In this episode, I’m chatting with Rose Oland from Mullica Hill Floral Co, a florist shop that has been in business for 37 years.  Rose and her mom who founded the shop are dedicated to supporting local flower farms and approaching floristry with sustainability at the forefront.  Rose’s perspective of the industry is unique in that she literally grew up in the flower shop and has seen just about everything in the past three decades, including how the industry has shifted from guarded competitiveness to supportive collaboration. 

Be sure to check out Rose’s Instagram feed @mullicahillfloralco. It’s a great spot to see all-local designs and get some inspiration for color blending and floral photography.

Mentioned in this episode is Phoam Labs, creators of a compostable alternative to traditional floral foam. 

This podcast is brought to you by the Philadelphia Floral Guild, a collective of flower farms in the mid-Atlantic region selling together to florist and other wholesale buyers. We help you elevate your design work and manifest a better tomorrow with locally-grown stems.  Visit philadelphiafloralguild.com to learn more and follow us on Instagram @phillyfloralguild for regular inspiration. 

Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on what's in season, tips and tricks for design, and the latest episodes. 

Not near Philadelphia but would like to source local flowers for your business?  Check out localflowers.org and rootedfarmers.com to find a flower farm near you.  

Less Shrink: Without the stress of a long ride in the global supply chain, our stems are superior in quality with much less breakage and far better hydration.

Less Labor: Our growers do all the work of a studio assistant, stripping stems and making fresh cuts on stems that go directly into water and never leave a water source. This means you do not have to process anything!

Less Trash: There are no boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, box straps, plastic sleeves, and all the other usual trash that comes with a flower delivery from the traditional wholesaler.

More Inspiration:  Designing with the seasons sparks creativity.  No two weeks are the same. 

More Community:  Workign with local growers is a very personal connection.  You'll grow your community every time you buy local. 

Today we're chatting with Emalee Lally, owner of Bird Seed Florals.  Emalee has been a stalwart supporter of the Philadelphia Floral Guild since day one.  Her design style and story are unique, including her attitude towards being an eternal novice.  Three years in the biz, she’s still stretching her designer legs and has found being a beginner has some serious perks.  Like coming up with a really clever way to enhance designs in pin frogs!  Get a look at her singular design style on Instagram @birdseedflorals.

This podcast is brought to you by the Philadelphia Floral Guild, a collective of flower farms in the mid-Atlantic region selling together to florist and other wholesale buyers. We help you elevate your design work and manifest a better tomorrow with locally-grown stems.  Visit philadelphiafloralguild.com to learn more and follow us on Instagram @phillyfloralguild for regular inspiration. 

Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on what's in season, tips and tricks for design, and the latest episodes. 

Not near Philadelphia but would like to source local flowers for your business?  Check out localflowers.org and rootedfarmers.com to find a flower farm near you.  

Less Shrink: Without the stress of a long ride in the global supply chain, our stems are superior in quality with much less breakage and far better hydration.

Less Labor: Our growers do all the work of a studio assistant, stripping stems and making fresh cuts on stems that go directly into water and never leave a water source. This means you do not have to process anything!

Less Trash: There are no boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, box straps, plastic sleeves, and all the other usual trash that comes with a flower delivery from the traditional wholesaler.

More Inspiration:  Designing with the seasons sparks creativity.  No two weeks are the same. 

More Community:  Workign with local growers is a very personal connection.  You'll grow your community every time you buy local. 

We’re back on air with a conversation about selling flowers wholesale.  This episode is geared more towards flower farmers, but might be a fun peek behind the scenes for florists as well. Many of you are already familiar with today’s guest, Scott Shepherd.  Scott is the host of The Flower Podcast.  If you haven’t checked out that podcast yet, be sure you do. 

Scott has such a unique position in our industry.  He studied horticulture in college and has been a producer of specialty stems like hellebores.  But his main job over the past three decades has been working in sales and sourcing at wholesale houses, first in Georgia and now in Tennessee.  In that role, he’s touched every facet of the global flower market. 

This episode is an excerpt from a longer conversation that took place on the podcast No-Till Flowers. 

This podcast is brought to you by the Philadelphia Floral Guild, a collective of flower farms in the mid-Atlantic region selling together to florist and other wholesale buyers. We help you elevate your design work and manifest a better tomorrow with locally-grown stems.  Visit philadelphiafloralguild.com to learn more and follow us on Instagram @phillyfloralguild for regular inspiration. 

Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on what's in season, tips and tricks for design, and the latest episodes. 

Not near Philadelphia but would like to source local flowers for your business?  Check out localflowers.org and rootedfarmers.com to find a flower farm near you.  

Less Shrink: Without the stress of a long ride in the global supply chain, our stems are superior in quality with much less breakage and far better hydration.

Less Labor: Our growers do all the work of a studio assistant, stripping stems and making fresh cuts on stems that go directly into water and never leave a water source. This means you do not have to process anything!

Less Trash: There are no boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, box straps, plastic sleeves, and all the other usual trash that comes with a flower delivery from the traditional wholesaler.

Ellen Frost, owner of Local Color Flowers in Baltimore, joins host Jennie Love for a five part series focused on key drivers of flower math for floral shops.  An informative listen for both florists and growers!  

We wrap up the Flower Math series today with Part 5: Being Team Players.  Being profitable as a small business, be it a floral shop or a flower farm, is a struggle.  We all work with a very perishable product and have risky sales channels.  What kinds of honest conversations can gorwers and florists have together about flower math?  If we work as a team, rather than just vendors making transactions, can we collecitvely thrive?  Or is the system too broken for both gorwers and florists to be profitable in the same transaction?  Hear what two seasoned flower professionals have to say on the topic.

If you enjoy this episode, be sure to go back and listen to 

Flower Math Part 1:  Pricer Per Stem Flower Math Part 2: Product Shrink Flower Math Part 3: Quality Tiers Flower Math Part 4: Delivery and Handling Fees

Ellen and Jennie both teach online courses that may be valuable to your floral business.  Here is a link to Ellen's course and here is a link to Jennie's courses.  

This podcast is brought to you by the Philadelphia Floral Guild, where we're building community around sustainable local flowers.  If you're a florist in the Philadelphia area, we'd love to have you shop with us!  Click here to learn how. 

Not in the Philadelphia region?  Find a flower farmer near you by visiting LocalFlowers.org.  And check out Rooted Farmers to see if there is a flower collective near you!  

Now that this series on flower math has finished up, we'll start featuring some new voices on the show.  So stay tuned for Episode 6 when we talk to a vetran wholesale flower farmer!  

Ellen Frost, owner of Local Color Flowers in Baltimore, joins host Jennie Love for a five part series focused on key drivers of flower math for floral shops.  An informative listen for both florists and growers!  

Fees add up!  In Part 4 of the Flower Math series, we expose this often unseen sinkhole for profit.  Growers have to charge delivery fees and often collectives and wholesalers charge handling fees.  Florists have to absorb all of these fees.  We go into how florists should be thinking about working fees into their flower math. Spoiler, opting out of delivery and instead picking up the flowers yourself is not "free". We also talk about what delivery fee florists need to charge their own customers to make the flower math work.  

If you enjoy this episode, be sure to go back and listen to 

Flower Math Part 1:  Pricer Per Stem Flower Math Part 2: Product Shrink Flower Math Part 3: Quality Tiers

Ellen and Jennie both teach online courses that may be valuable to your floral business.  Here is a link to Ellen's course and here is a link to Jennie's courses.  

This podcast is brought to you by the Philadelphia Floral Guild, where we're building community around sustainable local flowers.  If you're a florist in the Philadelphia area, we'd love to have you shop with us!  Click here to learn how. 

Why use local stems?  You'll hear a lot about that throughout this podcast series but here's a few of the reason:  

• Less Shrink: Without the stress of a long ride in the global supply chain, local stems are superior in quality with much less breakage and far better hydration.
• Less Labor: Local growers do all the work of a studio assistant, stripping stems and making fresh cuts on stems that go directly into water and never leave a water source. This means you do not have to process anything!
• Less Trash: There are no boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, box straps, plastic sleeves, and all the other usual trash that comes with a flower delivery from the traditional wholesaler.

• Less Carbon Burned: Imported flowers in the US typically travel 2,500 or more miles in refrigerated planes, trucks and boats to reach you.

• Less Disconnect:  When you buy flowers from far away, you don't have a relationship with the grower and your dollars fly away from your local economy, the one you do business in yourself.  Buying local means you stay connected and contribute to your local community.  

Ellen Frost, owner of Local Color Flowers in Baltimore, joins host Jennie Love for a five part series focused on key drivers of flower math for floral shops.  An informative listen for both florists and growers!  

In Part 3 of the Flower Math series, we discuss quality and how that can impact flower pricing. What is "quality" to a florist?  There's baseline quality that should be observed with all flower sales.  But then there variable factors like product mix, stem length, stage of harvest, amount of processing, and even sleeving that are all part of how florists make decisions on what to buy.  Growers, find out why pumping out only premium stems can be hurting your florist sales.  

Be sure to listen to Part 1 and Part 2 of this series to learn how price per stem and product shrink impact flower math.  

Ellen and Jennie both teach online courses that may be valuable to your floral business.  Here is a link to Ellen's course and here is a link to Jennie's courses.  

Ellen also has a YouTube channel and a valuable weekly education email. 

This podcast is brought to you by the Philadelphia Floral Guild, where we're building community around sustainable local flowers.  If you're a florist in the Philadelphia area, we'd love to have you shop with us!  Click here to learn how. 

Why use local stems?  You'll hear a lot about that throughout this podcast series but here's a few of the reason:  

• Less Shrink: Without the stress of a long ride in the global supply chain, local stems are superior in quality with much less breakage and far better hydration.
• Less Labor: Local growers do all the work of a studio assistant, stripping stems and making fresh cuts on stems that go directly into water and never leave a water source. This means you do not have to process anything!
• Less Trash: There are no boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, box straps, plastic sleeves, and all the other usual trash that comes with a flower delivery from the traditional wholesaler.

• Less Carbon Burned: Imported flowers in the US typically travel 2,500 or more miles in refrigerated planes, trucks and boats to reach you.

• Less Disconnect:  When you buy flowers from far away, you don't have a relationship with the grower and your dollars fly away from your local economy, the one you do business in yourself.  Buying local means you stay connected and contribute to your local community.  

Ellen Frost, owner of Local Color Flowers in Baltimore, joins host Jennie Love for a five part series focused on key drivers of flower math for floral shops.  An informative listen for both florists and growers!  

In Part 2 of the Flower Math series, we dive into product shrink and how it can be devastating to a flower shop's bottom line.  A staggering 45% of wholesale flowers never get sold, instead ending up in the trash as a total loss.  We discuss best practices at both the farm and in the shop that will help reduce this product shrink so florists can be more financially stable.  Growers, you'll want to listen because the less shrink florists experience with your product, the more they will buy from you!   

Ellen and Jennie both teach online courses that may be valuable to your floral business.  Here is a link to Ellen's course and here is a link to Jennie's courses.  

Ellen also has a YouTube channel and a valuable weekly education email.  

This podcast is brought to you by the Philadelphia Floral Guild, where we're building community around sustainable local flowers.  If you're a florist in the Philadelphia area, we'd love to have you shop with us!  Click here to learn how. 

Not a Philadelphia area florist? Look for flower farms near you on the Rooted Farmers website or through localflowers.org. 

Why use local stems?  You'll hear a lot about that throughout this podcast series but here's a few of the reason:  

• Less Shrink: Without the stress of a long ride in the global supply chain, our stems are superior in quality with much less breakage and far better hydration.
• Less Labor: Our growers do all the work of a studio assistant, stripping stems and making fresh cuts on stems that go directly into water and never leave a water source. This means you do not have to process anything!
• Less Trash: There are no boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, box straps, plastic sleeves, and all the other usual trash that comes with a flower delivery from the traditional wholesaler.

• Less Carbon Burned: Imported flowers in the US typically travel 2,500 or more miles in refrigerated planes, trucks and boats to reach you.

   

Ellen Frost, owner of Local Color Flowers in Baltimore, joins host Jennie Love for a five part series focused on key drivers of flower math for floral shops.  An informative listen for both florists and growers!  

In Part 1 of the Flower Math series, we dive into price per stem and how what a grower is charging a florist wholesale gets amplified through the mark up process. The price per stem has a huge impact on the profitability of both a flower shop and a farm.  How do florists consider price per stem as they shop? What are the right choices to make your flower shop profitable?  

Mentioned in this podcast was a flower shop accounting handbook, which we thought was from AIFD.  Turns out it's from SAF (Society of American Florists) and you can access it for free here.  

Ellen and Jennie both teach online courses that may be valuable to your floral business.  Here is a link to Ellen's course and here is a link to Jennie's courses.  

Ellen also has a YouTube channel and a valuable weekly education email.  

This podcast is brought to you by the Philadelphia Floral Guild, where we're building community around sustainable local flowers.  If you're a florist in the Philadelphia area, we'd love to have you shop with us!  Click here to learn how. 

Not a Philadelphia area florist? Look for flower farms near you on the Rooted Farmers website or through localflowers.org. 

Why use local stems?  You'll hear a lot about that throughout this podcast series but here's a few of the reason:  

• Less Shrink: Without the stress of a long ride in the global supply chain, our stems are superior in quality with much less breakage and far better hydration.
• Less Labor: Our growers do all the work of a studio assistant, stripping stems and making fresh cuts on stems that go directly into water and never leave a water source. This means you do not have to process anything!
• Less Trash: There are no boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, box straps, plastic sleeves, and all the other usual trash that comes with a flower delivery from the traditional wholesaler.

• Less Carbon Burned: Imported flowers in the US typically travel 2,500 or more miles in refrigerated planes, trucks and boats to reach you.

   

Welcome to Floral Guild Radio, where each episode explores another aspect of sustainable floristry and producing flowers commercially.  This podcast captures the voices and stories of seasoned and beginner florists and farmers.  

Why Floral Guild radio?  Firstly, this podcast is brought to you by the Philadelphia Floral Guild, a collective of flower farms in the mid-Atlantic region of the US selling together to local florists.  

And secondly, a guild is, by definition, an association of local artisans and merchants who organize the practice of their craft in a particular territory or industry. Guilds, which date back to the 1300s, have long helped craftsmen and women thrive by providing education, establishing connections, pooling resources, and setting standards for quality and compensation. Guilds have historically stimulated economic development and brought a level of protection to participating members. In short, a rising tide lifts all boats. 

And therein lies the heart of Floral Guild Radio.  Each episode will add to a growing conversation among local flower farms and local florists, collaborating on helpful ideas and sharing experiences to support all of our valuable work in the floral industry.

If you’re a florist or other floral buyer in the Philadelphia region, visit www.philadelphiafloralguild.com to learn how you can start sourcing local sustainable stems from our collective of farms.  And follow @phillyfloralguild on Instagram for plenty of local flower inspiration.

Thank you for joining in this conversation!  Collaboration builds resilience and together we thrive!