gathering of

professional garden communicators with which I've long been affiliated.

Dahlia Fields at Poppin' Blossoms

I've known I would be traveling to Salt Lake in early September for quite a while -- and I also knew I wanted to visit today's guest while there. You see, Laura Pittard of Poppin' Blossoms was the first Utah member of Slow Flowers.

Laura designing with roses at All My Thyme in Mt. Vernon, Washington (c) Becca Johnson of B. Johnson Photography

She joined a few years ago after we originally met in 2016 at Red Daisy Farm outside Denver. Laura was new to flower growing and she was pretty isolated as one of the first growers in her region, so I was doubly impressed that she flew to Denver to network with others at the Slow Flowers meet-up and BBQ hosted by Red Daisy's Megan McGuire for Colorado flower farmers and florists. Laura and I reconnected on several other occasions - at conferences and workshops -- and earlier this year, I was able to feature Poppin' Blossoms' profile and flowers in Florists' Review's Rocky Mountain-themed issue.

Poppin' Blossoms' dahlias are featured in a beautiful bridal bouquet (c) Bobbi Tolman Photography

Laura and her family (including husband Brian

and son Grayson) welcomed me to Poppin' Blossoms in Orem, Utah, about 40

minutes south of Salt Lake City. We started off by recording this episode,

followed by an informal gathering as seven local flower farmers and

farmer-florists joined us for a tour of Laura's beautiful growing fields. We

enjoyed a great discussion over lunch, which Laura provided.

For me, it was an honor to witness the

emerging and exciting local floral scene in Utah. There are many talented folks

doing community-focused and collaborative projects -- and I hope to feature

some of them on upcoming episodes.

These photos bring back memories of meeting up with Laura in 2018 at the Rose Design workshop held on All My Thyme farm in Mt. Vernon, Washington (c) B. Jones Photography

Please enjoy this conversation with Laura Pittard of Poppin' Blossoms. Laura's mission is to supply her marketplace and community with the highest quality, premier specialty cut flowers. In my opinion, she has already reached that level of excellence -- and the future is rosy as the momentum can only grow for local, seasonal and bespoke cut flowers.

Find and follow Poppin' Blossoms at these social places:

Poppin' Blossoms on Facebook

Poppin' Blossoms on Instagram

Poppin' Blossoms on Pinterest

Download a PDF of the Rocky Mountain-themed "Slow Flowers Journal" section that includes a piece on Poppin' Blossoms

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The emerging Utah flower farming community gathered at Poppin' Blossoms on September 7th. I'm so glad I met everyone!

So happy we visited Utah -- and a special shout-out of thanks to Laura for hosting our Slow Flowers meet-up. I've written a recap of my visit to Poppin' Blossoms and the wonderful group of kindred spirits I met last Saturday. We now have five members in Utah, representing the exciting shift towards seasonal and locally-grown flowers serving everyone from farmers' market customers and CSA subscribers to wedding florists and event designers.