https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BHac7fAq1Y

Scott and Anne Sumner of Walla Walla Flower Farm performing in their fields

Welcome, friends! I have such a lively and informative episode to share with you today. A few weeks ago - before we welcomed 150+ guests to the Slow Flowers Summit, I joined my husband Bruce to drive 5 hours east accompanying him on a short business trip. We drove across the state to Walla Walla in the southeast corner of Washington that's become a major winery and tourism hub.I can't travel anywhere without looking up our local Slow Flowers Society members and asking permission to visit their floral design studio, shop, or flower farm. On my last trip to Walla Walla (pre-covid), I visited flower farmer Elaine Vandiver of Gholson Gardens and recorded an audio interview, but our community is growing there! In the past year, Anne Sumner of Walla Walla Flower Farm joined our society. I was eager to meet her and learn her story, which you'll hear today.

Walla Walla Flower Farm

Walla Walla Flower Farm Is a small-scale, woman-owned and operated farm growing cut glowers in the beautiful Walla Walla Valley. Hailing from generations of Walla Walla Valley farmers and growing up working on the family farm, Anne Sumner has come back to her roots. After years of raising and homeschooling children, working as a registered nurse and most recently serving as a bank VP, Walla Walla Flower Farm feels to Anne like coming home.

Scenes from Walla Walla Flower Farm

Her mission and the mantra of WWFF is: Share Flowers. Share Joy.Anne certainly shared her flowers and her joy with me. When I learned that she and her husband Scott were soon heading to Idaho for a week-long fiddling convention, I asked if they would play some music and allow me to record it. I'm so happy to open and close this episode with their guitar-fiddle music.

Thank you so much for joining me today! In case you missed it, we just dropped the July edition of our monthly Slow Flowers Newsletter -- it's filled with free resources, inspiring content, and news of our community.

Click to read our July Slow Flowers Newsletter

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Thank you to our Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 850 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Farmgirl Flowers. Farmgirl Flowers delivers iconic burlap-wrapped bouquets and lush, abundant arrangements to customers across the U.S., supporting U.S. flower farms by purchasing more than $10 million dollars of U.S.-grown fresh and seasonal flowers and foliage annually. Discover more at farmgirlflowers.com.

Thank you, CalFlowers, the leading floral trade association in California, providing valuable transportation and other benefits to flower growers and the entire floral supply chain in California and 48 other states. The Association is a leader in bringing fresh cut flowers to the U.S. market and in promoting the benefits of flowers to new generations of American consumers. Learn more at cafgs.org.

Thank you, Store It Cold, creators of the revolutionary CoolBot, a popular solution for flower farmers, studio florists and farmer-florists. Save $1000s when you build your own walk-in cooler with the CoolBot and an air conditioner. Don't have time to build your own? They also have turnkey units available. Learn more at storeitcold.com.   

Thank you, Red Twig Farms. Based in Johnstown, Ohio, Red Twig Farms is a family-owned farm specializing in peonies, daffodils, tulips and branches, a popular peony-bouquet-by-mail program and their Spread the Hope Campaign where customers purchase 10 tulip stems for essential workers and others in their community. Learn more at redtwigfarms.com.