This is a bonus video that I created from clips I filmed at the Philadelphia Flower Show, which ran from march 2nd-10th. Jennifer Reed and Debra Prinzing (left) and American in Bloom, Jennifer’s award-winning display (right) The PHS Philadelphia Flower Show is both the nation’s largest and the world’s longest-running horticultural event, featuring stunning displays by premier floral and landscape designers from around the globe. Started in 1829 by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the Show introduces diverse and sustainable plant varieties and garden and design concepts. In addition to ..read more

Borrow these ideas from the best display gardens and inventive plantings I [HEART] SPRING – the theme of the 2024 Northwest Flower & Garden Festival With the theme “I Love Spring,” the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival presented more than 20 display gardens, 115-plus sessions and other learning activities, and thousands of treasures in the garden marketplace. Held February 14-18, 2024, the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival is the best annual event to gather ideas and inspiration for beautiful living spaces. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting to dig in the dirt, t ..read more

This week, “local” means everything up and down the West Coast, from B.C. to Seattle, to California botanicals Creamware urn with white ranunulus, hot pink anemones, garden hellebores and Hancock snowberry Beautiful anemone detail The start of the New Year has been a slog for me, thanks to an unexpected bout of COVID (thankfully the Paxlovid prescription worked), so I feel a bit behind. As of Friday, testing negative, I set off for some errands. A stop at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market was imperative. I was in need of floral therapy! Temperatures have dropped to the low 20s here in the P ..read more

A fresh take on foliage for the New Year A January foliage bouquet from the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden January 6, 2024. An auspicious date that finds me yearning for the hope and comfort that the garden often provides. A temperature high of 44-degrees actually felt warmer, thanks to the weak winter sunshine (almost horizontal) seeping over the fence in the southwest corner of my backyard. “I’m heading out to the greenhouse,” I told Bruce. He was nobly exercising on the stationary bicycle, but of course, I always count gardening as “exercise” when my doctor asks me how active I am. The greenho ..read more

Two new plant and garden titles for your winter reading Living Wild by Hilton Carter Living Wild: How to Plant Style Your Home and Cultivate Happiness by Hilton Carter, CICO Books Images by Hilton Carter $45.00 Hilton Carter has nailed it. Again. And again. And again. This is his fourth glorious book on houseplants. Carter’s term for his design style is “modern lush,” and you see every aspect of that description in this volume. His style starts and ends with light, and his goal is to create living spaces that are full, bright, and vibrant. Of course, he succeeds fabulously. Carter lives and br ..read more

The tenth annual report highlights influential lifestyle topics and emerging cultural shifts for floral professionals Cover image (c) David Fenton from THE FRAGRANT FLOWER GARDEN: Growing, Arranging, and Preserving Natural Scents, by Stefani Bittner and Alethea Harampolis (Ten Speed Press, 2024) January 2, 2024 – Slow Flowers Society and its publishing partner BLOOM Imprint released their 2024 report on noteworthy lifestyle insights for flower farming and floral design professionals, identifying seven influential topics for the coming year. Titled “The Year of Simplicity,” the report cite ..read more

Week 51, as we revisit the 10-year anniversary of the book Slow Flowers Week 51 for 2023, inspired by Slow Flowers (revisited). This design shown as 4 smaller arrangements. The same four vessels are nested in a basket, revealing a more bountiful look Page 100 of the 2013 Slow Flowers book for the year’s Week 51 Paper white detail Scented geranium (aka pelargonium) foliage called ‘Chocolate Mint’ The text began: “Welcome to the Holiday Season, when flowers are less likely to originate from my outdoor garden and more likely to be forced indoors. The lovely tradition of potting up paper whit ..read more

Week 50, as we revisit the 10-year anniversary of the book Slow Flowers 10 years later, same vintage McCoy urn and a familiar refresh of the botanical ingredients. LIlies, camellia foliage, ivy, and conifers In 2011-2012, the time span covering my creation of weekly floral designs that St. Lynn’s Press eventually compiled into a 2013 book called Slow Flowers, my acquisition of vintage American pottery was habitual. My friend and garden design muse, Jean Zaputil, and I went to the monthly Second Saturdays sales at Seattle’s Magnussen Park, the best flea market I’ve attended! Page 96 of Slo ..read more

Week 49, as we revisit the 10-year anniversary of the book Slow Flowers Echoes of the 2013 arrangement appear in this 2023 design, with more texture, color, and interest added. Flowering kale paired with tricolored sage in the original design Florists seem to have a love-hate relationship with flowering kale, winter-hardy members of the Brassica clan that resemble a giant cabbage rose measuring 4- to 5-inches in diameter. It’s a plant that we’ve seen in nursery and grocery displays this time of year, and flower farmers have been growing the longer-stemmed forms for market bouquets. Flower ..read more

A recap of our members’ profiles, their experiences, and ideas We opened the annual Slow Flowers Member Survey for the month of October and promoted it through the Slow Flowers Newsletter and on @slowflowerssociety Instagram. Participation was positive, generating 138 responses – a 36% increase in response rate from last year! This level of engagement is encouraging as it demonstrates our Slow Flowers members continue to be invested in the Slow Flowers community. We provided an opportunity for all survey respondents to be included in a drawing for a complimentary 12-month Premium Slow Flowers ..read more