Hello everyone! This is a special episode of The Flower Podcast. This year we’re continuing a tradition that started last year with sharing something from our family’s archives. My Dad for many years has collected a wide range of old time radio shows. His collection is made up of over 30,000 different shows and of course there are several Christmas specials.

So we’re excited to reshare this condensed version of Charles Dickens Classic, “A Christmas Carol” again this year. The book was originally published back in 1843 and has been a holiday classic for many years. This radio show originally aired on Christmas Day back in 1949 starring Lionel Barrymore. We’ve included some of the original commercials thrown in for fun.

This week isn’t about flowers, but the holiday’s, family, and friends. We’ll be taking a break for a several weeks as we prepare for 2025. Until then I hope you enjoy this special episode.

Everyone at The Flower Podcast wishes you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Learn more about our podcast and all of our past guests by visiting TheFlowerPodcast.com

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We want to thank this years sponsors of The Flower Podcast!

ASCFG

Farmer Bailey

Rooted Farmers

Real Flower Business

Accent Decor

The Gardeners Workshop 

I’m excited to share this week’s episode with you! Earlier this year Jenny Love, flower farmer expert and host of the No Till Flowers podcast, asked me to be a guest on her podcast to chat about working with wholesalers as a local flower farmer.

Jenny asked great questions and we had a great conversation that I hope you find helpful. Hopefully through conversation like this we can continue to grow the local flower share of our industry and bring more of the flower production to our own communities wherever you are around the world.

Learn more about all of this years episodes with our guests by visiting TheFlowerPodcast.com

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Farmer Bailey

Rooted Farmers

Real Flower Business

Accent Decor

The Gardeners Workshop

This week, we’re catching up with Bailey Hale to dive into all the exciting developments happening at Farmer Bailey. So much has unfolded over the past two years that we had to bring Bailey back on the podcast to get the inside scoop. We’ll hear about his recent tour to the Netherlands, the latest trends in cut flower plants, and their brand-new program, Garden Club Plants, launching this week. As a floral designer, flower farmer, and plant distributor, Bailey’s expertise is unmatched. It’s always a pleasure chatting with him, especially since he travels worldwide, scouting new cut flowers for local farmers to grow and share. Be sure to check out our first episode with Bailey Hale for more!

Explore the new website gardenclubplants.com !

Learn more about Bailey, Farmer Bailey, and today’s show notes with all of our past guests just visit TheFlowerPodcast.com 

You can also listen to our first episode with Bailey here.

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Sponsors of The Flower Podcast

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Farmer Bailey

Rooted Farmers

Real Flower Business

Accent Decor

The Gardeners Workshop

This week, I’m joined by Ashley Fox, the creative force behind Ashley Fox Designs, a full-service floral studio in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Specializing in stunning floral arrangements for weddings, events, and editorial projects, Ashley is celebrated for her unique use of color and exceptional flower choices, drawing inspiration from the beauty of nature. With 25 years of experience and a background in horticulture and the arts, she carefully selects the finest local blooms alongside exclusive flower varieties from around the world.

Ashley emphasizes the importance of collaboration to ensure a seamless event, blending meticulous attention to detail with thoughtful logistics. Her remarkable work has been showcased in esteemed publications such as VOGUE.com and Martha Stewart Weddings. To foster strong client relationships, she effectively uses Pinterest to understand their preferences and align them with her artistic vision. By employing Canva for design boards and prioritizing her sourcing locally and utilizing Rooted Farmers, Ashley translates her ideas into breathtaking floral creations. Above all, her passion for her craft drives her commitment to delivering unique and memorable experiences for each of her clients.

Learn more about Ashley and today’s show notes with all of our past guests by visiting TheFlowerPodcast.com.

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Sponsors of The Flower Podcast

ASCFG

Farmer Bailey

Rooted Farmers

Real Flower Business

Accent Decor

The Gardeners Workshop

Our guest this week is Eleanor Lonardo and her business is called The Borrowed Garden located in Crockett, California. Eleanor’s is a small scale flower farmer that sells to florists in the East Bay/San Francisco area.

It’s great to hear about her experiences as she began growing, the benefits of taking floral design workshops as a grower, the importance of photography, and so much more. There are several specialty crops that we explore, and it’s great to hear the pros and cons of these truly specialty cut flowers.

Learn more about Eleanor and today’s show notes with all of our past guests by visiting TheFlowerPodcast.com

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Sponsors of The Flower Podcast

ASCFG

Farmer Bailey

Rooted Farmers

Real Flower Business

Accent Decor

The Gardeners Workshop

Sarah Winward is a floral artist and event designer based in Salt Lake City, Utah, specializing in destination weddings. Her work, known for its seasonal, nature-inspired designs, has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, Martha Stewart, and she has been named a top florist by Vogue. Sarah’s floral arrangements evoke the beauty of nature, often sourced locally or foraged near event locations to seamlessly integrate with the surroundings.

Passionate about flowers, Sarah collaborates closely with clients to create unique, memorable designs that reflect the season and environment. She believes in prioritizing key floral elements within a budget, planning for delicate blooms, and using mock-ups to ensure a flawless result. Above all, Sarah encourages embracing creativity, trusting your instincts, and allowing your designs to evolve as you grow.

Learn more about Sarah and today’s show notes with all of our past guests by visiting TheFlowerPodcast.com

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Sponsors of The Flower Podcast

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Farmer Bailey

Rooted Farmers

Real Flower Business

Accent Decor

The Gardeners Workshop

Lisa Mason Ziegler, cut-flower farmer, author, educator and founder of The Gardener’s Workshop is returning to The Flower Podcast. Since 1998, she has cultivated her three-acre urban farm in Southeastern Virginia, producing thousands of flower stems weekly for florists, supermarkets, farmer’s markets, and her members-only on-farm market. Lisa has authored several books, including Cool Flowers, and she is the creator of Flower Farming School Online, which has expanded to include courses for both flower farmers and florists, in addition to starting two podcasts, Field and Garden and Seed Talk.

I’m really excited to have Lisa back for a personal year-in-review for flower growers. It’s been several years since our last episode, and I always learn something new from my conversations with her. In this episode, Lisa shares some of the valuable lessons she’s learned along the way, many that are at the heart of what she teaches in her courses. We talk about the importance of setting clear goals and truly understanding your market. I appreciate how she encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to tackle challenges with confidence while keeping customer convenience front and center. Her practical advice on building a solid foundation for success in flower farming is incredibly helpful, and she also offers a realistic perspective on business and the importance of continually moving forward. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone looking to grow in the industry! 

Be sure to listen Lisa’s other episode on The Flower Podcast and also search The Gardener’s Workshop on our YouTube Channel to watch my chats and an instagram Live with Lisa. 

Learn more about Lisa and listen to her first episode with today’s show notes and all of our past guests by visiting TheFlowerPodcast.com 

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Sponsors of The Flower Podcast

The Gardener's Workshop

ASCFG 

Farmer Bailey

Rooted Farmers

Real Flower Business

Accent Decor

My guest this week is Sarah Jo Eversole, owner of Everbloom Fields in Lancaster, TX. It might be a micro flower farm, but she produces not only exceptional quality blooms but high volume as well. She shares many of her experiences as a grower especially decisions on what to grow to be more profitable. There’s a wealth of growing and business tips in this episode, and it’s our hope that you’re inspired and encouraged that no matter the size of your business, it’s yours and has every opportunity to succeed.

 Learn more about Sarah Jo and all of our past guests by visiting TheFlowerPodcast.com

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Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for access to all of our Zoom chats, tutorials, Live’s, and video extras.

Sponsors of The Flower Podcast

ASCFG

Farmer Bailey

Rooted Farmers

Real Flower Business

Accent Decor

The Gardeners Workshop

I’m excited to share that Charlotte Smith is our guest again on The Flower Podcast. Charlotte teaches farmers the skills they need to make money on their farms and live calm, balanced lives through mindset coaching. Going against what most of us have been taught, Charlotte coaches in 13 countries to build successful profitable farms while also getting out from feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious.

In 2016, Charlotte was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women in the World in Food and Agriculture by the non-profit, Food Tank and she is giving us a little dose of her coaching today on The Flower Podcast.  

The great thing about this kind of coaching is that it’s good for any kind of business. So this episode isn’t just for farmers, it’s also for florists, educators, or anyone that’s an entrepreneur with a business.

Today we chat about the importance of having and growing an email list for your business. In addition, we chat about hiring and putting systems in place to help encourage and strengthen your team and the importance of charging enough for your products so that you can cover all the expenses of hiring extra help, plus paying yourself.

Listen to our first episode with Charlotte Smith.

Learn more about Charlotte Smith and all of our past guests by visiting TheFlowerPodcast.com

Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. We are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, Gaana, and many more!

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for access to all of our Zoom chats, tutorials, Live’s, and video extras.

Sponsors of The Flower Podcast

ASCFG

Farmer Bailey

Rooted Farmers

Real Flower Business

Accent Decor

The Gardeners Workshop

Ready to talk Dahlias? This week my guest is Kristine Albrecht of Santa Cruz Dahlias. Known for her award winning dahlia hybrids and her book, Dahlia Breeding for the farmer florist and the home gardener, Kristine is sharing her flower journey along with numerous tips and insights on her hybridizing process, cover crops, soil testing and more. She is the president of the Monterey Bay Dahlia Society and travels with her blooms to local and national dahlia shows and today we get to step into the world of dahlias with Kristine. So get your notebooks ready, we’re talking dahlias, now on The Flower Podcast.

Learn more about Kristine and all of our past guests by visiting TheFlowerPodcast.com

Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. We are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, Gaana, and many more!

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for access to all of our Zoom chats, tutorials, IG Lives, and video extras.

Sponsors of The Flower Podcast

ASCFG

Farmer Bailey

Rooted Farmers

Real Flower Business

Accent Decor

The Gardeners Workshop

I’m in Ecuador this week so we’re replaying our episode with my guest Kimberlee Mitchell owner of  Botanica Floral located in Atlanta, Ga. She has been a part of the floral community for over 20 years and has been fortunate to grow her business to include 5 star hotels and work within the film industry. Kimberlee has been working on many major films including the recently released new HBO movie of Father of the Bride as well as several TV series many of which can be found on Netflix. We had a great chat about how she buys her flowers for her hotels and movies, she also shares tips for helping flowers last longer, and the importance of perseverance.

Learn more about Kimberlee and all of our past guests on TheFlowerPodcast.com

Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. We are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, Gaana, and many more!

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for access to all of our Zoom chats, tutorials, IG Lives, and video extras.

Sponsors of The Flower Podcast

Farmer Bailey

Accent Decor

Real Flower Business

Rooted Farmers

ASCFG

The Gardener’s Workshop