Episode 47: Interview with J. ~ From Growing up in a Flower Shop to Host of “J Schwanke’s Life in Bloom on Public Television
Vonda sits down with a true flower celebrity this week: J Schwanke — entertaining communicator, engaging educator, author, flower expert, and host and producer of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" on public television. J and Vonda go way back through their Midwest connections (J's mother was Vonda's very first commentator), and this conversation traces an amazing arc: from a fourth-generation flower family in Fremont, Nebraska, to a national TV show reaching 85 million homes.
From military preschool to national television
J grew up dead center in a very active flower industry family. His father — a Marine, and a past president of the Society of American Florists — would design while his mother commentated. His parents were so busy that young J boarded during the week with Dorothy, the woman who ran his preschool — a professional storyteller and clown who became his "other mom," his inspiration, and the person in the front of all his books. Through his parents' industry connections he met presidents, Raymond Burr, Elizabeth Taylor, and Dionne Warwick. In high school, a psychology teacher told his class of 463 that statistically one of them would have a television show — and J wrote it down: "that's me."
He ran the family store in Fremont for 18 years — a town of 25,000 with nine other flower outlets, where the shop still did $1.6 million a year in flowers. After 13 years in AIFD leadership and a disappointing run for president, his husband Kelly challenged him to pour all that energy into something of their own. A week later they started filming, and uBloom was born. Appearances on P. Allen Smith's garden show led to a pilot, and American Public Television's verdict was immediate: this isn't a local show, it's a national one. When they asked how many shows he could do, J answered "maybe 20 or 30 — seasons. There's plenty of flowers." APT has since told him something remarkable: they represented Bob Ross for years, and they call J "the Bob Ross of flowers" — the calm, enchanting show viewers describe as their quiet spot of the week.
A trigger for flowers — and affordable advertising for your shop
What's the benefit of Life in Bloom to the professional florist? J's answer: the show is a trigger for flowers. Season two is built entirely on the health and wellness benefits of flowers — and the research shows those benefits flow not just from fresh stems but from a floral throw, a picture on the wall, a photo on your phone. Calm, less depression, happiness, fewer arguments.
There's a practical play for shop owners here, too. Local PBS advertising is very affordable, and J cites research showing public television viewers are 85 percent more likely to support the businesses they see there than on commercial TV. A 15- or 30-second spot for your shop before a flower show is a perfectly placed trigger. Want the show in your market? Call your PBS station — kindly — and ask for it. Stations count one vocal viewer as representing 250 silent ones, and the show is free for stations to air. You can find your local airtime through the widget at uBloom.com, or watch every episode of seasons one and two free on the Life in Bloom page (check the episode guide for PBS listings).
Why DIY content helps the professional florist
J catches flak for teaching the public — his hand-tied bouquet video is closing in on a million YouTube views — but he says read the comments: "I'm never going to try this. I'm going to call a professional florist." Teaching people what goes into the work builds respect, turns your shop into a resource, and makes hobbyists your partners. And he's blunt about the bad information circulating online: skipping flower food, smashing lilac stems with hammers on daytime TV. His counterexample for wedding and event designers — use flower food properly and blooms open bigger and fuller, so you can order roughly 30 percent less product and keep more profit.
Tributes to life, and rolling around in your wins
Vonda and J trade stories about custom sympathy work — J's hero Eddie Von Bargen, now 86, builds Cookie Monsters, cheeseburgers, and logos out of flowers at $750 to $1,800 apiece, with families ordering five, six, even ten for one service. Vonda mentions Flower Clique member Steve Regana and his piano-keyboard tributes; J's on-air response: "Steve, I want to meet you." His larger point is about how florists undervalue themselves. Borrowing an image from a bobcat triumphantly rolling on a defeated rattlesnake, he says florists never stop to relish what they create — wedding bouquets, casket sprays, birthday roses that become tangible lifetime memories. They just pick up the knife Monday morning and start over. His fix: when praise comes in, share it with the whole team. Everyone who touched the work needs to hear that it moved someone.
The freesia trick and a 50% offer for listeners
Pressed for a favorite flower, J lands on yellow freesia — "they smell like Fruit Loops" — and shares a game-changing care tip: don't cut freesia. It has the strongest vascular system of any flower, and cutting sends an ethylene surge up the stem that kills the open blooms. Place it in flower-nutrient water uncut, callused end and all, and every single bloom will open to the tip.
uBloom now holds over 1,800 videos — JTV, Fun with Flowers and J, At Home with Flowers, flower-farm documentaries, and Flowers 101 basics — and J answers every question and comment personally (j@uBloom.com). His one rule everywhere: be kind. For podcast listeners, membership is 50 percent off — at uBloom.com/join, use discount code FLOWERCLIQUE, and auto-renewal keeps that rate forever. That works out to under $20 for a full year. His award-winning book combo is on special too.
Key takeaways
- Surround people with flower "triggers" — on TV, on social media, in their homes — and they buy more flowers everywhere, including from you.
- Local PBS spots before flower programming are affordable, and public-TV viewers are far more likely to support advertisers they see there.
- Custom tribute work commands $750-$1,800 per piece — families gladly pay for designs that make the whole celebration of life.
- Share customer accolades with your entire staff; the designers who never attend the wedding need to hear how their work moved people.
- Don't cut freesia — place stems in nutrient water uncut and every bloom opens. And always use flower food: bigger blooms, less product, more profit.
Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist