October 09, 2025

Episode 737: Herbs for floral design (and the garden) with Stefani Bittner of Homestead Design Collective and Rose Loveall of Morningsun Herb Farm

1 hour 10 minutes

https://youtu.be/celZnV8yrZg?si=pYtq6P5iOTXJOXXK

Compared to the way today’s guests view the role of herb plants for the landscape, for culinary and medicinal purposes, and especially for floral design, I feel like the herb repertoire in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden is in need of a major makeover. Learning from herb-lover and edible landscape designer Stefani Bittner of Homestead Design Collective and Rose Loveall, herb grower and nursery owner at Morningsun Herb Farm, both based in the San Francisco Bay Area, has been so eye-opening and enriching. We recently collaborated on a Flower & Herb event to celebrate The Flower Farmers book while also exploring herbs for the garden and the vase. You might be surprised at some of the herbs Stefani and Rose use for floral design, and trust me, I now have a big order of scented geraniums heading my way – just in time to get them established in my greenhouse before the season ends. Immerse yourself in today’s herbal extravaganza – I just wish you could smell all the plants we discussed.

Stefani Bittner, Rose Loveall, and Debra Prinzing at Morningsun Herb Farm

Today’s episode was filmed and recorded last weekend when I was on a book tour for The Flower Farmers book. Slow Flowers members around the Bay Area partnered with me to fill four glorious days of talks, readings, floral design demonstrations, and community connections. It was a fabulous autumn weekend and I’m excited to share it with you.

My conversation with Slow Flowers member Stefani Bittner of Homestead Design Collective and her frequent collaborator, Rose Loveall of Morningsun Herb Farm took place during an herb-and-floral-filled morning at Rose’s nursery, located in the countryside of Vacaville, California, on 3 acres, between Sacramento and San Francisco.

Herb and floral arrangement designed by Stefani Bittner

Stefani harvesting design ingredients in Rose's cut flower garden at Morningsun

This is a two-part plant tour, followed by Stefani and Rose’s presentation on growing herbs for the cut flower garden and design tips.

Here’s a bit more about each woman:

Stefani Bittner is the owner of Homestead Design Collective, a San Francisco Bay Area landscape design firm focused on creating beautiful gardens that provide harvest. Stefani is the co-author of The Beautiful Edible Garden, Harvest: Unexpected Projects Using 47 Extraordinary Garden Plants and The Fragrant Flower Garden (all published by Ten Speed Press). She is a past guest of the Slow Flowers Podcast.

Herb drying rack at Morningsun Herb Farm

Rose Loveall-Sale is owner of Morningsun Herb Farm, a family-owned nursery specializing in culinary, medicinal and specialty herbs. She has spent the last 30 years growing more than 700 varieties of herbs and perennials, starting the nursery as a weekend venture and expanding it to a plant lover’s destination, as well as a mail order nursery. Rose is originally a forester by education (University of California, Berkeley), but she discovered that herbs were her favorite plants to grow and enjoy. An M.S. in Environmental Horticulture from the University of California at Davis rounded out her education and piqued her interest in owning and operating her own nursery. Her family’s farm in northern California proved the perfect spot for her horticultural endeavors.

Rose and her team propagate and sell culinary, medicinal and landscaping herbs, as well as many unusual perennials for hummingbird and butterfly gardening, drought tolerant perennials, scented geraniums, succulents, and heirloom vegetables in the spring and fall. They specialize in a huge selection of lavender, propagating over 45 varieties in our greenhouses.

Check out Morningsun’s plant catalog – they ship across the country and are a fantastic resource.

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