ISSUE No. 4. American-Grown Heroes 51. Southern Heritage 55. The Forager-Florist 57. Find more stories at lowersjournal.

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1 ISSUE No. 4 American-Grown Heroes 51 Southern Heritage 55 The Forager-Forist 57 Find more stories at owersjourna.com 050 FLORISTS' REVIEW NOVEMBER 2017

2 A MERICA N-GROW N HEROES Americangrown Heroes Southern Fower Hubs By Debra Prinzing I ncreasingy, fower farmers, farmer-forists and designers are forming unique aiances for commerce, marketing and even advocacy. The net benefit means more oca fowers avaiabe to more consumers. I m caing these micro-regiona groups Fower Hubs, which in some ways is disrupting conventiona whoesae channes and in other ways, working in tandem with them. Whie the shift is subte, more conventiona whoesae forists are designating a oca or American-grown section of their saes foor -- and I beieve this is in response to requests from fora customers. And yet, it s sti often hard for forists to get their hands on ocay-grown fowers and just as chaenging for farmers to connect with fora customers, designers and retaiers. In the South, we ve identified five dynamic fower co-operatives and coectives, incuding one oca fower hub with a physica ocation open ony to forists. These groups are primariy farmer-driven, and rey on creativity, an awareness of what their market wants, and a wiingness to partner with erstwhie competitors to create a rising tide effect. Read about what s happening in some Southern Hubs and in the future, I report on simiar groups in other regions. SLOW FLOWERS JOURNAL foristsreview.com 051

3 AMERICAN-GROWN HEROES NEW ORLEANS (NOLA) FLOWER COLLECTIVE Founded: 2013 Members: Four farms, incuding members who se whoesae to oca forists, via farmers markets and to their own wedding/event cients. About: A resource-sharing network of urban fower farms endeavoring to revive the oca fower cuture in New Oreans Main activities: NOLA Fower Coective maintains a web site that introduces member farms to the pubic and to potentia fora customers. The group aso hosts an annua Mother s Day Pop Up Fower Shop & Brunch where customers can purchase and arrange ocay-grown fowers. Coffee and bunch vendors are on hand and there are kids activities to encourage muti-generationa participation. The group uses the event to raise awareness and generate interest in New Oreans-grown fowers, expains Denise Richter, partner in Pisti & Stamen Fower Farm and Studio. This is a true aternative to the conventiona fora industry. We make it fun, we make it engaging, we make it beautifu and we teach about where your fowers come from. Twice annuay, members combine resources to order pant starts (pugs) or bubs. We reaized that the most effective and productive thing we can do for each other is to purchase cooperativey to meet whoesae minimums, she adds. Basicay, we everage what suppiers wi do for us. New: With a fora renaissance taking pace in New Oreans, it s inevitabe that new peope are exporing urban fower farming. The NOLA Fower Coective recenty hosted a workshop to share best practices with newer farmers. We want to share is that the market is big enough for everyone, but that ocay-grown fowers have to be high quaity and harvested correcty, Denise expains. As seasoned growers who are aready cooperating with each other, we fee it s our responsibiity to encourage and educate new fower farmers. PIEDMONT WHOLESALE FLOWERS Founded: 2017, with ongoing support from RAFI (Rura Advancement Fund Internationa). Members: Ten farms serving North Caroina s Raeigh, Durham and Chape Hi markets Customers: Piedmont Whoesae Fowers maintains a customer ist of 150 forists and whoesae buyers. There is a $25 annua buyer s pass. About: A cooperative venture connecting oca growers and whoesae buyers. Members raise the freshest fowers on sma farms around centra North Caroina. Together they suppy a reiabe source of seasona stems that showcase the beauty and abundance of the region. The market is open 8-10 a.m. every Thursday to buyers pass hoders. Main activities: Piedmont Whoesae Fowers began in March 2017 stocking oca ranuncuus and other eary bub crops. The grand opening took pace in conjunction with Mother s Day. According to co-founder Key Morrison, owner of Coor Fieds in Hisborough, N.C., the idea to start a oca whoesae hub originated with the Seatte Whoesae Growers Market, a successfu cooperative in the Pacific Northwest. The idea stuck with me. Why are fower farmers driving a over town deivering individua fower orders to a the same forists and burning gas and time that woud be better spent growing more fowers? She knew the demand for garden-stye fora design was growing but she aso knew of forists who weren t famiiar with buying direct from fowers. The goa -- to get more sustainaby-raised, oca fowers into more hands -- inspired Key and others to start Piedmont Whoesae Fowers. The group is being incubated by a ike-minded food hub caed Bu City Coo. Initia grant funding has paid for a web site and other marketing. Farmers pay a sta fee to the co-operative and hande their own saes. New: The pan for 2018 is to consoidate a saes through the co-op with farms paying a percentage of fower saes in exchange for having staff hande the transaction. Piedmont does not offer pubic hours, but due to oca interest, the farmers experimented in September with Brunch and Bouquets, an afternoon event with refreshments and a DIY Fower Bar, charging $40 to the pubic. 052 FLORISTS' REVIEW NOVEMBER 2017

4 peas, and anything ese where oca growers are abe to offer the freshest, on-trend crop -- and that s most things if you ask me! WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA (WNC) FLOWER FARMERS Founded: 2017 Members: 14 farms About: An Ashevie, N.C.-area resource for fora designers, event panners, whoesaers, forists and brides. The new web site has a dedicated page for each member fower farm; customers are encouraged to contact farms directy to order fresh booms. There is a password-protected avaiabiity ist for forists use in panning and pacing pre-orders. Main activities: In addition to promoting themseves to the fora marketpace as a coective of new and seasoned fower farmers in the Ashevie area, WNC Fower Farmers recenty started a whoesae program with the Mayesh branch in Charotte, N.C., ocated two hours away. Eary in the year, Emiy Patrick, owner of Caroina Fowers of Marsha, N.C., reached out to Mayesh to inquire about creating a whoesae partnership. She and a few feow growers met with Todd Smith, Mayesh-Charotte s genera manager, and came up with a dahia program that ran successfuy this past summer, invoving severa WNC Fower Farmers members. That s not a market that any of us woud be abe to tacke on our own, Emiy says. It works because Mayesh sends a deivery truck to Ashevie each week that woud otherwise go back to Charotte empty. We said, we can fi that truck. Being abe to move higher voumes on a consistent basis through this whoesae partnership has its advantages, she expains. The whoesae deivery happens eary in the week (Tuesday or Wednesday), so farms that harvest fowers on Monday for the Mayesh program are sti abe to harvest on Thursday for oca saes, especiay for weddings. New: Emiy says she hopes to see the program expand to incude other crops in the future, such as foxgoves and sweet SC UPSTATE FLOWER GROWERS Founded: 2016 Members: Nine farms growing fowers in upstate South Caroina, in and around Greenvie. About: A community of experienced and emerging fower growers dedicated to bringing the freshest, ocay-grown fowers to South Caroina s upstate region. Main activities: The SC Upstate group markets its fora avaiabiity ist on a weeky basis via emai to a growing ist of wedding and event designers. The customer ist has grown to 40 designers in 2017, up from just five ast year. Saes begin in March with anemones and other eary-spring crops, continuing through Thanksgiving with speciaty mums. The group has hosted two farmer-forist parties around American Fowers Week, inviting designers to meet oca fower farmers, enjoy refreshments and have a chance to create arrangements with seasona booms. In addition, a few pubic events at farmers markets and grocery stores hep promote ocay-grown fowers to consumers. Events ike these have stimuated new business, especiay from event forists, says co-founder Meissa Smith of Frayick Farm of Traveers Rest, S.C. Wedding and event customers have been enthusiastic about buying from fower farmers in their region, she says. Yet, it has been a chaenge to connect with retai forists in the area, mainy because of deivery schedues. I think that unti we can either estabish our own (physica) market or acquire a nice deivery truck with someone who can run a route SLOW FLOWERS JOURNAL foristsreview.com 053

5 A MERICA N-GROW N HEROES to retaiers, we just have to work with the systems we aready have. The good news is that event forists go to great engths to procure the product they want and their needs are specific, Meissa continues. They re ooking for unique, which is why they have atched onto oca a ot faster. A ot of our farms speciaize in hard to ship fowers. New: A few of the SC Upstate farm members are working with a Greenvie-based whoesae forist to suppy oca fowers in The whoesaer actuay came to us first, and we re ooking forward to working with them. SC Upstate Fower Growers LOWCOUNTRY FLOWER GROWERS Founded: 2017 Members: Nine member farms based in and around Chareston, S.C. and encompassing the South Caroina coasta region. About: Lowcountry Fower Growers is a coaition of coasta South Caroina fower farmers committed to growing oca, sustainabe botanicas for forists and designers in their community. According to the web site: Backyard gardeners have known for centuries that South Caroina soi is a rich producer of fowers, yet the south has ony recenty awakened to the possibiities of the commercia potentia of fowers. In 2017, seven Lowcountry fower farmers met to discuss their commitment to producing beautifu, high-quaity fora crops for coasta South Caroina. They knew that ocay-grown produce, prized for its exceptiona favor and quaity, is a vita part of the Lowcountry economy. The farmers agreed to work together to set the same high standards for the ocay-grown bouquet gracing your tabe. Main activities: The group formed earier this year and hed its first pubic event at the Marion Square Farmers Market in downtown Chareston in conjunction with American Fowers Week (June 28-Juy 4, 2017). The farmers showcased zinnias as a famiiar farmers market annua used in contemporary fora arrangements, and gave out fied-grown zinnias tied with the Lowcountry Fower Growers business card to shoppers. Currenty, Lowcountry s weeky avaiabiity ist is posted onine and sent to about 20 forists in the Chareston area. Laura Mewbourn of Feast & Fora Farm, based in Meggett, S.C., says the coective s mission has three components: Educating the pubic and oca fora designers, serving as a network to support one another and share resources, and marketing our fowers to fora designers, she says. n 054 FLORISTS' REVIEW NOVEMBER 2017 Lowcountry Fower Growers