The Flower Podcast

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 ex...

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...

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 Farmi...

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 ...

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...

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 lo...

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 sev...

My guest this week is Natalie Geehr and her business is theflowerfarmer.com located in Fresno, California. She grows in her backyard in addition to the 1/4 acre that she leases. Her big dream has allowed her to grow into doing weddings and events. Community has been an important part of her journey with growing flowers which let her to become one of the founding members of the San Joaquin Flower Collective that supplies local flori...

We’re excited to have Marryn Mathis from The Farmhouse Flower Farm on The Flower Podcast this week. She shares how she’s grown and adapted her business to work with her family schedule while maximizing her product reach. Dahlias and Sweet Peas have become two of her main crops. Today, with the launch of her new book, we’re diving into growing sweet peas again. Hopefully we cover some challenges that will help you with producing thi...

We're excited to share this NEW and second episode with Brenna Estrada!!  Scroll below to connect with her page and listen to her first episode with The Flower Podcast.

Home gardeners, flower farmers, and florists are always looking for flowers to help set them apart in their offerings and esthetics. My guest this week found her way to growing cut flowers eventually on Camano Island, Washington. Brenna Estrada and her business Thre...

Rick Davis of Amaryllis Design in Landover, Maryland is our guest this week on The Flower Podcast. Featured in publications such as Town & Country, Southern Accents, and listed as one of the Top Wedding Florists in the nation by Martha Stewart, Rick shares his transformation story that has made Amaryllis a premiere wedding and event company. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and share!!

Learn more about Rick and Amaryllis with al...

During a recent visit to the Monroe Blooms Flower Show in Monroe, GA., I met Ashley Blackstone and Samantha Kramer from Wellspring Flower Farm. What stood out were their vibrant flower varieties and color palettes. In this episode, they discuss their farm's growth from a small plot on a horse farm to a flourishing 3-acre operation, with plans to expand further. We explore how they've optimized their space and resources, their succe...

Last week when we released our episode with Henk Onings I mentioned at the end that we continued the conversation about Ranunculus, Anemones, and the Tulip bulb crop this year. So be sure to go and listen to Part 1 of our chat with Henk.

So to recap, my guest this week is Henk Onings and soon after graduating school he moved to Pompeii, Italy for a couple of years to learn the floral industry with the family business. Then the oppo...

This week’s guest was born in the Netherlands into a family that started their business in 1935 and now 3 generations later, soon to be 4 generations Onings Holland is known for distributing a wide range of flower bulbs, tubers, and seeds around the world.

My guest is Henk Onings and soon after graduating school he moved to Pompeii, Italy for a couple of years to learn the floral industry with the family business. Then the opportun...

This weeks my guests are Leandra Gollob and Daniel Mench of Cocolani Gardens located on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.

Both were born and raised on the windward side of Oahu, where they’ve grown up with a love for all things nature. Together with this love and gratitude, they farm one-acre of lush tropical land with over 50 varieties of ginger and heliconia! Some species include sexy pink heliconia, kawauchi, stricta, tagami, torch gi...

We are starting off our new season with Julia Keel, co-owner of Full Keel Farm in north central Florida. Julia brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to the table as she specializes in cultivating specialty cut flowers while navigating the unique challenges of a hot and humid climate. She’s passionate about teaching, has presented and lectured at national conferences, and truly embraces the challenge of adapting production method...

One of the most exciting trends that I believe is here to stay is flower trucks. These mobile floral shops bring fresh blooms directly to communities, markets, and special events, offering a fun and unique experience for customers. Flower trucks also present fantastic opportunities for aspiring florists and small business owners. With lower overhead costs compared to traditional storefronts, entrepreneurs can focus on sourcing high...

Welcome to The Flower Podcast, the podcast for anyone who grows or designs with flowers and even then, we talk about so much more. I'm your host, Scott Shepherd and I love chatting with guests about their stories, and uncover the beauty and challenges of working with flowers. I’m excited to share this special conversation this week.

Several months ago, LuAnn Dickson Founder and CEO of EveryStem Software asked to turn the microphone...

My guest this week is Heather Cain, owner of Petal Pink Flower Farm. From the urban life in San Francisco to the somewhat accidental purchase of a rundown farm in Eugene, Oregon, Heather shares about the family farm life, her incredible trip to Italy and seeing how they trialing the latest in Italian ranunculus. We are also discussing one of my personal favorite crops, hellebore, and much more. It’s a flower journey that takes us f...