>> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following... >> That flower feeling.

♪ At home.

♪ At work.

♪ Or anytime.

♪ CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom," where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.

>> We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.

Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.

>> With additional support from the following... Dollar Tree.

♪ >> Today on "Life in Bloom," the blooms are alive with the sounds of music.

We'll visit with the composer of the music heard on the show, we'll learn about a beverage infused with flowers and sound, and I'll create a couple of music-inspired flower arrangements.

♪ ♪ ♪ I'm J Schwanke.

Welcome to "Life in Bloom."

The inspiration for this show is music.

When I set aside time to relax and enjoy arranging flowers, music is part of the experience, because it's about time for me and what makes me happy.

Much research has been done about how plants respond to music, with various conclusions.

But what I do know for sure is that music enhances my own experience while arranging flowers.

♪ That's why we include music in the show -- to enhance the experience with flowers.

In fact, the music in the show is composed exclusively for "Life in Bloom."

Today, we'll explore music and flowers, including a visit with composer, musician, and producer of the show's music, Ben Scott-Brandt.

♪ I'd like to introduce to you one of my favorite people in the whole world.

>> Oh, thank you.

>> I know.

You are responsible -- You were originally responsible for my hair.

And you are now responsible for the music that is on "Life in Bloom."

So, this is my friend Ben Scott-Brandt.

You originally worked my hair.

My hair guy.

And so you did the point, made sure the point always looked good.

And, one day, when I was sitting in your chair, we were talking about how I would like to produce a television show.

>> That's right.

>> So, I liked the music that you played.

>> Yes.

>> And you were a professional musician on -- as well as a hairstylist.

>> Correct.

When we started to get the television show together, I realized that I wanted music that was our music.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> And so I can remember sitting in your chair and saying, "Okay.

Will you compose the music to our TV show?"

and you said yes.

>> I remember this story so differently, which is really funny.

>> Okay.

So tell it.

I want to know.

>> We had only known each other a few years, and I was like, "Hey, I know you do TV stuff.

Maybe you'd like to use my music at some point."

And I remember it as, "Nah, not interested."

[ Both laugh ] >> Really?

>> And so then, years later, when you were like, "Hey, I wonder if you'd be interested," I was like, "He came around!

He's into it!"

>> It took me a long time, because when we did the little web-based television show, and I never really thought about it for that, but when it was this, national television show, you have to have cool music.

>> Very different request.

Very custom.

>> When I asked you about that, you had never seen the show.

>> No.

>> I mean, it was like, "This is what we think we're gonna do."

>> Right.

I'd seen pictures of you with flowers, and I knew it was gonna be glossy and that it was gonna be beautiful and colorful, but I had no idea -- I mean, you had to explain to me, "It's gonna be like cooking, only we're gonna arrange flowers."

>> Right.

Do you think about flowers when you compose the music?

>> Typically, when I compose music, it's pretty soft.

I have a gentle touch with music, typically.

And so that comes across really well with your show.

I think what was a challenge for me was to have that light, happy, kind of joy in the music.

That was a challenge.

And thinking about flowers and looking out the window while I was writing things and seeing the branches sway in the breeze, that kind of stuff was like, "Okay.

I think I can get there.

I think I can make this a little bit peppier, a little bit happier, little bit more sparkly.

>> I remember those conversations when I was like, "I think it's a little too -- It needs to be happier."

>> Yes.

We don't want it to feel like a funeral.

>> Right.

Although there's flowers for that, too.

It's all good, right.

But, yeah.

And you embodied that.

And there was very little -- So, okay, now I want to ask you.

I feel like there was very little back-and-forth.

>> I fully agree.

>> It was like, "No, this is perfect, Ben."

>> And your advice to just make it a little happier felt right.

It was like, "Yeah, I know.

It just -- It's dragging a little bit."

And once we got that extra little pizzazz, it just came together, and then I was like, "I know how to do this now."

>> Right.

Did you do all the instruments on -- in the music, or are there collaborations?

>> Almost all the instruments.

I did call in my friend Michael to play the accordion.

I don't play the accordion, and he does.

And so I went over -- >> "Flower Cocktail Hour"... >> For the "Flower Cocktail Hour" song, yes.

>> ...has the accordion in it.

>> Music's such a big part of arranging flowers for me.

When I set up to arrange flowers on Sunday mornings -- that's typically when I do -- when I change out the flowers in the house and I scrub the vases -- I like all that, all of the ritual that goes with that.

That's fun.

But then, I want to have music.

And I think maybe the arrangement turns out differently... >> Because of what you're hearing.

>> Because of what you're listening to.

>> Yes, I would agree that it does.

>> Yeah, I think that that's a very interesting part about it.

I don't know if you are aware of this, but when people come on the show... >> Oh, boy.

>> [ Chuckles ] ...we have flower crowns.

>> Oh, I love these!

You've given me one of these before!

>> Right.

So, here's a flower crown for you.

>> Thank you.

Okay.

>> All right?

>> And shall I wear it now, or shall I -- >> You can try -- Would you like to try it on?

>> May I try it on?

>> You may try it on.

>> Okay.

Here we go.

Oh, it's pretty celebratory.

>> I know, right?

>> Yeah.

>> I like a big flower crown.

I like it to be, you know, a big flower crown 'cause I think that that's fun.

So, I have one more crazy idea.

>> Okay.

[ Both laugh ] >> So, how about you come back later in the show and you set up and play some music, and I could arrange flowers, live?

>> And let's see what the arrangement turns out like.

>> Okay, sounds good!

All right, let's do it.

>> Thank you.

♪ >> You may have seen inspired artwork created from flowers and petals.

Today, I'm using the music from our show as an inspiration to create some flower artwork that I can photograph and share.

I'm working on watercolor board 'cause I think it gives it a great background.

I'm using my bear grass to create the scale for the musical notes.

♪ ♪ My dusty miller's gonna stand in for my treble clef.

And the heads of the notes will be flowers.

♪ ♪ ♪ I've also used lily grass to create the double note.

♪ I added the chamomile just because I think it's fun, and it gives the impression of it being musical.

I've used hydrangea petals and woodland hyacinth for the flags on top of the yellow notes.

I used my scissors and knife to move things around strategically.

Then I take a picture, and then I'll make that picture into a card so that I can send it to a friend.

♪ ♪ Kombucha's a popular fermented drink that many people enjoy for its fizzy taste but also for the benefits offered by probiotics inherent in most kombucha.

I discovered a local brewery with a unique twist on the beverage.

Geoff Lamden and Joel Andrus infuse sound into their drinks.

Sounds interesting, right?

Let's learn all about Sacred Springs' organic, sound-infused kombucha.

[ Didgeridoo plays ] ♪ >> When I first ran across Sacred Springs, I was at the Fulton Street Farmers Market, and there was the Sacred Springs kombucha.

And I've always -- I've always heard about kombucha, but I'd never tried it.

And you had one called Flower of Life, so I was like, "Oh, I have to drink Flower of Life.

I don't care what that -- That's awesome."

You make kombucha with flowers, you make kombucha with sound.

Can you te-- I want you to tell us all about it.

>> Sure, sure.

So, I mean, it all started with -- in my basement.

I had all my sound, vibrational things.

I was going into yoga studios and working with stuff.

So, it all starts with tea.

That's where all kombucha's based from.

And then, for me, with sound, we use the vibration... [ Bowls chiming ] So, not only settle in with the cellular structure of the plant but also to give ourselves that intention so that we can be really present while we're working with the tea.

>> So, what's your -- what made you think that, "Okay.

I have to make kombucha, but I have to use sound"?

>> Sure.

So, I've been brewing -- so a total of 26 years, me and my business partner, and when I was in my basement brewing, I would have some stuff where all my singing bowls would be vibrating it and some stuff where it wasn't.

The stuff that was vibrating had a completely different flavor than all the stuff that wasn't vibrating during the brewing process.

>> Wow!

The other thing that I love about this is, look -- how pretty these colors are.

So, I don't know whether I love the color or the flavor -- I mean, I do love the color.

When I pour it in my glass, I'm just like, "Oh, kombucha, yeah."

>> Originally, all the flavors I was making look just like this one here, which is quite beige, and I knew in order -- when we were gonna be selling to the people, we were gonna have to get a lot more attention drawn to us, and that is where this one came in here, the Root of Life -- the beet, ginger, turmeric -- so it has that magenta pop.

>> Right.

>> We got some blue-green spirulina going in here with the tulsi tea so it gets that blue.

So this is actually a calming kombucha.

So it's actually the color of calming.

So it makes sense.

When your eyes see it, it makes sense as to what's gonna go into your body.

>> Got it.

What's in the middle?

>> That's the Flower of Life.

>> Flower of Life.

>> So, you got a hibiscus, elderberry, elderflower, jasmine, and rose hips in that one.

>> Oh, wow.

>> So I can see why you were drawn to that one.

>> Oh, absolutely.

You create this... >> Yep.

>> ...and then it goes in -- 'Cause it has to ferment, right?

>> Mm-hmm.

>> So tell me more.

So, during the fermentation process, we have, like, 100-gallon barrels that everything's in.

>> Okay.

>> And so, different parts of that fermentation are doing different things.

So, that's where the whole world of vibration comes in is, if this area here is more dormant and this area here is more active, we can actually use sound to calm something down and bring excitement to other areas of it.

>> So, do you do it with the bowls?

Do you do it with the tuning forks?

>> Do it with all of it -- the bowls, tuning forks.

Every single morning, we ring every single bell in our taproom just to clear all the energy in the air.

>> Wow, okay.

>> So we have about 30 bells all around the taproom here.

>> Okay.

>> And then, the tuning forks -- Now, this one -- it's gonna be hard for the listeners to hear, but I'm gonna show you.

I'm gonna put this on your head, and you're gonna see that this is very loud, actually.

>> Oh, it is.

Right?

>> So, this is a weighted tuning fork, and so not much sound comes off it, but it vibrates -- it'll vibrate the entire structure of anything it's put in.

[ Tuning fork vibrating ] And so -- Yep.

So that vibration is what gives that subtlety to the fermentation process so that the flavors can settle in so nicely.

>> So, I can't have this flight here and not try something.

>> Exactly.

So, I'm gonna try this Root of Life right here.

What you thinking?

>> So, I think everyone probably thinks I'm gonna do Flower of Life, but I'm going for Kalmbucha, because you have converted me.

This is my favorite.

This really, truly is my favorite.

It's the color, it's the feeling, it's everything.

So, all right, cheers.

>> Drink life.

♪ >> Oh.

See, it's so good.

It's so good.

So, people talk about that kombuchas are a probiotic.

I mean, what are the other benefits that I personally get from drinking kombucha?

>> That is a loaded question sometimes.

So, A, you get to start with enjoyment, right?

>> Okay.

>> So, in the word "culture" -- we just have to go there.

And so, in our American culture, which is pretty young, we don't really have a fermented food that we would all ingest.

So, in every culture, they have cultured food, and it's because that fermentation process makes little bits of those micronutrients that our body uses to finish off those complete health patterns that they have.

So I would say every single person's gonna get a different benefit from drinking it... >> Okay.

>> ...because every single person's different.

>> Geoff, you truly are the guy that knows as much about kombucha as I know about flowers.

That's really a treat for me to find somebody that knows so much stuff and who's so passionate about what they do.

So, obviously, we have "Flower Cocktail Hour" on our shows.

Would you come back?

And let's make a cocktail with something that you -- >> Something with flowers in it.

>> Okay.

All right.

That sounds great.

♪ Crocosmia is a small genus of flowering plants in the iris family.

Plants can be evergreen or deciduous perennials that grow from basil underground corms.

Plants flower from early summer well into fall.

Crocosmia have colorful end fluorescents of 4 to 20 vivid red and orange, sub-opposite flowers on a horizontally branched stem.

They can be propagated through division, removing offsets from the corm in the spring.

Crocosmias are grown worldwide, and more than 400 cultivars have been produced.

♪ Joel, you've joined us to help us with "Flower Cocktail Hour."

>> Thanks for having me.

>> I appreciate it.

So, you're mixing up something that's brand-new.

>> Yes, never made this before.

>> Okay.

Tell us about it.

>> Well, I'm inspired by the bouquet of flowers over there, so I'm gonna emphasize our Flower of Life and our Friday-morning flavor, which is the blueberry and lavender.

>> [ Gasps ] Okay.

All right.

>> All right.

So, I'll begin with some ice.

♪ I'll use our sparkling mead.

>> Okay.

>> It's our honey wine that we're making.

>> So, yeah.

So, tell us about mead, 'cause I think that people don't know about mead.

I mean, so what inspires -- How is it, what is it?

It's honey wine.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Yep, we're using Michigan wildflower honey, nice, clean water, and then it's just yeast.

That is it.

It's one of the oldest drinks that's been fermented by people.

>> So, I used our sparkling mead, and then I added in our Flower of Life kombucha, our Friday-morning kombucha, the blueberry lavender, and our lemon-lime mead spritzer.

I finished it off with a squeeze of lemon, simple syrup, and garnish with a lemon wedge.

>> So, mead is making a comeback, but it, really, up until 1600, it was the drink.

>> Wow.

Okay.

Look at that.

What -- Do I get a try?

>> You get that.

>> All right.

>> He's gonna make me another one afterward.

>> Mm-hmm.

♪ >> Oh, that's amazing.

That's wonderful.

I love it.

This is really delicious.

>> Thank you.

>> You are the -- You are the mead kombucha mixolo-- the "mombucha" mixologist.

>> Meaducha, we call it.

>> Meaducha -- Meaducha mixologist.

So that's wonderful.

♪ ♪ ♪ I thought it would be fun for us to create a flower arrangement that's inspired by a musical instrument.

And so I was searching for a musical instrument, and this is actually my mother-in-law's.

She got this as a gift when she was a child, and it's an... [ Notes ascending ] ...old-fashioned wooden xylophone.

[ Notes ascending quickly ] So I thought it would be fun for us to create an arrangement that's inspired by this xylophone.

When I was looking at it and playing with it, I thought, "Well, it would be fun to use some bamboo... [ Tapping ] ...in the arrangement, too.

♪ We'll be arranging this today in a container filled with soaked flower foam.

I've cut pieces of bamboo, all 12 inches long.

We'll place the bamboo into the soaked flower foam, graduating in height from one end to the other.

Then we can start adding our flowers.

I'm adding my snapdragons at both ends to elongate the form of the arrangement.

♪ ♪ Then, we'll add these beautiful golden-colored spray roses.

The variety name is macarena.

♪ ♪ ♪ Then we'll add some yellow carnations.

I love carnations because they last so long.

And they fill in the areas between the snapdragons.

♪ The pincushion protea add a beautiful texture.

We're adding those on both ends.

♪ ♪ So now we have an area in between the two ends of the arrangement that we need to fill in.

We'll fill those in with golden sunflowers.

And Juliet roses.

♪ ♪ We'll add two white sunflowers in the middle.

I like that because it gives it a strong focal area.

♪ We'll add a few more roses.

♪ ♪ I want a couple of bamboo pieces to be longer at the other end, so I'll insert a bamboo skewer inside them and then push them down into the foam.

Gives it a little bit of an asymmetrical look and gives a little bit of height on one end of the arrangement.

Now we've got a beautiful arrangement that goes along with our vintage xylophone.

We've made music with the flowers.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I hope you've enjoyed the combination of music and flowers and will take the time to enhance your well-being by experiencing both for yourself.

♪ For "Life in Bloom," I'm J Schwanke.

So, I went to see Mrs. Semrad, and she was my piano teacher.

And one day, Mrs. Semrad came to me and she said, "You know what?

You don't practice, and you don't like this, and you're not enjoying it, and so why don't you just come and read comic books?"

And I said, "Then you can sit in the kitchen and smoke."

And so we did that for four years.

>> And mother wasn't the wiser.

>> No.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Didn't know.

Fast-forward many years later, Mrs. Semrad passed away.

>> Yeah.

>> And I called my mom at the flower shop, and I said, "Hey, will you make a beautiful bouquet and send it for Mrs.

Semrad?"

Yeah, so then my mom said, "Why would you want to send flowers to her funeral?

She was a horrible piano teacher."

>> Because you didn't get better.

[ Both laugh ] >> And I said, "No, she was --" And so then I came clean with my mom, and my mom was like, "Really?"

"J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is filmed in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Visit J's website, ubloom.com, for flower projects and crafts, complete recipes, behind-the-scenes videos, J's blog, flower cocktails, and more.

♪ "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following... >> That flower feeling.

♪ At home.

♪ At work.

♪ Or anytime.

♪ CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom," where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.

>> We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.

Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.

>> With additional support from the following... Dollar Tree.

♪ Closed-caption funding provided by Holland America Flowers.

♪ ♪