https://youtu.be/Qz65ppy6ZGA
Farmer-florist Lori Poliski of Flori, photographed in front of her studio in Woodinville, Washington (c) Missy Palacol
Thank you so much for joining us today! It's the first week of December and time to put away all the pumpkin and harvest decor aside and think about the floral palette for our winter holidays.
I'm so happy to introduce you to Lori Poliski of Flori LLC, a Slow Flowers member whose design studio is based in Woodinville, Washington, outside of Seattle.
The opening spread of "Modern Homestead" features Flori's converted horse barn turned design studio (c) Missy Palacol
Lori is one of 37 creatives featured in my book Where We Bloom, published by BLOOM Imprint this past spring. In fact, her studio is the first to be featured in the opening pages of the book, in a six-page story titled: Modern Homestead - a horse barn converted with function and beauty in mind. Lori's narrative shares her path to flowers, including the story of forming her business in 2017, choosing the studio name "FLORI," from the Latin florus, which means 'flower' and rhymes with her name. You'll want to check it out and you can order Where We Bloom from our website at bloomimprint.com or slowflowerssociety.com.
From the pages of Christmas Cottage magazine (c) Missy Palacol
After the book's publication, the editors of Cottage Journal asked Slow Flowers to create a holiday-decor-themed story featuring some of the creative spaces in the book. Lori transformed the exterior of her rustic horse barn, with blue-gray shingles and a whimsical striped awning, with holiday greenery, wintry props and red accents -- you can find the story called "Seasonal Garden Settings" in the Cottage Journal's "Christmas Cottage" issue, on newsstands now.
Where-We-Bloom_The-Cottage-JournalDownload
So Lori agreed to join me and not only share more about her floral enterprise, but teach us how she makes 100% compostable wreaths. A former teacher, she prepared for our conversation by listing all the specific conifer varieties and sources she planned to use. As one who nearly flunked out of winter plant ID class at the local community college, mostly due to learning about conifer identification, I am so appreciative of Lori's handy ingredients list she shared with me.
A collection of Lori Poliski's 100% compostable wreaths
Find and follow Flori at these social places:Flori on InstagramFlori on Facebook
That was so informative and inspiring. I used all of Lori's wreath-making tips and methods this past weekend, starting with some repurposed grapevine bases and hemp twine. The base greenery was formed by Douglas fir branches, downed from a recent store. And since I spent several days on a Whidbey Island workcation last week -- I'm so fortunate that I could arrange to purchase some beautiful novelty greens and broadleaf evergreen branches from Pam Uhlig of Sonshine Farm. A great way to kick off our holiday season and I hope you're inspired, too!
Download Flori's very useful Conifer Ingredient List:
Evergreens-Download
Slow Flowers Summit 2022
Last week I told you that we opened ticket sales to the 2022 Slow Flowers Summit and the early response has been fantastic.
The 5th Slow Flowers Summit takes place in Lower Hudson Valley, located just 45 minutes outside of Manhattan. I'm so excited to welcome you to three Days of Amazing Programming on June 26-28, 2022. You can find all the details at slowflowerssummit.com, and you'll be hearing a lot from me in the coming months, as we highlight our speakers, the immersive floral program and two iconic agricultural venues -- Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture and the Red Barn at Maple Grove Farm.
If you act now and register before the end of December, you'll receive the lowest price ever -- $749. Registration to the 3-day event includes breakfasts, lunches, refreshments and an opening day welcome cocktail party reception.