https://youtu.be/gaTn7jO3DS4?si=xEnvvGPsdI7t0di3
I truly love learning about the floral journeys that so many of our members have taken to arrive at a life immersed in flower growing, floral design, or both. For Colleen Raney, the path began when she and her husband were professional musicians. Colleen’s decades-long career as a celebrated Irish singer took her around the globe. The “flower adventure” began in 2017, followed by a move from rural Maine, back home to a small farm in Washington State where Colleen and her husband Hanz Araki both were raised. Today, she grow flowers on that 2-acre farm in the agricultural flats of Washington State’s beautiful Skagit Valley and designs for wedding and event clients through her studio Diadem Flower Co. Last Colleen launched a boutique sweet pea seed venture, Songbird Seed Co. Join us for a farm tour and conversation to learn more.
Collen Raney of Diadem Flower Co. and Songbird Seed Co.
How do you ever explain an obsession? Obsessions can be beautifully irrational, rarely based on logic. And when you meet Colleen Raney and hear her story, you’ll conclude that she may be possessed by her love of sweet peas – that’s entirely relatable, as I discovered on a recent visit to her farm in Washington’s Skagit Valley.
Songbird Seed Co. and sweet pea fields at dusk
Colleen has spent her entire life in the performing arts - working as an actor in New York City, touring the world as a musician, teaching theatre and production to young adults, and producing music festivals for several years. All of that experience, plus the several years spent growing and designing with flowers means that she is a versatile farmer-florist who helps couples achieve the floral creations of their dreams. Now, Colleen also grows sweet peas, harvests their seeds, and sells tiny packets of gorgeous and fragrant floral dreams to gardeners and flower lovers.
A rainbow of sweet pea blooms
Born into a Seattle family where Irish music and dance were part of the fabric of everyday life, learning songs from her older siblings was very much a part of Colleen's formative years. Colleen began her musical career with her oldest brother Mark. After attaining her MFA in Acting from the University of Washington, and working as a professional actor for a decade, Colleen dove back into the traditional music world with her first album Linnet in 2008. Her 2013 release Here This is Home is without question one of the finest works in recent years.
Wedding florals by Diadem Flower Co.
Colleen has toured extensively, both at home and abroad, and spent two months in 2017 singing for Irish-American supergroup Solas on their farewell tour. Her music can be heard on radio from Italy, to Ireland, to New York, to Hawaii, to Japan and all parts in between. And we are in for a special treat because Andrew, our podcast editor, has infused this episode with clips from some of Colleen’s albums. I know you’ll enjoy this episode as much as I did creating it with Colleen.
All-local and all-seasonal bridal bouquets by Diadem Flower Co.
Thank you for joining me today! Thank you to Colleen and Diadem Flower Co. for her membership in and support of the Slow Flowers Movement. I hope her story inspires you on your floral journey and helps you take a leap to expand into new horizons through a your own floral obsession. We want to know about it!
Songbird Seed Co. seed packaging
Find and follow Diadem Flower Co. on Instagram
Find and follow Songbird Seed Co. on Instagram
Sweet Pea Seed shop: Purchase $50 or more in gift cards before the end of August and secure early access to the October 2025 seed launch. Learn more here.
Thank you to our Sponsors
This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 700 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms.
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