Episode 695 – New Cut Flower Seeds for 2025 + Flower Breeding News with Hillary Alger, Joy Longfellow, and Lindsay Wyatt of Johnny’s Selected Seeds

https://youtu.be/9bau3g6_h6A?si=a70BbD2OFYpQmrrW Back by popular demand, we're hosting Johnny's Seeds' floral experts, Joy Longfellow and Hillary Alger, who will introduce some of Johnny's Selected Seeds' 40-plus new flower seed varieties for 2025! Hillary and Joy take us behind the scenes to learn more about the dazzling selections of floral varieties and mixes for 2025 – from the subtle to the vibrant, including four NEW introductions -- straight from Johnny's Exclusive Breeding Program. And learn from our bonus guest, Johnny's Senior Plant Breeder Lindsay Wyatt, who discusses what it takes to select and breed gorgeous new petal palettes and bring them to market! New Zinnia varieties from Johnny's Seeds Celosia 'Shimmer' It's that time of year again, when the seed catalogs arrive and as the winter solstice takes place in a few days, we turn our dreams to our 2025 cutting gardens and flower farms. Today's show is a follow up to Slow Flowers Podcast Episode 640 from December of 2023, about one year ago, when Hillary Alger and Joy Longfellow unveiled Johnny's Selected Seeds' new flower seed varieties for 2024. The replay video of that show been viewed more than 5,000 times on YouTube – it was our most popular episode of 2024. https://youtu.be/FEbEZgWQliE But I'm delighted to report that there's even more exciting flower seed news for 2025, and that's the topic of today's show, with return guests Hillary and Joy. Hillary has more than 13 years of experience on Johnny’s Seeds’ research team, currently serving as the Product Manager for flowers and herbs, and Joy is the Flower Team Technician at Johnny’s, managing every aspect of Johnny’s flower trialing program. As a bonus, Lindsay Wyatt, their collaborator in new flower seed breeding, joins in the presentation to explain all about the "recurrent selection" method of breeding. https://youtu.be/RLqedWQmvE4?si=a7cBz9ATznB3emJP This episode covers some gorgeous and vigorous new introductions that the flower team has trialed, evaluated, and curated for 2025 -- including agrostemma, China aster, snapdragon, strawflower, celosia, pansy and viola, and lisianthus. But what's more exciting than that are the four new Johnny's introductions from the breeding program that began in 2016. You'll get to meet three lovely new zinnia introductions -- Aurora, Agave, and Ballerina -- and one beautiful new celosia mix called Shimmer. https://youtu.be/JD2_YhPcLT8?si=nGa-iB5llCZCMAMu Let's jump right in and welcome the talented floral team from Johnny's. Learn why their favorite standouts are worth considering! More Resources:Follow Johnny's Seeds on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/johnnys_seeds/ Hillary Algerhttps://www.instagram.com/hillaryalger/ Joy Longfellowhttps://www.instagram.com/joyatjohnnys/ Lindsay Wyatthttps://www.instagram.com/lindsay564/ Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit 2025 And we’re just three weeks away from the Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit, so now is the time to grab your ticket! The SLOW FLOWERS WORLDWIDE SUMMIT takes place online – January 9-11, 2025 – and you will enjoy 15 hours of amazing floral education from Slow Flowers experts. Check out the details at slowflowerssummit.com. Slow Flowers members receive $50 off their registration! Reserve Your Seat at the Slow Flowers Summit Thank you to our Sponsors This show is brought to you by Slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 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 Red Twig Farms. Based in New Albany, Ohio, Red Twig Farms is a family-owned farm specializing in peonies, daffodils, tulips and branches, a popular peony-bouquet-by-mail program and their Spread the Hope Campaign where customers purchase 10 tulip stems for essential workers and others in their community. Learn more at redtwigfarms.com. Thank you to the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com. I’m so glad you joined us today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com Thank you for listening! Sending love, from my cutting garden to you! (c) Missy Palacol Photography I'm Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you're invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I'll see you next week! Music Credits: Drone Pine; Gaena; Turning on the Lights; A Pleasant Strikeby Blue Dot Sessionshttp://www.sessions.blue Lovelyby Tryad http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentalshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ In The Fieldaudionautix.com