Master Floral Designer w/ Dr. Jim DelPrince

Dr. Jim DelPrince loves people and petals. This Mississippi State University floral professor taught students for 23 years. As a Mississippi Extension Service Specialist, he now teaches floral design to consumers. This hybrid online/onsite Master Floral Designer course draws attendees from multiple states. From small children to senior citizens, eager participants learn to create beauty by arranging botanicals. Interested? Click here! Jim shares the details with Sharon McGukin in this podcast.

How we Bloom podcast is an oasis of flower ideas. Hosts Sharon McGukin and Smithers-Oasis North America interview floral guests who dare to do things differently. We listen, learn, explore new opportunities and that's how we bloom!

Transcript

Dr. Jim DelPrince (00:09):

Floral design is a great skill to learn, no matter when you pick it up in your lifetime, you'll have it for a lifetime. Using classes, books, YouTube, videos, and other resources you can design by yourself, or with others, for purpose or pleasure.

Sharon McGukin (00:34):

Today, we are so privileged to have my floral friend, Dr. James DelPrince MSU Extension Horticulture Specialists, joining us to share the details of MSU Extension's Master Floral Designer Program. Jim and I met when we were inducted into AIFD - the American Institute of Floral Designers in 1992.

Sharon McGukin (00:58):

As a laureate, Jim was granted the AIFD service to the Floral Industry Award in 2016. Dr. DelPrince has taught floral design at Mississippi State since 1992. I've had the privilege of being a guest speaker at MSU through an Artist in Residence program many years ago. I know it to be one of the country's leading floral management programs. I've seen it myself over the years.

Sharon McGukin (01:27):

Jim has authored and co-authored books on floral design, interior plant-scaping, floral history, and floral terminology, including the most popular floral design textbook in North America. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and extension publications. In recent years, Dr. DelPrince was asked by Dr. Trisha Knight, head of Southern Mississippi Horticulture Research to start a program called Master Floral Designer to accommodate growing consumer interest in the subject. After much research and working with focus groups, the new consumer-based flower education program took root. MSU Extension, introduced its new program by beginning a small-steps program for floral enthusiasts. This program helps people to better understand formal floral design learning, and in turn, more about the Master Floral Design Program. We are so lucky today to have my friend, Dr. Jim DelPrince, with us to explain all of this. Hello, Jim.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (02:34):

Hello, Sharon. How are you doing?

Sharon McGukin (02:36):

Fantastic. So excited to have you here. I want to ask you to explain to us the Master Floral Designer Program that is the Extension Service program for Mississippi State. You are the person who created the program, so you're the perfect person to ask.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (02:55):

Well, during my interview for this position, one of the questions that came up was from Dr. Knight. She asked me if I had ever considered a program in Extension that's like the Master Gardener program, except for floral design. And I told her, “you know, I'd never thought about anything like that, but I could see how it would work,” and it really took off from there.

Sharon McGukin (03:22):

Fantastic. Now, this is a hybrid program, so it combines video and face-to-face formats so that it can work optimally for the learner?

Dr. Jim DelPrince (03:35):

In working with extension learners, some people linger, others come and go or get what they need and leave everyone fits our programs to their needs.

Sharon McGukin (03:49):

The program offers basic floral design, flower care and handling techniques, and three phases. Phase 1 - online, Phase 2 in-person, and Phase 3 - volunteering. Can you speak to that for a moment for us?

Dr. Jim DelPrince (04:05):

Certainly. You know, so much of the work that we do in extension involves people to be involved with others. That's a big part of extension - community building. So I knew that Master Floral Designer needed to have that component for people who wanted to do that sort of thing. And of course, you know, extension is here to provide research-based information and best practices information to the people who want it, and that's what Master Floral Designer is. So, when it comes down to these three phases, I wanted to make them accessible to everyone. The way that we wrote it, and it seems to be working pretty well, is that Phase 1 is a semester long online course. Now, sometimes when you say “a course” to people, it sounds a little bit like, you know, I don't want to get into it that deeply.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (05:01):

I don't want to have to study and do all this stuff, and it's not like that at all. The Phase 1 portion of Master Floral Designer is really like watching a television show. We filmed it at the MSU Television Center in Starkville, and the men and women who work there have a lot of experience in video work - with sports in particular, but lots of academic topics and what have you. We filmed it with three different cameras, two on the side, and one from above. Each demonstration is beautifully edited, so you can see how to do everything. In addition, there are also lively explanations and graphics to help to illustrate major points. And because it is a semester long, what we do for the students who are enrolled in the course - every week a new module within the learning program opens up so you're not bombarded with a lot of information, but if you fall behind, those previous weeks are still there.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (06:11):

We wanted to do something that we kept people on the track for learning, because it's easy for people, I think, sometimes to fall away. They get busy with other things and they haven't necessarily prioritized what they wanted to do at the beginning. So that's why every week there is a new unit. So, it's like going to college except it's not that hard <laugh> with all of those responsibilities of tests and projects. Now we do have some testing that we do in it at the beginning and at the end we want to see what people know about basic floral design, and then at the end we want to see what they learned. And that's been really great for our program because we've shown that learning increased about 55% once people exit the program. So that in a nutshell, defines what the Phase 1 of the program is.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (07:08):

Now, Phase 2 is another part of the program, and it's the one that everyone looks forward to because it's hands-on learning. In the early days of the program we would have people come to Biloxi once a week to take the class, but people from further away in Mississippi, as well as in Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida wanted to take the program, but they couldn't come every week. I had some early adopters of the program who were actually buddying up and driving three hours one way to take the class weekly. So, we decided it might be best to condense the second phase, the hands-on portion. So, the hands-on portions are offered once a semester. So we offer one in the fall semester, one in the summer, and one in the spring. They start on Tuesday and end on Friday.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (08:07):

So, it's only four days. But during that four days, we cover everything from how to work with ribbon all the way through to a creative final project. We bring in lunch so that students don't have to go somewhere and come in late. We bring in lunch those four days. We tell people, you know, come to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, get a hotel room. There are places to stay, like casinos if you like gambling. And sometimes those casinos, you can get room rates for like $40 bucks a night. It's crazy. But some people like to stay by the water and have something more beautiful and calming. Other people stay with family and relatives. It's all across the board, but that's the way they get their hands-on practice done. And then the third phase is very much in the realm of extension. That's the volunteering phase. Just like Master Gardner, we ask our Master Floral Designers to put in 40 hours of practice in floral design, which promotes good floral design, quality, good flowers, and the power of flower.

Sharon McGukin (09:14):

That's fantastic. Now, this consumer program offers opportunities to a diverse group of people. Whom would you say are most likely to sign up and participate in your program?

Dr. Jim DelPrince (09:28):

Well, you know, we've had people from all ages from basically about 18 all the way up. But, most of the people who participate in this program, the demographic tends to either be a retired or semi-retired woman, age around 60, who has lived a life in service of others and in service of a career and wants to spend some time for herself, diving more deeply into flowers.

Sharon McGukin (10:00):

Fantastic. I would guess that you have beginners who are looking for a new skill or individuals who want to polish their skills. And, it seems that it would be individuals who are interested in non-credit education. They just, as you said, want to do it for themselves. What about church flower guilds? Do you find a lot of people using the opportunity to learn to do church flowers?

Dr. Jim DelPrince (10:26):

Yes. In Extension, we've had interaction from individuals and groups. Sometimes we have specific training workshops that are for a particular group from a church because they have educational goals to help them with a season or year-round designing. I've tried in the past to have church flower workshops, but individual parishes, denominations and, you know, just groups of people all have very different needs. So, it's nice for these individuals to take Master Floral Designer training and then go back to their church and to say, “I am fortified with what we need to do to make this work better” whether it's more efficiently, better plant material choices, more economically, or in some cases too - to spend more money on flowers, which is really great for the industry. And, some of our Master Floral Designers have gone back to their churches and started up flower guilds or fortified their art and environment guilds.

Sharon McGukin (11:32):

Fantastic. Now, it seems to me these would be some great educational opportunities for Garden Club members, groups, judges, people who are already in love with flowers and enjoying their passion. This would just help them refine their skills, maybe.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (11:49):

Yes. You know, working with Garden Club Judges is like working with graduate students. They're so devoted and knowledgeable about what they're doing. It really is fun. I've had Garden Club judges come through the program, and what's been so fun for me is they connect me to garden club judging and higher level exhibitions. Just like those folks who say, “I've done everything, all my career, now I want to do my own thing.” Once in a great while, I can participate with them to go through some of their judging workshops. And, I absolutely love it. But yes, Garden Club members, Garden Club Judges all get it, I think. They've said it in their evaluations. Sharon, you know, every course that we offer gets a thorough evaluation of every aspect of the learning process, whether it's the video, the textbook that's included with the course, the hands on, the volunteering, all of that, the tools, everything. So we can consistently improve the program. And a lot of our garden clubs have, I think, really improved their floral designing overall because of extensions presence in their lives.

Sharon McGukin (13:10):

Fantastic. Now, do you find that hobbyists come to you for decorating tips for their homes? Or, I know you have those beautiful Mississippi home pilgrimages - do people who come to get skills for their pleasure in that? Do you find there's a group of people that utilize your service in that way?

Dr. Jim DelPrince (13:31):

Yes. You know, in Southeastern United States, we love our history. We love our architecture and decorative arts, and you know, flowers are a decorative art. So many consumers want to continue to enjoy floral design as part of the decorative arts in history, architecture, interior design. That being said, they want to learn how to use the proper floral design mechanics. And when I say proper, I mean like the whole spectrum of floral design mechanics to get the look that they're trying to get, whether it is historical or contemporary, and all of the different design movements in floral design alone that we study. Yes, it is a wonderful way to put flowers at the forefront. And you know, Sharon, I think in the fall season, here we are talking in the fall season, I woke up this morning and stepped outside of the house, and it was cool for a change instead of the blast of a furnace.

Sharon McGukin (14:38): <laugh>. It was really cool this morning.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (14:40):

And you know, your thoughts, of course, like so many of us that are enthusiastic about floral design turn to all the wonderful things you can do with flowers. But master floral designer enables you to do those things and more because of the fact that you learn the materials, you learn the mechanics, you learn the techniques, and so on.

Sharon McGukin (15:02):

You can at MSU get a degree in horticulture, but it would be my guess that even people who have degrees in floral design and in horticulture, that they still might gain information from your program afterwards because flowers follow trends and techniques evolve, and there's always something new to learn with flowers. This is my 49th year in flowers, and every single event I learn something myself. I'm supposed to be teaching, but I'm actually in there learning <laugh>.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (15:38):

It's true. We do learn, you know, from each other. And, you know, you mentioned our degree program on our flagship campus up in Starkville. Starkville is about four and a half hours north of Biloxi. As a matter of fact, I'm going to be going up there tomorrow night to meet with some of our new county agents from throughout the state and to proclaim our floral programs and how unique they are. And, of course I had to make something for the table.

Sharon McGukin (16:08):

<laugh> Always.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (16:10):

Some nice dried flowers and dried things just from the yard and things that we’ve dried from the farm. And, you know, our experiment station in Poplarville. It's nice to have access to those things. But yes, the graduates of the program, many of them do stay in touch and many of them seek continuing education. And like you say, the trends change, the products change, the world changes. And this has a great effect on the floral designing that we do. We, just a few weeks ago, had a program. We're coming through this worldwide pandemic, and folks like you and I and our compatriots in the industry have counted on going to those wholesale floral shows for so many years. And suddenly, they got moved online, which was nice because you could access more information that way conveniently.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (17:09):

But we missed the shoulder-to-shoulder interaction and the hallway conversations that lead to so many great ideas. So, I scheduled a program for professional florists. And I thought, you know, if I get five or 10 people that register and attend this thing, I'm going to say it was a big success. Because, we had never tried it before. And we had 31 florists from Mississippi, mostly, and nearby states who came down. We covered about half a day's worth of information. And some of the alumni were there.

Sharon McGukin (17:47):

You know what that is, it’s because they were coming to see you. Your name brought that group together. I have no doubt, Jim. I did a program on Saturday via Zoom for FFA students, and it was successful and we felt really good about it. But, I did feel that missing of the connection when the kids were coming to the screen and holding their arrangements up. And I'm trying to critique looking in from the camera. And, I was like “Oh, I so miss the days that we would've just been in the room with all those great kids and have the opportunity to interact with them.” Maybe, we'll get back to it. I hope so, because I think that a hybrid program for professionals is great too. When there needs to be Zoom to get you somewhere that you otherwise cannot do, that's a great thing. But when you have an opportunity to with people in close contact, there's just a synergy that you cannot get in any other way. Now, I was wondering how the public could use these programs as a resource. Let's say I had a group and we were interested in a subject such as sustainable design mechanics, and I contacted Dr. Jim DelPrince. How would that work? That perhaps you could come and speak to my group and enlighten us?

Dr. Jim DelPrince (19:13):

Of course, in Extension, you know, we're always interested in helping with educational goals. But, it takes someone, whether an individual, a group, small or large, or a larger population to have educational needs first. The wrong way I would say to use extension is to call a county office in your state, no matter where you are, and say “We need a speaker.” A better way to do it would be to say “We need some educational information about X.” Very good. Because it's so much more enriching than if you just get a speaker. Well, that could be about anything, and it may really miss the mark of what those stakeholders need. So for instance, you know, you brought up sustainability. One of our garden clubs here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, they're charged.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (20:16):

They're very much into floral design. I would say that half of the group are better designers than I'll ever hope to be. Just born with wonderful talent that just needs some honing with some technical knowledge and skill and they would be on a national level, I'm convinced. But this particular group got in touch with me and they said, We heard that there are some new products in floral design that are sustainable, like different kinds of mechanics and what have you. And they said, “Can you give us a program on Sustainable Floral Designs and how we might need to be incorporating that as an active garden club on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, because as you know, microplastics end up in the ocean.” And so here's a group of people who love nature, who live right on the Gulf of Mexico. So, it made really good sense that you're going to be getting some of that need from coastal groups first. Then maybe, you know, things kind of go from there. So, I tailored their program using some Oasis Floral Products and using some other products as well. And, just kind-of showed those ladies a few ideas that they can then use for their exhibition of floral designs. And I think we had a really good meeting, I hope to follow up with them next year to see what, not only what they learned, but what they retained and then what they used. That'll be the real impact.

Sharon McGukin (21:50):

Now, I was on the phone with you one day when you were driving and you were headed to present a program to the Mississippi Poultry Association Wives Program. And that seems to be something that would be very interesting to a lot of people who travel to an event with a spouse. And then to be so lucky as to have you speak to them, I think that would be really interesting.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (22:15):

Yeah. You know, of course those opportunities are out there mm-hmm. <affirmative>, for those of us, and whenever anyone is interested in flowers, I think I, I know that you're on this bandwagon too. Anything we can do mm-hmm. <affirmative> to help to ensure that they get the information that they need, We're going do our best to make sure that it happens.

Sharon McGukin (22:34):

Our mission is to help others “Celebrate Life with Flowers.” If you stop to think about all of the opportunities, whether it's weddings, whether it's funerals, whether it's a birthday or anniversary, are perhaps your family is just coming to dinner, and you want to have that arrangement on the table to make them feel like guests. When we celebrate life with flowers, we just add a spirit of natural beauty to our everyday lives. And I see that as our mission.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (23:10):

Yes. It's a beautiful thought. I think like if you take some time to clean your house, then you want to put a beautiful floral arrangement or vegetative plant grouping or something that on the table. I know, like at this time of the year, I like to do my fall decorating when the kids go back to school around the end of August and then leave it in place for the months of Fall. Yes. When you come home, everything is clean, and there's that beautiful design that you've made with the stuff that you love. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that's a nice way to start to come home and relax and enjoy your nest. Yes.

Sharon McGukin (23:49):

And, you and I agree that texture is the richness of design. The reason we love Autumn is we love the textural materials that are so available. It is just a pleasure. You just can go on a walk outside and come back with beautiful materials that areoften considered weeds or a nuisance, but they're beautiful when they go into an arrangement.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (24:14):

Yes. Um, the other day when I was, um, somewhere <laugh>, you know, it is, um, I was outta town giving a program. I ate dinner and there was a Home Depot behind the hotel, and I thought, Well, let me walk over to that Home Depot Garden Center. And I looked around and, you know, they had some cool things and stuff, and, and I thought I could always, if I see a plant or something, I could just keep it in the car and take it home tomorrow. And I saw some beautiful things, but I didn't really pick anything up. There wasn't anything I felt like fit the bill. And then as I'm walking to the hotel all the way around the edge of the parking lot, where those beautiful wildflowers at this time of the year, particularly in south Mississippi, were getting really close to the peak of wildflower season. And I got my knife out of my pocket and I cut some millet, baccharis and solidago and wrapped them up in a bag and took 'em home. And they're in my office right now. The weeds and all those things, I think are sometimes the most beautiful things.

Sharon McGukin (25:20):

In my early years, I designed for PFD Magazine, sometimes as a freelancer in Oklahoma, and there was this huge drainage ditch behind the photographer studio that had all these wonderful natural materials. And then of course, inside the building, we had all the commercially grown flowers. And finally, toward the end of our shoot, the person in charge that do not step back outside that door.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (25:47):

Oh my.

Sharon McGukin (25:49):

Yeah, I loved it. Now, do you ever get a certificate for this program? Is this a certificate driven program or is it not?

Dr. Jim DelPrince (25:57):

It is. The certificate would be from Mississippi State University extension, and as long as you have completed Phases 1, 2, and 3, you become certified. What I've done is I've anchored it with International Women's Day, which is annually on March 8th. So, on February 8th I ask that to be the deadline for all my Master Floral Designers to turn in their volunteer hours. Now, I should also say that first year we require 40 hours of volunteering - just like Master Gardner does. It sounds like a lot, but it's basically doing about two things. <laugh> <laugh> is what it seems like it's boiled down to be. For instance, some of the MFDs are in garden clubs, and for them to organize a workshop, deliver the workshop, and pick up from it, it takes about 20 hours. And, you know, it stands to reason. When I give a demonstration, it takes me eight hours to prepare for it, a day to deliver it, and then about four hours a half day the next day to clean up from it.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (27:10):

So, you know, it stands a reason that it's going to take them about half of that amount of time to deliver a program and to do everything that they need to do. Now, in addition to that, once they've become certified, we ask them to stay active with the program to serve 20 hours per year in volunteering about floral design and or continuing education. So that could be coming back from more classes, it could be leading classes, it can be online programs. I know that my master floral designers have been interested in some of the offerings of the wire services that have been online over the past couple of years because of the pandemic. Well, that counts to them for continuing education hours, and they do like to stay active to learn more, and they want more education.

Sharon McGukin (28:04):

Now I remember during the pandemic, you were telling me during the quarantine, participants weren't allowed in the office and research plots, but they worked around it. Tell our audience about that.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (28:16):

Right. Yeah, it was, you know, it was a time that it's kind-of, it's funny for us now because it seems like it's kind of gray and fuzzy. But, it was something that will probably go down in history as sort of defining the time of our lives. you know, those landmarks like our parents and grandparents talked about over the years. Extension told us, work from home, do what you can to help your people, and utilize online resources as much as possible. So, I noticed some of the specialists within a couple of days, they were getting in touch with us, and one of our specialists was talking to me in a Zoom kind-of podcast approach. He works a lot with family health, and he's our health specialist in Extension for the state of Mississippi, Dr. David Buys.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (29:10):

And David has a young family. We were kind of brainstorming a little bit in that discussion about things that people can do, and he said, “You know, it makes sense to get kids outside during this shutdown time.” We talked about all the basic things you could do. And I realized I had a publication on pressed floral design work, and how to do that. And it's been a project we've taught at Mississippi State for decades. As a student at the Ohio State University, I did press fall pictures in my early floral design classes. So, we adopted that, made it into an activity, and we actually made it into an online class. So it's got a 30 minute video, a free publication, you don't have to pay anything for the publication. You could do this whole thing free on your own. And we also developed a kit, and we started shipping these kits out, when we developed it, to families who were saying, “Kids aren't back in school yet. We want this course for them because we know it'll keep them outside and it'll give them something to do. Send us a kit.”

Dr. Jim DelPrince (30:21):

So we, we did that and it worked out beautifully. But as far as the Master floral designers are concerned, they continued their volunteering with flowers. They would purchase at supermarkets with flowers from their yards and gardens. They would make-arrangements and take them to neighbors, and they would say, “Look, this is part of my practice as a Master Floral Designer, but I thought you could use a pick me up.” Our program, you know, was really new online in 2019, but that year our small number of volunteers logged about 950 volunteer hours! Even though they were part of the shutdown and part of the pandemic world. And it just stands to reason, it backs up everything that happened in retailing. That first Easter of the pandemic was like one of the biggest sales-volume-Easters that florist had seen. Because people wanted to share their thoughts, their feelings, and their sentiments in flowers. And florists could deliver because we are agricultural and we were considered an important part of daily life.

Sharon McGukin (31:41):

Absolutely. And it was interesting because that time period reminded people who had forgotten and taught people who never knew - that flowers can be there when you cannot. So, there was a huge surge in funeral flowers, anniversary flowers, birthday flowers, because you can “Say it with flowers.” And, that message went out. I know you were talking about your volunteers earlier, and their flowers went to shut-ins. They did flowers for churches. They designed flowers for individuals that might have just been lonesome. And, flowers were able to be a bright spot in that space of time. That's the beauty of flowers and what a great way to share it. I know we have talked many times about sustainability and how to make-adjustments in the way that we use flowers or floral materials. You and I both agree that what was once considered common sense, reusing materials, minimalism, an eco-friendly lifestyle is now a trend movement. And the buzz words of it are sustainability, going green, earth friendly, echo friendly, using foam but less of it, incorporating more organic materials. The pandemic just backed this all up because you didn't have the resources to get everything new every time you wanted it. So you were back to the “How can I make this work?” stage.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (33:17):

You're right. I think that the pandemic may have even kick started us to really take a look at this, because so many of us, whether floral enthusiasts, amateurs, - and you know that word amateur. T he root word of the word amateur is “amo,” which is the Latin word for to love … doing what you love. Yes. We all had to kind of find some of these resources to make things work. And that's when some of us who have been in the industry for a long time knew about the people who worked in the industry before us. How to make things happen when you don't have something available. And it's just like our mothers and grandmothers and great grandmothers in the kitchen cooking for a family, having to make a meal that is nutritious and delicious with what you have on hand. And that's sustainable. And it's less about what can we buy? And I think more about what can we do with what we have, which ultimately saves money.

Sharon McGukin (34:31):

Absolutely. A funny thing, my five-year-old grandson made for me a centerpiece for the little kids' table, because I have a small table just for my four grandchildren, and it didn't have a centerpiece on it. And our other tables always have a centerpiece. So, he made one for me. He took a shoebox and colored it. He made a flower out of paper and taped it on the chenille stem, so it stood up in the middle of the box. He gave it to me and he was very proud of it. Then he came back to me later and said “Grandmama, I have to tell you, that's not really a vase. That's really a box that I colored.” <laugh> “Well, that makes you more of an artist, because an artist can use other things for the same purpose.”

Dr. Jim DelPrince (35:19):

Sharon. Yeah, and what's more special than that? We talk about this, from time to time. Those young Americans! Here we are. We're handing the best that we can do to them mm-hmm. <affirmative>. I love that you nurture that in your grandchildren … the flowers. But, you know, I'm thinking about the household during that time. How many times it's like, it's incredibly busy. You're trying to take like a ham or a turkey out of the oven. Somebody just spilled something on the floor. But to make time for their interests to reinforce those excellent behaviors. We have a program that we do every year. I believe in the power of young people in terms of being flower buyers, florists, horticulturists, purchasers of horticultural products in the future.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (36:20):

And we've said over the years, you know, look at what they're doing in Northern Europe. They teach horticulture in the elementary schools. Absolutely. And here we are, we've got school gardens now that we're implementing. Extension’s behind that. We have started up the program that we do every year. And this idea came from one of our Master Floral Designers to build volunteer hours, and it's called Kids Camp and Floral Design. We do it every June. It is a half day, and it is for students age eight to 12 or thereabouts. If they're a little younger, a little older, we don't care. And we do nothing but floral design projects with them. And I'll tell you, the younger they are the less inhibitions they have. You show them an idea and they just zoom with it. And sometimes, I've said like some of the things that they make, I would put it up against any randomly selected retail florist in the US. Absolutely. It's beautiful. And, I like to tell them once they've done it - how beautiful it is and how pretty the flowers are. And they leave with a tote bag full of projects and samples and things like that. And hopefully as they grow, they'll think about flowers first as the appropriate gift. And the way that you so beautifully put it to “Say it with flowers.”

Sharon McGukin (37:53):

Absolutely. You mentioned Thanksgiving. My granddaughters who were six and eight at the time, were here for Thanksgiving and I gave them exactly the same amount of flowers. I divided the flowers out. I gave them the same containers, the same flowers, and asked them to make matching centerpiece for the dining table. It was so interesting because they used exactly the same number of materials, but the eight-year-old made a very concise, small, detailed design. And the six year old made a really open balance, big design that, had a lot of flair to it. And that is so their personalities. Even though the designs didn't match, we put them on the table because that was their personality. The eight-year-old very concisely summed up that they were very different. And she said, “DaMa, why don't you put the kids at this end of the table? Because we can all see over the design and then the adults can sit on the end with the larger arrangement because you can all see over it.” I just loved that they were so different, and that I could look at the arrangements and see who made them. I said to the adults when they came in, “who made which arrangement,” and everybody could identify, by personality, the one that was more detailed and the one that was more dramatic. <laugh>.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (39:29):

I love that. You know, there's so much science in what you all experienced. I'm thinking too, I love the approach of making the environment adapt to the floral design instead of the other way around.

Sharon McGukin (39:48):

Absolutely. It should always be so. Let’s make that a new rule. 

Dr. Jim DelPrince: Okay! <laugh>

Sharon McGukin (39:56): 

If people were interested in these on-going programs, they could go online to what website?

Dr. Jim DelPrince (40:08):

I would say the easiest thing to do is just Google - Mississippi State Extension. That'll take you to our website, Mississippi State University Extension. But make sure you get Extension in there because Mississippi State University and Mississippi State University Extension are working together. But, we're two separate entities because of funding. The funding for Extension comes from state appropriations, whereas the University gets federal, state, local, and tuition, to make it work.

Sharon McGukin (40:44):

I believe, if I'm not mistaken, you told me once that while the government pays the salaries and the administration of Extension, the people pay a small fee to cover the materials for classes. Is that true?

Dr. Jim DelPrince (40:59):

That's right.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (41:01):

Yes. We call it cost recovery. When you take a course from me, you're not paying a fee to pay my salary. You're paying for the materials, the tools, all those sort of tangibles. 

Sharon McGukin (41:18):

Floral design for you and I is a passion, but it's more the petals and the people, not just the flowers. And we love sharing that with other people. And I have to thank you, Jim. You do such a great job of sharing. You are so knowledgeable. And I can remember you all the way back to your Tussie Mussie program. I can't remember what year that was at AIFD, but I thought that that was just so informative and you always bring that to every program, everything that you are involved in. So, I just thank you so much for being with us today and enabling us to learn from you and to find out about your program. I hope that people will be drawn to your program and participate. In this extension program, there were some other programs you mentioned to me like Master Gardener, Master Naturalist, Coastal Cleanup, Wildlife and Fisheries, Farmer Florist. And then you do seasonal events like holiday wreath, garland and centerpiece making or things of the season. So it's not just about the designer, it's about the learner, wouldn't you say?

Dr. Jim DelPrince (42:37):

Yes. we say that extension is everything. It truly is everything. If you have an educational need about something, odds are that Extension has something available to you, whether it's locally, statewide, nationally, or internationally.

Sharon McGukin (42:59):

I know you mentioned to me one time a weekly Inspiring designer series was also added to the program, and you had guests like our floral friends, Frank Feysa, Gerry Toh, Pat Scace, Laura Dowling, Janet Draper from Smithsonian Horticulture and the UK designer Sarah Marie Andrews. So you really reach out. It's not just a close community, you're kind-of worldwide with bringing information in. I'm impressed by that.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (43:32):

Thank you. You know, it's so much of … we've been enabled. I know I feel like I've been enabled. You know, once I sort-of declared “I think I want to be in floriculture,” my university professors, my advisors, and membership in the American Institute of Floral Designers has connected us to all of the best worldwide. And you really find this network of people is strong. And it's just like that with Garden Club groups in the regional, and statewide and local levels. Those networks and the way that we enable each other helps to propel floral design. I'm so grateful that you asked me to be a part of your podcast because, what Smithers-Oasis does to make sure that we have the products that we need to get the right look and to get the proper longevity, is very powerful. We say we can do these things with a fork in a knife, you know, a twine and a little bale of hay. But we really need all a wide variety of products. And Smithers is so wonderful to respond to these needs and to support education, throughout the world in floral design.

Sharon McGukin (44:59):

They really are dedicated to the people who work with flowers, whether that's at home, in a retail situation, or a wholesale setting. One of the things that I love is that an audience member can come to me and say, “I have a suggestion. This would be a great product. It fills a need that we have.” I take that back to Smithers. Many of our products were born exactly that way, you know that as well. They're always looking for ease of design, not just to make it always more intricate, but to sometimes to make it easier, faster, especially for the floral designer in a retail situation. They need to make money off how quickly the design can be executed, as well as how beautifully the design can be executed. And Smithers-Oasis is always behind that. You can always go to oasisfloralproducts.com and order products that you can use. No longer is it that you have to be a professional to reach those materials. Now anyone can buy those at oasisfloralproducts.com and I encourage people to go and look at what is available to them.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (46:15):

“People love flowers. Sometimes consumers want to buy flowers minus the services. The more we enable people to live with flowers, the stronger we make our industry.”

Sharon McGukin (46:30):

So we just thank you so much for being with us. I always enjoy my time with you and you just have so many interesting things going on. Thanks for making space a time for me in your busy schedule this week.

Dr. Jim DelPrince (46:43):

You betcha. Thanks so much. 

“Feed your passion. You have one person to please, and that's yourself.”