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Ep. 59: Frances Palmer on ‘Life With Flowers’: Gardening, Pottery, and the Art of Everyday Beauty
2k Plays29 days ago
In this episode of The Backyard Bouquet, we are joined by Frances Palmer—renowned potter, gardener, photographer, and author—to celebrate the release of her newest book, Life With Flowers. Known for her iconic handmade vessels and stunning floral photography, Frances shares how a life rooted in creativity, cultivation, and intention can lead to unexpected beauty and joy.
In their conversation, Jennifer and Frances explore:
- The inspiration and creative process behind Life With Flowers
- How gardening, ceramics, and photography intersect in Frances’s daily life
- Lessons learned from decades of self-taught artistry and flower growing
- Why imperfection and process are central to creativity
- The role of seasonal rhythms in her work—and her favorite flower to grow (even if it's a challenge)
- How tending a garden supports mental health, mindfulness, and connection with the earth
- Tips for photographing flowers using natural light and simple setups at home
Whether you’re a flower lover, artist, or someone yearning to create a slower, more beautiful life, this episode is a nourishing reminder to keep growing—one bloom, one pot, and one season at a time.
Show Notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2025/05/20/ep-59-frances-palmer-life-with-flowers/
Purchase Life With Flowers: https://amzn.to/44LtaLj
Connect with Frances:
Website: francespalmerpottery.com
Instagram: @francespalmer
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Backyard Bouquet Podcast, where stories bloom from local flower fields and home gardens. I'm your host, Jennifer Galizia of The Flowering Farmhouse. I'm a backyard gardener turned flower farmer located in Hood River, Oregon.
00:00:17
Speaker
Join us for heartfelt journeys shared by flower farmers and backyard gardeners. Each episode is like a vibrant garden, cultivating wisdom and joy through flowers. From growing your own backyard garden to supporting your local flower farmer,
00:00:32
Speaker
The Backyard Bouquet is your fertile ground for heartwarming tales and expert cut flower growing advice. All right, flower friends, grab your gardening gloves, garden snips, or your favorite vase because it's time to let your backyard bloom.
00:00:56
Speaker
Today i am thrilled to welcome Frances Palmer, a celebrated potter, gardener, photographer, and author whose creations have inspired a devoted following around the world.
00:01:09
Speaker
Her handmade vessels, crafted with intention and soul, have become iconic in the floral world, and her garden serves as both muse and medium for her artistic life.
Frances Palmer's Artistic Journey
00:01:21
Speaker
This week marks the release of her new book, Life with Flowers, a deeply personal invitation into her world of creativity and cultivation. Through photographs, essays, and reflections, Frances shares how a life rooted in growing and making can become a daily practice in beauty and meaning, and joy.
00:01:44
Speaker
In our conversation, we explore the rhythms of her work, the inspiration she draws from the garden, and the quiet magic of showing up for your creativity, one bloom and one pot at a time.
00:01:57
Speaker
Frances, welcome to the Backyard Bouquet. It's such a joy and an honor to have you with us today. thank you so Thank you so much for inviting me. and what That was just such a beautiful introduction. i really appreciate that you you you got all of that exactly. I mean, you said exactly what I was trying to talk about. So thank you for that.
00:02:20
Speaker
Thank you. Well, I'm excited for our conversation. I was previously a photographer, and i love just what you have to share in your books and the beauty that you put out into it into the world. So I just know that this this conversation is going to um just unfold so beautifully, just like the rhythms of your work. So if you don't mind, let's start at the very beginning.
00:02:43
Speaker
Can you take us back and share how did your creative journey first begin? Well, um i have been making art. i was As a child, I i always was drawing and ah painting. And then when I was in high school, I hi did a lot of printmaking, a lot of lino cuts. And i actually had planned to go to art school to be a printmaker and etcher, lithographer.
00:03:11
Speaker
But I felt like I would always be making work myself, so I really was intrigued by a liberal arts education.
Creating a Garden and Pottery Studio
00:03:21
Speaker
So I ended up going to Barnard in Columbia and I got an undergraduate and graduate degree in art history.
00:03:28
Speaker
And I'm so glad that I did that because I really do draw on the art historical aspects of all my work. and And then after I graduated ah with a master's in art history, I had always been a big knitter. So I decided to start a knitwear company in New York City, which I did briefly.
00:03:51
Speaker
And through that that enterprise, met my husband and we ended up getting married and he had already purchased a house in Connecticut. So when our daughter was born,
00:04:03
Speaker
we moved up to Connecticut full-time, and I was a little bit out of my depth because I was so used to the kind of vibrant New York City arts life. And so he made a suggestion that I try something I'd always wanted to try.
00:04:18
Speaker
And I had been studying the the artists of the ah Bloomsbury group, the Omega Workshop, which was a group of British artists around 1914 around World War one And in this house that they created called Charleston, a farmhouse that's that's actually a museum now, you can go visit it. um They did everything in the house. They did the they did the textiles, they did the pottery, they did the painted all the furniture, did all the paintings, and it was just a completely immersive artistic experience. So
00:04:51
Speaker
After studying that, I decided I wanted to learn how to do ceramics. So I took a class in throwing at a nearby art guild. And after i i spent a little time there, I realized i I needed to set up my own studio because my vision of doing ceramics was not necessarily what they were doing at the school. So I set up my own studio, i would say, you know, close to 40 years ago, and I kind of never looked back. And I still have that great excitement and thrill every day when I go out to the studio.
00:05:30
Speaker
That is amazing. How did the garden come into play with your work?
Gardening and Photography Integration
00:05:36
Speaker
Well, the first house that we lived in, the house that my husband had purchased, was ah ah like a a mid-century house, a glass house cantilevered into the hillside, which was not very conducive to gardening. And after we had two more kids, so a girl and two boys,
00:05:54
Speaker
and animals and I was doing the ceramics, we decided we needed a ah different house. So we found um an 1860s federal on the other side of the of of the town and um and that had a lot of open land. So thats that's when I was able to start gardening. So that was 30 years ago.
00:06:15
Speaker
And my first garden is on one side of the studio, and then the other garden is in an old tennis court that we had but so it had been built in the nineteen thirty s So i I have those two gardens primarily. And then i'm ah on the property outside of the Fenston areas, as I grow things that I can kind of keep the deer away from for the most part.
00:06:40
Speaker
Gotcha. So how much space are you growing your garden on? it's ah It's a couple acres. so Oh, it's a huge garden. Yeah. Well, I mean, the actual garden, the fenced-in areas aren't that large, but the I have, you know, fruit trees and all sorts. I've so much planted all over the place, so it's a lot to take care of.
00:06:58
Speaker
Okay. I imagine two acres is a lot to grow on. Was there a particular moment when you realized that your garden and your poetry were part of the same creative expression. I mean, we see so much of your garden in your photographs with your and with your pottery. Yeah.
00:07:17
Speaker
Well, i what happened was, when in the very beginning, when I started making work, I i decided that I wanted to do functional work. which meant that once I made it, hopefully it would I could sell it and people could use it and buy it. and um And so very early on, i just I realized I had to document the work, so I had a record of what I was making and going and sending out.
00:07:45
Speaker
And so I hadn't really done a lot of photography. I mean, you're a photographer, but we had an old Nikon camera that was my husband's, and he actually taught me how to use it.
00:07:57
Speaker
And I just started photographing everything that I made before it left the studio. And quickly on, I realized that the best way to give proportion and size to a vessel is to put put flowers or fruit in it so that the viewer had some sense of scale.
00:08:16
Speaker
And so just like I'm pretty much self-taught in the gardening and self-taught in the ceramics, I kind of had to go down the the photography route as well, which I love.
00:08:29
Speaker
And so that's how it it all, and then it just, over time, everything just got so interwoven and integrated. And that's sort of what the new book is about. Amazing.
Self-Taught Practices and Learning from Failures
00:08:39
Speaker
So you just shared that you're self-taught in gardening, in your pottery, the ceramics, and photography.
00:08:48
Speaker
For those listening, do you have any advice for someone who's maybe starting a garden or wanting to take pictures? How do you self-teach yourself yourself? to know this so well Well, I mean, I say self-taught in the sense that I didn't really go to school to study, but along the way, i've ah you know anybody who had more experience than I did, like ah a friend who's a photographer or a friend who's a gardener, I would just ask a lot of questions. and I made ah lot of mistakes and
00:09:20
Speaker
especially in the garden. I've, you know, had a lot of failures, but I think the key to doing anything that you want to teach yourself is that you, you kind of have to do it every day. you really, i mean, I'm talking about ah these are things I've done for decades now, but it really is It's really a day-by-day process where, you know you you can't, it's always easy to say, so I don't have time to do this or, oh, I wish I had a week and I would do this. No, it doesn't, like life doesn't seem to work that way.
00:09:49
Speaker
So you really have to very intentionally carve out the time to do what it is that you you really want to do. That's really beautiful. It sounds like you are a very disciplined and determined person then, because to be self-taught, I think you have to possess both of those qualities.
00:10:08
Speaker
but You know, I just, i love learning things new. And I think that's what keeps me going every day is that I have something, have self, kind of a self-imposed challenge that I i really experiencing.
00:10:23
Speaker
trying to meet, really. That's amazing. Well, you've done everything so well. and You talked about that you've had a lot of failures along the way. And I think that's such a huge thing for people to hear because i for me, I personally believe that our failures often lead to our greatest successes.
00:10:42
Speaker
Were there any failures along the way? And I'm like doing in quotation marks, even though everyone can't see, because they're not really failures. But was there any moments where you had that feeling of this is really tough, or I can't do this, that then helped move you on to that next level in your journey?
00:11:02
Speaker
ah You know, i i guess I've always been pretty philosophical. I mean, when I talk about failures in the garden, it's like all the plant material that I put in the dot you that I mean, i had this beautiful flowering cherry tree that's at the back and i You know, the last fall, somebody was helping me put fencing around all the trees, and he didn't put fencing around that one tree. And that literally the next day, the deer, like, rubbed their antlers on so that...
00:11:32
Speaker
antlers on it so that it got damaged. And so I keep running out there to see if it died or if it's going to bloom. And so, you know, that, I consider that a failure because I somehow miss protecting that tree. And that sort of thing just makes me so sad. But then, know,
00:11:53
Speaker
If it happens, you just you just have to move on. as like I guess an athlete, I was seeing this thing, and I don't know if it's at all pertinent to our conversation, but I was reading something by Roger Federer that how many how many tennis matches professional tennis people lose, and you just you have to just look at it, accept it, learn from it, and then go forward. you know Absolutely.
00:12:20
Speaker
i completely agree. I had a guest. I think it was Lori from... three acre farm. And she said um that she just plans for failures every year in the garden.
00:12:34
Speaker
yeah And she plants more. She just, she sows more seeds so that she's prepared and then she's not short. And I loved that mentality that yeah it's going to happen, but you're going to keep moving forward. You don't let that stop you.
00:12:46
Speaker
Yeah. you have You just have to and go, okay, well, next fall, I'm going to check every single tree and make sure it's protected. Because that's that's all you can do. You can't turn back time.
00:12:57
Speaker
Absolutely. I think life is our best teacher in those
Balancing Daily Routines and Creative Disciplines
00:13:00
Speaker
cases. Yes. So you've spoken before about the importance of process. What does a typical day in your student studio or garden look like?
00:13:12
Speaker
ah Well, I'm and'm a very early riser, so I like to get up early. And after a cup of coffee, ah do some sort of exercise. I'll take a walk or do an online bar class. And then but you know i get out to the studio if I'm here, like around...
00:13:32
Speaker
8, 8.30 in the morning. And then i kind of just go all day. ah What I do in the studio depends on what work I have on order or what, but you know, what projects. When I was writing the book, I had to devote a certain amount of time to writing the essays.
00:13:49
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, the thing is about being self-employed is that every day can be different and you can get up and assess what is it what is it that's most important to accomplish for the day. And I try to get that done first.
00:14:05
Speaker
That's great. How do you balance I was going to say both disciplines, but it's multiple disciplines. Do you have your photography, the ceramics, the garden? How do you balance all of those?
00:14:16
Speaker
Well, it just, again, especially about the garden. So now in Connecticut, it's, it's, I'm just a two or three weeks away from planting, like getting the annuals in the ground, getting the Dahlia tubers in the ground, making sure all the roses are pruned and everything. So Obviously, i guess the month of May is my intense planting time here, so that's going to take me away from work in the studio. so just it's Again, it's just assessing, or if I have, for example, I have work that I'm finishing that's going to go out to an exhibition, so I have to photograph everything before it leaves. so it's really
00:14:59
Speaker
It's really assessing what what is the priority for the day and and getting it taken care of. I never seem to finish. and never get done that list in my brain that I'm going to get done for the day.
00:15:12
Speaker
i know my list always seems to carry over from day to day. I try and pick three things to check off for the day. And then my I've got this longer running list that never ends. I mean, you know, ah my daughter always says to me, be kind to yourself because I always get frustrated if I haven't gotten it all done. And then I'm like, you know, I did the best I can. I have to start again tomorrow.
00:15:32
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. That's such great advice.
00:15:37
Speaker
You mentioned that May is going to be your busy month in the garden. You're planting all the things, including dahlias. Do you sell your flowers, or are they just grown to support your photography and ceramics?
00:15:51
Speaker
They are just grown to kind of bring me joy. o I love that. I don't sell them. I give ah a lot away to friends or, you know, somebody says to me, oh, I'm having a wedding. Can I have some of your flower? You know, that kind of thing. But I mostly grow it for my mental health and for the photography.
00:16:12
Speaker
um I think it's so important to talk about how does it benefit your mental health? but It just, as as you know, there's just nothing that can compare to just going out into the middle of the garden during the day and just look at all the bees and the birds and the flowers that are opening. And there's just incredible serenity and something so much larger than ourselves that ah just It just puts a lot of things in perspective.
00:16:39
Speaker
Absolutely. What are some of those perspectives? Can you share one of those lessons from the garden that you've learned with us? Well, ah one of the essays in the book is about sharing the flowers, and i'd would much rather give them away to people than sharing.
00:16:57
Speaker
and you know, charge for them. And so the sharing, the friendship that comes along with growing flowers, I think is very important. I think, you know, respecting the soil,
00:17:09
Speaker
to growing organically, being a good citizen, you know, having the bees that that ah I have, the beehives on the tennis court that help with the pollinating and just, you know, just being respectful of the earth and not using bad chemicals.
Organic Gardening and Beekeeping
00:17:25
Speaker
If and every one of us kind of did our part, I think it would be a lot healthier everyone. Yeah.
00:17:31
Speaker
one I couldn't agree more. um i'm going to ask you about your soil because just yesterday i had our soil consultant. We just recently hired a soil consultant for our new farm. How do you take care of your soil? How do you nurture your soil?
00:17:44
Speaker
Well, again, um as I said, i everything is organic. And and think so so making good soil is, again, like just one of those practices that one does over over time, over the years. so i i Only i use organic manure or I only use leaves on the the when I mulch. I only use leaves from the property that I know have been chemical-free.
00:18:13
Speaker
And I just, you know, if I have to buy soil, I buy organic soil and just be very mindful. I don't, you know, I don't really test. I don't really do any of that stuff that one would do if you're a commercial grower. I just, um if I'm going to use...
00:18:30
Speaker
If I'm going to fertilize, it's all always organic. And I don't use pesticides. i If I'm having beetles or um that you know that time of year, beetles on the um the roses and things like that, or where I try to pick actually pick everything off by hand.
00:18:49
Speaker
Sounds like you're very kind. Yeah, I mean, it's probably not viable for a commercial, but for me, it works fine. Well, it's a very kind way to garden and in harmony with nature.
00:19:00
Speaker
Well, I'm just trying to keep things as clean and as simple as possible. I love that. You mentioned bees on your tennis courts. Yeah. So I have honeybees. I have four hives.
00:19:14
Speaker
Actually, two of them died last winter, two are fine. And so we'll probably split them and put them into the hives that we lost. I put them on the tennis court because when I started about 10 years ago, we had them out on the property and the bears would come and knock over the hives and they would eat They're going for the larva. They're not going for the honey, actually.
00:19:38
Speaker
oh interesting. ah Yeah, so i so I put them up on the tennis court to kind of be but part of that fenced-in area. And, you know, so far that that seems to have worked.
00:19:48
Speaker
but hu And then they've got a whole cocktail party of flowers right there. Amazing. I learned just the other day, I couldn't believe it, that honeybees can travel up to five miles a day to find their flowers. And I thought that was so incredible.
00:20:03
Speaker
Yeah, truly. they Well, I think they're, I really think they're mi like miraculous. Oftentimes in the afternoon, I'll make a cup of tea and go up to the tennis court and just sit and watch them go in and out. I mean, it just,
00:20:15
Speaker
They are pretty genius. They really are. So do you care for your hives yourself? I don't now. i used to do it myself, but um it just turned out when I would get stung, and would just kind of blow up.
00:20:31
Speaker
Didn't have that anaphylactic issue, fortunately, but I did find this woman nearby who is I hired to come help me, and she's very she is yeah really ah she just has good sympathy with the bees. So we kind of work together, and and she helps me a lot.
00:20:50
Speaker
I love that. That's awesome that you use someone nearby that can help you with them. And I'm sorry to hear about the allergy to them. That would be something that would definitely cause you to be more cautious around them. Definitely.
00:21:02
Speaker
and So do you ever see them on your dahlias sleeping at nighttime? Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's great. I love it. One of my favorite things, I have a 10-year-old daughter, is to take her out in the morning or evening time and find all the honeybees. but Not necessarily the honeybees, but just the different bees that are sleeping and tucked inside the petals at nighttime.
00:21:22
Speaker
Exactly. The bumblebees. Yes. Sleepover. The honeybees tend to go back into their hive, but the bumblebees... stick around. Yes, it's so fun. that was That was what opened my eyes. And when I stopped spraying any chemicals is when I realized that they're always there. they eat Exactly.
00:21:39
Speaker
Exactly. And you don't really need them. i mean No. Again, ah but it's not fair for me to say because as I keep saying, you know, if things aren't perfect, it's not fine it's fine for me. But i'm not I'm not trying to have a commercial enterprise. So you're having a kind garden that gives back to the ecosystem and nature. i um Let's see here.
00:22:04
Speaker
and want to ask you more. Let's talk about creativity.
Creative Inspiration and Exhibitions
00:22:09
Speaker
Do you find that your creativity comes from spending time in the garden or how do you generate your creativity in your work?
00:22:18
Speaker
I, well, ah yes, it does. I love being in the garden and that does inspire me. I just, I think I do ah lot of looking, looking at flowers, you know looking, I go into New York City a lot, look at exhibitions.
00:22:33
Speaker
I look at books all the time. i collect books. I have too many books, but I'm constantly reading reading articles, seeing things on Instagram. It's, you know, i'm I'm constantly sort of feeding my brain and that's where I get a lot of my ideas from.
00:22:50
Speaker
um love that. um What kind of projects are you working on currently in your studio? Oh, well, the what I'm trying to get out the door is I am having an exhibition in May in San Francisco at a photography gallery called Frankel Gallery.
00:23:09
Speaker
And I'm collaborating. they they There's an English photographer named Richard Leroy, and he does these beautiful ah photographs with camera obscura.
00:23:20
Speaker
And so we i he gave me drawings of some vase shapes that he wanted. And so I made the vase shapes and shipped those over to London so he could use them.
00:23:33
Speaker
So he's made photographs with those. And then I'm also making additional pieces. to go into the exhibition. So those have to get out the door like now. And then I'm having an exhibition at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Massachusetts in August, which is going to be um primarily terracotta pots. And then I've learned, speaking of learning new things, I was studying how to do platinum palladium prints. Have you ever done those? No.
00:24:07
Speaker
So platinum palladium is a photography process that was developed in 1874. And so and so you you concoct this emulsion that you put on the paper, and then you put a negative on top of it and expose it in an LED box.
00:24:24
Speaker
And I've been making a lot of prints of my flowers to go in the exhibition along with the terracotta. Oh, my goodness. Wow. So you're... Your exhibits include both photography and your ceramic work.
00:24:36
Speaker
Yes. It's kind of evolving into that. Yes. That's amazing. So how do you juggle both of those? Or do you find that you create the vases and the terracotta pots and then it leads you to photographing them? Or i imagine there's kind of a balancing act. Well, and this for this particular exhibition, I'm trying to do the photos of the flowers that I grow.
00:25:01
Speaker
Okay. and so and they well so that And then the terracotta pots will be on their own. and I was talking to the garden that they might be planted with with plants or flowers from their garden, which I thought would be nice to kind of integrate.
00:25:18
Speaker
That sounds lovely. Can you talk to us about taking pictures or arranging your flowers? How do you draw your inspiration for styling them? I mean, you look at your Instagram and you have this beautifully curated feed.
00:25:32
Speaker
For those of us that don't have your talents, how can we elevate what we're doing and take better pictures or better styling of our arrangements? Well, um for the most part in my photographs, the the the flowers are supported by underlying branches. So I try to have plant material that can support the branches like you know any of the any of the flowering trees that are happening on the property. Like now in the spring, it would be viburnum or azalea, rhododendron, like things that are sort of
00:26:07
Speaker
short and squat that could hold up the other flowers like the peonies or the bearded iris. um If I'm in a bowl, I will use a flower frog, but for that I don't use tape. I don't use chicken wire. I don't use definitely don't use oasis, which everybody knows now is chemically bad.
00:26:27
Speaker
um So I try to start with that kind of foundation that's going to hold up the rest of the flowers. And then in terms of photographing, i have a couple of places in my studio that I i tend to use over and over again.
00:26:43
Speaker
And I only photograph in daylight. And i usually have my camera on a tripod and I have ah Canon five d So i have a lot of consistency.
00:26:55
Speaker
And then What I choose to arrange depends on what's flowering or what pieces I've had that are just coming out of the kiln that I want to document. So, you know, again, there's there's certain constants, but then a lot of variety depending on what's blooming and that sort of thing.
00:27:14
Speaker
It sounds like such a fun process for those that don't have a studio to take pictures like you do. um You mentioned you use natural light. Is that correct? Yep.
00:27:25
Speaker
So you don't use any studio lighting? No. Do you ever do pictures outdoors or is it all in studio? i The pictures that I do outdoors tend to be of the flowers in the garden.
00:27:37
Speaker
okay But once once they're arranged in a vase, I tend to just do it in the studio because I like the softer light. Mm-hmm. It's nice because you don't have that harsh sunlight. It's hard to photograph flowers. mean, there is a style...
00:27:52
Speaker
there is a style you can see now in a lot of magazines of that really bright light, which is, you know, it a lot of chic to it, but i tend to go for a little softer thing.
00:28:05
Speaker
I'm with you. I like, I like the, the diffused lighting that you can get when you're in inside with studio and natural light coming through a window. but so so to talk about that natural light, because I know most listeners are gardeners and not photographers,
00:28:19
Speaker
How do you not use lights inside a studio to take pictures of your flowers? Well, I tend to photograph early in the morning and late at night. And you just have to find a window that gives you that kind of And if you're in an apartment or something like that, all you need to do is just, you could put up a white sheet or just a white piece of, you know, what is it, poster board or something. It doesn't have to be fancy. You just have to kind of, again, this sort of like, you the more you do it, the more you get a sense of what it is you're thinking about, how you're expressing it.
00:28:55
Speaker
mean, one of the reasons why I learned to photograph early on is because I felt that no one would ever see the ceramics or the flowers the way I see them.
00:29:06
Speaker
And also, hiring a photographer, as you know, can be an expense, right? I mean, if you're having a wedding or you're documenting a baby or something, that's a completely different thing. But if you're doing something on a daily basis, it gets rather expensive. and you And also, sometimes there's a moment where you just have to grab that photo then and there. Otherwise, by the time...
00:29:29
Speaker
you get someone to come, that moment is gone. So I think it's so important for people to learn to photograph their own work.
00:29:38
Speaker
I love that advice. Is there anything else that you would want to tell someone that's wanting to take pictures inside their house? What other advice might you give to them? ah You just, ah again, you just have to sort of keep doing it over and over and Make sure you you have, like if you if there are extraneous things around what you're trying to photograph, just kind of clear out the clutter. Just keep it very simple and straightforward and not fancy.
00:30:11
Speaker
That's great. Thank you.
00:30:15
Speaker
One thing that I've seen and heard many times is how you embrace the imperfection and the handmade.
Embracing Imperfection in Art and Life
00:30:24
Speaker
Can you talk about the role of imperfection in your art and photographs?
00:30:29
Speaker
Well, um I don't believe in perfection, and I don't believe in imperfections. I just think sometimes, i think people can be their worst critics, myself included.
00:30:42
Speaker
and is it's so hard to learn to not have judgment. You know, if you, if you do an arrangement or if I make a pot or you grow a flower, you just have to kind of,
00:30:57
Speaker
Just keep going because I think everything has a its own beauty. I know that sounds really corny, but I just, no I don't know, I just have learned over time not to have that kind of judgment about what is what can be done. You just have to keep going.
00:31:20
Speaker
So, Frances, you are a very creative individual. You create in the garden. You create in the studio. You create with pictures. And now you've also created in writing. And I actually shouldn't say now because you already are a published author.
00:31:35
Speaker
On top of all these other things, you also write books and you have a new book coming out. I would love to talk about your new book with you. It's called The Life with Flowers or Life with Flowers. Life with Flowers. Well, I mean, i i was asked to write the first book by Leah Ronan from Artists and Books, Life in the Studio.
00:31:58
Speaker
And that took a long time that took about three years to write. And I have this wonderful, i have two wonderful editors, so One is ah Ellen Morrissey and also Bridget Monroe Itkin from Artisan. And so I would write and they would read it and they would say, well, you need more. You need to write this. You didn't explain this.
00:32:22
Speaker
And so I thought, okay, great. I've written my book. And then Leah Ronan came back and said, well, now that you've written The Life in the Studio, we want to hear about... life with flowers. how do you think about How do you think about the flowers that you c grow?
00:32:37
Speaker
And so, of course, it's a little daunting because there are so many garden books out in the world and they're coming out every day, quite beautiful. um So the way i approached life with flowers was, again, how do i how do I think about the flowers that I grow why am I choosing these particular flowers? What am I thinking about when I'm growing them, both um the actual growing of them and sort of the art historical, what is what is my relationship to the history of the flower? So it has it's really a combination of a lot of different pieces of information about each flower, but definitely
00:33:19
Speaker
through the prism of how I think about them and how I think about them in relationship with the ceramics.
Insights from 'Life with Flowers'
00:33:25
Speaker
And again, just like when you when you take a photograph of something you've made, you have a very particular point of view. And so the flowers that I grow have a very particular point of view. And there is a lot of like how-to in there, but but mostly it's thinking about
00:33:47
Speaker
how would How would somebody who wanted to grow things think about what they wanted to do? How to go about thinking about that? And your book also blends together essays, photography, as well as your personal reflections. Is that correct? Yeah.
00:34:02
Speaker
There aren't as many personal reflections in this book as in the first one, but there there there are definitely essays about you know leaving a garden or giving flowers as a gift or the community of gardens or some of the things, the gardens that I've visited that have been inspirational. So there's a lot of that. There are some recipes of some of the things that I make in conjunction with the flowers and also a few projects of things that I have done with the garden.
00:34:32
Speaker
ah So it's got a lot of ah lot of different aspects to it. But again, it was it did take me a long time to write because it is It is so personal, and it's hard to always put yourself out there, but that's what you have to do, especially if you've written a book.
00:34:50
Speaker
You mentioned that it took you a long time to write this book. How long did it take from start to finish? i feel like it took about three years. Okay. That is quite a bit of time to put something together. Yeah. That's that's a lot of dedication.
00:35:04
Speaker
um What was your favorite part about working on this book? Well, i I do love working with Ellen and Bridget. They're, they're really great and a great support system.
00:35:15
Speaker
um I loved, there were some of the, archival photos that I really wanted to have in conjunction with the discussion. And I i had had to really fight to get permissions for some of those, but I did. So I'm really excited about that.
00:35:35
Speaker
And, uh, Yeah, I mean, I think i I worked very hard with the production person at Artisan like to get the color right. So I went in about five or six times. Every time they got a proof back, I went in and we looked, we literally looked at every single photo time and time again. So I'm really pleased with the color. And yeah, I think i think it all came out really well. I'm really proud of it.
00:36:01
Speaker
What's your favorite piece in the book? Do you have a favorite story or moment? um I guess maybe in the beginning where I talk about when I was ah kid, one of my favorite books was Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass and that Tenniel illustration of Alice talking to the flowers in the garden.
00:36:25
Speaker
And I relate to that so much. I feel like even now i go out every day and I talk to the flowers and that's ah something I haven't strayed from.
00:36:38
Speaker
Can you share with us, what does it mean to talk to the flowers? but I know that's a little weird, right? um I don't know. It's not like we're, I just feel like every flower has such a great personality and to watch it come out of the ground and then have a bud and then have a bloom,
00:36:57
Speaker
And watching the bees and watching the birds, I don't know. it's It's one of those wordless things where you feel like you've understood the soul of this particular flower. i completely understand. And I'm sure there this sure there are many gardeners listening, nodding their heads and smiling as well. It's one of those things that's hard to put in words if you haven't stood amongst your flowers and just yeah really taken it all in.
00:37:22
Speaker
Right. so
00:37:26
Speaker
In your book, you talk about the commodity of flower growers. Can you elaborate on that? what What do you mean by that? Well, the camaraderie of flower growers. Yes. Well, I mean, since you are a flower grower, there's nothing more wonderful than getting together with your friends and gardeners, fellow gardeners, and discussing what you're working on what you're planting, what went well, what didn't go well, what this person did, how could that be helped.
00:38:02
Speaker
I have friends who come and help me prune my roses. People have given me plants. I give them plants. So there's this give and take that um that that flower people have that I find it's just so generous and so sharing and so it's it's great to have flower friends because people those are happy people they truly are i always say that flower people are just eternal optimists because i mean we're planting seeds of hope all the time i know hope springs eternal right absolutely oh i love that
00:38:40
Speaker
um Can you talk about, you mentioned like your friends come to the garden to help with your roses. Did some of those people play a role in the writing or creation of this book?
00:38:51
Speaker
Oh, yeah. And I always live in fear that I've left somebody out in the acknowledgments. know, I have a lot of friends that come and help me. They help me put in the Dahlia tubers. They help me dig up the Dahlia tubers.
00:39:04
Speaker
yeah Someone's coming tomorrow to help me finish pruning the roses. So yeah, because I'm kind of here by myself, any help that I get is is I'm very grateful for. And it's just it's just fun to to to to work in in the garden beds together.
00:39:21
Speaker
I'm always amazed how many people will reach out to me and they'll be like, if you ever need any help, just let me know. And sometimes I'm hesit hesitant to say yes because I'm like, do they really want to help?
00:39:32
Speaker
But I think it's that that putting your hands in the soil and touching nature, especially if someone doesn't have their own garden to tend to, that yeah really is alluring to them.
00:39:43
Speaker
i I absolutely agree. And then, you know, as long as you're kind of around to answer any questions or keep an eye on what's going on, it's it's i really appreciate the help.
00:39:55
Speaker
Do they get to bring home flowers or they probably get rewarded with something from the garden? Yeah. I mean, if there are flowers, I definitely send them home with flowers for sure. Yes. Well, I'm sure they get just enough, just that's the serotonin alone of putting their hands in the soil and helping you plant those dahlias.
00:40:15
Speaker
Inside your book, it feels like there's this rhythm to the seasons.
Seasonal Impact on Creativity
00:40:20
Speaker
How do the seasons influence your creative work and outlook on life? That's a very big question.
00:40:28
Speaker
um Well, we're all, I think we're all I mean, you know you're in a better mood when the day is sunny as opposed to dark and rainy. So I think the weather, the seasons are so integral to our our DNA. And ah it's funny, you know, when you go into hibernation here in the wintertime,
00:40:49
Speaker
you just have to You just have to let it go that you're not going have, although now I have a greenhouse, so I do have a lot of flowers in the greenhouse. I have geraniums and all the citrus trees and everything. But it's funny how um you know now that spring is happening, you realize, okay, you have to shift and and be prepared to spend time outside.
00:41:11
Speaker
And then in the summertime, when it's really hot and humid here, you have to make sure there's enough water for all the plants. And we're on a well because we we're out a little bit in the country.
00:41:23
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, every every season has its subtle pull on you, depending on what what stage of of the that the flowers are at. Did you feel those seasonal shifts as you were writing the book as well? Do you think that played a role in the story?
00:41:42
Speaker
Definitely. Yeah. Is there any excerpt from your book that you would be able to share with us? Something special or meaningful that might resonate with our community of cut flower growers and flower farmers?
00:42:00
Speaker
i wanted to read... The delphinium. Okay. All right.
00:42:10
Speaker
Do you want me to start? Yes, please. Okay. So I'm going to read just the entry that I wrote for delphinium. In some ways, I regard delphinium as my fantasy flower.
00:42:25
Speaker
It's one of the only true blue flowers in nature. I want to grow it successfully, but it's a challenge. Learning to cultivate delphinium remains a work in progress for me, and I usually buy new plants in spring.
00:42:40
Speaker
The few that I grow in my raised beds yield flowers from June through September. Delphiniums are often blue and purple in various shades of intensity, but there are shades of pink and white as well.
00:42:52
Speaker
About ten years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Les Jardins de Catrevain, the garden created by the celebrated and self-taught horticulturist Francis Cabot on his family's property in Malbaix, Quebec.
00:43:08
Speaker
Open to the public for just four days every summer, the garden is a breathtaking array of garden rooms. The flowers that I remember most were the giant delphiniums, which were planted in a long perennial border as well as the cutting gardens.
00:43:22
Speaker
The stalks were easily 12 feet high and resplendent in blues and whites, and they were my inspiration for growing my own. I was also inspired by the great photographer Edward Steichen, who grew spectacular delphiniums just five miles from where I live in the town of Reading, Connecticut.
00:43:40
Speaker
If he could grow these beauties, I thought, then I would have to keep trying. Matt Mattis, a master gardener in Worcester, Massachusetts, advises planting delphiniums on their own and not in the context of a mixed border.
00:43:53
Speaker
They require six to eight hours of full sun, rich organic soil, and plenty of room and airflow around them. So i I guess I chose this passage because I basically am saying I really like them, but I can't grow them. And i think i think that's very kind of human that you just say, oh, well, I really want to. And so I keep trying.
00:44:20
Speaker
I love that. That's really beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. Your work feels so deeply rooted in mindfulness and intention.
Consistency, Patience, and Future Plans
00:44:30
Speaker
What practices help you to stay grounded and inspired in such a fast-moving environment?
00:44:37
Speaker
Well, uh, i'm As I said, i I get up very early, so consequently i kind of go to bed rather early. like It's not not the most exciting life.
00:44:49
Speaker
i'm not I'm not out in restaurants and dancing every night. And so i have i have when I'm home, I have a very consistent schedule. And I think that that repetition and that consistency is really critical for for creativity.
00:45:08
Speaker
I agree. i'm and I'm right there with you. I wake up at four o'clock in the morning and I'm in bed at eight o'clock at night. Yeah, exactly. And also i try to tune out the noise. You know, you one can go down that Instagram rabbit hole, but no, you just have to, you just have to put it away when you think, oh dear. And in my first book, I, I have that essay, don't look left, don't look right, which is really challenging to do, but you just, you have to block out things that you think will distract you and just focus on the positive and getting things done.
00:45:44
Speaker
That's, that's such great advice because it's, especially this time of year, it's so easy to look over here and say, I'm so behind. Yeah. Or look over here and think,
00:45:56
Speaker
They are doing this so much better than I am. Why am I even doing this? But if you just focus on what you're doing, they're like, oh, look at this beautiful thing I'm growing right here. Yeah, I mean, that and that's why I chose that delphinium essay.
00:46:09
Speaker
That's beautiful. Thank you so much. How would you say that your relationship with your garden and the natural world has changed over time? Has it evolved with your work?
00:46:20
Speaker
ah definitely think it's I think definitely think it's evolved. I would say i have caught and increased i have increased respect for nature and the growing world and to, as I said earlier, be a good citizen and do the best that we can do in this crazy world and global climate issues and You know, if everybody did their part, we would all be a lot better. So I i really try to stick to that.
00:46:54
Speaker
That's great. Thank you. You have inspired so many creatives across many different generations. What would you say to someone who's just beginning their creative journey, especially for someone who either feels unsure or perhaps late to the game?
00:47:11
Speaker
Well, there's i don't believe there's anything late to the game. It doesn't matter what age you are. it's always You're always able to try something new and learn something new. And, you know, as I already said, just don't be hard on yourself.
00:47:25
Speaker
Be kind to yourself and just persevere. You have to, you can't You can't do something part way. You can't do something for one day and then pick it up a few months later. You really need that consistency of just trying to do a little bit every day.
00:47:42
Speaker
That's so true. I kind of think of it just with the garden. Some days like it's like, okay, if I just take that one step today and then tomorrow i can do this next task, then eventually it's going to come together.
00:47:54
Speaker
Right. Or like if every time you go out to the garden, you have your clippers and you don't clip the entire garden, but you can clip one part of the garden. And so then the next day you go out and you do another part of it. And then little by little, it gets all done.
00:48:07
Speaker
That's such a great way to look at it. Thank you. Are there any mantras or quotes or piece of wisdom that you find yourself coming back to again and again for your own work?
00:48:18
Speaker
I think the one I often say to myself is Rome was not built in a day, which is, again, just all the things we've been talking about. You know you just have to have patience in everything that we do, especially in the garden, especially building up the soil.
00:48:34
Speaker
it all It just takes time. I can't tell you how much I love that you just said that because yesterday after meeting with our soil consultant, I came home absolutely exhausted and feeling overwhelmed. And I reached out to my friend Marin at the farmhouse flower farm and she told me the exact same quote. She said, Jen, remember Rome wasn't built in a day. Yeah, exactly. And, know,
00:48:58
Speaker
that that gives you permission to to not have it all wrapped up in a nice little neat bow. Yes, yes, I love that. Thank you for sharing that.
00:49:12
Speaker
So you're wrapping up your book. Your book is coming out into the world. What's next for you? I know you told me you have all these exhibitions. Are you also going on tour with your book?
00:49:23
Speaker
What do you have planned? Well, I have, i mean, I wouldn't call it a tour. i do have different ah speaking engagements that ah I've organized.
00:49:34
Speaker
And um hopefully I'm speaking at a literary festival outside of London in September. I have a speaking engagement in Charlotte in the fall. I have different things set up.
00:49:47
Speaker
oh I'm actually already booking things into 2026. wow. Yes. I try to post things on my website, but I'm not. I'm always a little bit behind.
00:49:59
Speaker
Is your website the best way to stay in touch with you? um I would say what my website or Instagram. I tend to post ah updates pretty regularly on my Instagram. Would you mind sharing with our audience so they can find you? What is your website and your Instagram handle?
00:50:15
Speaker
It's pretty simple. My website is Francis with an E, Francis, C-E-S. francispalmerpottery.com and my instagram is at francispalmer thank you we'll include links to both of those in today's show notes thank you before we say goodbye today is there anything i haven't asked you today that you wanted to impart on our listeners i don't know you've been pretty thorough um
00:50:47
Speaker
No, I mean, i think I think you've kind of covered a lot of what I've written about in the book. And i do I do really enjoy talking to people about it.
00:51:01
Speaker
Yesterday, i For the Garden Conservancy, I gave a tour at the Metropolitan Museum of things that I look at. So it's i I didn't realize it when I wrote the books, but being able to interact with people, fellow gardeners, potters, all sorts of people, and sort of hearing their stories and talking a bit about my journey, it's it's been really rewarding.
00:51:28
Speaker
I love that. that's You you've lead such a fascinating life. And I love your first book. I'm so excited to get my copy of your second book. I forgot to ask you, though, I just realized, do you sell your pottery still? Can people buy your pottery from your website?
00:51:43
Speaker
Yes, people can buy my pottery from my website, FrancisPalmerPottery.com. Perfect. yeah I know you have such a beautiful pottery that looks so stunning with so many arrangements. I just, every time I see one of your pictures, it's like, oh, I need that. It's so pretty. Thank you. That's very kind.
00:51:59
Speaker
So you're very talented. It's been such an honor to chat with you today. i appreciate you taking the time to come on the Backyard Bokeh podcast and share your journey with us and for sharing about your inspiration and just um sharing how you have led this life of creativity that's so inspiring for so many of us. So thank you.
00:52:21
Speaker
I'd love to leave the door open if you are ever writing another book or want to share more of your gardening stories. We'd love to have you back on the podcast. Okay. Well, thank you so much for inviting me. i You've asked wonderful questions.
00:52:34
Speaker
Well, thank you very much. I appreciate this time and I hope you have a wonderful spring and Best of luck with your exhibitions this summer. Okay, great. Thank you so much. Thank you. Until next time. Bye-bye.
00:52:46
Speaker
Bye-bye.
00:52:49
Speaker
Thank you, flower friends, for joining us on another episode of the Backyard Bouquet. i hope you've enjoyed the inspiring stories and valuable gardening insights we've shared today.
00:52:59
Speaker
Whether you're cultivating your own backyard blooms or supporting your local flower farmer, you're contributing to the local flower movement. And we're so happy to have you growing with us. If you'd like to stay connected and continue this blossoming journey with local flowers, don't forget to subscribe to the Backyard Bouquet podcast.
00:53:19
Speaker
I'd be so grateful if you would take a moment to leave us a review of this episode. And finally, please share this episode with your garden friends. Until next time, keep growing, keep blooming, and remember that every bouquet starts right here in the backyard.