2025 Utah Flower Conference - Bloom Together: Cultivating Connection and Elevating Standards

2025 Utah Flower Conference - Bloom Together: Cultivating Connection and Elevating Standards

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Join us on Saturday, February 1st  at the Utah Valley Convention Center for our third annual Utah Flower Conference. Hear from experts in the flowering community on improving our floral harvest and care standards to sell to florists, disease identification and prevention, extending your season with high tunnels, and more. This event offers a unique opportunity to network with numerous local flower farmers.

We are so excited to hear from Diane Szukovathy from Jello Mold Farm, a seasoned farmer and horticulturalist. As a founding member of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a floral cooperative established in 2011, she recently worked with growers and staff to coordinate the SWGM Floral Standards book, a tool which is intended to help flower farmers work together to build a lasting industry based on quality production and shared knowledge. (You will have the opportunity to pre-order this book with the purchase of your tickets - and members of the UCFFA will get a substantial discount!)

Dr. Melanie Stock from Utah State University will be presenting on the latest research out of the USU Small Farms Lab. We are so lucky to have such a great resource for flower farming right here in Utah and are thrilled to have Melanie speak to us again this year.

Dr. Francesca Hand from Ohio State University will speak to us about the identification and management of plant diseases in cut flower production. Dr. Hand is a Professor and Extension Specialist at The Ohio State University, where she leads a teaching, research, and Extension program in ornamental plant pathology. Her lab studies fundamental and applied aspects of pathogen biology, disease epidemiology, and integrated disease management, with the goal of translating knowledge into practical solutions for growers to implement to prevent crop losses.

One of our Certified Growers, Chelsea Beutler, will be doing a demo with local dried flowers. Chelsea Beutler is the owner and founder of Sunnyside Urban Farm. Chelsea and her team produce top-quality fresh flowers for the Utah Flower Market and local bouquet subscribers, large varieties of preserved flowers, small-scale social events, educational classes and workshops on her urban farm in Lindon, Utah. 

Kristen Kropp from B.U.G. (Backyard Urban Garden) Farms will be presenting to us on using cover crops to increase soil fertility. Kristen farms several urban plots and has expertise in growing cover crops in smaller spaces without the use of tractors or large machinery in our dry Utah climate.

We will have an expert panel on growing in high tunnels with local growers ready to answer all your questions on this subject. Our panel will include Lindy Bankhead from Paisley Flower Farm, Sara Asbridge from Willow Creek Flower and Herb, Mair Murray - Extension IPM Specialist at Utah State University.

We have made an extra special effort to ensure we will have ample time for networking during this event. We enjoy gathering as a community and are excited about the opportunity to engage in conversations and exchange experiences and knowledge with each other.

We have a few more presentations in the works, and our event will be updated with those details soon!

Lunch will be provided with the purchase of a conference ticket. You can select your lunch preference during the checkout process.

The last day to purchase tickets will be January 24th, 2025.

We can’t wait to see you!

The 2025 Utah Flower Conference is proudly sponsored by Bloomed Life, Snuck Farm, Heritage Mums, Rooted Farmers, Utah Flower Market, Johnny's Selected Seeds, Utah Farm Bureau, Harris Seeds, Steve Regan, Bloom Gardens Magazine, Northern Utah Flower Exchange & NRCS