slow flowers

Winter is coming rather quickly this year, so we have to start now if we even want to succeed for next year. How do like to hide the from the seasonal depression? Stick around and we'll tell you on this episode of A Blooming Good Time!   

My guest today is Lucy Hunter, and she happens to be very lucky, I think, to have that last name because it’s so fitting to her personality.  She is, first and foremost, a landscape designer, and she’s also a floral designer, or an artist who uses flowers, really, and it seems she does all of this by hunting in nature for her inspiration, seeking out the beauty in imperfection that mother nature does so well.  Today we’re talking about her second book, called The Flower Hunter, and it’s a wonderful conversation about life and creativity and self reflection and creating an environment that perfectly suits who you are.  You’ll learn as much about design principles as you will about how to follow beauty through its lifespan. 
https://www.slowstylehome.com/episodes/lucy-hunter

The Style Matters podcast is now Slow Style Home! Click here for the latest episode.

Sweet Peas are defiantly one of our all time favorite things to grow and also our first thing we grew EVER! All though our first attempted was a massive fail, we kept at them and now we grow some AMAZING sweet peas! We are really excided to talk about some of our favorite verity's and one we would love to have in the feature! So lets get sweet on this episode of A Blooming Good Time! 

Sorry for the late episode everyone! Its been some crazy time here on the farm with sweet peas and peonies coming on at the same time! Its been so busy that we forget to eat some days and that's a very bad habit to get in to, so that is what we are talking about in this episode of A Blooming Good Time! 

RIZ REYES

An early curiosity about fruits and flowers turned a young boy from the Philippines into an award-winning garden designer, floral designer, avid plantsman, and book author in the Pacific Northwest. Riz Reyes immigrated to the United States with his family in 1989 and settled in Shoreline, Washington. He grew up watching television to help learn English and discovered public television in his early years; on top of Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, he discovered the art of Bob Ross, the culinary prowess of Julia Child, and most influential was the gardening series, The Victory Garden.

He collected plant catalogs and familiarized himself with the gardening section of his local public library and grew fond of different types of plants. He set his sights on pursuing horticulture as a future profession. Riz earned a BS in Environmental Horticulture & Urban Forestry from the University of Washington (UW) and worked as a horticulturist for the UW Botanic Garden’s Center for Urban Horticulture from 2007–2015. 

In 2013 he designed his first full show garden at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle, WA. Riz came away with a gold medal, the Golden Palette Award for the Best Use of Color and Plant materials, the American Horticultural Society Environmental Award, and the prestigious Founder’s Cup as the Best Show Garden. Riz was also a featured panel speaker for the first annual Slow Flowers Summit where he contributed to a discussion on the lack of diversity and people of color in the horticulture and floral industries. 

He is currently the gardens manager for the brew pub and hospitality company McMenamin’s Anderson School in Bothell, WA and maintains RHR Horticulture, his own horticultural enterprise where he designs gardens and cut flowers and also teaches and lectures for professional organizations. Riz also authored GROW: A Family Guide to Plants and How to Grow Them, which was illustrated by Sara Boccaccini Meadows. Riz volunteers with the UW Farm spearheading their cut flower program. Other hobbies include caring for a personal collection of rare and unusual plants in his apartment, dancing, figure skating, music, food, and spending time with family and friends.

You can find him online at his website rhrhorticulture.com and on Instagram @rhrhorticulture.

THE PLANTASTIC PODCAST

The Plantastic Podcast is a monthly podcast created by Dr. Jared Barnes.  He's been gardening since he was five years old and now is an award-winning professor of horticulture at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX.  To say hi and find the show notes, visit theplantasticpodcast.com.  

You can learn more about how Dr. Jared cultivates plants, minds, and life at meristemhorticulture.com.  He also shares thoughts and cutting-edge plant research each week in his newsletter PlantEd, and you can sign up at meristemhorticulture.com/subscribe.  Until next time, #keepgrowing!

Kristen Somerville of XOX Floral explains how she went from being a passionate flower lover to florist with her own studio in Taupo, New Zealand.  The nerve wracking journey of taking what you love and turning it into a business, despite not having any formal floristry training or business experience.  Being a florist can be a scary, lonely time as a creative in a competitive market, balancing your creative ideals on the one hand and customer demands on the other.

XOX Floral calls itself a sustainable florist and has embraced the slow flower movement, using only New Zealand grown flowers in its work.  While fresh floral designs are the mainstay of the business it is becoming widely known for its dried flower selection and wildly, beautiful dried floral wreaths.

In nature, flowers exist for reproductive purposes. But, for humans, they’ve been a source of awe and inspiration for centuries. For Georgia O’Keefe, they were her ever-generous subjects. In “A New Earth,” spiritual teacher and author, Eckhart Tolle, writes: “When you are alert and contemplate a flower, crystal or a bird without naming it mentally, it becomes a window for you into the formless. There is an inner opening, however slight, into the realm of the spirit.” The giving and receiving of flowers has traditionally symbolized love and a positive gesture towards intimacy. But, as with anything that is produced en masse, the floral industry has negative implications on human health and the health of our planet. So, the next time you go to the bodega, or the supermarket or even your local florist to buy flowers, I invite you to ask - where have these come from?

That mystery is revealed this week during my conversation with Elena Seegers, a designer, botanist and florist, and an advocate for slow flowers, a movement started by florist Debra Prinzing for people who are interested in supporting local, domestically-sourced flowers. In this episode we discuss the dark side of imported flowers, why most conventionally grown roses don’t have a scent, the little-known, but toxic monopoly that is floral foam, the slow flower movement and the leaders of sustainable florals who are making a difference, and how to shop for flowers in an ethical way. You’ll also learn why Valentine’s Day is actually the worst time to buy flowers.

This conversation blew my mind in the best way and I know you’ll appreciate this knowledge the next time you have the power to choose what and how you buy flowers!

QUOTES:

“You have to be a very peculiar person to work with flowers and not be fundamentally nice.” - Elena Seegers

“If you have a band around the center of the world, that’s where most of the floral production happens.” - Elena Seegers

“If you want a peony in January, they all come from Australia.” - Elena Seegers

“Scent is costly to a flower in that it takes a lot of energy for it, so that the more a flower smells, the less long it will last.” - Elena Seegers

Connect with Elena Seegers:

• Le Fleuriste Website
• Le Fleuriste Instagram

Connect with The Our Nature Podcast:

• Follow Our Nature on Instagram

Sign up for the Our Nature Newsletter: www.ournaturepodcast.com

RESOURCES:

• New York Botanical Gardens
• Debra Prinzing’s Slow Flowers Podcast
• Materials for the Art
• In Defense of Plants Podcast
• Preston Bailey
• Garbage Goddess Instagram
• Psychology Today: Why Flowers Make Us Happy
• Emily Thompson’s Sustainable Floristry

SHOW NOTES:

• On growing up in a small town in Southwest France
• The story behind the creation of her blog - Le Fleuriste
• How an internship at the Ritz turned Elena away from traditional floristry
• Botanical Agency - Elena’s artistic practice working with plants on an exhibition-type basis
• An introduction to the Slow Flower Movement
• What’s floral foam? And why is it so toxic?
• How the American government encouraged the rose industry in Columbia in order to dissuade people from cultivating cocoa for cocaine
• Why the global rose industry is detrimental to local populations
• Why most conventionally grown roses don’t have scent
• The most wasteful parts of the design and agricultural aspects of the floral industry
• How Garbage Goddess is creating a low waste option for floral design
• How Elena ensures that she wastes as little as possible when she produces events
• Why there isn’t more of a public outcry about waste and pesticide use in the floral industry
• How to shop for flowers in a sustainable way
• The Slow Flower Movement and the American Grown dinner series
• Floral foam - the worst!!!
• Little known facts about indoor plants
• Flowers make us feel good
• Why buying flowers during Valentine’s Day is the worst time to buy flowers
• Did you some flowers are GMO?
• Elena’s hack for inexpensive, sustainable flowers
• Elena’s favorite flower
• Where to go if you’re interested in learning more about slow flowers and the Slow Flower Movement
• Elena and Simon’s original idea for Le Fleuriste
• The difference between native and non-native flowers and where to find them
• The Last Five Questions!

THE LAST 5 QUESTIONS:

1. What is your favorite place in nature? My parent’s in the south of France.

2. What is the animal, mineral or plant that resonates with you the most? Salt!

3. What is one thing we can do right now to connect with the natural world and bring more harmony into our lives? Use the greens on the top of your vegetables.

4. What’s the greatest lesson nature has taught you? Interconnectivity. The fact that each being is a big multicellular bag of different organisms and bacteria.

5. Nature brings me…Home.