You never know where your interests and hobbies will take you! Here, Sarah shares her dream scenario, going from a flower enthusiast in a busy healthcare career to a successful flower farmer. She was introduced to the world of local flowers and her local flower community when she attended a design class at Ellen Frost's studio, Local Color Flowers. From there, Sarah chose to dive deep into her floral business education and soon moved to the farm that she runs today, called Strawberry Hill. Now she sells flowers to Ellen!

Here Lisa, Ellen, and Sarah celebrate the flower community and the magic of seeing where your interests and passions will lead you. We hope this interview inspires you to seek out your passions and discover where they may take you one day as well. 

Mentions 

Sarah Strouse of Strawberry Hill: @strawberryhillmd on Instagram

Ellen Frost of Local Color Flowers: Website: Local Color Flowers, Instagram: Local Color Flowers, Instagram: Florists Buying Local

Online Courses from The Gardener's Workshop

Lisa's Book: Cool Flowers

Lisa's Hellebore Webinar: Request the Replay

Book: Postharvest Handling of Cut Flowers and Greens (sold by the ASCFG)

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The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

This episode features a takeover of our popular weekly live Q&A session on Instagram, called Ask a Flower Farmer. This episode was guest hosted by Amelia Ihlo. Amelia is a flower farmer based in rural New Hampshire and owns the Rooted Farmers online flower-selling platform. She is also one of our course instructors here at The Gardener’s Workshop. In this Q&A Amelia fielded questions about selling to florists, pricing models, and selling through collectives.

Mentions

Blog: Rooted Farmers

Book: Specialty Cut Flowers *use code "Lisa" at checkout for free domestic (US) shipping!*

Amelia talks pricing on the Flower Podcast

The Gardener's Workshop Blog: All About Seed Starting

On-Demand Mini-Workshop: ⁠Collectives 101⁠ with Amelia Ihlo

The Gardener's Workshop on Instagram

Shop the TGW Online Store for all your seeds and supplies!

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

Today’s episode features a takeover of our popular weekly live Q&A session on Instagram, normally called Ask a Flower Farmer. In this episode we instead did an Ask a Florist session with guest host Ellen Frost of Local Color Flowers in Baltimore, MD. Ellen is not a flower farmer, but a designer who creates exclusively with flowers and foliage purchased from local growers.  She is also one of our course instructors here at The Gardener’s Workshop. In this Q&A Ellen fielded many questions from flower farmers about the details of selling to florists, which is also the topic of her on-demand mini-workshop, link below.

Mentions:

Website: Local Color Flowers

Instagram: Local Color Flowers

Instagram: Florists Buying Local

On-Demand Mini-Workshop: ⁠Preparing to Sell to Florists⁠ with Ellen Frost

The Gardener's Workshop on Instagram

Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG)

Boston Terminal Ornamentals Wholesale Pricing

The Floral Coach®

Shop the TGW Online Store for all your seeds and supplies!

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

Today I have BIG NEWS to share! For the first time EVER, my flower farming course is now available ON-DEMAND!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

I question everything this time of the season just before the farm bursts into bloom. Will it survive? What is eating that? Why this year? I must remind myself to step back and allow my mind to overrule my impulsive heart's reaction!

Hope this brings you relief,

Lisa

Mentions

Lisa's book: Cool Flowers

Seed Starting Saturdays on YouTube

Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG)

Shop the TGW Online Store for all your seeds and supplies!

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

Think you can't grow tulips in your climate? Struggling with really short tulips? Have great tulips, but wish you had them earlier in the season? Gretel and I cover all this and more! Join me as I chat with Gretel Adams of Sunny Meadows Flower Farm in Columbus, Ohio. In this episode, we cover the timely topic of pre-chilled tulips, an option that might just be the solution for you! Included is a great companion resource supplied by Gretel, so be sure to check out the links below!  Topics covered: 

1) What are pre-chilled tulips?

2) Who can benefit from planting pre-chillled tulips?

3) Where to get pre-chilled tulips, and the different types (5C vs 9C)

5) What problems can arise when planting these tulips? 

6) Do you save tulip bulbs? 

7) At what stage do you harvest tulips? 

Download the FREE PDF featuring the Sunny Meadows info sheet about Pre-Chilled Tulips! Link below.

Mentions:

Request Gretel's free guide: Pre-Chilled Tulips

Learn more about and connect with Steve & Gretel Adams and their business, Sunny Meadows Flower Farm. Check out their tulip videos on Instagram!

Learn more about the course: Flower Farming School Online: Growing Cut-Flowers in Hoops and Greenhouses

Shop the TGW Online Store for all your seeds and supplies!

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

Today’s episode features a takeover of our popular “Ask a Flower Farmer” live Q&A session on Instagram, hosted by Dave Dowling of Ball/ColorLink. Dave is also a former flower farmer and the instructor for our online course: Flower Farming School Online: Bulbs, Perennials, Woodies and More.  Dave has such a wealth of knowledge to share! Here, he answers questions on a broad range of flowers, including lilies, freesia, tuberose, snapdragons, lilacs, hydrangea, stock, peonies, tulips, ranunculus, and more!

Mentions

Learn more about Dave's course, Flower Farming School Online: Bulbs, Perennials, Woodies, and More!

Ball/Colorlink: Wholesale Plant, Bulb, & Seed Supplier

UMass Lily Leaf Beetle Fact Sheet

The Gardener's Workshop on Instagram

Shop the TGW Online Store for all your seeds and supplies!

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

On episode 28 of The No-Till Flowers Podcast, Lisa Mason Ziegler joined host Jennie Love to discuss all things seed starting! Jennie's focus is on regenerative farming. She invited Lisa on the show to compare seed starting techniques and discuss methods that support superior seed germination and seedling growth sustainably and regeneratively. Both Lisa and Jennie share lots of great resources for additional research and learning, see below for some of those links.

Podcast excerpts are published with permission. 

Mentions

Link to the original No-Till Flowers episode on Apple Podcasts

Lisa's Book: Cool Flowers

Eliot Coleman's Book: The New Organic Grower (affiliate link)

Dr. Deno's Book: Seed Germination Theory & Practice (free PDF) 

Jeff Lowenfel's Book: Teaming With Bacteria (affiliate link)

Podcast Series: Seed Talk with Lisa & Layne

Shop the TGW Online Store for all your seeds and supplies!

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

It is so easy to feel overwhelmed! I know because it is my natural reaction to a challenge or problem. I tend to tackle problems head-on, and then realize how I need to slow down for the many speed bumps so that I can get over them to reach the goal. Overwhelming.

Looking in the rearview mirror, I see that not only have I come a long way, but that overwhelm was a necessary piece for me to succeed. I have wounds and scars, but they are what have paved the way for my business. Take heart friends, overwhelm is the pathway to success!

Stay tuned until the end for a special note from listener & student Jessica!

Mentions

Learn more about Dyslexia at dyslexiaida.org

Seed Talk with Lisa & Layne: See recent podcast episodes

Online Courses from The Gardner's Workshop

Shop the TGW Online Store for all your seeds and supplies!

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

Take a glimpse behind the scenes! Join Lisa, Rhonda, Anne, and Layne for a fun conversation about how each of them became part of The Gardner's Workshop customer service team. As our TGW community grows we continue to focus on providing the very best experience for our customers, and these women are the backbone of that effort. Listen to some fun stories and fond memories, and know these ladies are here for you!  

Mentions

Want to know more? Meet the TGW Crew

Shop the TGW Online Store for all your seeds and supplies!

Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News!

The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!