Episode Details

https://youtu.be/2GBCwmvQz9g?si=acEjUfFB92SDBSJI Our 12th annual American Flowers Week is coming right up – June 28th through July 4th. To showcase this year’s Botanical Couture collection, I’m welcoming return guest Françoise Weeks to the Slow Flowers Podcast. A longtime Slow Flowers Member, her name is synonymous with botanical couture. As an educator, she has taught thousands of students around the globe, as well as from her Portland, Oregon-based studio, and online. Slow Flowers asked Françoise to create a lily-inspired floral fashion for this year’s American Flowers Week collection, an idea originally proposed by Flowerbulb.eu, a Slow Flowers sponsor that that promotes lilies grown from European bulbs for U.S. gardeners, flower farmers, and florists. Françoise designed and created two alluring styles to highlight lily petals and blooms. In addition to discussing this project, Françoise shares some of the techniques and mechanics she has developed for botanical couture – and you might want to add them to your floral tool kit! Françoise Weeks American Flowers Week represents a unique intersection of passions – flower farmers and floral designers coming together to promote local, seasonal, and sustainable flowers. This truth is at the core of what distinguishes the Slow Flowers Movement from any other floral industry organization of initiative.It underscores the shared values and celebrates the important, tandem paths of both professions, as well as the ones who call themselves farmer-florists. Brim detail of Françoise Weeks' lily Top Hat (c) Theresa Bear This year, we are delighted to welcome Françoise Weeks, who has created two of American Flowers Week’sfour distinct looks, a collaboration with Sandra Laubenthal and Norman Peterkort, growers of superior Asiatic, oriental, and double lilies, and owners of Peterkort Roses. Lily production at Peterkort Roses (c) Theresa Bear Peterkort Roses supplied Françoise with hundreds of lily stems and accent flowers from their greenhouses outside Portland, Oregon. We’re calling the collection “Lily Luxe,” and when you see the way Françoise has reimagined lilies into wearable fashions – you’ll be as enchanted as I am. Lily stole by Françoise Weeks (c) Theresa Bear "Flower Power" by Amy Rice Françoise Weeks LILY social media badge Visit Americanflowersweek.com to download our free social media badges:The Françoise Weeks-Peterkort looks Flower-farm social media campaign by Amy Rice And head’s up, today’s episode is the second of our three-part series, so join us on July 1st to meet Alanna Messner-Scholl of Waverly Flower Co., as we introduce her third consecutive botanical fashion created for American Flowers Week. Thanks for joining in and sharing the news about this special campaign! Thank you to our Sponsors This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to 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, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu. Thank you to Rooted Farmers. Rooted Farmers works exclusively with local growers to put the highest-quality specialty cut flowers in floral customers' hands. When you partner with Rooted Farmers, you are investing in your community, and you can expect a commitment to excellence in return. Learn more at RootedFarmers.com. Thank you to Johnny's Selected Seeds, an employee-owned company that provides our industry the best flower, herb and vegetable seeds -- supplied to farms la