Kate Estwing, City House Country Mouse

Today's guest hails from the same place that many of us began: The Garden.

In 2015, Kate Estwing launched a flower and garden venture out of her home. Today, it has grown enough to transplant her business, City House Country Mouse into a brick and mortar storefront that opens this week in St. Louis's The Hill neighborhood.

Kate has grown City House Country Mouse from a gardening business into a full-service floral design studio providing floral arrangements for weddings, businesses, events and residential clients.

A trio of arrangements from Kate Estwing and City House Country Mouse using all locally-grown botanicals; from left: From a workshop at B-Side Farms in Sebastopol, CA; a winery wedding featuring local and U.S.-grown shiso, grasses, dahlias and scabiosa; at the same event, locally-grown amaranth, purple basil, mint, and zinnias, plus a coreopsis plant that the couple took home to plant (c) Virginia Harold Photography

"It was very organic and made sense to me," she says. "I saw a huge industry involving the beauty of nature, but also saw a lot of waste occurring within the industry. I knew I wanted to help people experience fresh, unique and local flowers and find ways to provide artful arrangements with references to the garden.

Stunning palette; Local blooms, by City House Country Mouse -- all St. Louis-grown

"Cutting down on waste and plastic use is a hot topic, but you don't always see the production waste that's behind the flower arrangement you purchase. I'm happy to offer design services I know are cutting down or eliminating inorganic waste from the process."

A Slow Flowers Member who puts a big priority on sourcing from local St. Louis area farms and other Missouri growers, Kate loves making garden-inspired arrangements that are whimsical and imperfect, a celebration of nature's ways.

After operating as a home-based studio, this week City House Country Mouse moves into a charming storefront in a historic St. Louis neighborhood. I invited Kate to talk about the transition, because hers is a hybrid model I'm seeing occur more frequently than ever.

A new storefront in St. Louis!!

The new space operates as a design studio for weekly deliveries and wedding production, and Kate will open her doors with regular retail hours, beginning next week, Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 a.m.

Bouquet by Kate Estwing, inspired by the garden and local flower farms, plus peonies, greens and amaranth from U.S. west coast (c) Kate Estwing

Follow City House Country Mouse at these social places:

City House Country Mouse on Facebook

City House Country Mouse on Instagram

City House Country Mouse on Pinterest

A wedding ceremony centerpiece -- so lovely! Outdoor backyard wedding featuring local peonies, yarrow and feverfew (c) David Weis.

There's a lot of excitement around locally grown flowers and sustainable floral design in St. Louis, and as you heard me mention, I originally met Kate when I was there in 2016 to be a featured speaker at the St. Louis Art Museum's Art in Bloom event. I recorded two wonderful podcast episodes with other Slow Flowers members when I was there -- and I'll post them in the show notes for you to listen, either for the first time or again!

They include:

Episode 238: St. Louis’s Urban Buds: City Grown Flowers

Episode 243: More About Missouri Grown with Two St. Louis-based Slow Flowers Voices (featuring Vicki Lander of Flower Hill Farm and Jessica Douglass of Flowers & Weeds)

Designed by Nancy Cameron of Destiny Hill Flower Farm.

Before I close, I want to say how grateful I am to all you -- our entire community of flower farm...

Kaifa Anderson-Hall (left), founder of Plants and Blooms Reimagined, with me after the Slow Flowers Summit 2018.

Kaifa Anderson-Hall collecting flowers from Phillippa Tarrant Floral Design in Washington, D.C.

I've enjoyed so many amazing and rewarding experiences in recent months, including spending time with today’s guest, with whom I've connected at two important events. I’m so happy to introduce you to Kaifa Anderson-Hall, founder and visionary of Plants and Blooms Reimagined, a socially-minded floral program based in Washington, D.C.

I first met Kaifa in June at the American Horticultural Society’s annual awards banquet where she was recognized as a Great American Gardener award recipient for significant contributions to the field of horticultural therapy. I was a fellow recipient there to accept the AHS Frances Jones Poetker Award for contributions to the field of floristry, so it was a significant night for both of us.

It was so meaningful that Kaifa attended the Slow Flowers Summit just one week later, allowing us to spend a little more time together in her hometown.

Plants and Blooms Reimagined

As I mentioned, Kaifa is the founder of Plants and Blooms Reimagined. She began the program inspired by the belief that the beauty, joy, inspiration and healing power of nature’s gifts of indoor plants and cut-flowers should be experiences shared by all.

Clients of Seabury Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired enjoying therapeutic flower arranging.

SEED Students volunteering with Plants and Blooms ReImagined's Bee Friendly...Bloom To Share initiative

Kaifa is hands-on, gathering flowers and sharing them with appreciative receipients!

Kaifa envisioned Plants and Blooms Reimagined to be the source of plants and flowers for D.C. residents who too often go without. The organization’s mission is to increase personal enjoyment and enhanced well-being for under-resourced and other marginalized groups in the D.C. region through the gifting of repurposed (aka reimagined) botanicals of all kinds.

Plants and Blooms ReImagined can be found at various senior communities, homeless shelters, day programs for differently abled adults, social service facilities, healthcare clinics, health fairs and more -- delivering plants and flower bouquets and providing outreach and plant-based education.

Sidra Forman, a Washington, D.C.-based floral designer, shares accolades about working with Plants and Blooms Reimagined.

Kaifa "gifting" flowers at Springvale Terrace

Here's more about Kaifa Anderson-Hall:

Kaifa channeled her experience with social work and community garden development into a career in horticultural therapy. Through her business, Inspired Horticultural Services, Inc., and through Plants and Blooms Reimagined, Kaifa focuses on enhancing the wellbeing of diverse and often underserved communities in the greater Washington, D.C., region.

In addition to working with seniors, veterans, and differently-abled youth and adults, Kaifa designs and consults on the creation of therapeutic gardens. She lectures on the benefits of horticultural therapy programs at conferences and health fairs. A Master Gardener and graduate of the Horticultural Therapy Institute in Denver, Kaifa is active with a variety of organizations, including the American Horticultural Therapy Association, Biophilic DC, and Washington, D.C.’s School Garden Advisory Council.

Kaifa ensured that the flowers and foliages from the Slow Flowers Summit were reimagined/repurposed for deserving recipients. Thanks to Nan Matteson of Queen City Flower Farm.

On very short notice, Kaifa pulled together a team of volunteers to collect – and ultimate reimagine and repurpose – all of the flowers and foliages that we used duri...

Daughter Mindy Staton (left) and mother Alice Francis (right), the Two Little Buds!

Today's episode continues the mother-daughter theme with Two Little Buds. Founded in 2004, Two Little Buds is a boutique floral design studio that specializes in wedding florals, event design, and editorial work. Daughter Mindy Staton and mother Alice Francis, began Two Little Buds as a wedding and event floral studio, eventually opening a full-service retail flower shop in Hamilton, Ohio.

(Left) The new, just-opened, Two Little Buds studio is a gorgeous design space that doubles as a retail space on weekends. (Right) Two generations of floral designers!

Beautiful interiors at Two Little Buds.

A place for wedding consultations that reflects the Two Little Buds aesthetic and brand.

Floral tourism introduces a new crop of consumers to locally-grown flowers at Morning Sun Flower Farm.

Mindy and Alice expanded to flower farming about four years ago with the establishment of Morning Sun Flower Farm. The Two Little Buds' brand now reflects the womens' love of farm-fresh, local product and shows the best that each season has to offer.

Mindy Staton, demonstrates a floral arrangement at a farm dinner/workshop.

Here's a bit more about Mindy Staton:

Mindy Francis Staton loves to spend her days with flowers. She has an unbelievable passion and appreciation for the beauty found in nature, and backs it up with the talent to bring her amazing visions to life. Mindy truly never forgets that while she may have done thousands of weddings over the last decade, each couple only gets one wedding day—so each wedding is important, each couple is important, each flower is important.

In 2015, inspired by attending a floret workshop with Erin Benzakein, Mindy made some big changes with her shop and her life!

Morning Sun Flower Farm was born of a few sentences written at that workshop, as she articulated a dream for her future. Since Mindy is the kind of dedicated person who gets things done, she convinced her husband to start a flower farm with her, and, in the spring of 2016 (less than a year later!!), the first perfect anemones were cut at her farm and brought to Two Little Buds to share with her incredibly lucky clients and customers. And the flowers didn't stop there, because soon the shop was brimming with beautiful ranunculus, tulips, dahlias, sunflowers, zinnias, sweet peas, and more!

Mindy continues to grow and expand the farm, with plans to include a design space and a meeting area to sit down with clients.

She manages to run two locations of Two Little Buds PLUS a flower farm, and still have the time to hang out with her best friend (spoiler: it's her husband) and their three hilariously goofy bulldogs. Mindy loves Chinese food, her mom, milkshakes, working outside, and facing challenges head-on. And her best quality? She's never met a stranger and will literally do anything to help others!

Alice Francis, the original flower lover!

Here's more about Alice Francis:

Alice Stone Francis, co-owner of Two Little Buds, was born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio, but has always had a connection to Oxford, where she lives now. She was super close to her parents, loving to cook and garden with her mom and joke around with her father.

Alice met her husband Bill when he came over to her at a softball game and handed her an apple, and how does a girl say no to that?? They went on to get married and have four amazing children. Alice worked as a school teacher while Bill served in the Army, and she also loved to go to craft fairs and sell wreaths that she handmade using flowers her father grew especially for her.

Once her kids grew up and moved out, she started right into taking care of her grandkids!

Today is the 5th anniversary of the Slow Flowers Podcast, and I thank you for tuning in.

This has been a year of highlights in so many ways, as the Slow Flowers Message and Manifesto continue to resonate, not to mention build momentum, as an authentic, relatable -- and legitimate topic in the floral industry.

In five years, since my first episode Number 100 on June 23, 2013, the Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 340,000 times by listeners who have enjoyed 260 unique episodes.

The Slow Flowers Podcast was recently recognized with a Silver Media Award from GWA: The Association for Garden Communicators, a group of my professional peers in green industry journalism.

The American Horticultural Society recently honored me with the Frances Jones Poetker Award for significant contributions to floral design in publications, on the platform and to the public and this Podcast is a big part of that platform.

And we've just wrapped up the fourth annual American Flowers Week -- the original domestic floral promotion holiday -- as well as a very successful Slow Flowers Summit, which was held in Washington, D.C., during the heart of American Flowers Week.

Thank you all for joining me on this journey of advocacy and outreach as I shout aloud the message and importance of domestic, seasonal, local and sustainable flowers and the people who grow and design with them!

Circa June 2013 with Debra & James Baggett (c) Joan Thorndike

Five years ago in late June 2013, I was on location in Ashland, Oregon, working with James Baggett, then editor of Country Gardens magazine, and photographers Laurie Black and Mark King, to produce a farm-to-table story in Oregon's wine country.

The trip enabled me to reconnect with Joan Thorndike of LeMera Gardens, a generous and brilliant flower farmer who is featured in the pages of The 50 Mile Bouquet.

Joan (right) giving James Baggett a tour of her growing fields, 2013. The collaboration with Fry Family Farm appears (left) on one of the fresh Farmers' Market bouquets.

Joan's flowers adorned the table of that winery dinner we documented, and she welcomed James and me to visit her flower fields while we were there.

Joan and Dan Thorndike with eldest daughter Camila (center)

I enjoyed Joan's hospitality further because she invited me to stay at her family home. That's when I met her husband Dan and one of their two daughters, Camila.

Joan wanted to show me the Ashland Farmers' Market, suggesting we walk through the urban woods along a local nature trail to reach the center of town. I asked her if I could bring my digital recorder and tape a segment for my brand new podcast. She gamely said yes. You can actually hear audio of our footsteps and breathing as we briskly walked to town.

Le Mera's beautiful, organic flowers.

We discussed local flowers, the Rogue River Valley's sustainable agriculture scene, Joan's own commitment to organic flowers and the origins and growth of Le Mera Gardens. Three hundred eighty people downloaded that original episode and (I hope) listened to it. From that seed of a beginning, the Slow Flowers Podcast has grown by leaps and bounds.

Today, we typically have more than 2,000 listeners per episode -- and that means more of you around the globe are hearing the message, absorbing the wisdom, and being inspired by the people behind the flowers. People like Joan Thorndike.

Isabella Thorndike Church (left) and Joan Thorndike

Two amazing women, mother-and-daughter, co-farmers and fellow floral advocates in their community.

Today, in recognition of her role in educating and influencing me and my work, I have invited Joan as a return guest to talk about all things local in floral design a...

Got my selfie with the Brunton family at Right Field Farm, including Mom Lina and Dad David, plus their four awesome kids!

Today, we take a deep, relaxing breath from all the intensity of the past few months as I invite you to visit Right Field Farm, where Slow Flowers members David and Lina Brunton welcomed me a few weeks ago.

They are loyal Slow Flowers Podcast listeners, and I'm excited that I recently had a chance to see their farm in person, spend a day meeting their incredible family and experiencing their flowers.

The picturesque Right Field Farm on a warm, summer morning.

Right Field Farm is based in Millersville, Maryland, not too far from Annapolis, where it is tucked into a forest, near the Severn River, by the Chesapeake Bay.  The land had been used as a baseball field until 2002, but the facilities were in disrepair by the time David and Lina bought it in 2009.  The house sits in what used to be right field, hence the name Right Field Farm.

David and Lina grow a mix of annual and perennial flowers with an eye toward all the natural beauty that Maryland has to offer.

David Brunton facilitated my transportation and tour of Right Field Farm, including a row-by-row walking tour of the botanical highlights.

Instead of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, they rely on their farm's natural defenses. Their milk cow and her calf, Melody and Birdie, make plenty of excellent fertilizer. The honeybees are busy pollinating flowers and making honey to eat.  Cover crops help beds over winter, gain soil fertility and decrease run-off into the waterways. And while the Bruntons do a lot of bug-squishing, their chickens do their part, too, along with natural bug predators attracted to the property.  The end result: Fresh, beautiful flowers, totally free from the harsh chemicals that come on most bouquets.

David and Lina of Right Field Farm, growing local and sustainable cut flowers in year four!

A couple of years ago, David emailed me out of the blue to introduce himself.

He wrote: Hi Debra,

From your social media feeds, it looks like maybe you're in DC. My wife

and I are new farmers growing flowers in MD, and we love everything you do.

At my off-farm job, I work at the Library of Congress, and I'd be

delighted to host you for a short tour one day on this or a subsequent

visit of you ever have interest and time :)

All the best,

David Brunton.

As it turned out, I did have time to meet David and he treated me to a fascinating, behind-the-scenes tour of the Library of Congress. What a very special opportunity.

And I promised to get outside the beltway and visit Right Field Farm on a future trip. It took more than 2 years, but last month, we made it happen. David drove into D.C. to pick me up a few days after the Slow Flowers Summit, but before I was scheduled to present at the American Institute of Floral Designers' annual symposium.

I spoke at AIFD on July 3rd, so it was lovely to showcase locally-grown Maryland blooms from Right Field Farm.

Right Field Farm generously donated buckets and buckets of flowers to help decorate the stage where I spoke about Slow Flowers on July 3rd -- what better than to talk about local and seasonal flowers and floral design than to have fresh, beautiful, just-picked flowers on display as my "illustration" of the difference between local and far-away blooms.

Fellow Slow Flowers member Ellen Seagraves of Chic Floral Design graciously lent her creative talents to arrange those Maryland-grown flowers. My remarks had more credibility because I had just visited Right Field Farm and felt like I could speak with authority about the sustainable and earth-friendly practices that David and Lina use in their fields.

We brought the Slow Flowers Summit 2018 to Washington, D.C.

As I mentioned during last week's show, we've just experienced the fourth annual American Flowers Week -- the original domestic floral-promotion holiday that's an inclusive campaign filled with local, seasonal and beautiful flowers and foliage in all 50 states!

This virtual campaign gave me a peek into all corners of the U.S. as I witnessed flowers, farms, creativity and events taking place in region all around the country, as well as connections across social media platforms.

And, during the heart of American Flowers Week, we held the 2nd annual Slow Flowers Summit. As an interactive, LIVE element of the campaign, the Summit drew more than 100 attendees -- speakers, designers, flower farmers, innovators, influencers and leaders in the Slow Flowers Movement.

Even though we were inside a hotel conference room, the space was filled with flowers, including the Moon Arch that everyone had a hand in designing (c) Niesha Blancas

In the coming weeks, I hope to release all sorts of content from the D.C. Slow Flowers Summit.

See a gallery of Slow Flowers Summit 2018 photos here.

But for now, I want to share a few words from my opening remarks on June 29th. Please bear with me -- it's personal and as my husband would say, probably contains too much "back-story," but that's how I am.

Here's what I said:

I thought I'd take a moment to acknowledge how significant it is that we're all here at the Slow Flowers Summit for Year Two. How did this come to be?

There had been talk over the years of a conference focused on domestic flowers, including some initial conversations I had with folks at the California Cut Flower Commission and the SF Flower Mart several years ago.

The desire was real, but the idea never went anywhere, and it later became clear that the Slow Flowers Community wanted something different -- more intimate and inclusive -- than a big industry event.

So what brought us from idea to reality? Before I left Seattle to travel here, I pulled out an email from April 2015, sent to me by one of our speakers, Mary Kate Kinnane of The Local Bouquet.

The email's subject line read: NEW IDEAS.

I hope all is well with you and the family and I'm hoping that the Slow Flowers movement has new and exciting things coming its way. I have been wanting to contact you since I returned from my amazing experience at the Chapel Designers conference in NY and especially after meeting people like Jimmy Lohr of greenSinner and others. My wheels have been spinning and so I wanted to share some of my ideas with you. 

Jimmy and I discussed how our Slow Flowers family needs an event like what Holly Chapple has created for florists across the United States. An event that would gather designers from across the United States who have pledged to use local and American grown flowers to network and train with each other from experts in our field. 

I think it is time we bring the Slow Flowers website to life with an event at which all of the flower farmers and florists who have pledged to use their local and seasonal blooms get together and network. I think it would be great to actually gather everyone together to talk (farmer and florist). Let's start with the East Coast. [well, Mary Kate, we started last year in Seattle, but yes, today, we're here on the East Coast!]

She closed by saying: I am really proud that we are still able to stick to our mission of staying 100% American and locally grown in everything we buy. Now that I have bombarded you with ideas and thoughts, let me know if any interest you (because obviously we can't do it all)!

We had a few lighthearted email exchanges, and while nothing happened immediately,

American Flowers Week 2018 -- enjoy our five looks from the floral couture collection!

Happy American Flowers Week and Happy Independence Day!

It’s July 4th and we’ve had an incredible week-long celebration of domestic, local, seasonal and beautiful flowers and foliages in all 50 states.

It’s not too late to get in on the festivities!

Slow Flowers created the original domestic floral-promotion holiday in 2015 – and we have enjoyed a terrific run as this campaign builds and expands to include even more of you -- and your blooms!

Taking place during June 28th through July 4th, American Flowers Week involves flower farmers, floral designers, studios, markets, grocery stores, wholesalers and promotions both in person and online.

#americanflowersweek on Instagram this week!

Thank you to everyone who is joining the party and sharing talents, creativity, imagination, and enthusiasm as you engage the public and fellow industry members in the conversation about American-grown flowers! I’m so wowed by what I’ve seen online and in person.

I love that this campaign creates authentic engagement and experiences – farmer to florist, root to bouquet. It means so much that you’ve attended this flower party!

Speaking about the Slow Flowers Movement at AIFD's annual symposium was a big honor. Sharing local, Maryland-grown flowers from Right Field Farm and Red Chimney Farm.

I’m recording this introduction on July 1st, during the heart of American Flowers Week, while attending the American Institute of Floral Designers’ annual symposium in Washington, D.C.

Amazing and flowery things are happening here in our nation’s Capital.

Yes, I posed with Flowers on My Head, produced by Slow Flowers Summit speaker Mud Baron

First, I’m still on a major high, holding onto that euphoric feeling of gratitude and love for the Slow Flowers Community – because two days ago, I hosted the second annual Slow Flowers Summit – also here in Washington, D.C.

Thanks to the generosity of AIFD’s board and staff, we co-located with their conference and used meeting space at the Marriott Wardman Park for a sold-out Slow Flowers Summit.

The Summit is the LIVE embodiment of American Flowers Week, so imagine being together with 100 amazing speakers, designers, flower farmers, innovators, influencers and leaders in the Slow Flowers Movement.

Look for photography and video from our event by searching #slowflowerssummit –You will be hearing a lot more from me about the Summit – including next week’s extensive recap with a big announcement about the 2019 Summit, so be sure to tune into Episode 357 on July 11th.

In the past month, you’ve heard from three of the floral artists who imagined and engineered botanical fashions for the American Flowers Week couture collection, including my conversations with Hedda Brorstrom of Full Bloom Flower Farm and Floral Design (listen to Episode 351 here), Faye Zierer Krause of Flora Organica Designs and Carly Jenkins of Killing Frost Farm (listen to Episode 355 here), as we’ve learned how each designer translated her creative vision into a wearable floral garment.

Today, you’ll learn more about designing and fabricating a flower that blossoms into a model’s garment. That takes a lot of imagination, which is what today’s two guests possess in large quantities.

And how fitting – for the 4th annual American Flowers Week, we are visiting the 49th and 50th states, from Alaska to Hawaii!

The Hawaii-inspired floral couture pieces, designed by Grace Flowers Hawaii (c) Meghan Spelman, Bikini Birdie Photography

The Hawaii look was designed by our first guest, Alison Grace Higgins and her team at Grace Flowers Hawaii,

Feel free to download this Facebook Profile graphic!

American Flowers Week is the original domestic floral-promotion holiday and it takes place June 28th through July 4th.If you're listening on our broadcast day, that means American Flowers Week starts tomorrow!

A few weeks ago I welcomed Hedda Brorstrom of Full Bloom Flower Farm and Floral Design as she and I discussed the glorious dahlia gown she created for our 2018 Floral Couture Collection. You can listen to Episode 351 here.

In today's episode and on next week's show, you'll hear from the four additional designers who along with Hedda created our stunning lineup of botanical fashions.

Faye Zierer Krause of Flora Organica Couture, puts finishing touches on her Iris Look (c) Leon Villagomez

Faye's vision for transforming irises into fashion -- with huge success!

Today, I've invited Faye Zierer Krause of Flora Organica Designs, based in Arcata, California, and Carly Jenkins of Killing Frost Farm, based outside Missoula, Montana, to each chat about her vision for the gown she created.

Faye teamed up with Sun Valley Flower Farms in her hometown of Arcata, to design and create a stunning iris gown.

Carly Jenkins realized her vision beautifully in the stunning from-the-forest gown (c) Alex M. Brooks Photography

Carly's highly-detailed sketch of the gown she envisioned in her imagination.

Carly fashioned a woodland couture gown by drawing from her favorite source of botanical ingredients -- the forests of the Pacific Northwest and the state of Montana where she frequently forages conifers, cones, moss and lichens and more.

Faye Krause of Flora Organica Designs, in her beautiful design studio, Arcata, California

These two talented Slow Flowers members are so inventive and creative in their artistry, and in the way they interpreted my request to design and fabricate a wearable floral fashion.

I am blown away by how each of these women took a singular idea, buckets of just-harvested botanical ingredients, a few simple tools and supplies -- and, magically, transformed them into works of art.

As Faye explains, "using a single color of iris was more impactful and better defined the garment's form than if I used a mix of colors."

She drew from 1,500 'Hong Kong' irises donated by Sun Valley -- a variety that has slightly ruffled sapphire blue petals and a yellow "blotch"

These features are portrayed beautifully as a floor-length iris skirt, with a soft drape reminiscent of regal velvet. You'll want to check out the  feature story I wrote for the June issue of Slow Flowers Journal in Florists' Review to learn more.

Download full story of Faye's Iris Dress here.

Follow Flora Organica Designs on Facebook

See Flora Organica Designs on Instagram

Shop at FayeMarie on Etsy

Carly Jenkins, among the ferns, photographed by Heather Saunders at the 2018 Whidbey Flower Workshop

Our second guest, Carly Jenkins, is the queen of the forest and her woodland-inspired couture costume is also fit for a queen. Carly's favorite design ingredients are sheets of moss and patches of lichen in many shades from gray to green. She loved the challenge of creating a wearable and attractive garment with humble materials.

"I definitely wanted to create a beautiful gown," she says in the Florists' Review article for which I interviewed her. "Rather than having beauty and strength be mutually exclusive, I wanted to see them together."

Left: Carly Jenkins and Katherine Sherba as they sorted moss and lichen for the woodland gown; right: On location at Old Goat Farm -- the Woodland Couture photo shoot, from left: Katherine, photographer Alex Brooks,

Dream Shot: Laughing Goat Farm in Enumclaw, Washington, with Mt. Rainier in the distance.

So often I record my episodes of the Slow Flowers Podcast over the phone or a Skype connection.

My guests voices are real and engaging, but we aren't even able to see each other, let along the flowers and farms we're discussing.

So you can imagine how fun it is to record in real time seated across the table or in a comfy corner in adjacent chairs.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I actually carved out a day for an on-location episode, with my visit to Laughing Goat Farm in Enumclaw, Washington.

The farm is owned by Amy and Steve Brown and they are passionate caretakers of a 10-acre former dairy farm in the shadow of Mount Rainier, southeast of Seattle.

Peonies, goats, and a bright outlook on the horizon.

While we live 30 minutes from one another, it took traveling to Fairbanks, Alaska in the dead of winter for the three of us to meet.

It was January 2017 and the Alaska Peony Growers Association invited me to speak at the winter conference. I met Amy and Steve and knew their farm's name because they had just joined Slow Flowers. Their curiosity about peony farming drew them to the conference.

Amy (left) with her first wave of peonies

Since then, the couple has planted hundreds of beautiful peonies, as well as ornamental woody shrubs, perennials, annuals and edibles at Laughing Goat Farm. It is an emerging farm with big ambitions and the talents of two people who have realized business success in other fields - Steve in Real Estate and Amy in the fascinating world of ballroom dancing. So this new chapter is one they cherish because they can do it together.

A girl and her goat

As Amy writes on Laughing Goat Farm's FB page, "we grow organic seeds for flowers, as well as food, and are members of Slow Flowers. Our sustainable farm is geared towards organic and permaculture practices."

You'll find their story so fascinating -- farming drew both Amy and Steve to this place where flowers grow in orderly beds and tunnels and they cherish the sustainable, delicious and fragrant life they are building together.

I'm so happy to share this conversation with you. Enjoy photos of the farm, the goats, the flowers and the fields at Laughing Goat Farm.

I'm predicting big things for this young farm. Selfishly, I'm so happy it's close to me. Laughing Goat Farm is selling some of its harvest through the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market and direct to florists closer to the farm.

A red-white-and-blue floral medly for American Flowers Week, inspired by my visit to (and the flowers from) Laughing Goat Farm.

Thank you so much for joining me today. After I spent the day with Steve and Amy, including joining them for an incredibly delicious and satisfying lunch together at one of their veggie clients' restaurants, I came home with a bucket of red charm peonies, white orlaya and blue bachelors' buttons. What do you think I intended to do with those stems? Yes, I spent a pleasant afternoon creating red-white-and-blue floral arrangements in anticipation of American Flowers Week.

Join me in creating a R-W-B bouquet of your own! There are many ways you can participate in American Flowers Week, coming up June 28-through-July 4th. I can't wait to see what you plan and product -- and I'll be searching for your stories and posts with the hashtag #americanflowersweek.

Laughing Goat Farm, a bird's eye view.

As you've heard me discuss for months, the Slow Flowers Summit is our LIVE celebration of American Flowers Week, scheduled for Friday, June 29th in Washington, D.C.

Only a few seats are left and I'd love your presence at the Summit,

Love this jumbo red-white-and-blue array, and if you look closely, LauraLee is peering out from behind it!

Today's guest is LauraLee Symes, co-owner with her husband Bill Symes of the Sellwood Flower Co., based in  Portland, Oregon. LauraLee is a past guest of this podcast -- you may remember our wonderful conversation two years ago when we discussed her foray into floral retailing after a successful profession as a consulting and expert on what makes people happy.

Love the black-and-white awning stripes, which are part of Sellwood Flower Co.'s visual brand evoking a Parisian flower shop.

The Sellwood Flower Co. is located in the Portland neighborhood of the same name -- Sellwood, on the eastern edge of the famous Willamette River.

As fate has it when people with a dream set out on grand adventures, LauraLee's search for the perfect shop-front led to a charming 1902 Victorian in the middle of town where she has operated The Sellwood Flower Co. for the past three years.

The Sellwood Flower Co. is Portland's destination for fresh, local flowers and plants, European and garden style floral design, and unique gifts from around the world.

There, outside the century-old Victorian house on Sellwood's Antique Row, you'll find LauraLee and her staff tending their local and seasonal blooms in the cutting garden.

A seasonal spring bouquet by Sellwood Flower Co.

In addition to ongoing classes, workshops, events, and the latest fun ideas in floral design, Sellwood Flower Co. offers a wide variety of fresh floral arrangements, French wines, Smith Tea, Moon Struck Chocolate, and custom gift baskets.

Upon opening she says, "we set out to be THE flower design house that provides the most inspired, professional , and freshest, floral designs in the Pacific Northwest," LauraLee says. "Our European, garden-inspired, aesthetic sources just- harvested, locally-grown flowers, greens, fruits, and vegetables to create chic, loose, and romantic floral arrangements in Portland, Oregon.

"We create beautiful, romantic, natural floral arrangements and deliver them for all occasions -- a Sunday brunch, birthday bash, retirement party, engagement, wedding, baby shower, condolences, congratulations, job well done, thank you and I love you," she says.

Today, we're talking specifically about LauraLee's news -- the launch of a second venture called FlowerSchool Portland. "We're offering an innovative way to learn," she says. "This is about bringing together a community of subject matter experts."

You'll hear about the ideas and inspiration that motivated LauraLee to open a floral design education center tailored to specific audiences: floral enthusiasts, professionals and aspiring florists.

Our conversation is a teaser for the June 15th launch of FlowerSchool Portland. That's when LauraLee will post the full calendar of upcoming workshops and three special celebrity floral design instructors who have agreed to teach at the school.

You can find and follow Sellwood Flower Co. at these social places:

Sellwood Flower Co. on Facebook

Sellwood Flower Co. on Instagram

Sellwood Flower Co. on Twitter

Sellwood Flower Co. on Pinterest

You can find and follow Flower School Portland at these social places:

Flower School Portland on Facebook

Flower School Portland on Instagram

Thank you so much for joining me today. Please join me in getting ready for American Flowers Week, coming up June 28-through-July 4th.

You can find all the free resources and inspiring ideas for participating at Americanflowersweek.com, including visual content to use and share in your own promotions and tips from flower farmers and florists who have created suc...