A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou may be pleasant enough. But add Crayola-bright fields of flowers, a big blue barn, tables adorned with festive bouquets, chef-made dishes, a western swing band, and the starry skies of the Texas Hill Country, and you have an event not to be missed.

Two weeks ago, on Saturday, May 21, I attended the American Grown Field to Vase Dinner Tour in Blanco, Texas (officially listed as Austin), about an hour west of Austin. Debra Prinzing, the Seattle-based author and founder of Slow Flowers (not to mention co-planner of the 2011 Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling), invited me to the dinner as her guest, along with a few other Texas-based garden writers, and I was delighted to accept. My friend Jenny Peterson carpooled with me to the event.

Winding, scenic highways lined with orange and lavender wildflowers led us to Blanco and, just outside of town, the Arnosky Family Farm. We were warmly welcomed and invited to have drinks and appetizers behind the barn.

But first — wow! — I had to admire the dining set-up in the barn. Later I learned that the original plan was to set up the tables in the flower fields, but with a possible thunderstorm in the forecast, they moved everything into the barn. With doors and windows open to the fields and string lights twinkling from the rafters, the barn made for a wonderful, open-air, yet sheltered dining experience.

Fresh-picked bouquets from the farm — homegrown favorites like orange marigolds, black-eyed Susans, crimson zinnias, moonshine-yellow lilies, and bold sunflowers — corralled in blue-glass vases, lined the center of each long table.

Burlap-wrapped poles rose above the tables to support strings of glass globes, into which were tucked succulents, moss, and battery-operated tea lights.

Bouquets perched on windowsills overlooking fields of zinnias and marigolds.

It was all so beautiful.

Photo credit: Whitney Devin for Field to Vase Dinner Tour
Frank and Pamela Arnosky have owned and operated their farm for 26 years. Their Texas Specialty Cut Flowers are sold in HEB grocery stores and other commercial outlets as well as in their own Blue Barn Farm Market.

Photo credit: Whitney Devin for Field to Vase Dinner Tour
The Field to Vase tour, which will be hosted in 8 cities across the U.S. this year and into 2017, was launched last year to promote American-grown flowers, tapping into widespread interest in buying fresh, local, and sustainably-grown food and flowers.

Photo credit: Whitney Devin for Field to Vase Dinner Tour
“With approximately 80 percent of flowers in the U.S. being imported today,” according to the tour press release, “this popular pop-up dinner series puts a floral twist on the farm-to-fork concept, making locally grown flowers the center of the evening’s discussion.”

Photo credit: Whitney Devin for Field to Vase Dinner Tour
The dinner also features local floral designers, locally grown food, and locally produced wine and beer, making each stop on the tour a distinctively regional experience.

Photo credit: Whitney Devin for Field to Vase Dinner Tour
In addition to the family-style dinner, attendees receive beautiful bouquets to take home. I enjoyed mine for more than a week after the event.

Photo by Jenny Peterson
When we were able to stop exclaiming over the flowers and decor, we naturally took a few selfies in front of a wall of flowers. Here I am with Jenny Peterson and Debra Prinzing.

The always-photogenic Jenny was farm-fresh in gingham and turquoise.

As appetizers and drinks were passed around on trays, Frank Arnosky led a tour of the farm.

I’m never very good about sticking with a tour, and I wandered off to commune with the flowers on my own.

The sunflowers were soaking up the rays on that warm afternoon.

Zinnias stretched for the sun too.

Photo credit: Whitney Devin for Field to Vase Dinner Tour
Amid golden marigolds, we garden writers posed for a group shot: Jenny; Debra; Ann McCormick, a columnist at the Dallas Morning News and blogger at Herb ‘n Cowgirl; Jay White of The Masters of Horticulture; and me.

Inside, a four-piece band led by Austin mandolinist Paul Glasse (standing) began strumming toe-tapping tunes.

It was the perfect accompaniment to a festive Texas dinner.

Photo credit: Whitney Devin for Field to Vase Dinner Tour
The menu promised plenty of deliciousness to come…

Photo credit: Whitney Devin for Field to Vase Dinner Tour
…like baby field lettuces with beets and watermelon radish…

Photo credit: Whitney Devin for Field to Vase Dinner Tour
…and grilled pork chops with peach relish.

Shared family-style, the food brought us together, turning strangers into new friends.

Photo credit: Whitney Devin for Field to Vase Dinner Tour
The woman in the black-and-white dress, pointing to the menu, is my friend Andrea Fox of the blog Grow Where You’re Planted in College Station, who was dining with her husband. It was a fun surprise to run into her there! I also saw Linda Lehmusvirta there earlier that afternoon, filming for Central Texas Gardener, so look for that episode to air next season.

Debra spoke briefly, reminding us to buy American when it comes to flowers, supporting local farmers like the Arnoskys.

Photo credit: Whitney Devin for Field to Vase Dinner Tour
Hats off to everyone who put this one-of-a-kind event together, and especially to farmers Pamela and Frank. It was a delightful experience!

After dessert, the tables were whisked away, the band kicked into high gear, and couples began two-stepping around the dance floor.

Frank and Pamela, who share on their website a story of falling in love on a dance floor — “I ran across the dance floor and slid to her on my knee and asked for a dance. We’ve been dancing ever since” — were there too, spinning in each other’s arms…

…clasping each other close in this wonderful place they’ve created.

As the sun dropped behind the hills, party lights set the night aglow, spilling out of the barn along with the lilting music. It was a perfect Texas evening.

If you’d like to attend a Field to Vase Dinner, check the schedule for a location near you — or make plans to travel to one! Dinners resume August through November in Boulder, Colorado; Quakertown, Pennsylvania; Sonoma, California; and Woodland, Washington. And for the adventurous, you can even attend a dinner in Homer, Alaska, in July 2017.

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