American roses from the garden and flower farm

Week 28, as we revisit the 10-year anniversary of the book Slow Flowers

Princess Alexandra of Kent_ a David Austin rose in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden
Princess Alexandra of Kent, a David Austin rose in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden. It’s paired with ‘Night Star’, a wine-red spray rose grown by Peterkort Roses.

This arrangement doesn’t veer too far from the one I created in 2013: The vintage 1940s era McCoy jardiniere in robins egg blue, with a pretty raised design of vertical bands and flowers, has its return appearance.

From the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden: Plum-purple smoke tree foliage (Cotinus coggygria) lends beautiful tonal contrast.

From Wildrye Farm (Seattle Wholesale Growers Market): Delicate and whimsical texture contributed by the chocolate Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota var. sativus ‘Black Knight’).

American roses in vintage American pottery
American roses in vintage American pottery

ROSES

Slow Flowers 2013, page 50, "American Roses'
Slow Flowers 2013, page 50, “American Roses’

I departed from the original design when it came to roses. The 2013 piece featured some lovely garden roses gifted to me by rosarians John Martin and Robert Salmons of Westmont Park Roses in Soap Lake, Washington. I believe the lavender-pink variety was called ‘Wild Blue Yonder’, a grandiflora rose.

I’ve lost touch with Westmont Park Roses and my internet research leads me to believe it is now a private garden, not open to the public. So what to do? I combined a few stems of a cherished David Austin garden rose, ‘Princess Alexandra of Kent’, two of which grows in the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden, with Peterkort Roses’ ‘Night Star’, a really pretty merlot-colored spray rose with ruffled petals.


Details

The two different roses — different in size and form — add even more interest to the arrangement’s plum-maroon-dark pink palette and play off of the texture and hue of the chocolate Queen Anne’s lace.

In my 2013 essay, I wrote about the emotional connection rose gardeners feel about their collections:

If you are lucky enough to have a rose garden, you know that feeling of excitement when the year’s first rosebud appears, then opens, gradually unfurling its soft petals; it’s something I cherish until the days when those petals drop to the ground.

Week 28 Slow Flowers revsited
American-grown roses from the Slow Flowers Cutting Garden and Peterkort Roses’ greenhouses

Debra Prinzing

Debra Prinzing is a Seattle-based writer, speaker and leading advocate for American-grown flowers. Through her many Slow Flowers-branded projects, she has convened a national conversation that encourages consumers and professionals alike to make conscious choices about their floral purchases. Debra is the producer of SlowFlowers.com, the weekly "Slow Flowers Podcast" and the American Flowers Week (June 28-July 4) campaign. Debra is author of 11 books, including Slow Flowers (2013), The 50 Mile Bouquet (2012) and Slow Flowers Journal (2020). She is the co-founder of BLOOM Imprint, the boutique publishing arm of Slow Flowers.

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Slow Flowers Journal is brought to you by SlowFlowers.com. Slow Flowers is an award-winning online directory created to help consumers find florists, studio designers, wedding and event planners, supermarket flower departments and flower farmers that supply American grown flowers. Founded in 2014, the site has grown to 850 members across the U.S.

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For more information, please contact Debra Prinzing
at 206-769-8211 or 844-SLOWFLO (844-756-9356); debra(at)slowflowers.com.