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.
Gretel and Steve Adams
Gretel & Steve Adams own Sunny Meadows Flower Farm in Columbus, OH. Their farm ships flowers to florists across the US with ranunculus and anemones being their main focus starting in March, then moving through the season with peonies, lisianthus, dahlias, mums, and more! Send an email to sales@sunnymeadowsflowerfarm.com for more details about how to get signed up for our florist availability list.
Deborah Barber
Deborah Barber is Director of Land Management at The Nature Conservancy Maryland/D.C., and an avid gardener and floral designer. Her team prepares natural areas around the state for resilience in the face of an uncertain climate future using land protection and ecological restoration techniques, including prescribed fire, invasive species control and sustainable timber harvest. For fun Deborah manages the Lyon Park Virginia native plant garden in Arlington, Virginia and both competes in and designs scavenger hunts in urban and natural areas around Washington DC.
Debbie Bosworth
Debbie Bosworth is a gardener//florist in Plymouth, MA. She owns Dandelion House Floral Design, a boutique flower farm and floral design business. "As long as I can remember I've loved flowers and no matter what, I've always had flower gardens. In 2012, I became impassioned with the idea of having a little flower farm but a move wasn't in the stars, so instead, I turned a large portion of my backyard into a micro cut flower garden. That first season was magical. I couldn't believe how easy it was to grow sun loving annuals for cutting. I harvested buckets of dahlias, zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, and a variety of filler flowers that year. I shared my flowers with family, friends and neighbors arranged in simple mason jars. Before long I was asked to do an intimate wedding with my garden grown blooms and I fell in love with the entire process of creating for weddings. Fast forward seven years and I am more in love with growing flowers and floral design than ever before. My passion for gardening and growing beautiful cut flowers is my inspiration for creating designs with a wildly romantic, natural feel." Debbie is a Slow Flowers member and founder of the New England Farmer Florist Connection Facebook group. Debbie works from her home studio servicing wedding clients south of Boston and Cape Cod , Massachusetts. When she's not " in the flowers" you'll find her recouping at the beach with her family and Figgy, the friendly corgi.
Hannah Brannan
Hannah Brannan is a Software Engineer and the Founder of Gather Flora, a web platform that connects farmers and florists to facilitate convenient, improved access to seasonal, locally grown flower sales. Hannah's lifelong admiration and visceral love for seasonal blooms traces back to her childhood memories of gardening with her grandmother in San Marcos, Texas. After finally giving in to her daily flower daydreams while working in Silicon Valley, Hannah found that she could best serve the community by merging flowers with software to overcome critical challenges that farmers and florists have in common. Hannah's deep connection to the natural beauty of local flowers is centered in the calm, clear and simple good that she experiences when sharing them. Sharing an incredible flower, to Hannah, is a deep breath in a crowded, busy, demanding, constantly changing world.
David Brunton
David Brunton grows flowers with his wife Lina Brunton and their four children. Their small Maryland farm is tucked into a forest, near the Severn River, by the Chesapeake Bay. The land had been used as a baseball field until 2002, but the facilities were in disrepair by the time they purchased it in 2009. Their house sits in what used to be right field, hence the name Right Field Farm. David and Lina grow a mix of annual and perennial flowers with an eye toward all the natural beauty that Maryland has to offer.
Xenia D'Ambrosi
Xenia D'Ambrosi is lead designer and farmer-florist at Sweet Earth Co. Most wouldn’t have imagined that a city girl like her would find a calling amidst flower fields and gardens, but she credits a history of generations of land stewardship & farming that's engrained in my DNA. Having hands in the soil brought healing and ignited Xenia's passion for sustainable gardening and horticulture. In 2012, she started Sweet Earth Co., which specializes in growing specialty cut flowers and herbs, and in garden and floral design and installations.
Jenny Diaz
Jenny has been passionately pursuing creativity all her life and she is fortunate to say that it is the foundation of her career. When Jenny was a kid, drawing and creating fueled her desire to continue to learn more trades in the art field. Fifteen years ago, Jenny started as a graphic designer and she continues doing graphic design to this day. During the last five years, she has booked photo sessions from shooting fruits and vegetables to capturing the most important day in someone's life. "My heart is fully involved in every project I take on and I am crazy lucky to have the clients I work with and the people that trust me to capture their special moments on camera." Jenny is Slow Flowers' art director. She designed the new Slow Flowers Journal - Volume One book. And she was a 2019 American Flowers Week Botanical Couture designer.
Josh & Lindsey McCullough
This duo met while Josh was hanging up holiday wreaths at Lindsey’s employer's office. Lindsey was determined they were going to be centered perfectl - 1/8” to the right, 1/4” up. Josh went home and told his mom that he was never going back there again. That Lindsey was way too bossy. Years later they crossed paths again at a holiday party and the rest is history. Josh & Lindsey became the sole owners of Red Twig Farms in 2019. They took off running and have yet to stop expanding and restructuring the farm. After 4 successful years, with Lindsey betting her father-in-law Karl that they could grow the annual Peony Festival, the event unfortunately was retired when Covid hit in 2020. That's when McCulloughs introduced nationwide shipping for their peonies, sending out over 1,700 boxes in 4 weeks to 48 of the states. In 2021, Red Twig Farms' peonies reach ALL 50 states. They added on "Bloom Mechanics Floral Designs" to their lineup in 2021, using foam free mechanics designed for events & weddings.
Dave Dowling
Dave Dowling grew cut flowers in Montgomery County, MD for 20 years. With field, high tunnel, and greenhouse production, Farmhouse Flowers & Plants produced cut flowers year round. Most of the flowers raised were sold at area farmers markets, including two year round markets in the Washington, DC area. Direct sales to retail florists and Whole Foods rounded out the marking channels used selling hundreds of thousands of cut flowers each year.
Evelyn Frolking
After living and teaching English in Maastricht, the Netherlands, as a Fulbrighter, Evelyn later returned to the land of flowers to study Dutch floral art where she graduated from the Boerma Institute of Dutch Floral Design with a certificate in Dutch floral design. Evelyn studied the past two summers on Whidbey Island off the coast of Seattle where she made the commitment to more eco conscious floristry that includes buying fresh flowers from local flower farmers whenever possible and refusing to use chemical laden floral materials, such as floral foam. Studio Artiflora is a member of Slow Flowers and Evelyn will attend the annual Summit at the Filoli Historic House & Garden in Woodside, CA in June 2020. Evelyn has also been selected to design for Art in Bloom at the Columbus Museum of Art in April this year. She led the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce for six years and is currently a member in good standing as well as a member of AmSpirit Business Connections. She also taught writing at Denison University for eight years and in 2012, published her first book, Homegrown: Stories from the Farm
Rayne Grace Hoke
Rayne Grace Hoke is enamored with the beauty of nature and loves the thrilling mix of magic and science. "The graceful weight of a tulip in the hand and the intoxicating aroma of mimosa brings pure joy and a bit of awe. It’s these nuances of the natural world which fascinate me. And soaking in these experiences is for me a point of divine expression and inspiration." Her floral path has allowed Rayne many opportunities to explore other artistic curiosities beyond flowers. In the 1990’s, she interned at the Textile Conservation Lab at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Additionally, she is an Ambassador and graduate of the Beyond Startup and New Ventures business program. Via this inspiring organization, she advocates for small women business on state and federal levels. Rayne also has tapped into weaving, perfumery, fashion design and even metalsmithing and is currently a Maine-based Slow Flowers practitioner offering Slow Flower meetups in he region.
Annika McIntosh
Annika McIntosh is a garden & floral designer and micro grower in Bellingham, Washington. She is the owner of Hazel Landscapes + Design LLC. After working with children’s gardens, streetscape design and food security projects, she entered the world of flowers through the side door of landscape design. Annika is always dreaming about fantastical botanical installations and thoroughly believes in the power of natural spaces and (local, seasonal) flowers to ground us in the Here and Now.
Mary Ann Newcomer
Scribe-Scout-Speaker A daughter of the American west, with great grandparents who homesteaded in Idaho, I tagged along with my grandmother and grandfather as they gardened in the tiny town of Latah, Washington, just across the Idaho state line. I have developed a fierce passion for all things GARDEN. I grow, scout, and write about gardens. My expertise is in the Intermountain West, but I have written for Rocky Mountain Gardening, Country Gardens, MaryJane’s Farm, Fine Gardening, Leaf Magazine, the American Gardener, and newspapers across the region. I’ve designed public, private, and commercial landscapes, and gardens for flower shows. I love encouraging gardeners to get down and dirty. When not tending to my garden, I volunteer my time weeding or planting or doing garden design work at the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise.
Alyssa O'Sullivan
Alyssa O’Sullivan is the owner and founder of Sweet Alyssum Farm on Vashon Island, Washington. The farm grows specialty cut flowers to nurture creativity within her local floral community, while her focus on sustainability nurtures the earth, animals and people these flowers touch along the way. Follow her on Instagram @sweet.alyssum.farm.
Tom Precht
Vice President and Co-Founder
Tom is the co-Founder and vice president of Grateful Gardeners. Tom has been research scientist for a majority of his career. He obtained a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, CO in 2008, where he studied the cell death mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. Tom’s Mother, Diana Precht, has been a lifelong gardener and avid Dahlia grower/enthusiast. Tom had no idea that he would one day follow in her footsteps to become a full-time flower farmer with his wife, Sarah. Tom brings a scientific, technological, and innovative aptitude to Grateful Gardeners, focusing on constantly improving their organic practices and sustainability. Like Sarah, he strives to operate a farming business that prioritizes relationships, collaboration, and community over profits. Ultimately, he believes in the theory of Biophilia; that human beings have an innate instinct to connect with nature and that their health and well being is dependent on this connection.
Kathy Purdy
WordPress maven
Kathy Purdy is the award-winning author of ColdClimateGardening.com. She gardens herself silly in upstate NY.
Kirsten Rabishaw
Kirsten Rabishaw, a fourth generation studio florist, owns Bloom Magic Weddings in Highland Park, Illinois. Entering its fifth season, BMW specializes in creative, eco-friendly wedding florals and home décor subscriptions. Kirsten is a trained horticulturist and artist, gathering and growing locally sourced blooms. She serves as treasurer of the Chicago Green Wedding Alliance.
Samantha Ritter
Samantha Ritter is the owner of Sea Change Farm & Flower, a flower farm and floral design studio in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Teresa Sabankaya
Teresa Sabankaya is the founder and owner of Bonny Doon Garden Company since 1999- a full service floral design studio, florist and botanical gift shop. Teresa holds a greatly influential position as one of the most innovative florists in the San Francisco Bay Area. Teresa has exhibited her floral art annually at the ‘Bouquets to Art’ exhibition at the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, the National Trust Filoli’s Estate in Woodside, and various other floral design and garden shows. Teresa’s floral designs have become highly desirable due to their unique style of arranging and elegant garden appeal. Teresa’s designs carry a chic and nostalgic feel, like a just gathered from the garden bouquet of exquisite high-end blooms. Because of their garden origin, her designs emit a familiarity to people while calibrating the soul. Her wedding floral styles have been featured in numerous wedding blogs and magazines including Smitten, Sweet Violet Bride, Ruffled Blog and Green Wedding Shoes.
Mary Schaefbauer
Mary started her first floral business in 2016, at the age of 14. It wasn’t much then, but she kept building it through high school and a college program. Now at 19, with a fresh high school diploma and an AAS Degree in Business Management, she am working full time as a farmer-florist and loving it. Mary has always loved flowers, as well as design and color, and agriculture, and business… so this line of work is a perfect fit. She has been working in professional floral design for over four years and has trained with some of the best designers in Minnesota and across the U.S. Mary farms, designs, and lives in her family home during the growing season, and she freelances in other states during the winter months.
Lisa Thibodeau
Lisa Thibodeau is a writer, flower farmer and late bloomer. Five years ago she swapped a cubicle for her 1-acre backyard and created Happy Road Farm. She lives in an old house in Loomis, California with her husband, two teenagers, and way too many books.
Gina Thresher
Gina Thresher AIFD EMC Gina Thresher is owner of From the Ground Up Floral, a wedding, event + special occasion floral studio. She is also the operator of www.fromthegroundupfloral.media, a podcast, teaching, and learning adventure for florists and creatives. Gina is a contributor to Fleurvana learning and the EMC mentorship program. She is AIFD NW Chapter President and AIFD National Social Media committee president.
Kate Watters
Kate Watters is the heart and soul behind Agave Maria Botanicals. Kate is a botanist and artist with a deep connection and enthusiasm (aka nerdy obsession) for the plant world. As a child she explored the meadows and woods in her Vermont backyard opening up milkweed pods and collecting rose hips. When Kate “grew up” she became a biologist because the job description involved crawling on hands and knees to identify plants. She worked for 20 years on public lands in the southwest as a restoration practitioner training volunteer armies in an effort to save the good plants and eradicate the bad ones. She gardened and wrote stories everywhere she went. Three years ago she quit her non-profit conservation job to follow her heart’s calling to become an organic farmer and entrepreneur. Kate is passionate about all aspects of flowers—their innate artistic beauty, pollination ecology, physiology, and especially their medicinal, magical and mystical properties. She loves bringing people together around flowers and food and creativity in the form of workshops and volunteer events.
Kit Wertz
Kit Wertz is one-half of Flower Duet, a floral company in Los Angeles she co-owns with her sister, Casey Coleman Schwartz. Kit is a regular feature writer for floral trade magazine The Bloomin’ News. She and her sister have appeared on national television shows, been featured in the major magazines including Sunset and Florists’ Review and major newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and The New York Times for our floral design work. We were speakers at The Slow Flowers Summit in Washington D.C. in 2018 and are proud members of SlowFlowers.com to help promote locally grown flowers everywhere, but especially in our home state of California.
Lisa Ziegler
Founder of The Gardener’s Workshop and Flower Farming School Online and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Award-winning Author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers. Watch Lisa’s Story, visit the Field & Garden Podcast and view the Blog. Connect with Lisa on Facebook and Instagram. It all began in 1998 because Lisa wanted to work in her garden as her career. At first, she sold her cut flowers to local florists and Colonial Williamsburg. The business soon grew to include florist throughout the Hampton Roads region, supermarkets, farmers markets, a members-only on-farm market, and a bouquet drop-off subscription service. Lisa’s farm, known as The Gardener’s Workshop is still a small market flower farm (100% outdoor field grown), and an online garden shop. The online store sells the same seeds, tools, supplies, and seed starting equipment that Lisa uses as well as signed copies of her books. Lisa’s simple, instructive, and delightful gardening messages are reaching far beyond any expectation she ever had.
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