Every fall our team reads thousands of essays submitted as part of our Floret Scholarship application process. This is our 11th year of offering workshop scholarships and the process gets richer every time we do it. It’s such an honor for all of us to get the opportunity to hear from so many deserving people all over the world about their lives and their hopes and dreams for the future.  Initially, we had planned on awarding 20 scholarships, but some generous donors came forward allowing us to increase the total to 25—our most ever! Each scholarship recipient will receive free tuition for ..read more

I first discovered Sara Larson Buscaglia of Farm & Folk through a photo of one of her quilts. I was so interested in her quilt-making process, and separately I have always been fascinated by the art of natural dyeing, so I was eager to learn more about how she combines the two to make heirloom-quality pieces of art.  Sara has just written her first book, Farm & Folk Quilt Alchemy: A High-Country Guide to Natural Dyeing and Making Heirloom Quilts from Scratch, which introduces the processes of natural dyeing and quilting, and with its beautiful photography it is a piece of art in i ..read more

Today I’m thrilled to share a special new interview with British flower farmer Rachel Siegfried of Green and Gorgeous. I have been following Rachel’s journey for many years now and it has been so much fun to watch her business grow and evolve over time.  When we visited England four years ago we got to see Rachel’s beautiful farm, and Chris and I both came away so inspired by what she and her partner Ash have created. I’m excited to welcome Rachel back to the blog (you can read our 2015 interview here), this time to discuss her newest book, all about perennials and shrubs.  Rachel, I ..read more

Of all the creative projects that I’ve ever been a part of, filming the second season of Growing Floret has been by far the most rewarding. When we started filming, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of what it would take to bring a show like ours to life, but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined just how much time, talent, heart, skill, planning, coordination, organization, late nights, early mornings, weekend cram sessions, and day-long meetings it would require to pull off a project of this scope. It’s no small feat! Before filming officially started, we spent a great d ..read more

A few years ago, while we were deep in the process of designing the new farm, I reconnected with an incredible 96-year-old rosarian named Anne Belovich and she invited Becky, Nina, Jill, Chris and I to come to visit her garden to draw inspiration. Little did I know that that experience would spark such an important turning point in my life. I wrote a four-part series about the amazing experience. The first part is about how I originally met Anne and the creation of our rose garden here on the farm. The second part is about how we’re helping to preserve her extraordinary collecti ..read more

In season 2 of Growing Floret, we had the honor of sharing the inspiring story of beloved rosarian Anne Belovich and her incredible legacy. You can read a beautiful interview with Anne a few months before she passed away here.  Many people have inquired about how Anne’s roses are doing so I’ve invited Anne’s daughter-in-law Teddie Mower to give us an update.   Teddie, it has been such a pleasure getting to know you through Anne. As her daughter-in-law, you’ve had the great fortune of having a front-row seat to what a true powerhouse she was. What would you say is one of the most ..read more

In the winter of 2022, I went on the hunt to find as much information as I could about rare and heirloom roses. Through the process of researching, I came across the inspiring work of Gregg Lowery.  In the early 1980s, Gregg Lowery and his friend Phillip Robinson started collecting roses and over time they created one of the largest and most complete collections of old roses in the world. From there, Gregg started a nursery and eventually established The Friends of Vintage Roses, a nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation and sharing of endangered rose species.  I have been ..read more

Over the last 17 years, I have grown and trialed thousands of different foliage, filler, vegetable, fruit, and flower varieties in search of the best ones for cutting. If it has any potential as a cut flower, I’ve probably grown it! Through this process, I discovered that there was a huge disconnect between what florists and designers wanted and what local farmers were able to grow. While there are many beautiful new flower varieties coming onto the market each year, nearly all of them have been bred with large-scale production and global transportation in mind. This is because most of th ..read more

Today I’m so happy to introduce you to one of our really special workshop scholarship recipients, Danielle Grandholm. In April 2020, at 8 months pregnant, Danielle planted her very first cutting garden. Two weeks later she went into labor and upon her daughter’s birth learned that she had Down syndrome.  Surprised by the lack of resources provided by the hospital where her daughter Sammie was born ultimately led Danielle and her husband Matt to start a nonprofit called Rising Kites. Their organization provides education and support for new parents who have recently learned that their chil ..read more

Back in 2018, our neighbors approached us and asked if we’d be interested in buying their 24-acre blueberry farm. Chris and I were so surprised by this unexpected opportunity and had to really stretch outside our comfort zone to make it work. But ultimately, we decided to go for it because farms in our valley rarely, if ever, go up for sale and we knew we wouldn’t get another chance like this in our lifetime.  Up until this point, we had been farming a 2-acre plot of rented land behind our house and all of our experience and understanding was based on this small footprint. So the prospect ..read more