In this episode (Ep. 146), we sit down with Colleen Raney, founder of Songbird Seed Co and Diadem Flower Co. If you love a great story, this one's for you. Colleen's path into the flower world is anything but conventional. From studying aerospace engineering and training as a professional actor, to performing Irish music internationally, to building a flower farm in Maine, to moving the farm to Washington—and ultimately launching a specialty sweet pea seed company—Colleen's story is full of pivots, curiosity, and entrepreneurial strategy. And don't even get us started on her sense of humor!

Colleen shares how a season of burnout and big life shifts led her to the garden—and how a simple fascination with sweet peas slowly grew into a thoughtfully built seed company. Our conversation wanders through topics like creativity, business strategy, and the realities of building something in the floral world, all anchored by the sense of wonder that keeps pulling us back to flowers.

• Starting a flower farm in Maine and building a thriving local floral business
• Moving back to the West Coast and adapting to a different flower market
• Why sweet peas became the foundation of her seed business
• The process of researching and launching a niche seed company
• Branding, packaging, and storytelling as marketing tools
• Growing seed stock and preserving rare varieties
• Identifying your ideal customer and staying focused on a narrow market
• Managing comparison, visibility, and self-doubt as a creative entrepreneur
• Shifting away from "content creation" toward documenting real work on social media
• Building authentic community around a niche product

This episode of the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast is brought to you by:

Bloom Trust Co. Circle Retail 2026

Simple -- Soulful -- Connection. Click here to learn more.

You can find show notes and more episodes of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast at botanicalbrouhaha.com, and you can find Amy on IG at either @botanicalbrouhaha or @bloomtrustco and Natalie at @hey.nataliegill or @native_poppy

This episode of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast was produced by Joel McGee. Original music by Landon McGee.

Linda D'Arco returns to the Botanical Brouhaha podcast nearly five years after her first appearance to share what's changed since we last spoke. Based in northern New York, Linda is the founder of Little Farmhouse Flowers and Ampersand Bulb Co., and she brings a valuable, behind-the-scenes perspective on importing flower bulbs, ethical sourcing, and sustainable supply chains. Drawing from firsthand experience as a bulb importer, Linda breaks down how tariffs work, why they've dramatically increased costs for small farms, and how these policies affect the future of local flower production in the U.S.

This conversation goes far beyond bulbs. Along the way, we explore what it means to let go of offerings you love, build businesses that reflect your values, and take responsibility for the ripple effects of your work.

• Letting go of offerings to make room for more aligned work
• Building a wholesale flower bulb company
• Ethical sourcing, sustainability, and supply-chain transparency
• How flower bulbs are grown—and why they take years to produce
• How tariffs affect American flower farmers and florists
• The environmental tradeoffs between importing bulbs vs. cut flowers
• Frozen agricultural grants and their downstream impact on farms
• Using your business as a vehicle for values and advocacy
• Choosing your audience—and being okay with who opts out
• Parenting, boundaries, and designing a business that supports real life

• • Little Farmhouse Flowers
  • The Tulip Workshop
  • Ampersand Bulb Co.

This episode of the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast is brought to you by:

BLOOM TRUST CO.

A curated collection of floral resources you can trust. Click here to learn more.

You can find show notes and more episodes of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast at botanicalbrouhaha.com, and you can find Amy on IG at either @botanicalbrouhaha or @bloomtrustco and Natalie at @hey.nataliegill or @native_poppy

This episode of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast was produced by Joel McGee. Original music by Landon McGee.

In this bonus episode, Amy and Natalie take a deep dive into Bloom Trust Co. CIRCLE—what it is, why they started it nearly five years ago, and how it's evolved since that very first session in 2021. They reflect on how CIRCLE grew from just an idea about how to connect with other florists into a trusted, small-group community for florists who want a safe, candid space to talk about the real work of owning a flower business. They cover how CIRCLE works (and why it's not a course), the importance of community, transparency, and talking about numbers. And they discuss the unexpected impact it's had helping businesses develop systems strong enough to allow them to sell when the time was right. Whether you're thinking about opening a shop, wanting to take the next step to expand and grow your retail business, or just curious what CIRCLE really is, this episode gives you an honest look behind the scenes. If you are interested in joining either CIRCLE Retail or CIRCLE Weddings, you can contact Amy directly through email or DM to find out more.

You can find show notes and more episodes of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast at botanicalbrouhaha.com, and you can find Amy on IG at either @botanicalbrouhaha or @bloomtrustco and Natalie at @hey.nataliegill or @native_poppy

This episode of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast was produced by Joel McGee. Original music by Landon McGee.