https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRlFmsrRGjM
Watch my wonderful conversation with Libby Francis-Baxter of The Modest Florist
For our final week of October's Member Appreciation Month, I recorded a terrific interview with longtime Premium member Libby Francis-Baxter, owner of The Modest Florist in Baltimore, Maryland. Libby is one of those constant IG presences in our lives, tagging Slow Flowers Society in her everyday floral posts that show the beautiful arrangements heading out the door of her neighborhood retail flower shop. She's living her values through and through -- and I really wanted to share Libby's story with you.
Libby Francis-Baxter of The Modest Florist, posing with one of her popular holiday arrangements in a recycled vintage green glass vase.
Here's a bit more about Libby and her cute shop:
Libby Francis-Baxter is known for supplying her community with locally-grown flowers, greens and live plants presented in vintage, reusable and biodegradable containers. Founded in 2013, The Modest Florist was created with sustainability at its core and is committed to environmentally-friendly solutions for the modern floral business. As the hometown florist in Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood, it's a source for a full range of floral services with a modern twist! The Modest Florist is the first florist to be recognized by and listed on the Maryland Department of Energy “Green Registry” and the owner is a LEED Green Associate.
Libby is proud of being quirky, a trait synonymous with the neighborhood where The Modest Florist is based.
You'll also want to check out a few bonus resources, including a recent Q&A with Libby published in Voyage Baltimore
and a feature I wrote about The Modest Florist that appeared in the December 2018 issue of Florists' Review, for our Slow Flowers Jounal "How I Do It" column -- an ongoing feature sharing retail florists' advice on sourcing locally. Download the article hereLast week, Libby and I recorded a video interview and you can watch the full episode, including a short, fun video that Libby's husband took on her farmers' market shopping excursion. Find that in today's show notes, too!
TheModestFloristDownload
Entirely Local! English Country Garden by The Modest Florist
After we recorded our conversation, Libby and I kept corresponding and I wanted to share portions of an email she sent me:
"The pandemic and the current, on-going supply chain issues have highlighted the importance of local sourcing. When the nation went into lockdown in March of 2020, the floral wholesalers shut down. Conventional florists found themselves without the ability to get flowers from South America and other far off places. Supplies like glassware from China have nearly dried up. Many of our area florists shut down; some for good."My experience was exactly the opposite! I shut my door to the public and pivoted to contact-free delivery. I never missed a beat on having flower inventory as I was able to rely on my local greenhouse growers and field flower farmers to do COVID safe pickups. My community knows that I love reused vases. So many folks were stuck at home and cleaning out their kitchen cabinets that I have gotten more vases left outside the shop than ever before!"I wanted to share my experience as a way to encourage florists to consider a more sustainable business model. As far as I know, I'm the only full-service retail flower shop on the east coast to source only local flowers and plants all year 'round. It's a challenge and more work but I believe our world needs folks to put planet before profit.Libby Francis-Baxter, The Modest Florist
Bonus Interview: Ellen Frost, Local Color Flowers
https://youtu.be/kffJU7qabvg
On this topic, I want to share a bonus interview I also recently recorded with Ellen Frost of Local Color Flowers. Ellen is a past guest of this podcast, so she will be familiar with you. In keeping with the theme of my interview with Libby,