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Botanical Couture Issue for AMERICAN FLOWERS WEEK

Fifty state-by-state floral quilt squares comprise this vibrant illustration by Jenny M. Diaz, Slow Flowers Society’s longtime graphic artist and designer. Hand-painted by Diaz over the past several months, the 8-by-8- inch water color originals are based on a 1970s book of state quilt blocks. Truly stunning!

summer in bloom.

Welcome to our 2025 Botanical Couture edition celebrating American Flowers Week! As the original domestic flower promotional campaign, AFW was founded in 2015. By 2016, we commissioned our first botanical couture look, a red-white-and blue flower ‘fro designed by longtime Slow Flowers member, Susan McLeary. You can read more about that iconic look, as well as McLeary’s insights about how floral wearables have evolved over the past decade, in our new Q&A with her on page 20.

The looks continue, with seven floral garments created for 2025. We welcome returning botanical couture designers, Jennifer Reed, Kelly Shore, and Alanna Messner-Scholl, and are thrilled to welcome new contributors, including Andee Zeigler of Three Sepals, and students of Stockbridge School of Agriculture (University of Massachusetts), led by instructor Sarah Berquist. We love the inventiveness and we especially love Zeigler’s philosophy of growing flowers so you can “wear your garden.”

We also have inspiring features about several of our members’ creative expression through art and nature. You’ll enjoy reading about The Art of Floriography, the recent Indigo in Bloom exhibition in Charleston, and whimsical floral street art in Burlington, Vermont. It’s a busy season for everyone, and we look forward to following our community through American Flowers Week. Post your local blooms as we share the beauty and message of local flowers – we’re excited to see what you grow and create!

Read your FREE Issue of Slow Flowers Journal for Summer 2025

Inside the Issue

Installations, Floral Features, Q&As and Botanical Couture
Installations, Floral Features, Q&As and Botanical Couture

Red, White & Bloom

American Flowers Week's 10-year Restrospective of the "Best of" Botanical Couture opens with a new Q&A with our original designer of wearable flowers, Susan McLeary. This story is followed by iconic botanical couture looks, through the years - from 2016 to 2025.
American Flowers Week’s 10-year Restrospective of the “Best of” Botanical Couture opens with a new Q&A with our original designer of wearable flowers, Susan McLeary. This story is followed by iconic botanical couture looks, through the years – from 2016 to 2025.
Read your FREE Issue of Slow Flowers Journal for Summer 2025