Episode 442: New York’s Jenny Rae Siplo of Flowerwell, a Flower Farm & Design Studio

Jenny Rae Siplo of FLOWERWELL in Rochester, NY (c) Lindsay Stephany Photo I am so happy to visit today with Jenny Rae Siplo of Flowerwell, a flower farm and design studio in Rochester, N.Y. We were corresponding recently and Jenny Rae shared some big news about her floral enterprise -- one that is radically changing the way she will operate Flowerwell in the future. I knew you'd want to hear all about it, so I asked Jenny Rae to record this conversation with me! Jenny Rae Siplo in her dahlias fields (c) Lindsay Stephany Photo Here's what she says about Flowerwell: I dreamt about what it would be like to become a full-time farmer-florist many moons ago. That dream became all I could think about, even when I had no land, no experience, and was living out of an apartment. In college, I explored languages and art, but deep down knew I was being called to nature. It was almost like there was an unseen force that knew the outside was where I needed to be. I don’t come from a family of farmers, but I grew up gardening with my Mother. While gardening and farming are very different, my time in the garden laid the foundation for me to become the farmer and floral designer that I am today. To say that I love flowers isn’t enough. They give me life. They feed my soul. They make the challenging task of farming worth it. They provide the creative inspiration and energy for the beauty that is our floral designs. My aim for Flowerwell is to always share this overwhelming joy and passion. My hope is that you grow to appreciation and love our locally grown flowers as much as I do. On location with Jenny Rae Siplo as she creates a floral arch (c) Alexandra Elise Photo; dahlias forever (right) Flowerwell was built on a dream of merging locally-grown flowers with artfully-curated floral design. Established in 2015 in the countryside of Rochester, Jenny Rae set out to provide a creative approach to both the wedding industry and growing cut flowers commercially. As a result, Flowerwell focuses on colors, textures, and heirloom varieties of specialty flowers and foliage. "Our design work is distinguished by our specialty blooms being incorporated in a modern, garden-inspired, floral design style. We are known for the one-of-a kind floral experience that we provide and our passion for everything involving flowers." I'm excited for you to join today's conversation - all about Flowerwell. Find and follow Flowerwell at these social places: Flowerwell on Facebook Flowerwell on Instagram Florals grown & designed by Flowerwell -- Alexandra Meseke Photo (left); Alexandra Elise Photo (right) In late 2018, Jenny Rae asked me to with some of the research and background she needed to apply for the New Farmers' grant. I'm so glad it paid off! Jenny Rae shared the State of New York's announcement about the Farm Grant. Flowerwell was one of only two flower farms to receive a New York New Farmers' grant in 2019. Since its launch in 2014, this statewide program has awarded $4.2 million to 114 farms across the state. It took five years for flower farming to gain support through this program. In addition to Flowerwell, our friends at Tiny Hearts Farm, in Copake, NY, received a grant to purchase field equipment and supplies. Congratulations to Jenny Elliott and Luke Franco for receiving this important support as they increase flower production acreage. Of course, they are Slow Flowers members and past guests of this podcast -- what great news for Slow Flowers in New York. We wish both of these farms a great 2020 season! Jumping ahead to future events . . . if you've been sitting on the fence trying to decide if you can make the trip to SFO to join the 4th Annual Slow Flowers Summit - now is the time! The Summit takes place June 26-28, 2020 at Filoli - an amazing historic home and garden where we will gather to tour, learn, design, create and collaborate! We only have 50 seats left so I urge you to foll...