On writing about flowers and gardens

Deidre Morrison finds a quiet moment to write at the PepperHarrow Farm + Slow Flowers Creative Workshop in 2018 (c) Liz Brown @estorie

Last month, I joined the Fleurvana Virtual Summit as an instructor, sharing a 30-minute course with hundreds of attendees.

“A Bouquet of Words: Develop Your Creative Vocabulary to Enhance Your Personal Storytelling and Brand Message” introduced several important writing tools that help floral professionals with their marketing toolboxes. We walked through prompts to help creatives — florists, farmer-florists and flower farmers, and others — elevate their writing game and transcend commonly-used language to enhance their floral storytelling.

Anne Bradfield (left) and Tammy Myers (right), penning their floral narratives — from the Floressence Workshop in 2017 (c) Dyana Zweng – @abitofearthflowers

After the course posted on August 24th, several attendees reached out to share what they wrote in response to the exercises. I have permission to share from two of them here. And I’m inspired to tell you that the course was the most-watched Fleurvana offering. The act of writing or fear of writing can be a roadblock for all of us. But as I told the attendees, writing is a skill that takes repetition and habitual use.

Like anything worth achieving, frequent, daily use of your floral language and confident floral storytelling techniques will keep your writer-muscles strong.

Thank you to Denisa Anderson of Merrily Along Floral Design, and Maureen Christmas, AIFD, CFD, EMC, of Floral Notes Acton, for sharing their writing samples.

Floral narratives

Here’s what Denisa shared:

Thank you for the summit. What a constant source of ingenuity you are! I loved your creative writing tutorial. My mother was a creative writing teacher and is a published poet. I majored in language arts along with my education degree – later Library Science. All word-based loves, so very much in my wheelhouse. I used to write songs and play guitar but those days are in the past, for now ~ and my creative energy has waned this year. However, for fun I’m attempting a few short similes and metaphors to charge up the brain again! Thanks for a fun project.

Like old, dear friends gathering for the day, sharing stories and intimacies; lighthearted moments and grief all at once. Filling up a familiar place in their hearts that was never quite finished.

At the heart of the protest, their true colors shone through. Like a child’s heart at a child’s party~ It was the right thing to do.

Stunned by the permanence of their fate, the trees were honored to find new life.

The end of the day is much like the beginning – full of private, universal beauty.

Describing plants and flowers

Here’s a message from Maureen:

I am inspired by your thought-provoking presentation this morning. (I even rewrote that sentence three times!)

Folds of fibrous foliage soar like towering buildings.

Curls furled – awaiting the time to reveal their potential.

Verdant green needles performing a square dance.

Tufts of short spikes polka dot the fleshy paddle.

Like delicate layers of ladies’ petticoats

The fog-laden landscape created a subdued watercolor painting.

Tiny packets of love dripping from above. Tiny packets of love suspended in space.

The solitary sun set on the sleepy waves.

Graceful silk petals play hide and seek with the light.

Join me!

Language can be as personal and distinct as your aesthetic. In writing vernacular, it’s called “voice.” As you find your voice, you can use it as a tool to better communicate your brand, your unique perspective as an artist and the value it delivers to your clients.

Coming up: You’re invited to sign up for my introductory Slow Flowers Creative Workshop, an online course, in which you will develop and write your juicy “about” description and use storytelling techniques to write at least one article or blog post for publication, not to mention work through expanded modules on floral adjectives, color descriptions and simile/metaphor modules.

The online Slow Flowers Creative Workshop launches November 1st
Registration will open on October 15th, so click on this signup link to receive more details when we announce on October 1st.

And there’s more! The Fleurvana Holiday Workshop is coming up in late October — and I’ve been invited to join the instructor lineup again. Click here to be notified when that workshop is announced.

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.