Once again, our fabulous flower friend Debra Prinzing, founder of the Slow Flowers Summit, just finished another successful Slow Flowers Summit in Canada! We wish we could have gone to the two days of progressive ideas, connections and inspiration from June 23–25, 2024 but other obligations kept us in LA. It was held in Banff, Alberta and the videos looked amazing. Here is a little bit about the annual event for florists and farmers who are passionate about locally grown flowers. Maybe you can make next year’s Summit? You can send an email to the Slow Flowers Summit to learn more about next year’s events!
About Debra Prinzing from Thursd.
Kit with Debra Prinzing, the founder of SlowFlowers.com, a free directory to flower farmers and designers who grow and design with American Grown Flowers. Debra curated the Flower Pavilion speakers for the 2016 SF Flower & Garden Show.“Debra is the producer of SlowFlowers.com, the online directory for farms, florists, shops, and studios that supply domestic and local flowers in the U.S. and Canada. She is the creator of American Flowers Week, launched during the July 4th week in 2015 with more than 5.0 million social media impressions in 2017. Debra has authored more than 12 books, including Slow Flowers and The 50 Mile Bouquet. Debra is the editorial director and co-founder with Robin Avni of BLOOM Imprint, a boutique publisher that identifies and develops creative book ideas by and about members of the Slow Flowers Movement.”
History of the Summit — Started in Seattle in 2017
I attended the first Slow Flowers Summit in Seattle held in 2017. It was great to meet Christina Stembel there, the founder of a multimillion-dollar direct-to-consumer flower company, Farmgirl Flowers. I also met and sat next to a favorite author, Amy Stewart, who wrote a behind-the-scenes-floral-industry book, Flower Confidential.
Debra Prinzing welcomes attendees to the first annual Slow Flowers Summit in Seattle in 2017. Photo by Kit Wertz
American Grown Flowers in a non-foam fresh flower wall. Photo by Kit WertzFlower Duet Appearance at Slow Flowers Summit — Washington, D.C. 2018
Casey and I were speakers and presenters in 2018 in Washington, D.C. which was part of the AIFD conference. We presented how to teach floral design to flower farmers and florists who wanted to add floral classes to their business offerings. You can read more about it in our newsletter coverage of the Slow Flowers Summit 2018.
Casey and Kit presenting at the 2018 Summit
Kit and Casey at the Summit in 2018 in D.C. just miles from where we grew up!Flower Duet at Filoli — Slow Flowers Summit 2021
Casey and I were so excited to attend the Slow Flowers Summit in 2021 which included a few tours of flower farms in Watsonville. We met with fellow florists, flower farmers, and even a few students! Debra asked us to lead a flower takeover spot inside the Filoli Mansion where we worked with other attendees to design two eco-friendly designs featuring flowers from the gardens and farmer sponsors. I even connected with an old friend in San Francisco, so the 4‑day trip was a terrific experience.
Debra introduced a presenter at Filoli during the Slow Flowers Summit in 2021. Photo by Kit Wertz.
Casey of Flower Duet puts the finishing touches on the tall design we lead at the Filoli Flower Takeover. Photo by Kit Wertz
Fast Forward to 2024 — Slow Flowers Summit Canada
Debra packed the presenters with a wonderful variety of floral experts from the fabulously talented Hitomi Gilliam, an AIFD Japanese Canadian Flower Artist, and Cynthia Zamaria a home and garden creative who wrote a book called House + Flower published last year by Bloom Imprint.
