Who is Debra Prinzing?

Who is Debra Prinzing?

#americangrown #CaFlowers Debra Prinzing Hydrangea Slow Flowers Sun Valley Floral Farm The 50 Mile Bouquet

"...sweet flowers are slow..."  ~William Shakespeare

"The day's prettiest blooms and just-unfurled leaves - gathered simply into a bunch and displayed in a jar of water - provide everything I need to start the day."  

                         ~Debra Prinzing, from Slow Flowers.

Have you been hearing the name “Debra Prinzing” a lot lately?  It seems whether online, at industry events or even reading the Costco Connection magazine, Debra’s name and her efforts to promote the Slow Flowers Movement keep popping up. 

I decided to track her down and learn a little bit more about this best-selling author and columnist. We have met before at industry events, and Sun Valley even hosted her at our booth at the International Floriculture Exposition this year, but I wanted to learn more.  

We spoke last week and I have distilled this article from our conversation.  When you ask Debra a question, don’t expect a one word…or one paragraph answer, it is clear that she sees the deep connections that run back and forth between the natural and man-made worlds. In talking with Debra, you find yourself joining in a discovery process, exploring where connections happen.  It brought to mind one of my favorite (and often misquoted) John Muir quotes:

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”

Debra Prinzing is an author and outdoor living expert based between Seattle and Los Angeles.  She has written seven books to date, and serves as a contributing editor to Better Homes and Garden magazine and her work appears regularly in the Home section of the LA Times.

Her newest book is called Slow Flowers, and this book is sort of the guide to the Slow Flowers Movement.  What’s Slow Flowers? Debra explained that she took a page from the Slow Foods culinary movement, and that Slow Flowers is short hand for “acting with intention, being responsive to the seasons and being conscious of your consumer decisions.”  She asks the question of herself, “What is in my garden, that I can put in a vase and reflect the season?”

Trying my own hand at the "Slow Flowers"aesthetic, #1 Sun Valley Tulips with ferns from my backyard.

This project was an off shoot of her book, The 50 Mile Bouquet, which focused on small regional farms, producing sustainably grow flowers. For Slow Flowers, she took on the rather ambitious goal of doing a bouquet every week for a year, using only locally sourced flowers.  She started November first in 2011 at her home in Seattle, and quickly realized that she was going to have to learn to design with evergreen branches, berries and other botanicals that had survived the first frost. 

She recognized that even though most of the items in her garden were past their prime, there were still local growers, and regional growers producing flowers in greenhouses year round.  So off she went, engaging the flower growing community in her area and this is where the Slow Flowers idea really solidified.  She saw that consumers don’t know where their flowers come from, and aren’t making a conscious decision to buy flowers grown in their town, their state or even their country.  She wasn’t comfortable buying roses shipped in from South America, when she could buy roses grown year round in Oregon at Peterkort Roses or buying tulips shipped in from Holland when she could buy tulips grown year round a few hours south at Sun Valley in Humboldt County, CA.  This was a revelation, that in every community in the United States there are growers, big and small, creating high quality flowers and unfortunately, only a few consumers know this.

#2 My backyard Montbretia, with Sun Valley Tulips.

Debra’s primary audience has been gardening enthusiasts, and as she spread the Slow Flowers message to people interested primarily in horticulture, she found a very responsive audience.  People interested in gardening, naturally had an affinity towards understanding the origin of the plants in their yard, as well as the flowers in their vase. Debra’s message has snowballed from there. If you haven’t checked out the book, you should, and if you keep reading you may get a shot at winning one right here at Flower Talk.

Debra puts on a very engaging presentation, make sure to see her in action if you get the chance.  Here she is making a beautiful monochromatic arrangement with Sun Valley tulips, Dusty Miller, and she was about to add our Ornithagalum.

As Debra has traveled the country promoting the book, the biggest problem she found was that the floral professionals she spoke with didn’t have a resource to help them find local, regional or U.S. grown flowers.  And Debra, being in her own words “The Queen of Multitasking,” set out to correct this problem and www.slowflowers.com was born; this website (still under development) will serve as a data base that will help connect consumers and floral professionals to U.S. grown flowers. 

 

The first thing you notice about her book is the beautiful photography, as a bit of a photographer, I was impressed to find out she did all her own photography, with just natural light.  I asked Debra my favorite question for anyone, no matter who they are, 

“What’s your favorite flower?”

True to form, Debra answered with the lovely story of how the gardenia is her favorite flower, since they were in her wedding bouquet, and how they were likely grown in a greenhouse near Portland where she tied the knot. 

Week 5 from Slow Flowers.  Sun Valley has a stunning crop of hydrangea harvesting right now.

I asked Debra to elaborate on her personal floral design style, what kind of design work does she do for her own kitchen table? She went back to her gardening roots, talking about the “abundant garden” and that in her circles, if you can see the dirt in a garden, you don’t have enough plants.  She described her arranging style as “controlled chaos,” with a reliance on voluptuous heirloom flower varieties and a strong nostalgic appeal.

So what’s next for Ms. Prinzing?  She will be devoting a lot of time into the Slow Flowers website, seeing that there is such a pressing need to support the buy U.S. Grown flower movement.  Creating this resource will be not only be a personal accomplishment, but it will be a tool to promote quality fresh cut flowers grown on U.S. soil by U.S. farmers.

 

CA Grown flowers are near and dear to Debra's heart!

  …and getting back to “The  Queen of Multitasking,” she will also be launching a podcast featuring interviews with thought leaders and opinion makers centered around the Slow Flower Movement.

On my desk, I have three copies of “Slow Flowers.”  Please comment on this post, and I will pick three random winners, cheers and good luck!

Learn About Lovely Lisianthus

Learn About Lovely Lisianthus

#americangrown #CaFlowers Grandiflorum Lisianthus salal Sun Valley Floral Farm

Always outgoing

Lisianthus stood for that
Among hidden flowers
Lisianthus stood out
In hidden bushes
Lisianthus was distinguished
If all could be that
Lisianthus was never shy
It would be a beautiful world
With all like Lisianthus.
                   -Grace Amorue

Lovely Lisianthus

It’s prime Lisianthus time on our Oxnard farm.  This beautiful flower is not one of the traditional standards of the floral industry, such as lilies and tulips.  Interestingly “Lizzy”, as our sales reps call it, is relatively new to the flower buying consciousness.  In the last decade it has been gaining popularity at an amazing rate.  We have been growing this crop for about seven years, and the demand just keeps rising.

Lisianthus roots lay in the Americas with several variations of the plant growing wild.  Most notably a variety with the common name Texas Bluebell found growing naturally in the vast prairies of Texas.  The species we grow is named Grandiflorum and it has been bred as a stand out cut flower.  The name comes from Latin, Lysis meaning “dissolution” and Anthos meaning “flower.”  Some citing its history as a prairie flower see it as a token of old-fashioned values and sensibility.  Others looking at its Greek name suggest that lisianthus symbolizes an outgoing and divisive nature.

Sun Valley Lisianthus varieties.

 Lizzy is winning the hearts and minds of designers and consumers alike because it is extremely versatile.  It’s origins as a prairie flower make lisianthus ideal for “country style” arrangements, with a strong American grown feel.  The many blooms can lend an unmanicured feel to any bouquet that naturally twangs. 

 

With a little more direction these same blooms can be formed into dramatic patterns in a contemporary bouquet.  The average length for this crop is 24 inches, so lizzy can give big height and visual power to a modern arrangement. 

Sun Valley Lisianthus with our Salal

Personally, I feel the best use lizzy is in the romantic style.  The charming personality of the blooms as they unfurl is just gorgeous and harkens back to another age.  Lisianthus have a very feminine feel.  With the buds tucked into a bouquet, letting a few escape, it is reminiscent of a women’s hair put up for a formal affair, allowing a few strands to bend down and frame her face.

Recently, I was lucky enough to talk with our head grower, Gerrit Vanderkooy in Oxnard, and ask him some questions about growing lisianthus. 

 

Lily: When do you plant lisianthus?

Gerrit: We bring the lizzy in as a plug, and plant it around the end of September. It grows very slowly, and we hopefully will harvest our first “cut” around Mother’s Day.  With this first cut we leave a little stem in the ground, and because the temperature is much warmer in summer we can harvest a second stem from the same plant, about two months later.

Lily: That’s amazing it takes about eight months to grow the first stem, then only two months for the second?

Gerrit: Yes, it is really a desert plant; its ideal conditions are very hot days and cool nights, which is generally what we get in Oxnard during summer.

Lily: What are the challenges of growing Lisianthus?

Gerrit: Weather-wise, we really need the hot temperature for lizzy to bloom; I don’t like cold snaps in the summer! This crop also likes very dry soil, so our team is very conscientious of the moisture in the soil.  The nature of the plant is to have very deep roots. This opens it up to being more susceptible to soil borne diseases, so we have to be extra vigilant in our hoop houses.  Lastly, perhaps the greatest challenge of growing lisanthus is that it can only be planted on soil which has never grown lisianthus before, what we call “virgin soil”.  Luckily, we have plenty of room!

Lisianthus growing in Oxnard,CA

 Lily: What’s the most popular color?

Gerrit: Far and away the most popular color is the purple, it is a really rich purple that is very saturated.  We grow double blooms, as opposed to the Europeans who still grow the single blooms.  The double blooms have much more color, texture and girth than the single.  Behind the purple, is the white, then followed by pink, rose and some of the bi-colors, as well as green, cream and champagne. 

 

Lily: Are you seeing any trends with Lisianthus?

Gerrit:  Right now this is a really a big wedding flower, especially the pastel colors and the white. The natural look is “in” and lizzy is ideal for this theme.

White Lisianthus

 Lily: Thanks Gerrit!

Pastel varieties of lisianthus, with salal.

As you can see lisianthus is bit of a labor of love, but it is a lovely flower with an amazing personality. We will have a steady supply through September, so now is a great time to get familiar with lizzy.

Tulip Adventure in the Redwoods

Tulip Adventure in the Redwoods

#americangrown #CaFlowers #OriginMatters #tulips Arcata Hyperion Redwood Grove French Tulips Redwoods

Hyperion is the name of the tallest tree on earth; it is also the tallest living organism and is in the running for the absolute largest life on earth.  Just 40 miles or so from the Sun Valley Farm in Arcata, this tree has been living for about the last 750 years.  The sprawling redwood forests of Humboldt County are an amazing eco-system and are among the wonders on the United Nation World Heritage List.

 

So what was happening in 1260’s?  Kublai Khan was taking charge of the Mongol Empire, the Crusades were in full swing, Marco Polo was on his way to present day China, the Middle Ages consumed Europe in war and this tree was just a little sapling.

I was given the assignment of heading into the redwood forest with a big bucket of our Redwood Grove French Tulips. I wasn’t able to take them to Hyperion, since to prevent vandals and damaging the surrounding eco-system, only a handful of people know where the tree is exactly located.

I chose the Arcata Community Forest as a beautiful, yet close spot I could go on a back to nature photo shoot.  French Tulips have been a staple of spring for decades; the Single Late bulbs grow the tallest, largest, most dramatic tulips on the market.  You are probably familiar with the Menton, Sauturness and Grand Amore, these classics grow in the pastels of spring.

Recently though, the French Tulip market has been turned on its head.  Enter the “Pride Series” and the “Honor Series.”  These French tulips are bold, bright and stunningly big.  Red, orange, purple, pink and apricot colors are coming in from the fields right now.  Sun Valley has the United States exclusive to grow these tulips.  The breeder only grants permission to one grower per tulip producing nation to grow their tulips, and lucky for you, Sun Valley is it!

We only have a limited number of bulbs, so this is a limited crop. However, they are coming in strong right now.  (Hint, Hint!)  Next year we anticipate have a larger crop, so start wrapping your head around the fact that the French Tulip market is in the midst of a sea change toward big bright tulips to compliment the pastels you are familiar with.

We call our French Tulips “Redwood Grove” because they share many of the characteristics with the redwoods. Compared to normal trees, the redwoods are epic.  Hyperion is 379.1 feet tall, which is over 37 stories in a building.  While standard Sun Valley tulips reach about 14-20 inches, our French tulips start at 22 inches and reach much higher.  Right now we are picking some at 28+. And like all tulips, they continue to grow in the vase.

Pink Pride~ Now that's a TULIP!

  The redwoods and tulips actually thrive in the very same climate.  Damp and chilly with an even light level is just perfect.  Looking east from the farm to Liscom Hill and Fickle Hill the dense green of redwood foliage matches the rich green foliage of our Frenchies.

I was on Fickle Hill in the Arcata Community Forest on an ideal day for photography.  The light was cascading gently through the canopy almost like putting a spotlight on my bouquet.  I used a simple yet elegant vase and loaded it with as many colors as I could find in the cooler. Trudging into the forest with a white 5 gallon bucket stuffed with tulips, vase, tripod, and camera was no easy feat.   More than a couple joggers did a double take, staring at me as some sort of serious flower power hippie coming up the trail, this is not an uncommon thing in Arcata.

Once I reached the ridge with a nice view down into Jolly Giant Creek, I set to work finding the right light and setting up the tulips. The photos don’t show it, but it is actually very hard to find a flattish spot to set up a vase.  I can vouch that these tulips are tough; on more than a couple occasions I set up the vase among the redwood duff and ferns, then tip toed back to the camera on the tripod, only to look through the viewfinder and not see any tulips as the whole vase had slid off the mossy spot I had them balanced, whoopsie!   The shoot took about an hour until my bucket of tulips and I was exhausted.

I walked downhill to the trail head, again playing the role of flower power super hippie.  The mighty redwoods have an uncanny way of enveloping you in their essence; our French tulips have this same effect… make sure you get to experience them both.