Holly Heider Chapple at Flowerstock 2018 (c) Sarah Collier

Love this photo, captured by Sarah Collier, of the Flowerstock experience, photographed during one of Holly's presentations.

Last week, Holly Heider Chapple welcomed designers and flower lovers from near and far to Flowerstock at HOPE Flower Farm.

Floral professionals and members of the floral community gathered for two days of demonstrations and talks by renowned floral designers, including Holly, Steve Moore of Sinclair & Moore, Nancy Teasley of Oak & the Owl and Alicia and Adam Rico of Bows & Arrows.

It was an honor to join Holly at Flowerstock for the second time as a a teacher.

I led a number of creative writing exercises for attendees, guiding floral creatives through various modules of describing flowers, color and memories in a new way.

These bud vases, arranged and photographed by Andrea K. Grist, were part of a writing module to describe what we see.

There were many quiet corners for writing, upstairs in the Dairy Barn, which is where I found Kelly Shore with pen, paper and flowers!

Color word-play is an important part of the Creative Writing Process, too, richly expanding our language.

The personal floral narrative is powerful.

We heard this idea many times from my fellow presenters and the timing was perfect for those who brought pens, paper, their open minds and a little vulnerability to the process.

We gathered upstairs in one of the barns, where there was a creative space for writing, photography and floral design. Thank you to all who participated.

I'm eager to read more of your writing!

Before I departed Flowerstock to return to Seattle, I asked Holly if we could sit down for the Slow Flowers Podcast to record an update from her and she agreed.

It was nice to sneak away to the Tenant House, where many of the speakers stayed, and sit in a comfy corner to speak uninterrupted.

We didn't watch the clock, so this is a longish episode. We'll forgive you if you listen in smaller units of time.

Sarah Collier captured this party photo of Holly and me, just prior to the final evening's dinner. What a fun memento!

The first half of this episode focuses on Flowerstock and you can feel our emotions and joy while listening to Holly and I share highlights with one another.

This is the massive arrangement that Holly created at Flowerstock using the new extra-large Holly Pillow, a foam-free mechanic that she designed in conjunction with Syndicate Sales. (c) Sarah Collier

Then, during the second half of this episode, I ask Holly to update me on all that's has happened in the past year with her new product line created in partnership with Syndicate Sales.

Holly Chapple holding her new grid-format "eggs" and "pillow cages," designed with Syndicate Sales.

If you've missed the news, you'll enjoy hearing the "backstory" of the Holly Egg and the Holly Pillow, new mechanics that allow efficiency, eliminate the use of foam, and (in Holly's opinion) lend themselves to higher productivity during the design and production of weddings and events. Click here to learn more about this new product line, called the Holly Heider Chapple Collection by Syndicate Sales.

What a whirlwind of topics and stories ~ thanks for joining us. You can hear my original interview on the Slow Flowers Podcast with Holly, which we mentioned while reminiscing. It was Episode 123, which aired Jan 9, 2014. Wow, has so much happened for both Holly and me in the ensuing years as we've both promoting progressive practices in floral design and flower farming -- in our own ways.

I want to encourage you to visit the Slow Flowers Summit site to learn more about the amazing program, people and flowers you'll engage with next summer.

It's not too early to save the date and secure your seat!

Slow Flowers members receive special discount pricing and everyone receives $100 off with the Early Bird rate, on sale now!

Opening day of the Michigan Flower Growers Co-op, with one of the first customers, Susan McLeary of Passionflower.

I'm so excited to have you with me today because in addition to our fabulous episode addressing the timely topic of Regional Wholesale Flower Hubs, I want to announce the opening of Early Bird Pre-Registration for the 2019 Slow Flowers Summit!

Yes, it's so great to be able to unveil our program for the 3rd annual Summit, which will take place on July 1 & 2nd 2019 in St. Paul Minnesota, co-hosted with Twin Cities Flower Exchange. Find all the details here, at slowflowerssummit.com.

The Slow Flowers Summit is designed to meet the needs and interests of progressive floral entrepreneurs engaged in sustainable sourcing, design and business practices. Your registration covers local flower tours, floral demonstrations, participation in creating an interactive, large-scale installation, all meals and 10 inspiring and informative speakers from across the floral continuum.

Now's your chance to take advantage of early-bird pricing through December 31st.

Slow Flowers members enjoy the discounted registration of $275

General admission is $325.

Ticket prices at both levels will increase by $100 on January 1st so if you want to drop hints for a holiday-wish list or if you want to invest in an tax-deductible business expense before the end of the year, the Summit registration might just have your name on it!  I can't wait to see you there!

As I mentioned, the Summit's co-host is Twin Cities Flower Exchange and our partner is founder Christine Hoffman, a past guest of this podcast. Christine's innovative efforts to create a regional wholesale flower hub in the Twin Cities is one of the reasons I wanted to bring the Summit there. As part of our Summit programming, Christine will be joined by two other leaders in farm-to-florist wholesaling. Theirs are important, emerging models we're witnessing in markets around North America.

The Michigan Flower Growers Cooperative is a magnetic hub of flowers, flower farmer and floral designers.

It's timely that one of Christine's fellow panelists is with us today, along with one of her collaborators. Please welcome farmer-florist Amanda Maurmann of Gnome Grown Flowers and Alex Cacciari of Seeley Farm. Together, they represent the exciting Michigan Flower Growers Cooperative.

Amanda will join Christine at the Summit to share insights, lessons learned and strategies for how the Michigan Flower Growers Cooperative came to be; our third panel presenter will be Nichole Skalski of Sonoma Flower Mart, a past guest of this podcast.

A welcoming bouquet, grown and designed by Amanda Maurmann of Gnome Grown Flowers

The session will explore various models and strategies for developing a local-flowers-focused regional wholesale flower hub. I've heard from so many around the country who are hungry for this type of insight and resource -- and I know it will be a valuable addition to the Summit programming.

Farmer-florist Amanda Maurmann of Gnome Grown Flowers, along with one of her Michigan-grown bouquet designs.

Let me tell you a little more about both guests. Amanda and her family own and run a small cut flower farm and design studio out in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She utilizes organic and sustainable practices and loves growing a diversity of unique and interesting blooms that inspire creative and natural design.

Amanda Maurmann of Gnome Grown Flowers and Michigan Flower Growers Cooperative.

She designs for small weddings, events, and funerals, and also cooperates with local farms that provide u-pick flowers for the public. Amanda works with what is in season first, and loves to collaborate with other local growers.

Alex Cacciari of Seeley Farm, along with her lush and fresh Michigan flowers.

Alex Cacciari and her husband Mark Nowak own and operate Seeley Farm in Ann Arbor. They grow certified organic vegetables and cut flowers for sale to farmers’ marke...

"I grow wedding flowers," says today's guest, Melissa Smith of Fraylick Farm in Traveler's Rest, S.C.

Flower farmer Melissa Smith from Fraylick Farm and SC Upstate Flowers (c) Kimberly Michelle Gibson Photography

I met today's guest, flower farmer Melissa Smith,along with several others in the SC Upstate Flowers group a few years ago when they came to the Slow Flowers Meet-Up in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. area. 

I found their sense of collaboration and mutual respect for one another very encouraging, because they are basically creating a new market in their region.

Melissa and her husband Josh Smith own Fraylick Farm, based in Travelers Rest, S.C., about 10 miles north of Greenville, S.C., and 10 miles south of the S.C.-N.C. state line.

“The state of South Carolina in general is getting a whole lot more flower-focused,” she told me in a phone interview.

When Melissa and Josh moved their farming operation to the Greenville area in October 2015, Melissa felt the need for community. “I started meeting people through the Flower Farmer group on Facebook and I knew there were at least five of us here – and I thought ‘that’s enough for a group.'”

This image captures the collaborative spirit I enjoyed when I visited the Raleigh-Durham area in September 2016 and connected with Melissa Smith (far right) and others in the SC Upstate Flowers group.

She teamed up with Julie Hill of Greenville-based Southern Wild Design and invited every flower farmer they knew about to a potluck dinner. “We ended up having eight and that’s where the idea for our group was born.”

Thanks to Melissa’s background in graphic design and computers, and since it was still early in the season, SC Upstate Flowers launched a simple web site in March 2016. A Facebook page and Instagram account, and the frequently-used hashtag #scupstateflowers, naturally followed. By the first weekend of April 2016, SC Upstate Flowers posted a wholesale availability/price list on its site and introduced itself by email to a list of florists in the area.

Melissa Smith of Fraylick Farm shows off local flowers at the 2016 American Flowers Week "Farmer-Florist" Party (c) Angela Zion

SC Upstate Flowers has produced a few fun events during American Flowers Week -- basically a Farmer-Florist Design Party that invites florists in their area to play with the freshest, most beautiful, just-picked flowers from local farms.

Featured in Slow Flowers Journal/Florists' Review: Southern Flower Hubs

SC Upstate Flowers is also included in an article I wrote last November 2017 for the Slow Flowers Journal section of Florists' Review. That was the Southern-themed issue, and we focused the editorial content on floral design in the American South.

My story, titled "American-Grown Heroes: Southern Flower Hubs," features five dynamic flower cooperatives and collectives. You can download Southern Flower Hubs as a free PDF here.

I gathered with a number of passionate members of the SC Upstate Flower Growers in August, at the Southern Flower Symposium.

I reunited with Melissa in late August at the Southern Flowers Symposium in Charleston, S.C., hosted by Lowcountry Flower Growers. I spoke about the 2019 Slow Flowers Forecast and Melissa joined a panel of growers at various levels to discuss flower farming practices and share their wisdom.

Flowers by Fraylick Farm (c) Kimberly Michelle Gibson Photography

We managed to grab about 15 minutes to record a quick interview, but I knew there was more you could learn if we had more time. I recently connected via Skype with Melissa to finish our conversation. I'm so glad we took the time to do so. You'll learn how she is managing the evolution of her flower farm, adapting to market shifts and opportunities. And you'll learn more about the SC Upstate Flowers group.

Love this photo of Melissa Smith that I took at the Slow Flowers Creative Workshop in Raleigh-Durham a few years back.

It's time to plan and plant our spring-flowering bulbs! The anticipation of their colors, forms and fragrances in my garden -- and vases -- will carry me through the wet, gray months of winter! (c) Missy Palacol Photography

Here are three Longfield Gardens' collections I'll be planting in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden this fall! From left: "Daring Forms" alliums; "Golden Glow" collection of narcissi and muscari; and "Flower Arrangers" tulip collection.

It's October 3rd and for most of us around the country, it's time to start thinking about planting our bulbs for next spring!

I recently immersed myself in this topic, thanks to an assignment from Garden Design magazine, whose editors asked me to interview Chanticleer Gardens' plant information coordinator Eric Hsu. The article, "Planted Palettes," is out in the magazine's Autumn 2018.

The Fall 2018 issue of Garden Design magazine features my article and Rob Cardillo's images about spring bulb design at Chanticleer Gardens (c) Missy Palacol Photography

In writing the story, I learned volumes about designing spring landscapes and container gardens with familiar and unfamiliar bulbs. My 14-page article is illustrated with gorgeous images from Rob Cardillo, an award-winning photographer I've known for years through the Garden Writers Association. You'll love every page, and the publication of what Garden Design magazine is calling its "Joy of Bulbs" issue has inspired me to focus on bulbs in today's podcast.

One of the most dazzling Longfield Gardens collections available to plant this fall! Designed by Alicia Schwede of Flirty Fleurs, the "Baroque" bulb collection.

Another beautiful bulb collection, curated for Longfield Gardens by Alicia Schwede of Flirty Fleurs, called "Somerset"

I've wanted to visit Longfield Gardens' U.S. headquarters in Lakewood, New Jersey, for a number of years. A trip to Philadelphia last week brought me pretty close to that spot, so I invited myself out to the Jersey Shore, about 90 minutes east of Philadelphia, to tour Longfields' bulb operations and trial/test gardens.

Slow Flowers visits Longfield Gardens! From left, Jen Pfau, Hans Langeveld and Debra Prinzing

My thanks to Longfield for sponsoring Slow Flowers for a number of years. I've worked closely with Kathleen Laliberte on bulb-themed stories and promotions  and it's Kathleen who helped arrange my visit. I'm so grateful that it all worked out to spend a morning there and meet with today's guests, Hans Langeveld, co-owner of Longfield Gardens, and Jen Pfau, marketing director.

Hans Langeveld showed me how the caladium plants are grown for use in photo shoots! You can just pop these cylinder-planters into the landscape -- easy!

Here's a little bit more about them:

Hans Langeveld grew up in the heart of Holland’s bulb-growing region and has been involved in horticulture his entire professional career. As an enthusiastic gardener himself, he has a unique perspective on flowering bulbs that stretches from the breeders and growers in Holland to his own backyard in New Jersey. At Longfield Gardens, Hans is responsible for account management and quality control.

Left: The familiar packaging you'll see at most Costco outlets this fall. Right: Jen Pfau shows the packaging's planting and care instructions.

Jen Pfau grew up in a gardening family in New Jersey and graduated from the Cornell School of Agriculture with a degree in marketing. She joined Longfield Gardens in 2009 and launched the company's online store in 2011. In addition to managing e-commerce, Jen is also deeply involved in the company's wholesale business, where she oversees product selection, merchandising, marketing and the customer experience. 

Yes, the dahlia season is winding down but the planting beds at Longfield's Test and Display Garden in Lakewood, New Jersey, are ready for spring bulbs!

Here are some of the online resources from Longfield:

Kim Burton, owner of CityGal Farms.

A few weeks ago, I spent three wonderful days in Denver, where I reconnected with my Slow Flowers friends and met many new ones.

I was there as a guest of the Denver Botanic Gardens, returning for a second time as a featured presenter in the 2018 Bonfils-Stanton Lecture Series, "The Edge of Art and Gardens."

Hats off to the educational staff, including director Matthew Cole and associate director Sarah Olson and the other amazing staffers for making me feel welcome and for running such an excellent program.

Slow Flowers was the program in September and it involved a lecture that I presented titled "American Beauty."

https://vimeo.com/291998090

As part of DBG's commitment to bring its members into the larger community of horticulture and nature, the educational team asked me to help develop a series of field trips and workshops on flower farms during my time there.

I was so pleased to showcase three farms that mean a lot to me, including Slow Flowers members Red Daisy Farm and CityGal Farms, and The Fresh Herb Company, which is featured in the pages of The 50 Mile Bouquet.

Chet (center) led a fabulous farm tour at The Fresh Herb Company in Longmont, Colorado.

We spent one day at The Fresh Herb Company in Longmont, Colorado, home of Chet and Kristy Anderson, for an extensive farm tour and catered lunch from a local farm-to-table purveyor.

The Fresh Herb Company hosted our flower farm tour, followed by a farm-to-table luncheon.

Lunch under the cottonwood trees -- what could be a better way to cap off Chet's personalized flower tour of the fields, greenhouses and pack house?! As you may know, in addition to appearing in articles and books I've written, Chet and Kristy are past guests of this podcast.

Our Slow Flowers Workshop and Tour at Red Daisy Farm capped of two wonderful days in Denver earlier this month. From left, Sarah Olson, Meg McGuire and Debra Prinzing

The following day, we had two tours on the schedule. I'll tell you about our visit to Red Daisy Farm in Brighton, Colorado, first. Meg McGuire and Terry Bauman own Red Daisy Farm, where they grow cut beautiful flowers to sell to florists and DIY brides, operate an equally beautiful Air BnB on the farm, and open up the barn for regular sales of antiques, collectibles and Meg and her sister's regular vintage finds.

The DBG group gathered for a farm tour with Meg, followed by a delicious lunch and a hands-on floral design workshop that I taught, using gorgeous flowers, herbs and foliage from the farm. Meg is a past guest of this podcast.

We had sold-out attendances at The Fresh Herb Co. and at Red Daisy Farm and I'm so pleased that more people in that community connected with locally-grown flowers in a significant way by meeting the people behind the flowers. That's authentic and beats any expensive marketing campaign, folks.

Slow Flowers Podcast visits CityGal Farms in Denver

Our final tour was set for CityGal Farms, owned by Kim Burton and her husband Ken in Lakewood, Colorado, just outside Denver's city limits. I was so excited to see Kim's operation, because she had invited us to visit during harvest and production for CityGal's regular bouquet-making session.

Denver Botanic Garden has been promoting this Slow Flowers programming for months, which is why we were so devastated for Kim when one week prior to the tour a summer hail storm hammered CityGal Farms.

Summer hail on September 6th at CityGal Farms.

She posted photos of the hail damage on her Facebook page and wrote this:

Late Wednesday, our farm got hit with hail, rain and wind. Most of our orders had thankfully been harvested, and while not everything was destroyed, our plants took a pretty heavy beating. Thankfully we have a good team that jumped into action, and we are babying them back to health. Getting hit with hail is never good for farmers, and we join the roster of many Colorado farmers who have been affect...

Jim Martin, today's guest, is an amazing horticulturist and Southern flower farmer. We snapped this selfie at Brookgreen Gardens where Jim once worked.

Less than a month ago, I traveled to Charleston, S.C., where I spoke at the Southern Flower Symposium, hosted by Lowcountry Flower Growers. A number of wonderful and incredibly talented farmers and designers participated in the one-day conference, which was themed: "Future Forward Flower Success."

After Rita Anders and I gave the morning presentations, the afternoon sessions at Southern Flower Symposium turned to floral design. Here, Anne Graves of Syndicate Sales discusses the company's commitment to making vases and floral accessories in the U.S. Syndicate donated vessels for the design demonstration.

It was a fabulous time and I was honored to be invited by and hosted by today's guest, Jim Martin. As a veteran horticulturist who has had a long career in public gardens, Jim works as director of programs for the Charleston Parks Conservancy. As a flower and veggie grower, he owns Compost in my Shoe, which originated as a garden blog and is now also the name of Jim's farming enterprise.

Jim and David's Southern front porch, inviting, comfortable, private and conducive to wonderful conversations.

Jim and his partner David Vagasky live incredibly creative lives on James Island, where there are lazy fans suspended above one's bed, where there's a covered porch with comfy chairs where you can sit and gaze at the lush, green garden, while sipping a glass of wine; Jim and David, along with their three friendly pups, took very good care of me. David is a culinary instructor, talented chef and chocolatier, a pedigree which immediately won me over!

Jim Martin with one of his floral creations inspired by the theme "Structure." He used all locally-grown flowers and created three rhythmic towers with foam disks sliced from swimming pool "noodles."

Another beautiful Jim Martin design featuring sunflowers, celosia and goldenrod stems, arranged in a metal frame that was once a wastebin.

Jim took me to tour Brookgreen Gardens near Myrtle Beach, where he once worked. We stumbled across a fantastic Patrick Dougherty installation!

My friendship with Jim dates back about 10 years through the Garden Writers Association, which found us serving on a long-range strategic planning task force in 2011 - a volunteer role that cemented our affection for one another.

How wonderful for me that Jim has always been a student of floral design, having presented on the national stage at past American Institute of Floral Designers conferences.

He is currently a candidate for the European Master Certification with Hitomi Gilliam AIFD and Tomas De Bruyne. Floral design and growing flowers brought us together more frequently than our garden blogs ever did.

I am excited to share Jim's story today during our podcast -- it's an inspiring convergence of horticulture and floriculture.

Jim Martin, Compost in my Shoe

Here's a bit more about Jim Martin, from Compost in My Shoe's "about" page:

Jim Martin’s relationship with the land began on a dairy farm in northern Ohio. Caring for the soil was what they called organic farming.

A move to the Palmetto State at age 13 meant learning to garden in a foreign land. His 25-year career in horticulture is coming full circle with Compost In My Shoe.

His lifelong relationship with the land is shared today through his garden design, boutique farming and teaching/consulting.

Compost in my Shoe is dedicated to growing and developing high quality produce, products and services while nurturing  the life-giving bond we all have with the land.

Jim Martin is a lifelong gardener and horticulturist who has worked in public horticulture for 29 years.

Floral designer Jessica Gale (left) with today's Podcast guest, Natasa Kajganic (right), founder of Toronto Flower Market and Canadian Flowers Week (c) Cristian Ordonez Photography

Today's guest is Natasa Kajganic and I'm so excited to host her on this Slow Flowers Podcast Episode because together we're celebrating the debut of Canadian Flowers Week, which begins tomorrow, September 13, and continues through September 16.

The origins of Canadian Flowers Week were a few years coming and truly began when I met Natasa last summer at the ASCFG regional meeting in Ontario, Canada.

After a morning of flower farm tours, we gathered at La Primavera Farms in Dundas, outside Toronto, for a series of presentations, one of which was from Natasa. I'd long been wanting to connect with her in a meaningful way, as I'd heard so much about this truly original thinker who created Toronto Flower Market in 2013.

Toronto Flower Market is an outdoor flower and plant market that has become the city's dynamic botanical hub for flower farmers, designers, and lovers of fresh, local and seasonal blooms. As founder of this botanical emporium, Natasa's aim has been to bring focus to the local flower industry through inspiring public floral experiences.

A glimpse over the shoulder as a Toronto Flower Market customer carries her purchase.

I loved hearing Natasa's presentation about the formation of Toronto Flower Market and after we met in person, we agreed to speak later by phone to brainstorm whether American Flowers Week could help bring Canadian Flowers Week to life.

Much as I was nurtured and encouraged in 2015 by Helen Evans and others involved in British Flowers Week, I wanted to "pay back" a flower sister by encouraging Natasa and by sharing my experiences.

Canadian Flowers Week participation across Canada is revealed in this country map.

Fast-forward less than one year later and Canadian Flowers Week is here, as a project of Toronto Flower Market.

Florists' Review and the Slow Flowers Journal featured this new Canadian floral holiday in the August issue.

I'm so excited that you can hear from Natasa in person as she describes the participants and activities of this week-long celebration stretching across Canada, including activities in all provinces and 20 public events.

Here are the opening lines that appear on the beautiful new web site, Canadianflowerweek.ca:

Locally grown, Canadian blooms are as abundant and diverse as our natural landscape. Growers embrace the challenges that come along with four seasons and provide a range of flowers all year round. From long-lasting, sturdy, big-headed blooms to delicate, full-of-scent flowers that could never survive the travel of imports, our greenhouse and field crops are fresh and awe-inspiring.  And now, for one week, the flower industry across the country will unite to celebrate and showoff its beautiful bounty.

Gotta LOVE the "pledge" badge that is used by Canadian members of Slow Flowers.

I've added links to my two recent articles that appeared in the August 2018 Slow Flowers Journal inside the pages of Florists' Review.

The first is about Toronto Flower Market, called "The Flowering of Toronto," which you can download here.

The second is all about Canadian Flowers Week, featuring an interview with Natasa Kajganic.

Fresh, local and seasonal blooms at Toronto Flower Market. The Market will host Canadian Flowers Week events on Saturday, September 15th.

While I launched American Flowers Week as a program of Slow Flowers in 2015, and as we are gearing up for our 5th year as the original domestic flower promotion holiday in the U.S., I have to reflect on the meaning of community.

A gothic-styled bridal bouquet, designed by Mary Simmons of Chicago's Persephone Floral Atelier

On the day I visited Mary Simmons, she greeted me at her Chicago studio, adorably matching her teal front door!

Before I introduce you to today's guest, Mary Simmons of Persephone Floral Atelier in Chicago, I want to give a huge shout out and thanks to two floral communities who recently invited me to share the Slow Flowers Floral Insights and Industry Forecast with their audiences.

Two weeks ago, Hitomi Gilliam brought me to Vancouver, B.C., Canada, for the 2018 Floral Trend Summit, a marvelous and inventive experience encompassing five days of creativity and reimagination.

Alicia Schwede of Flirty Fleurs snapped this photo of me presenting at the Trend Summit.

The Trend Summit occurs every two years and is nothing short of a powerful gathering of leaders,

educators and thinkers from all facets of floral.

I joined the speaker lineup with design innovator Holly Heider Chapple of Hope Flower Farm, Chapel Designers and the new Holly X Syndicate collection; Pantone color trends maven Leatrice Eiseman; and global floral design icon Gregor Lersch, as well as Hitomi Gilliam and Florists' Review publisher Travis Rigby.

The Trend Summit included a two-day conference where participants shared ideas and dreamed of new themes for floral design in a roundtable forum, a one-day symposium open to a larger floral community of growers, retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and designers, and a two-day design intensive led by Gregor Lersch.

Everything took place at United Floral, the all-thing-floral (including educational programs) hub outside Vancouver, hosted by the incredibly gracious and generous Tony Graaf, who also emceed some of the proceedings.

The sessions were incredible and I'm sad I missed the first few days due to other commitments. A number of reports and new initiatives will emerge from this mind-blowing series of events and I'll keep you posted on those in the coming months.

We'll have to bring Hitomi and Holly back together -- they're both past guests of this podcast -- to share about the many inclusive and expansive things they're cooking up for our community.

I'm grateful that Slow Flowers is invited to have a seat at that table. To me, that is a significant indication of the strides we have made in the past five years since this concept took root and became my passion -- the idea that progressive and mindful flower farmers and floral designers can collaborate for a better and more sustainable profession for humans and the environment alike.

August 26 & 27 took me to Charleston, S.C., where I was hosted at the Southern Flower Symposium by Lowcountry Flower Growers, which is emerging as an important force for reclaiming and revitalizing floral agriculture in the South.

From left: Compost in my Shoe's Jim Martin, Purple Magnolia's Ann Cunniffe, Roadside Blooms' Teri Reale and me

Jim Martin's business name is just the best: Compost in My Shoe!

A few days after the whirlwind trip to Vancouver, which is only about 150 miles north of Seattle, I jumped on an airplane and flew cross-country to Charleston, S.C. -- yes, there is a nonstop flight if you can believe it!

I was hosted by the relatively young group called Lowcountry Flower Growers, which is emerging as an important force for reclaiming and revitalizing floral agriculture in the South.

In fact, their Southern Flower Symposium, held on August 27th at Full Circle Farm on John's Island outside Charleston, was a powerful statement of their resolve!

Thank you to the organizing team, especially my dear friend Jim Martin of Compost in My Shoe, and Laura Mewbourn of Feast & Flora Farm,

Perla Sophia Curbelo, of Puerto Rico's AgroChic

Today's guest shares with us an inside look into gardening and agriculture in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Her name is Perla Sofia Curbelo, creator of AgroChic, a blog in Spanish for Garden Lovers & Agropreneurs.

We've become friends through GWA, the Association for Garden Communicators, of which we are both members, and through our mutual love of gardening and digital media. I've been so fascinated with her platform, AgroChic, which has become an international forum for Spanish-speakers who love gardening, plants, wellness and more, both on the island of Puerto Rico and around the world.

I loved meeting up with Perla Sophia at the GWA Symposium.

When I knew that Perla Sofia and I were going to meet up again a few weeks ago in Chicago, for our GWA conference, I sent her a note asking if she'd be willing to come on the Slow Flowers Podcast as my guest.

It was a bit challenging for us to find the time to do this -- and true confessions, we snuck out of another scheduled function in order to sit in an empty meeting room and record this episode.

It was one of the highlights of my time in Chicago and I'm so excited for you to hear Perla Sofia's story -- and her take on gardening, Puerto Rico style. We wanted to share good and inspiring news from Puerto Rico, news that the cable channels and mainstream networks won't bring you. I encourage you to follow AgroChic at its social places so you can follow along with Perla Sofia and learn more.

Teaching about plants with AgroChic

Here's a little bit more about my friend Perla Sofia:

Perla Sofía Curbelo is a Puerto Rican journalist turned mediapreneur. In 2009, she founded Agrochic.com, a gardening blog in Spanish.

Through the website, readers interested in urban agriculture and wellness can check articles, guides and lists on topics like how to take care of your houseplants, how to create a veggie garden in containers and even how to plan your next garden travel.

For the past 30 years, her family had run a monthly paper in Puerto Rico, specialized in Agriculture. They also have a small coffee farm. Her younger brother, Luis, is an agronomist and a flower farmer.

Perla, with her family in San Juan

In 2016, her blog Agrochic was nominated as one of the best Latino health and wellness blogs at the Tecla Awards during Hispanize, the largest annual event for Latino trendsetters and newsmakers in digital content creation, journalism, marketing, entertainment and tech entrepreneurship.

As part of the digital content, she also coordinates gardening workshops in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she lives with her husband Antonio, her younger stepdaughter Veronica (one of two stepdaughters) and her beloved rottweiler Rocco.

"Today's Greens" -- Perla is a fellow Podcaster!

Perla has a bachelor´s degree in Psychology and a master´s degree in Communication, specialized in Public Relations.

She has worked in publishing, television and radio, and for the last 15 years she focused most of her writing in agriculture and gardening.

This past Summer, Perla started a seasonal podcast (La verdura de hoy, translates "Today´s Greens"), also in Spanish, which you can listen on her blog.

AgroChic's gardening workshops are popular -- and she plans on increasing their frequency.

In 2017, she joined The Association for Garden Communicators and is responsible to translate a monthly column from the GWA´s blog from English to Spanish.

For 2019, she has her eyes on a Horticulture Therapy Certification and she wants to open a gardening studio in Puerto Rico, to multiply the gardening workshops, host garden writers and entertain through all things garden.

Jeanie and I had a wonderful reunion in Chicago last week. This photograph was taken in front of the Chicago Hyatt after recording our interview.

I’ve been on the road for more than a week and connecting with Slow Flowers members and sponsors has been at the heart of my travel. Before we jump into today’s conversation with a wonderful featured guest, I’d love to thank a few folks with my shout-outs!

First, on August 11 & 12, I was hosted by Christine Hoffman of Twin Cities Flower Exchange in St. Paul, Minneapolis, where I enjoyed a sneak peek into what’s in store for attendees of next year’s Slow Flowers Summit, July 1-2, 2019.

As I’ve mentioned in recent weeks, Christine and the TCFE are co-hosting the Summit in their wonderful Twin Cities, where the local floral scene is alive, well, thriving and growing.

In addition to arranging for me to visit two of the flower farms that sell their botanical harvest through the TCFE, Christine took me to see three potential venues for the Summit sessions next summer. It’s often quite challenging to manage and plan an event long-distance, so this was hugely important.

At Beezie's Blooms, a farm portrait with owners Jeff & Randi, with Christine Hoffman of Twin Cities Flower Exchange

Christine Hoffman (left) and Allison DeRungs at Flower Child Farm outside Minneapolis/St. Paul.

It was a major treat to visit Beezie’s Blooms, a Slow Flowers member farm owned by Randi Greiner, and to tour Allison DeRungs' Flower Child Farm, both located on beautiful properties north of the metro area.

On Sunday afternoon, Christine hosted a meet-up-style open house to introduce me to the local floral community – farmers and floral designers who comprise the dynamic change taking place there. We tasted signature cocktails with a floral note (of course), sample butters flavored with petals and herbs to spread on delicious local bread, and munched on local veggies, all part of the festive day.

It was inspiring and encouraging – all inside The Good Acre, a certified organic hub for local food distribution. That place holds state-of-the-art equipment and huge walk-in coolers where yes, produce from local farms is processed for distribution to school lunch rooms, but where every Wednesday florists and designers come to shop for flowers from as many as a dozen Minnesota and Wisconsin flower farms.

Twin Cities Flower Exchange hosted a wonderful gathering of local flower farmers and floral designers to welcome me to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area! Our gathering took place inside The Good Acre food hub, where flowers make an appearance once a week.

Seeing where it all happens after hearing Christine’s description of the TCFE’s “home” on the Slow Flowers Podcast last year, was such a treat. If you attend the Slow Flowers Summit next year during American Flowers Week, you’ll be able to experience this exciting new economic model taking place first hand, too.

It was so fabulous to partner with Hillary Alger (left) and Marcella Sweet (center) at the Johnny's Seeds booth during the Garden Writers Annual Symposium last week!

Hillary, Marcella and I hosted the incredibly popular pin-on flower bar at the GWA Chicago Expo, teaching media (writers, editors & bloggers) about cut flower gardening.

I said good-bye to the Twin Cities and headed straight to Chicago last Monday, where I spent most of the week attending the annual Garden Writers Association Symposium & Expo. I’ve been deeply involved in this professional organization – my original Tribe before the Slow Flowers Tribe emerged as a huge part of my life.

At the GWA conference, there is a trade show for two days, where garden and plant vendors exhibit their new products and wares. I joined Hillary Alger and Marcella Sweet of Johnny’s Selected Seeds,