Transcript
Jennifer Gulizia: Today I'm joined by Anne Long from the Dahlia House. For more than two decades, Anne has been growing gorgeous blooms and helping others discover that you don't need a large flower farm or endless hours to fill your life with beauty. Through the Dahlia House, Anne shares her passion for growing flowers in a way that feels joyful and achievable, even in the midst of life's chaos.
Jennifer Gulizia: Whether you've got kids at home, a busy job, or a million things on your plate, she reminds us that beauty doesn't require perfection. It just needs your presence. In our conversation today, we're gonna talk about finding joy in the garden, creating space for creativity when life feels full, and how flowers can teach us to flourish right where we are. Get ready to be inspired by Anne Long of the Dahlia House.
Jennifer Gulizia: Anne, welcome to today's episode. Thanks for joining me.
Anne: Oh, thanks so much for having me. I'm so excited. I've been a huge admirer. Is that a weird thing to say of yours for years?
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh, you're so sweet.
Anne: You've been inspiring me up here in the corner of the country.
Jennifer Gulizia: Likewise.
Anne: And it's so fun to be able to connect with you on such a sweet, yeah, it's just a really sweet thing, sweet way to connect and to get to chat.
Jennifer Gulizia: Well, I'm excited for today. i have been following you as well. And it's one of the things I love about the podcast is how we can be miles apart, hundreds of miles apart, thousands of miles apart.
Jennifer Gulizia: And the podcast allows us to connect with other growers. And the great thing that I've realized through all of this is we all have so many similarities and so many things in common that flowers, I just feel really truly bring us together. So thank you for being here today.
Anne: For sure. I know. I think that somebody needs to actually start a like husband or partner support group for like when you say we have so much in common. Like every time I talk to another farmer, I'm like, oh my gosh, my husband, Taylor, he should talk to your husband. Like They need to support groups. So we'll just throw that out there as a business opportunity for somebody to go.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love it. I could see like some kind of TikTok page or something to launch it.
Anne: Totally.
Jennifer Gulizia: yeah My husband's always like, how long did you record that podcast for?
Anne: You know, whatever. know.
Jennifer Gulizia: It's just, there's so much to talk about when it comes to flowers. So Anne, take us back to the beginning of your journey. Where did your love for flowers first start?
Anne: Well, my love for flowers first started like way, way, way back. Actually, when I was little, my my grandmother, her name is Rose. And she had this little tiered rose garden.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh.
Anne: So thinking back on it now, it looked really big to me. But if I go back, it would it was so tiny. like I think it was... probably, it was probably like four feet wide.
Anne: And then the beds were probably like just a foot deep and it was tiered. So it was three of those, like four feet by one foot beds tiered stacked on top of each other or like behind each other. And she had some roses. And I just remember walking outside you know, because there was no like so cell phones when we were growing up.
Jennifer Gulizia: Totally.
Anne: Anyway, and just walking outside and we we lived pretty close to our grandparents. So especially in the summer, we would go there, you know, for lunch or for the afternoon or or whatever. And so I got to kind of experience her roses blooming at different times.
Anne: And so I just remember like shoving my nose in them and like noticing the difference between the different rose smells and And even like in the same variety, it would smell different if it was just starting to bloom. or And it just was fascinating, the colors. I mean, I literally would like caress them with my hands and treat them like little precious babies. And so that's probably where that's probably where it started for me. My first awareness of like, these are not normal. Like, these are ridiculous. I love these. Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that. It's always amazing to me how flowers tie us back to a time and a place. Anyone you ask always has that memory. And it's always something like my grandmother's garden, or for me, it was my aunt and uncle's dahlias up in Seattle. So it's so neat how it it literally keeps us connected to people that are special to us.
Anne: Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I mean, it's, it's so many senses, right? It's not just like, You're not just hearing something. you can You're hearing the the birds. You're seeing this incredible beauty.
Anne: i mean, not so much with dahlias, but even with dahlias, you can tell what time of the season it is. You open up your car. When you're when I go to my dahlias, I open up the car and i'm like, this is August in the dahlias field.
Anne: You open up, you're this is September in the dahlias field. you know So like there's just different smells and everything. So it it makes sense that it would be so tied to memory because you have so many senses working at the same time.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes. And this might be a little out there for some people listening, but i believe water holds memory. And there's a lot of scientific research that says water holds memory. And if you think about it, dahlias are 80% water.
Jennifer Gulizia: How much memory is being held in that flower that evokes those emotions for us?
Anne: one Wow. I am going to have to think about that. That's amazing. That's my nugget for today or this week.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah, I think it's Victor Schellberger is the one that came up with the theory that water holds memory.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I know some people might be listening going, whoa, that's a little woo, but it's fascinating.
Anne: Wow.
Jennifer Gulizia: There's so many experiments where you can look up and see like when there's this lady, I want to say she's in New Zealand and she has photographed water. And sorry, I'm veering a little off topic here. She's photographed like where you talk to water and then you freeze it and the different ways it freezes based on the emotions that are given to it.
Jennifer Gulizia: It's incredible. I'll have to link it in the show notes. This lady is amazing. It's really cool to see her work on Instagram.
Anne: Oh my goodness. This is amazing. I have a, my dear, a dear, dear friend does a lot of, I know it's not actual water, but she paints water. She does like realistic,
Anne: like just close up snapshots. She lives out here on the San Juan Islands. So I'm going to send her that too. make her listen that with me. So yeah, that's, that's so, I've never heard anything like that. That's so cool.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah, I just always think about that. I'm like, okay, why are we so drawn to these memories or why are these memories so strong?
Anne: Yeah.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: So you fell in love with flowers as a little girl.
Anne: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Gulizia: At what point did it become your passion and your career in life?
Anne: Mm-hmm.
Anne: Oh gosh, that was like totally on accident. And it was through like a devastating experience. But I just, I think that I kind of needed them. Like i was a pretty rambunctious, I was pretty naughty when I i was growing up. And so I was in trouble a lot and it just had tons of energy. And I think that like, I like received a love from flowers and like they drew my attention. They held my attention. And and then I noticed that you could, I could also use them. Even if I had just been like a turd to my mom or something, go out and pick her some flowers and give it to her like, mom, you know, I'm sorry. And give her, I don't, I would just, I've used, they've been like a love language for me ever since I was little. So every mother's day I would go out and get my mom's favorite flowers and plant up. That's what always just what I did for mother's day is plant up flowers for her. but the way that my business started, so, I have four girls,
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh
Anne: And we actually have a grandbaby on the way, Jen. I don't know if you know that.
Jennifer Gulizia: my gosh, congratulations.
Anne: I'm so excited. i'm I'm just freaking out. It's very exciting. But anyway, so having four girls, i was a stay at home mom, but did usually when people say that, like, oh, what did you do all day? I'm like, are you kidding me?
Anne: so i I did a lot of volunteering at the kids school and volunteering at our church and stuff. But dahlias were like the one hobby that I kind of had and I could do it kind of with my kids.
Anne: So it wasn't something that I it would take me away from them. It was something that I could do with them, but that also fed me. Like it was mom's hobby, but my my kids would get included and be by me and, you know, out in the garden with me.
Jennifer Gulizia: uh
Anne: so So yeah, that just ended up being literally my one like self-care hobby, I guess. And so in 2020, basically all my dahlias got COVID, just kidding.
Anne: Uh, but we, we made new beds.
Jennifer Gulizia: but
Anne: My husband was home from work because so many people were home from work. And i would like in my, we live in a, in a like lot in just the city of Mount Vernon and we live on the corner.
Anne: So I basically farm in between the sidewalk and the street on both sides. So there was definitely more place for, some raised beds. And I was like, Taylor, let's go, let's build them. And it was late in the season.
Anne: and so we were in a rush to get them in. And so i kind of did something really fast where I didn't put cardboard down in between. So we were turning sod into our are dahlia beds.
Anne: And when you do that, I had never, I didn't know what a wireworm was. Jen, I don't know if you know what wireworms are. I'm sure you probably do at this point.
Jennifer Gulizia: I lost a thousand dahlias to wireworm. I know all too well.
Anne: Yeah. Okay.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh,
Anne: Okay. I'm so sorry. I, my heart hurts for you. that's exactly like, so I, so this was 20. So I had probably like, I'd been growing dahlias for 17 years at this point.
Anne: I had, I had like eight varieties that I had my very first year. You know, this is like a growing collection of like all my birthday money, all my Christmas money. Like this is what this represents.
Anne: Anyway, long story short, we, I put dahlias in these new beds without putting cardboard, like any sort of barrier in between where the grassroots work.
Jennifer Gulizia: huh.
Anne: And for those listening, wireworms are little tiny worms. They are like an inch or so long. They're kind of like a light yellow, creamy color.
Jennifer Gulizia: Kind of hard.
Anne: And Dahlia tubers are their absolute favorite thing in the whole, in all the lands. So, and they feed on grassroots. So if you are turning some new lawn or some lawn into a dahlia bed, you that's totally fine.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah.
Anne: Or they will be just, you'll have a huge infestation. So that's what happened to me. We lost, I lost probably like 97% I think I had like three varieties left out of like 150.
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow.
Jennifer Gulizia: well
Anne: And it was so sad. Anyway, so I was like, okay, well, it's like, I have time on my hands. And also if I start a business, I can buy some wholesale and then hopefully make back what I paid for that wholesale and gain that variety.
Anne: So I started a business just so that I could buy Tubers wholesale. I was not trying to, I had no, that's why my business started.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh my gosh.
Anne: And, but that's what I did. And so I ordered like 70 different varieties. And when you get, 70 varieties, it's like 20 or 25 of each variety.
Anne: So literally thousands of Dahlia Tubers. I really didn't do the math so much. But I made a website, even though I could barely even attach like a photo to an email. Somehow I made a website and I launched my sale at Christmastime.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love it.
Anne: And I didn't just make, like, recoup my money. i made $8,000 more. And I was like, it had been a family dream of mine to tip for all of us to go to Hawaii. And I was like, oh, my gosh, people. We are going to Hawaii. Like, shit.
Jennifer Gulizia: love it
Anne: So excited. Okay. So i this could be the longest story, but I'm fast forward, fast forward to 2021. Do you remember there was all those shipping delays? like people couldn't get stuff. Anyway, the tubers came like about a month late and they did not look at I was like, these have been on the ship for a long time.
Anne: And so I was like going through kind of, like trimming them and just getting down to what I felt comfortable selling, you know?
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah.
Anne: And then I started to notice some gall show up. I was like, I feel like these are diseased. And so for me, and because the way that gall is spread, i was like, if there's one in these 35, all of them go to the trash because the way that this gall spreads, i'm like there's no I don't know how they were handled before. So I'm treating this whole variety as diseased. So, the next three weeks I basically started as I would go through all these varieties, you know, we'd bleach the entire kitchen table, bring up another variety, go through it. And then I would find tooth comb through all these varieties. And then if I found gall, it was like, Oh, this vari variety is out. This variety is out.
Anne: So by the day of shipping, which was April something, like say it was April 1st, I had like basically called about 50% of the varieties.
Anne: now And I'd been through all of these, like three, I was working around the clock. My in-laws were working around the clock just because I was like, there's no way I'm selling anything that's got disease on it.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah.
Anne: Like knowingly, you know? And anyway, so we were packaging up as fast as we could that morning to try to get the, start shipping. And I, one of the varieties that had been cleared three times, I was packaging it up and I found gall on one of the tubers.
Jennifer Gulizia: No.
Anne: And I was like, I know. i was like, guys, wait. And like, it was just silent in my kitchen for like, it was my sister-in-law was there. my My husband, one of my kids, one of my girls, and then my father-in-law and mother-in-law. And they just stopped. And I just like sat back and it took me like probably two minutes. And I was like, we're canceling all of the orders.
Anne: I don't feel comfortable planting this in my garden. And there's no way I'm going to, have anyone else plant it in theirs. And so I sent out this email to everybody. i was like, guys, i'm I'm really sorry. And I expected like, I was like, this is April. People bought these, like, they're like, okay, now I got this variety off my list. I don't have to look for it anymore. It's like too late now for people to find these varieties. And I just felt so horrible. And I was like, and this is not going personal, but people are going to be pretty upset. So just get your thick skin on. It's okay. They need to vent.
Anne: So I sent the email out and I did not even get one grumpy email in response out of like a hundred and no, out of like 250 orders, 250 people.
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow. Oh.
Anne: I, all I got was people saying, thank you so much for, your, your honesty and like show, like, I didn't know what gall was. And now I know to what to look for. Like they were just so thankful.
Anne: And they were like, please, i mean, there are people, obviously I didn't do this, but there are people who are like, please keep my money because I want to invest in your business. And like, they didn't know I was not trying to make a business.
Anne: Like I was just trying to re free get my doll YouTubers back anyway. so That was like whammy upon whammy. This is two years in a row now. And I, so we had scheduled to leave on a family vacation and I left all literally Dahlia tubers in our kitchen, all of them in our garage. And I was just like, I got peace out and like cry and process what the heck just happened because there's a whole nother year, I feel like.
Anne: And so we did, we went on our family vacation and it wasn't until we were driving back. We went to, we drove down to California And we were coming back and that's when I finally was like, okay, Taylor, help me process. like And I basically just started telling about how like obviously God does not want me to run a business because took all my Dali tours away and now like all of them came to Z. And he listened to me. he was so patient. He was like, yeah, I totally understand why you're feeling that way. And and then he was like, but I think you need to become a farmer.
Anne: I think you've got a bunch of loyal customers and they're supporting you and they're like for you and you know what you're doing, like you know what to look for and you know how to grow. You've been doing this for years. So i think you should do that. And i was like, that is not what I thought you were going to say. And then I actually ebb was in therapy like, two weeks after that. And my therapist, I told her the story. She's like, yeah, I totally agree with Taylor. Same thing. you get Let's go. And was like, what?
Anne: So it's because of that, that the Dahlia house was born. i just kept going, like literally defeat upon defeat. Like, and then I just, like, I started shopping around at, like Dahlia societies that had just the, a lot of hybridizers there and people that knew how to,
Anne: what to do with disease and how to watch there. And so that's how I sourced. And yeah, we just invested, like we took basically are some of our savings and I got 700 Dahlia tubers, which I cannot believe that's as many as I started with. That was double anything I ever grew before. And a friend of a sweet, generous, hospitable patient friend of mine was like, Hey, tell us how much of our, I've got extra field. Tell me how much you want us to till up.
Anne: And yeah,
Jennifer Gulizia: Wow. Yeah.
Anne: Yeah, I went and planted them at my really kind friend's house. And yeah, we and we ended up opening a UPIC that year. And it was like 2021. And so it was so sweet because it was outdoors.
Anne: So families could come, like it ended up, it's just so funny because there's it was so hard for two years. And I was like, what is going on? Nothing made sense. And then that Dahlia Field was open to the public for a place for people to come when outside beautiful spaces were so needed.
Jennifer Gulizia: yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: I love it.
Anne: it's It's a hard, you have to be resilient and and just have hope. And so that's the the grassroots. That's the long version.
Anne: Sorry, I said it was going to be short, but that's how I started.
Jennifer Gulizia: i love it Okay. We have to break this down here because that was a lot of great content you just shared with us.
Anne: yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: Starting with what your husband said, i love that your husband believed in you and saw your potential before you did. I think so awesome often those around us can see what we're capable of and what we're meant for before we can, because we've got so many blinders on and we're we're such a critique of, we're critiquing ourselves.
Anne: yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: We're like, I can't do that. Or we're comparing ourselves, but those around us, they can almost mirror that. And they're like, no, you're ready for this. Like, look at what you're doing. It's your turn.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Going back to the wireworm.
Anne: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Gulizia: So yours in my stories are like flip-flopped. I first had the terror of all of the gal. So I must've purchased 2021 also, because that was when we expanded our field.
Anne: Oh.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I was like, I'm going to order all of these dahlias. I'd never ordered bulk before. And I was like, what a great easy way, because it's like three to five bucks a clump.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I'm like,
Anne: Right.
Jennifer Gulizia: I have an acre now. I'm going to plant all these tubers and it's going to be absolutely beautiful. And i I didn't sell any of them, but I was going through and I'm looking at them.
Anne: Oh my
Jennifer Gulizia: I'm like, these don't look right to me. And I contacted the supplier. They're like, no, they're fine. There's nothing wrong with them. And I'm like, no. So I called our state, my ag inspector for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, this lady, Christie, she's been my inspector for years and she's amazing.
Anne: gosh.
Jennifer Gulizia: She's like, I'll be there tomorrow. So she drives like four hours from three or four hours from Salem.
Anne: No way.
Jennifer Gulizia: She brings like her specimen testing kits and her magnifying glass.
Anne: Oh my gosh.
Anne: Oh
Jennifer Gulizia: And oh, no, get this. We don't only find gal, leafy gal and crown crown gal. We also find pests that have come in from overseas.
Jennifer Gulizia: So my entire order got confiscated. They weren't going to refund me anything. But once it got confiscated and then tested by the Department of Agriculture in Oregon with proof that it actually had those things, I got my refund.
Jennifer Gulizia: on my order, but it was that same year. And then I had this huge gap in my field where I ended up planting.
Anne: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: I think I planted a bunch of marigolds and some zinnias and things to fill this space.
Anne: Yeah, just my corruption is seeds. Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah. Actually, you know, I think that was the first year I went big on growing dahlias from seed. I'd grown some, but I thankfully had all of those dahlias also. But so then let's say that was 2021.
Jennifer Gulizia: 2022 is when my field had grown quite large. And so I silage tarped the green grassy field for a winter and then put the compost down, tilled it up and planted all of my blush dahlias in this one area.
Anne: Oh, gosh.
Anne: No! There it is! It's so funny.
Jennifer Gulizia: and i'm like, okay, nothing's coming up in this area. I'm like, okay, be patient. And then all of a sudden it's like, no, it's like June. These should have been up weeks ago.
Jennifer Gulizia: Everything else is coming up. I start digging and the wire worm have bore through the dahlias. I don't just have wire worm though.
Anne: Right.
Jennifer Gulizia: I had garden symphylins. So the wire worm had bore into the tubers and then garden symphylins, which only exist in certain areas in the country. Two of the most prevalent areas are Oregon and Washington.
Jennifer Gulizia: Pray you never see them.
Anne: Oh, crap. I don't know about this.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah.
Anne: you You have to teach me about it.
Jennifer Gulizia: They're these tiny little white crawling bugs.
Anne: Okay.
Jennifer Gulizia: And basically, I couldn't find anyone in the floral industry that really could speak on it. i I reached out to like all the vegetable growers I knew. And one vegetable grower goes, you're screwed.
Jennifer Gulizia: Burn your field. And I'm like, I can't burn my field.
Anne: Okay.
Jennifer Gulizia: I don't even own this field.
Anne: That's not good news.
Jennifer Gulizia: And so I'm like, crap, what do I do?
Anne: Oh,
Jennifer Gulizia: But at that point, I mean, they were there was nothing. There were like crumbs. It was like potato skin.
Anne: Exactly. It's like, I describe it.
Jennifer Gulizia: And
Anne: Have you ever seen Men in Black? This is like a total throwback.
Jennifer Gulizia: yes, long time ago.
Anne: remember when the alien comes and eats Edgar and they flop his like so Edgar skin out and then the new alien this is like and he comes in and he's just like Edgar your skin's hanging off your bones anyway like that's a total throwback it's one of our family's favorite lines but my point is that yeah it looks like a Dahlia tuber on the outside until you touch it and it's like tissue paper and it there's nothing on the inside it's like a mirage of a Dahlia tuber oh it's so
Jennifer Gulizia: have to go back and watch it.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yep.
Jennifer Gulizia: because at first I thought, I was like, well, maybe I i did something and they rotted, but no, they didn't rot.
Anne: I know.
Jennifer Gulizia: It was just paper left.
Anne: Oh, it's so sad.
Jennifer Gulizia: So I don't remember the book I found it in but there was one little blurb I found. And it said that you can get rid of that. Well, the way to get rid of garden simphylans is to trap them with potatoes.
Jennifer Gulizia: And so you can, if you want to know if you have garden simphylons, usually you can see them if you dig in your soil and they're like these little white things that are crawling all over the place. And I had my ag lady come back out and Christy identified them and she said, yeah, that's what you've got going on here.
Jennifer Gulizia: So I potato trapped, I'd go to Safeway, fill a grocery cart that summer first.
Anne: Oh my gosh.
Jennifer Gulizia: full of potatoes, put them into quarters, take a popsicle stick, pop them in the ground. And every couple days I'm like digging them back up and chucking the simphylans with the potatoes in water to drown.
Anne: This is what I did with my wireworms.
Jennifer Gulizia: second
Anne: Although I used all my kids colored pencils because they weren't in school anymore. So I'm like,
Jennifer Gulizia: Nice. i We are very similar. But then I learned that wireworm do not like mustard seed and buckwheat.
Anne: indeed
Jennifer Gulizia: So in the spring, I planted mustard seed and then I interplanted buckwheat with the dahlias.
Anne: Smart.
Jennifer Gulizia: And it became kind of a nightmare harvesting the dahlias with the buckwheat because it grows so fast.
Anne: bet. Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: But it was really beautiful because it just, and oh, that's what I felt. And then that year, all of the rows, i had like five rows that I had lost dahlias.
Anne: Oh, no.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I put buckwheat in that and it filled in. And so then I didn't have an empty field, which was great.
Anne: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. that It's much better for those sunset pictures.
Jennifer Gulizia: Exactly. Or but people, we were like you, but people could walk by and you're like, oh you don't want it to look like you've got this random empty spot.
Anne: Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: So what I love about your stories, and I think is so true of so many people in the gardening industry, is it's like these hard things happen. And they're probably something else is going to happen again in the future. It would have been so easy for you.
Jennifer Gulizia: with all of those tubers that you got wholesale to be like, well, that's it. I'm done. I'm not going to grow dahlias again, but you didn't.
Anne: I definitely wanted to do this. It's like, peace out. My heart can't hurt this much anymore. Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah. But you were resilient. Like, I think that's the one thing that plants and flowers teach us is like, You have to get back up and keep going and you don't get rewarded if you're not resilient in this industry. Like it's the only way to survive as a grower.
Anne: Well, and also like what do our dahlias, what like makes them flourish the most and our fields flourish the most? It's compost. So it's basically, it's stuff that's died.
Anne: So, you know, like literally I feel like my business journey has been a like I wasn't even trying to grow a business, like I said, but it is birthed out of like these the two years of just
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes.
Anne: death, like death to dreams, death, literal death to my dad and everything. And so like when we're in a season, i think that's one of the things that is most encouraging to me, about being a grower, and just being a gardener is that, it just, there's so much hope in that even when everything is decimated, like you have all these wire worms, you know, you, you get told, oh, you need to burn your field.
Anne: Like, okay. Like what's, it does, makes you like resilient and kind of tenacious. And you're like, how, how is this going to work? And it makes you think outside the box and find the one little tiny paragraph.
Anne: Cause I did the same thing. I like poured myself into research, asking the extension here, going into different nurseries, like, contacting growers.
Jennifer Gulizia: Thank
Anne: you know I found like something from Canada in the Toronto something something that that's where I found mustard seed. They don't like mustard seed. But it just makes you go down these, yeah, it just it makes you resilient.
Anne: It makes you stronger, which is weird because it it hurts and it's it doesn't feel like it's making you stronger at the time. so
Jennifer Gulizia: Totally. I think one of the things though, with the resilient piece, if we didn't face the hard times and it was just easy to grow flowers, I sometimes wonder, would we even appreciate the flowers if we didn't have to go through the hard times to get it?
Jennifer Gulizia: It's like, there's such a labor of love that goes into getting a bloom.
Anne: thank you the Yeah. Yeah. So true. So true. Yeah. If it's just this automatic expected thing, it does. Yeah. It does help you to just appreciate, appreciate them more and also kind of,
Anne: like one thing that a lot of people don't like about flowers is that they only last for a while. You know, they'll like, oh how can you increase your cut flower time in a vase and everything?
Anne: And that's another thing that I love about them is that like when people come to my field and we do events, like whatever flowers are blooming that day, they are they they are they are there for them that day.
Anne: Like they look, there's no other time that they're going to be like that. And they are, they're precious because they're finite.
Jennifer Gulizia: Totally.
Anne: Like they have, it worked. They didn't get eaten by wireworms. These didn't get eaten by voles. They didn't get, you know, like they made it and they're here for you. Like they're blooming because they want to show you love.
Anne: Like, I honestly believe that. So, yeah, it's, it's like, it's so good and so hard and so good.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes. Well, you mentioned the word hope also, and it's like so many industries and like thought leaders talk about how important it is to have hope.
Anne: Yeah.
Anne: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Gulizia: But I feel like as a flower farmer or a gardener, we have to inherently have hope because everything we are doing is an act of hope.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: I mean, you plant that seed.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: There is no better example of hope than planting a seed And hoping that it's going to grow because, or or planting that dahlia tuber because that wireworm could get it. That vole was digging a tuber last week and I have helped digging our tubers and I screamed. Actually, this has happened twice in the last week. I didn't realize how bad our vole problem is.
Jennifer Gulizia: I grabbed a vole as I was pulling the tuber out of the ground.
Anne: Oh my gosh.
Jennifer Gulizia: had never done that before. And I screamed so loud. This girl that's been helping me, she comes running.
Anne: You're
Jennifer Gulizia: She's like, are you okay? I'm like, I just grabbed a vole.
Anne: like,
Jennifer Gulizia: like,
Anne: it's fine. He didn't bite me. It's okay. Oh my gosh.
Jennifer Gulizia: I think it might have been more scared than me, but now I'm all nervous as because yeah I can't see in the clover that I'm pulling out of this new field.
Anne: I'm sorry.
Jennifer Gulizia: And yeah, and then one ran over my foot as I was carrying a crate today.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: And again, I screamed.
Anne: Oh, my gosh.
Jennifer Gulizia: and It's just like like the sheer act. like When we really think about how amazing it is that these things are growing in dirt or in clay, it's like...
Jennifer Gulizia: Our role is so insignificant. we We get to help it. But yeah.
Anne: There's so many different ways that it can go sideways. Like that like everything is stacked against it to not work out.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes.
Anne: Like everything from the, like the there's the weather, there's yeah, insects, there's pests, there's disease, there's all of these different things that we cannot control. and Or like, yeah, it's so, it is, it is so gratifying. Like it's so funny because every year when I plant my,
Anne: tubers. I mean, I'm like, do the pads really need to be this wide? This is ridiculous. Like how, there's no way they're going to grow this big. And like and at the end of every season, I'm like scooting sideways in between my rows.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yep.
Anne: Like, oh my gosh, I cannot make the rows any east smaller. But every year I'm just like, this is ridiculous. Is this really going to fill out? There's no way. And by September, I'm like basking in the sea of dahlias.
Anne: Uh, if it's, if it was a good year and this, this year was a good year. So yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: That's awesome. Because we have so much space at our new farm, I think I did 48 inches between my rows.
Anne: Oh, man.
Jennifer Gulizia: And it was my first time ever that I wasn't turning sideways walking down the rows.
Anne: Oh, geez.
Anne: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: But I still had, I didn't get around to netting everything or tying it up, corralling. And my seedlings, I still have to dig all of my first year seedlings.
Anne: ges yes
Jennifer Gulizia: And it's just like a web of them crossed over, fallen. and I'm like, okay, even my four foot rows were not wide enough for these seedlings this year.
Anne: Oh, geez. Yeah. No, there's, there's, there's so much time in the day. That's the other thing that I actually kind of like about gardening is because you mentioned resilience earlier. Like, even though there's all of these things that go against, you know, like you didn't, you didn't tie them up, you know, whatever your ceilings are like, all right, well, we'll just grow here in the pathway and shine our face towards the sun. And I'm pretty cute, you know? and you're like, how are you still alive? You should be dead, you know? Like, and yeah.
Anne: So we get to what we get to and then that's it. Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yes, I love it. I'm enjoying this conversation so much.
Anne: Oh, me too.
Jennifer Gulizia: and you're known for helping people create gorgeous gardens, even when life feels full. What has inspired you to share this message and to lead with this kind of intention?
Anne: I think, I think I used to i think it's because of how helpful it's been for me, like to, for lots of different reasons. like not just like physically getting your hands in the dirt, getting bacteria under your fingeril fingernails, but being on the sunshine, having like, there's so much like scientific information or yeah I'm not thinking of the right word, but like there's so many reports and that that show how helpful it is and how beneficial it is to be outside. And yeah, just to get sunshine in your eyes and and all of these different things, but also it's so good for, like, it was so good for my mind. You know, i can just speak from my perspective, but like having a, have it being a stay at home mom, like,
Anne: When my husband came in the door at night, I wanted him to freaking put a crown on my head and be like, you did it just because his kids were like still alive and somewhat emotionally stable. I mean, and maybe not even emotionally stable, but if they were just alive, I want to be like, you have no idea what today was like.
Anne: And so I think it was just, it's really helpful to be out in the garden because it gives your brain time to like process. You get to like just set things down that are inside And, I don't know. i did like my best thinking when I was either in the shower or in the garden.
Anne: So yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: I'm the same way.
Anne: so yeah, I don't know. I just, so I think that I'm like, I just resonate with, I guess all the typical things that we all resonate with. Like, I don't have my life all together. Things are kind of falling apart around me. I don't know what to do. I'm like afraid of this. i
Anne: I, yeah, I just, I don't know what to do here. And so I just had anxiety and, and just a churning heart and soul. And so I know that if I had it, other people probably have it.
Anne: And so I'm like, guys get like here, like I have a, it's such a hard, thing to not just give all your flowers away and give all your tubers away because I feel like it's like giving away like medicine.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah.
Anne: So not that it solves everything, not like, okay, I'd be in the garden. and come back inside and sometimes inside my house was a freaking bomb because i was i got lost for like you know over an hour outside and i come inside like what is why is play-doh here you know like what is going on but i could just handle it like it did something to my nervous system so i think that that is a huge i like i i love to love people and so i think that this is just like
Anne: the vehicle that I is so natural for me to love people with. So.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh, that's a great answer. It's so true though. I mean, I love it when you brought the Play-Doh. I'm like, oh man, I remember like the kinetic sand all over the house.
Anne: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: And it's like, well, I'm i'm really happy now because I was out in the flowers.
Anne: Oh my gosh.
Jennifer Gulizia: So sorry, there's a mess in the house.
Anne: Why isn't mom freaking out more? Although silly putty, I don't know who invented silly putty, but good Lord, like go going down into the VCR, like, it's a bad day.
Jennifer Gulizia: gosh.
Anne: Anyway, whatever. But yeah, you get out in the garden and you can handle that and laugh at it instead of, you know, I don't know, lose your mind.
Jennifer Gulizia: or there's always clutter in my house like I'm like okay winter time is when I will get things cleaned up but pretty much from March through now this year December maybe January it'll be a mess
Anne: Yeah.
Anne: yeah
Anne: Seriously. it The struggle is real.
Jennifer Gulizia: my poor family
Anne: Yeah. And you know what? i It's so funny because I grew up but and we had a very tidy, very clean house growing up. That was really important to my mom. And I just love to be a hospitable.
Anne: And so for a long time, I was like, oh, well, it has to be all in order. it has to be. And I remember having one of like the most important, one of my one of my neighbors came over, was having like such a hard time. And we had just moved into a new house and It didn't even have kitchen countertops on it.
Anne: Like it was like, like it we were in the middle of like basically demo. We were living in this house while we were kind of demoing it.
Jennifer Gulizia: Uh-huh.
Anne: And I had like one of the most precious conversations that I've ever had in a totally torn apart, not really safe kitchen with my friend. And I'm like, screw that like like she Her house was always perfect, always everything.
Anne: But i like we had just a really good... I was able to love her in my kitchen that was totally messy and disgusting. And I was like, oh, it doesn't need to be.
Anne: like That is not a prerequisite here for connection and meaningful conversation. So anyway, do it dirty. That's probably a horrible, you probably need to bleep that out.
Anne: I don't know what Google's going to do
Jennifer Gulizia: No, I think it's great because, you know, i was the same way. It's like, I'm a perfectionist at fault or to a fault.
Anne: with that.
Jennifer Gulizia: And that's one of the things the garden has taught me is like, it's not asking for perfection. It's asking for our presence and to be there. And I've come to learn, I think it's Amy Porterfield that says done or done is better than perfect.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I'm like, that I've been trying to apply also to the garden. It's like, okay, well, my flowers are blooming. They're not perfect, but at least I have flowers that I can sell.
Jennifer Gulizia: And it's like, okay, my child is fed.
Anne: For sure.
Jennifer Gulizia: i maybe didn't have the healthiest meal today, but we're done.
Anne: Yeah, there's no.
Jennifer Gulizia: Or i mean mean, those are probably bad examples, but I think the garden really teaches us that you can't be a perfectionist.
Anne: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: Like it won't it won't let you.
Anne: It doesn't hurt you.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah. Yeah.
Anne: No, it doesn't let you. And so, and I really think like, I think that our gardens are there for us. We are not there for like to make our gardens perfect. I think that they, yeah, they're there to love us. Just kind of like, I feel like our homes or our apartments or wherever we are, like we're not a slave to it, it is there to take care of us, like to to provide things that we need, shelter and in a pretty environment or, you know, whatever whatever it is that feeds us. And so, yeah, I think that it's so easy, especially with social media and just how many images were presented with. it's so easy to make this picture in your mind of, you know, a standard or whatever. and like, I would, I don't really have an Instagram strategy. i I just post, but I have a feeling that I would have a lot less Instagram followers. If what I posted was just a screenshot of like my random everyday, like me on the computer, me down, reshuffling things in my walk-in cooler or me trimming off rot because I stored my tubers too early or, you know, like whatever that like it the, the dream is the thing that sells people want
Anne: to be able to have that flower. But when you're actually gardening, you realize that what it takes to get it. And yeah, it just, it's a different, it just loves you in a different way. It doesn't demand anything from you. It's just there to love you. And so, yeah, it just helps us to not have to, yeah, just keep striving. And yeah, it just helps us to be present.
Anne: So
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that perspective. That's so great.
Anne: Okay.
Jennifer Gulizia: I think one thing that's hard, I mean, I'm guilty of it all the time on Instagram. And then I go back to my garden. I'm like, oh my gosh, I've got so many beautiful flowers. Why am I comparing myself to someone else? But I think I went almost a month without posting this fall because I'm like, I just, it's messy right now. It's And it's like, you can you can either focus on all the things that are going wrong, which I think is easy to do when all you see is perfect and perfection on Instagram.
Anne: hu
Jennifer Gulizia: But you're like, okay, those are little snippets of someone's life. They're not showing you that wire worm in the tuber as their feed photo.
Anne: yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: I mean, how different would Instagram be?
Anne: Yeah, there's lot behind the scenes.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah.
Anne: Yeah, there's a lot of behind the scenes happening, yeah, to make this happen. And, you know, like social media, it's just, it's a you know, we used to be like, oh, that's Hollywood, you know, like in terms of like romantic relationships, letting that define like what a good romantic relationship is or, you know, like what success looks like as a like wealthy business person whatever. And I think that social media is even...
Anne: trickier because it's actually people that you know, or that you feel like, oh, this is just like a normal person. This isn't like, you know, i don't know, whatever, Matthew McConaughey, although I'm sure he, you know, or something so like it's somebody who's just a normal person who they're, this is what their life looks like.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah. Yeah.
Anne: Like, so, I think it's even harder to, to be able to, to like let that go, or just even to understand that that is not that is, those are snapshots. And, and that's one thing that I try to do with my Instagram. I have no idea if I succeed and I'm so open to feedback, but I think that there, you know, there's obviously a lot of, you know, comparison or negativity or, you know, social media is just a tool. And so it's how we use it that matters. And so I just want to like, I want people to like, open on my Instagram and just feel loved, feel like they're pretty awesome.
Anne: And be like, these flowers are here for you. Like they love you and you're doing great and your messy bun, it looks fantastic. And yes, cereal for dinner, do it. You know, like, don't know, I just want it to be, I don't know, just more relatable and keeping the main thing, the main thing. So.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that. How do you, and I know you kind of touched on this, but how do you let go of the perfection and focus on the presence instead?
Anne: it's so interesting. i don't know if this is going to answer your question, but I have found that it's, it's very internal work.
Anne: it's not something that I do on the outside. like say for instance, you could come to my house and like, I do, I love having a tidy house. Do I have a tidy house?
Anne: Like, no, I'm less and less in my life do I have a tidy house, even though my kids are getting bigger. I don't know what's wrong. It's just not tidy, hardly ever. And I just remember thinking like I could, like when my kids were younger, like I could, i could be, people could be coming over for dinner and I could be like barking at my kids and guys, you know, just super frustrated. Why is it like this? Like I would get so upset because I really wanted it to like look nice and whatever. And so like, that is one, that's one, that's like an internal thing in terms of me wanting it to be perfect for a certain reason or wanting it to, you know, wanting them to think, oh man, she's got it together. Like she has her life together. Look, look at her. Oh my gosh, this field, this meal was so good and it was on time and blah, blah, blah, whatever.
Anne: But I can also just be like, Like sometimes you can come into my house and it might be tidy and there might be something like really yummy for dinner, but it's because like it's coming from a place of like taking care of myself and taking care of the people around me and having a balanced life and not trying to do everything all the time. So I kind of feel like this is like the the weirdest way to answer that question, but I think just like knowing what we value, like, and everybody's going to value kind of similar things, but different things.
Jennifer Gulizia: Mm-hmm.
Anne: And also just being kind of like, I don't know if unashamed or like comfortable with like your, your different jams and what makes you happy and just letting your space be a reflection of that.
Anne: So, and I think that, so i I, think that I don't start with like, Oh, I like, how do I move away from perfection? i start with, and how you doing?
Anne: Like, who are you and how you doing? And so when I can go back to those things, I can be like, oh, I'm a, I'm a finite, limited human. And I've got some superpowers and I've got some like major weaknesses and deficiencies. And I've got 24 hours in a day.
Anne: So I'm probably going to mess this up. I'm probably not going to do this super efficiently, but I'm going to just do my day the best I can. And so, yeah, I think it's just not, I think if you're trying to like move away from perfection, that's one way to like think about it.
Anne: But for me, it just, it starts with such an internal, it it has everything to do with what's happening on the inside. So that's a really weird random way. i don't know if that makes any sense.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love it. It makes sense to me and hopefully it resonates with our listeners also.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: But I think taking self-care and
Anne: Yeah. Yeah. I used to make fun of self-care.
Jennifer Gulizia: yeah.
Anne: like just be like, oh, come on. Like you're fine. We don't need, you know, we don't need a massage a week. We don't need like whatever. So judgy. I also just, it's just like a sliding this in.
Anne: I also used to kind of judge in my heart, people who were like gluten-free or dairy-free. I'm like, look, God made it. Just eat it. we're We're good. And now like I'm on year 16 of no dairy, no gluten because my-
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh, wow.
Anne: Yeah, so I was like, oh, karma. Look at that, Anne. You don't know everything. So anyway, I don't know where I was going with that. Oh, just like, you know, I totally forgot where I was going with that.
Anne: Just that basically I judge, like I judge and then I realize, oh, it's not...
Jennifer Gulizia: The self-care part of it.
Anne: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. That's right. It was self-care. thanks jeff So yeah. And then I'm like, oh, you know, it's more like oxygen mask. Like, you know, we have, I think, especially because of social media, because like, there's all these expectations, especially on women that you need to have a career. You need to have an un- order house. You need to be taking care of your body. You need to be taking care of your mind. And, oh, and all your kids, you need to be a really great mom. Like there's no freaking way. And so I always just think about it. Like when you're like the oxygen mask, put your own oxygen mask on and then you'll be able to
Anne: Take care of the people are like who who are in your life who need your help. But yeah, you can't do it. Yeah. And maybe you can have me on another time and I can talk about like my grand mal panic attack of 2000, whatever that was, like 2015, I think. I was like in the hospital for three days. like I was that person that that i'm go to do I'm just going to do it. I feel like it needs to be done or i I see this need and I want to fill it. And so I'm just going to do it. And, it like broke my body.
Anne: my body had to like basically act like it was dying and send me to the hospital for three days and they couldn't figure what's wrong. Everything. It wasn't, it was months later that basically I was diagnosed with just a like grand mal panic attack. And, so that was actually a huge mercy, even though it was really scary to,
Anne: to really flip the script on self-care. And it's not like self, it's not selfishness care. It's that I'm the only person that can do that for myself.
Anne: Nobody else can self-care me. I have to take care of myself. So That's a privilege and a responsibility. And I have this body. This is actually the only one that I can fully take care of, you know, and and have control, as much control as I can over.
Anne: So anyway, I'm sure this is not where you.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love it. No, this is great because I was actually thinking about this just the other day. i think I'm going to record a solo episode kind of about this topic. If I have some time after I finished digging dahlias, I had started doing some solo episodes and then it's been so chaotic.
Jennifer Gulizia: digging the dahlias that I haven't had the time because I have prioritized. It's like, do I put out another episode to keep the numbers going with podcasting or do I care for my body so that I can keep digging the dahlias?
Anne: Yes. Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I've chosen to go to bed. Yes, the work got wasn't finished. My to-do list got even longer the next day. But it's still going to be there. But if I get my eight hours of sleep, I'm going to function better than before. And I started thinking about it because this last year I've been so, so tired.
Jennifer Gulizia: And like to the point that I'm like falling asleep at things. I have a hard time driving distances because I feel like I'm falling asleep.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I was like, you know what? I'm just and people are like you're just taking on too much at the farm. And i'm like, I've always been able to do this. Like, I i i don't know what's going on.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Well, I signed up for Function Health to do the summer to do their blood tests. I'm like, something else is going on. Like what you're talking about, I truly believe that if you're not fully charged up, you can't take care of the other things or give your best at anything you do.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: so I'm like, i I'm doing the best I can, but I feel like something's off.
Anne: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Gulizia: And so anyways, I have incredibly low iron reserves and I'm going to have to do some iron infusions.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: It's going to be quite a series of iron infusions because I am so, so low that it's causing like heart palpitations and all kinds of other things.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: But as I was thinking about it the other day, as I was driving home from the farm, have about a 15 minute drive. It gets plenty of time for my mind to wander as I'm leaving the farm filled up with flour and dirt energy.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I'm like, you know what?
Anne: yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: We spend so much time diagnosing our plant health. We're doing foliar sprays. We pour so much into the plants, but do we give ourselves that same amount of care and attention and look at like, are we feeding ourselves?
Jennifer Gulizia: And I think that's where that self-care comes in. And it's like, I wasn't feeding myself. I wasn't paying attention to those pieces. And so, I mean, we test the nutrients. Some of us have those,
Anne: like soil test kit things.
Jennifer Gulizia: Soil tests, like every year you should be soil testing at the same time every year.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: It's like, okay, I'm spending all this money to test my soil to see if my plants are getting the nutrients.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: So why not test and see if I'm getting the nutrients for my body so that I can give my best to the farm also. So what you said absolutely resonated with me.
Anne: Oh, yeah. Well, it I feel like it's just yet another another lesson from the garden. Like, it's so tempting to want to do more. It's so tempting to want to live beyond our limits.
Anne: But we are limited people.
Jennifer Gulizia: I love it.
Anne: we We have limits. And that is okay. And that's actually, it can be an incredibly beautiful thing. lesson from the garden. If I try to go too big, like my midlife crisis was literally a 250 foot long sweet pea tunnel.
Anne: I don't know if you were looking for that confession, but there it was. Okay.
Jennifer Gulizia: and love it
Anne: And, it was the worst. It was like super weedy failure to thrive. Didn't plant it right. Whatever. Because I was stretched too thin that year, I was trying to do way too, like way more than I possibly could have. So same like with the Dahlia field, you're like, hey, I just did 500. Let's increase it by like 15 or 2000. And then your whole field ends up weedy. You have less tubers. you know You're able to care less for your field because you stretch you stretched.
Anne: like If you had put appropriate boundaries on like realistically, even like shooting high, how many can I really realistically take care of this year? I think it would be you know X. And then you do that. And then you can, you're living within those boundaries and taking care of what you're growing. So yeah, i I think that it's, yeah.
Anne: There's also this other this other example, this is like more about boundaries, I guess, but, and I don't know if you've heard of this example, but there was a group, or there was some scientists that did these tests where they had a playground and they had a bunch of kids go play on this playground.
Anne: And it was a very big area with like wood chips, but the play structure was right in, was in the middle of it. And they had a lot of extra room to play. So when they let the kids out, all of the kids just played on the play structure. They didn't, they didn't go out.
Anne: And so then they ended up putting a fence on the very perimeter of the entire garden. And they used up the kids, like went to the entire, like they played through the entire thing. So I think that like having clearly defined boundaries can like give us freedom to live and romp around confidently. Not like, oh my gosh, is this, how am I going to get all this done? ahdadadada It's like, no, these are my boundaries and let's go play, you know, let's go do it.
Anne: So
Jennifer Gulizia: I love that. I was recently told, just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Anne: Oh, yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: And it kind of goes along with that, like, just because you can plant all of the seeds and the seed catalog doesn't mean you should.
Anne: know.
Anne: so So true. So true. So true. it's
Jennifer Gulizia: Or just because you're growing 500 dahlias doesn't mean you need to have a tuber sale, an on-farm CSA, you-pick, an event. It's it's that those boundaries of just picking one thing and really getting good at that, I think is so important.
Anne: Yes. Oh my gosh. Amen, sister.
Jennifer Gulizia: which I'm so excited that you are going to be joining us at the Profitable Dahlia Summit as one of our speakers on March 3rd through 4th, where we are going to be really helping people get clarity about running a profitable Dahlia business, understanding the why. And I think that there's so many people that feel like I don't know, i have to do this or I have to do that or this person's doing that with their dahlias.
Anne: commission
Anne: yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: But I hope this summit is really going to give people clarity and say, here's one great way or here's here's five or seven different things I could do, but I'm going to pick one of these and I'm going to get really good at it and I'm going to set boundaries for myself and I'm going to have a successful, not stressful dahlia career with them.
Anne: Yeah.
Anne: Yeah. I mean, yeah, you're the, with the weather, with the bowls, like there's enough stress.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah.
Anne: we've got it we've got enough, you know, things, uh, working against, uh, yeah, a flourishing. We don't need to put ourselves, uh, we don't need to add ourselves to that list. So yeah, no, the more I hear about your, the summit, the more I just feel like it's going to be such a, a gift, such a like timely gift while there's so many, people coming on the scene, like,
Anne: realizing the, the power and the, their own love for flowers and wanting that and, and the health like, benefits of gardening and, and, and wanting that to, to be a way that they can, uh, you know, turn their hobby into a business. but it won't work unless they have,
Anne: just a lot of clearly defined boundaries and guidelines and and no clarity on what they want to start first and second and third and living within their means and boundaries. And it sounds like that's just what it's all about, which is so cool.
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely.
Anne: oh
Jennifer Gulizia: and And they're going to get to hear from industry experts like yourself and a handful of others. We have a great lineup of speakers that have been in the trenches, have felt the Dahlia crave but and bitten by the Dahlia bug, but have learned how to turn it into a profitable business.
Anne: Incredible.
Jennifer Gulizia: And I think so many people think, okay, my Dahlia collection has grown.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: I better start selling my tubers, but that's not the only way to do it. And i hope that this summit shows people that there's so many ways.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Tuber sales is one of the great ways to do it. And Marin from the Farmhouse Flower Farm, who's the sweet pea and Dahlia queen, is going to be talking about how to have a successful Dahlia tuber sale at the summit, which is going to be amazing.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: But that's just one way that you can monetize your dahlias and help it support your family. And some people maybe wanna make enough money, like you said, with your vacation to Hawaii and support their family with a trip to Hawaii where other people maybe wanna be able to quit their nine to five.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: And so I think it's gonna talk to people on all levels of the gamut there.
Anne: And about seven weeks ago, my husband has had the same job for 22, 23 years, and he just got let go. And so no it's I actually prayed that it would happen.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh, I'm sorry.
Anne: Is that bad? I know that sounds insanely crazy, but It was not a good fit for him. he is such a faithful and loyal guy. And he's got four girls and a wife. And he made a an amount that meant that I could pinch our pennies and stay home. That was a huge value to us. And so he stuck with it for such a long time. And I was like, he's never going to leave this job because he's such a faithful guy. So I prayed that his job would go away and that he would get some severance and that would give us enough breathing room to see if he could if we could do the Dahlia house together, like, so I'm, and I'm going to like totally take notes at the summit, because we have a huge shift here happening. It, yeah, the Dahlia house for me has just been a way to provide jobs for other people, provide jobs for, teenagers, and teach them like just been a training ground for like tons of really cool teenagers. and now I'm like, oh,
Anne: okay, so we're going to shift this from being, you know, not a whole lot of take home for me, more of just a ministry to now we need to provide for our family. And so we'll see if we can do it. High fives all around. But yeah, I'm going to be taking notes at the summit.
Jennifer Gulizia: Well, I have all the confidence. You gave me goosebumps. I mean, our thoughts are so powerful. I mean, we've been talking for a while here and maybe we need to have a conversation too in the new year.
Jennifer Gulizia: and But when we lost our growing space and I've shared it before in the podcast, I hired a coach, but the one thing she asked me was, what do you want most in your life?
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: And start visualizing that. And when I realized that I wanted a place that we could raise our family spend time together, do what we love. And I saw flowers in that vision. I mean, literally I saw oak trees and a barn and it was so clear when I found this property, it was like a light bulb went off and i'm like, this is it. Like there was not a question of doubt.
Jennifer Gulizia: I didn't know how we were going to afford the property, anything.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: And, but it was like, I know this is meant for us.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: But i had I had thought about it and visualized it for so long and got so clear that I think when you have clarity of what's important, the rest follows.
Anne: Yeah.
Anne: yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: And so if you have that clarity, you guys are going successful.
Anne: yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: i mean, you already have an amazing business. And the fact that he was so full circle about your story is he had faith in you and now you have faith in him.
Anne: Oh, it's so sweet. It's so sweet. We actually, we were both, I had a counseling center. I love my therapist so much. I've been meeting with her for six years and talk about like life-changing. She's been incredible. But- Taylor came with me to my appointment two weeks ago and he was like, you know, was like, why don't you come in? Like Debbie would totally meet with you too. You can talk about like some of the things that you're feeling about, like losing your job and, you know, you you need some therapy, let's go. And he was totally on board. And said, you know, i feel like he was talking with Debbie. was like, I feel like I'm like, I'm playing chicken with financial ruin when I look ahead here. And she was like, you know what? Can we change the the verbiage on that? instead of saying like, if the Dahlia house works out, like she was like, are you having fun? And he was like, this is like my dream. Like, I honestly, like, I feel like Taylor and I are on our honeymoon. We're having so much fun together. And he's, she was like, okay, so you love this. You both are super aligned on where you want this to go and how you want it to work. So it's when this works out with the Dahlia house, as this works out, like this is working out. So you don't know how it's – it's the exact thing that you just said, Jen. Like, I don't know how this is going to work out.
Anne: All I know is we're doing it. Like, so it's such a scary thing to say. Like, it's probably the worst idea to say this on a podcast, like, publicly that my husband lost his job seven weeks ago. But I don't know. I think it's just, like, brave and courageous. And we're doing it, man.
Anne: So, yeah. We'll start a little fun meet.
Jennifer Gulizia: I think it's incredible.
Anne: No, I'm kidding. Yeah. It's gonna yeah
Jennifer Gulizia: i am so happy for you guys. It's going to be incredible. And I mean, your energy and what you said about fun, I forget the exact wording and who said it recently because I listened to so many other podcasts and audio books out in the field, especially this year with my dahlias taking four times longer than normal to dig.
Anne: be...
Jennifer Gulizia: I've gotten a lot. Well, the blessings are i have only dug one day in the rain. Which is incredible because normally i was telling the girl that's been helping me this year, she's a contractor who's been helping me and it's just such a delight and it's such a joy to have someone.
Anne: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yay!
Jennifer Gulizia: And I'm so excited to be able to hire a full-time employee next year.
Anne: Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: But she was like, we've gotten really lucky. It hasn't rained, but it's been kind of cold. I was like, I will take the cold over the rain. I said, I'm so used to just like mud dripping down my eyelashes as I'm digging.
Anne: I'm
Jennifer Gulizia: And so I'm like, I'm loving this.
Anne: liking the blood in your eye and not being able to see.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yep. Do I have mud or do I have bleach in my eyes? But anyways, one of the things I was listening to said, the way that you manifest or the way that you create your future is by having fun in the present.
Jennifer Gulizia: And fun is what leads to opportunities because you are living and being, you can't have fun if you're not living in the present moment.
Anne: Yeah. And you're like, you can't have fun without living in your jams. Like that's what we call them growing up.
Jennifer Gulizia: I it.
Anne: Like four girls, we would sit around the kitchen table and we'd talk about each other's jams and like your jams. That's what we call them. Your jams.
Jennifer Gulizia: i love it
Anne: But when you're doing your jam, you're having fun. And I am a very firm believer that we are all born with very specific superpowers that make this world freaking awesome place to live.
Anne: And so when we can be living in our jam and praise the Lord that not everyone's jam is the same, they're all different. So we need each other.
Jennifer Gulizia: Right.
Anne: Like we you need to do your jam. You don't just get to do your jam. you The world needs you to do your jam. And it's it's so exciting to me to have people have the permission to do that. Like I just, I love that.
Anne: when you're having fun, you're living in the present. Like all of this stuff is, is going together into just this yummy soup that I want to eat for dinner. so
Jennifer Gulizia: Speaking dinner, we probably should wrap this up here.
Anne: Oh gosh.
Jennifer Gulizia: i could talk to you for hours.
Jennifer Gulizia: This has been on such a delight. And is there anything I haven't asked you in this conversation that you want to share with our listeners today?
Anne: oh gosh
Anne: I mean, not not that I can think of off the top of my head. No, it's just, it's been really sweet to get to chat with you. It's so fun to hear someone else's journey that was crazy, like a lot like mine. And just the fact that we're not just both still standing, but like we're both growing and we're different than we were before. And a lot of that is because
Anne: we've we've been through hard things, but it's just beautiful. And like, here comes your summit. And like the the good that you'll be able to do with that, the it's just making the world a better place, you know, making it a sweeter place and an easier place for people to live and and do their jams. So yeah, I'm all about that. I think you're awesome, Jen.
Jennifer Gulizia: Likewise.
Anne: Yeah, really glad.
Jennifer Gulizia: Well, I'm a huge believer that a arise the saying, a rising tide lifts all boats.
Anne: I know you
Jennifer Gulizia: It's like the more that we all can grow in the floral industry, there's so much room and space for all of us.
Anne: Oh my
Anne: gosh. Yes.
Jennifer Gulizia: That it just makes me excited. And that's why this summit is taking place because the Dahlia world is growing so fast, but yet I don't think that it's over. I mean, some people might say it's overcrowded or get mad at me for saying this, but I think that if we all learn to find the peace that brings us joy and what truly fits our life, that there's room and a place for everyone in the Dahlia industry.
Anne: For sure. And I, I, yes. And I also feel like, you know, with like the development of AI and all the, of like question marks and uncertainty that brings, it's so interesting because, you know, everybody's like, oh, the world's going to hell in a handbasket or whatever. And we were talking to our daughter, Lily, she's at, a school in Georgia and,
Anne: Taylor was asking her about how she's doing and stuff. And he brought up AI. And she was like, you know, what's so interesting is that people, it's actually like making kind of like a movement around campus for people to really get into the arts and start, the like people are meeting together and making more music.
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh.
Anne: They're like painting and basically realizing like here AI comes and they're like, oh, I don't want that. Like I, like it almost is making them appreciate even more human connection and, human creativity.
Anne: And, I just think, first of all, that just gives me so much hope. It's been so cool to have four kids at, it's been like totally scary, but also so cool to have, kids.
Anne: They're, ages 16 to 27 now and watch them grow up and like have their friends over and be like, you guys are so cool. You give me so much hope for the future. Like, it's so exciting.
Anne: And yeah, so i I just, I totally agree that a rising tide floats more boats or whatever you said.
Jennifer Gulizia: I don't know the exact one. I said lifts, lifts all boats.
Anne: Okay, that's more poetic, more poetic, but yeah, no, i'm I'm into this movement.
Jennifer Gulizia: Who knows what the actual saying is?
Anne: Yeah, I'll die on this hill.
Jennifer Gulizia: Yeah, me too.
Anne: Yeah, yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: Because it's towards the end of the year when this is coming out, you seem like the kind of person that maybe would have a word of the year. Do you choose a word of the year?
Anne: Oh, so interesting. I've been thinking about it actually, so so funny that you say that. i think I think my – I'm not ready to say my the year next year.
Jennifer Gulizia: Okay.
Anne: But what I will is I'll totally cheat and take Taylor. So like Taylor, but like he knew that he had about four weeks notice that he was – that his job was going away. And he was like, hey, he he does this thing called bullet bullet journaling.
Anne: So he bullet journals stuff. every morning to just get his priorities and keep track of self-care and stuff like that. Anyway, he's like, I want to get a new journal that I start on the first day. Like I'm just starting, starting over, starting new.
Anne: Yeah. What first day when I'm unemployed. And so he wrote three words on the, or three things on the front. And I want to try to remember them. The first one was,
Anne: have fun. And he was like, I, cause we didn't know if he was going to try to work for the dolly house or we were just like kind of reeling and spinning. So he was like, his goals were to have fun, to be brave and to listen to the spirit.
Anne: And so that's what we're doing. We're like holding onto that for this journey and we're trying to have fun and be brave and like take cues from what we see happening around us and just live like really organically,
Anne: with hope. So, wish us luck.
Jennifer Gulizia: I hope you take those words. You need to like take those on to your kitchen cabinet or something.
Anne: I know. well they his journal's out on the kitchen table every day, so I get to look look at it every day.
Jennifer Gulizia: You get to see it.
Anne: So, it's good. and So, I snuggle Ted in the morning, and he writes his stuff, and it's just it's a good it's a good start start to the day so
Jennifer Gulizia: Oh, I love it. Well, this has been so fun, Anne. Can you tell our listeners where can they find you?
Anne: yes. The first thing that pops to mind is like, it's just, it's just funny. We basically just started a YouTube channel. Taylor in his, uh, now, uh, freed up time. And I would love to say that it's going to be like this highly educational. You're going to learn so much about growing. That is not what it is. It's basically Taylor and I being dorks. It is like listening to conversations of us in the car. I, Taylor was just like, Hey, I want to start at YouTube. I'm like, that's fine, whatever. And so he's like, okay, I'm gonna put a mic on you. I'm like, oh show okay, fine, whatever. And so and then he just makes he makes some videos. So I think we have two or three videos out at this point. So I don't know if we're, you know, hopefully we're making more. But so it's the Dahlia House YouTube. I think the first I think he's called it fall planting ranunculus because that's what we're doing, although there's like hardly and any information about actually fall planting ranunculus in it. So you've been warned if you go watch it. so yeah, but we are excited about that. and then, yeah, they, I have a very robust newsletter subscriber, community that, just loyal customers that are super rad and we love to love on them, through our newsletter. So, uh, actually just today we were giving out some special discounts and stuff like that. So if people want to yeah subscribe to our newsletter and they'll, they'll find out what's going on. We're about to launch our events for next year. so we're doing our second ever Dahlia house retreat. It's a four day retreat. That's just for rest and play and create and talk about self-care.
Anne: It's exact. It's four freaking days of self-care. But then there's going to be bouquet workshops and another hybridizer event and some other fun stuff too. So um'm I'm so excited about this next year.
Anne: So
Jennifer Gulizia: You have so much going on. And so your YouTube, your website is that the Dahlia house.com.
Anne: yes, websites, thedollyhouse.com. It's the Dolly House YouTube, although I don't even know if anyone's, good I don't even know if it's like searchable yet. I don't know anything about YouTube. I'm so to technologically, on a like, I don't know anything.
Anne: Yeah. So we've got the YouTube and yeah, probably new YouTube and newsletter are the, oh yeah, I'm on Instagram.
Jennifer Gulizia: An Instagram?
Anne: Yep. We're the, we're the.dahlia.house. it's so funny because there's a Airbnb Dahlia house on the Instagram as well.
Jennifer Gulizia: No way.
Anne: Yeah. And so we'll get emails, they will find us. And I guess that they think, cause I farm on my, field is at a friend's property and they have like this really cool, barn that they turn into their house.
Anne: So I think that they think that that's the Airbnb. So they're like, are you, do you have you know, we'd like to make reservations or I forgot this in my room. I'm like, I'm so sorry.
Jennifer Gulizia: Perfect.
Anne: We just do flowers around here. But yeah, so we're the Dahlia House of Skagit Valley.
Jennifer Gulizia: Well, we will include links to all of those in today's show notes. So our listeners, and if they're watching on YouTube, viewers can connect and find you.
Anne: Yeah.
Jennifer Gulizia: So thank you so much for joining us.
Anne: Awesome.
Jennifer Gulizia: And we're so excited to have you with us for the first ever Profitable Dahlia Summit, March 3rd through 4th. And it's virtual. So you can watch from the comforts of your home while you're dividing your Dahlia tubers or mapping out your garden for this next year.
Jennifer Gulizia: And we'll have a link in today's show notes for that also.
Anne: So good.
Jennifer Gulizia: So. Thank you for joining us. This was so much fun and I can't wait to meet you in person one of these days.
Anne: Yep. Hugs. Hugs soon. i I feel I'm coming. Let's manifest it.
Jennifer Gulizia: Absolutely. Thanks and have a great evening. Bye-bye.
Anne: You too. Bye.
