THE FLOWER FARMERS: Inspiration and Advice from Expert Growers
Twenty-nine floral experts across North American share passion and know-how

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The Flower Farmers delivers a visually compelling collection of stories and flower-growing wisdom to inspire gardeners and flower lovers alike. The creative lifestyle of flower farming is a modern expression of the desire to connect with nature, get back to the land, and sustain an authentic and sustainable livelihood. Readers are immersed in the stories of 29 flower farms as they discover people and places where flowers are planted, harvested, arranged and brought to market.

For The Flower Farmers, collaborators Debra Prinzing and Robin Avni have collected profiles of specialty cut flower growers, farmer-florists, horticulturists and floral designers who bring talent and innovation to domestic floral agriculture.

Their book features a diversity of locations, from urban backyards and cutting gardens to heritage farms and vintage greenhouses. Each flower farmer’s story reflects a highly personal path to flowers. There’s a relatable diversity to the people, locations, and enterprises featured in these pages, a testament to the authors’ belief that growing flowers is a universal human act, one that’s accessible and inclusive to all.

The path one takes to become a flower farming may be entrepreneurial, environmental, or involve the desire to continue a family legacy. In their introduction, Avni and Prinzing write, “We usually meet the flowers first; then we consider the farmer whose hands grew those blooms. What we know begins with the crops they grow; the uncommon, wistfully romantic botanicals that most of us first encounter at the farmers’ market, or possibly at a roadside farm stand or you-pick field. . . .  When we know the farmer and learn about their journey to the land, the farming lifestyle is even more alluring.”

The Flower Farmer is illustrated with photographs and portraits of the individuals, their farms, greenhouses, flower fields, and cutting gardens. Each profile is accompanied by a Featured Flower, diving deeper into a unique crop associated with the farmer and includes cultural information, favorite varieties, sources, plus growing, care, and harvesting tips. The farmers share sources and other insights to inspire the reader to “garden like a flower farmer.”

The Flower Farmer opens with a foreword by respected floral icon Christina Stembel, founder and CEO of Farmgirl Flowers. In her essay, Stembel writes, “Creating connections between friends and loved ones has been our bread and butter for over a decade, and I am so excited for The Flower Farmers to create those same connections, but between the people who love those flowers and the incredible people who grow them.”

Sustainability expert Becky Feasby, owner of Prairie Girl Flowers, contributed an epilogue to The Flower Farmers, writing, “As consumers increasingly prioritize ethical and environmentally conscious choices, supporting local flower farming emerges as a tangible way to mitigate climate change while nurturing vibrant and resilient communities.”

Indeed, the narratives in The Flower Farmers express the immeasurable and intangible ways each person who plants a flower seedling and tends to their soil is helping to foster an atmosphere of sustainability on their patch of earth and for the customers who buy their blooms.
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Accolades for The Flower Farmers:

“If you’ve ever dreamed of being a flower farmer, this joyful book will show you that dreams do come true. The Flower Farmers celebrates a rich tapestry of creative and inventive free spirits who have built their lives around the soil, the harvest, and their communities. It’s a visual feast and a delightful dose of inspiration.”
— Amy Stewart, New York Times bestselling author of Flower Confidential and The Drunken Botanist

“In my work as a floral designer and educator, I am always inspired to design with locally-grown flowers. And there’s nothing more exciting than getting to know the farmers who grow the beautiful flowers, and to know their stories, too. In The Flower Farmers, I can dig deeper into those stories of floral entrepreneurs whose paths are familiar to my own personal discovery of a flower-filled life.”
—  Kristen Griffith-VanderYacht, author of Flower Love and host of “The Big Flower Fight” on Netflix

“Hope. Flowers so frequently represent our much-needed belief in hope. Possibilities. The 29 hard-working and big-thinking flower farmers profiled in The Flower Farmers: Inspiration & Advice from Expert Growers by Slow Flowers founder, Debra Prinzing and her collaborator Robin Avni, offer readers a dazzling abundance of hope and possibilities for how flower farmers and their innovative businesses, large and small, new and long-established, in all corners of North America, are growing our world better environmentally and economically, socially and psychologically. From a great diversity of cultural and lived-experience backgrounds, The Flower Farmers offers us all more meaningful flowers and meaningfulfarms: more hope, possibility, connection, and substance – blueprints for the stuff ‘that dreams [and our hopes for the future] are made of.’” 
— Jennifer Jewell, Creator & Host of Cultivating Place, award-winning public radio program and podcast

Book Specs:

The Flower Farmers
ISBN 9781419775697

$35.00
Hard back, 272 pages
Full color photography throughout

About the Authors:
Debra Prinzing: Debra is a Seattle-based writer, speaker and leading advocate for domestic, local and seasonal flowers. Through her many Slow Flowers- branded projects, she has convened a national conversation that stimulates consumers and professionals alike to make conscious choices about their floral purchases.
Debra is the producer of SlowFlowers.com, the online directory to American grown farms, florists, shops and studios who supply domestic and local flowers. Each Wednesday, approximately 2,500 listeners tune into Debra’s “Slow Flowers Podcast,” available for free downloads at slowflowerspodcast.com, or on iTunes and via other podcast services.
Debra is editorial director and co-founder with Robin Avni of BLOOM Imprint, a boutique publisher that identifies and develops creative book ideas by and about members of the Slow Flowers Movement.
In 2016, the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farm-to-florist cooperative, honored Debra with the first Growers Choice Award for her “outstanding contributions to revitalizing the local floral community.” She is a 2016 inductee to the Garden Writers Association Hall of Fame and a 2019 inductee to Professional Floral Communicators International. Debra has authored 12 books, including Slow Flowers, The 50 Mile Bouquet, Where We Bloom, and, most recently, The Flower Farmers (Abrams Books 2025).

Robin Avni: Robin works with authors and creatives to produce well-organized, informative, and beautifully designed books and publications. She is a creative veteran in the media + high-tech industries, including 15+ years in the media and publishing industry and eight years at Microsoft in design and creative management. Robin has successfully managed innovative, award-winning design teams and high-profile projects as well as receiving numerous national design awards and photo editing honors for her own work. She has produced 18 books, including seven in collaboration with her BLOOM Imprint co-founder Debra Prinzing.
Robin received a BA in journalism from Indiana University, Bloomington, and a Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship at the University of Michigan, a grant program awarded for outstanding achievement in journalism; she holds a Master of Communication in Digital Media from a Master of Communication in Digital Media from the University of Washington with a focus on visual communication.