Growing Ilex for Florists: Lane DeVries with Sun Valley Floral Farms
Release Date: 11/06/2023
The Seeds We Save, The Blooms We Shape: Inside Dawn Creek Farm
The Flower Podcast
This week, Scott sits down with Kori Hargreaves, the heart and hands behind Dawn Creek Farm, for a conversation rooted in seeds, selection, and the creative process of flower breeding. Kori shares insights from her decade-long journey developing new open-pollinated varieties—including her collaboration with Floret. They explore the practical side of breeding—avoiding inbreeding depression, selecting for color and form, and choosing varieties that fit your market—and the deeper reasons behind saving seed and growing what lights you up. Whether you're a flower farmer, florist, or a...
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Floristry with Heart and Purpose: Carole Patilla of Tuckshop Flowers and The Farewell Flowers Directory
The Flower Podcast
In this episode of The Flower Podcast, Scott Shepherd talks with Carole Patilla of Tuckshop Flowers and co-founder of The Farewell Flowers Directory. They explore the growing movement toward sustainable and foam-free funeral flowers. Carole shares practical tips for florists ready to shift away from floral foam, embrace compostable design, and rethink traditional funeral floristry. This inspiring conversation is all about starting small, building confidence, and making meaningful change in your local community. Whether you’re new to sustainable design or looking to expand your eco-conscious...
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Authenticity: The Florist’s Path to Confidence, Clarity, and Community with Elizabeth Hodges, Philo Floral
The Flower Podcast
In this episode of The Flower Podcast, Elizabeth Hodges, owner of Philo Floral in Greenville SC., opens up about the powerful mindset shift that helped her build a business rooted in authenticity. We explore how understanding generational values—from Gen Z’s focus on connection and transparency to older generations’ appreciation for experience—can change the way you approach wedding consultations and client relationships. Elizabeth also shares her thoughts on taking ownership of your growth, letting go of the need to be liked by everyone, and the importance of putting on blinders when...
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Building Your Best Farm: Adrianne Gammie of Marilla Field and Flora
The Flower Podcast
In this episode, we welcome back Adrianne Gammie, a dedicated flower farmer known for her intentional approach to business, sustainability, and community impact. Adrianne shares valuable insights from her evolving farm, covering everything from pollinator habitat and land stewardship to profitability and professional relationships. Her candid advice is grounded in real-world experience and offers practical strategies for flower farmers at any stage. Topics Covered: -How diversification helps manage risk in farming -Creating and managing pollinator habitat for ecological health -Learning from...
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Standards in Cut Flower Production: Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farm
The Flower Podcast
Flowers are at the heart of so many meaningful moments—especially since Mother’s Day week just happened. This episode honors the hardworking farmers, florists, designers, and behind-the-scenes teams who make it all possible. Returning guest Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farm joins Scott for a rich conversation about long-term farm planning, infrastructure investment, and the evolving role of a flower grower. As a founding member of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, Diane also shares the story behind Floral Standards—a new, farmer-developed book designed to help growers sell more...
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Being the Face of Your Farm: Nicole Pitt, Flower Hill Farm
The Flower Podcast
We’re chatting with Nicole Pitt, the passionate owner of , and a popular YouTube creator, as she shares her journey in the world of flower farming. Nicole’s story is all about planting roots, both literally and figuratively, as she returned to her childhood home in 2018 and transformed it into a thriving farm full of flowers. Some of the topics we discussed: Perennials as a Foundation: Nicole emphasizes that perennials, though slower to establish, are long-term investments that form the backbone of the farm. Animal Control Is Essential: Research the best animal control...
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Design, Relationships, and Giving Back: Pili Fuentes’s Floral Story
The Flower Podcast
This week's episode highlights the importance of continual growth and learning in the floral industry. Our guest, Pili, exemplifies this by consistently investing in her skills through workshops and collaborations with leading designers. She emphasizes the need for exploring new trends and refining techniques to perfect one’s craft. A key theme in the conversation is Pili's ability to identify issues and opportunities, then rallying the community to fill those gaps. We dive into the flower market in Mexico City, where Pili shares fascinating insights, including the fact that the only outside...
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Streamlining and Growing Your Flower Business with Niki Irving
The Flower Podcast
This week on The Flower Podcast our guest is Niki Irving, the owner and florist behind Flourish Flower Farm in Asheville, NC, where she grows a wide variety of flowers and foliage using sustainable methods. She creates beautiful, seasonal arrangements for weddings and events, leads classes and workshops on the farm, and offers fresh bouquets at her farmstand. Niki is also the author of the popular book Growing Flowers: Everything You Need to Know About Planting, Tending, Harvesting, and Arranging Beautiful Blooms, first published in 2021 with a new edition set to release in 2025. In this...
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Using Rooted Farmers to Track Trends, Sales, and More: A Database Goldmine
The Flower Podcast
Numbers are our friends! Digging deep into the data generated through the growing and selling of our flowers is an important part of creating a more sustainable business. This week, we’re chatting with Adrianne Gammie, owner of Marilla Field and Flora, along with Amelia Ihlo, founder of Rooted Farmers. We’ll take the time to meet Adrianne and discuss with Amelia how to analyze data from 2024 to evaluate the flower crops grown by both of these growers, as well as analyze the data collected by Rooted Farmers from all its members. Looking back and identifying which flowers and colors were...
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Flowering Without Fear: The Florista, Meg Hutchinson
The Flower Podcast
Today’s guest is Meg Hutchinson, owner of The Florista, a floral and event business based in Nashville, TN. Meg is known for specializing and creating custom floral designs, bringing her client’s vision to life. Her focus is delivering the “Wow Factor” through bespoke floral experiences that exceed expectations. In this episode we had a great time discussing several aspects of Meg’s business. Never underestimate the importance in investing in yourself and mastering basic mechanics. Don’t be afraid to take on projects that push you out of your comfort zone. It might be time to...
info_outlineImagine growing up among tulips and lilies in the Netherlands, and then taking that green thumb all the way to building the first Dutch Glass greenhouse in California. From managing the growth of flowers to CEO and President of Sun Valley Floral Farms, Lane DeVries has forged a path as a grower and is a reflection of his devotion to his craft.
Over the years, Lane has served the floral community in a variety of positions such as Board of Directors at SAF, trustee for the American Floral Endowment, Chairman of the Board for the California Cut Flower Commission and serves on the Board of Directors for the Certified American Grown coalition. today we are talking about growing flowers, especially tulips and one of his favorite projects growing and hybridizing Ilex.
In this episode, we chat about Sun Valley Floral Farms production of tulips, Ilex, Rosehips, and their newest crop butterfly ranunculus.
Learn more about Lane DeVries and all of our past guests by visiting TheFlowerPodcast.com
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