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| 10 Florists Delivering Vibrant Bouquets for Mother’s Day | 10 Florists Delivering Vibrant Bouquets for Mother’s Day |
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| Sending flowers on Mother’s Day has long been a way to convey closeness despite physical distance. Now, with many people self-isolating away from their families, this small act feels especially poignant. But as businesses have closed on account of the coronavirus, and as events have been postponed or canceled, the demand for flowers has withered and growers have been forced to destroy millions of blooms. “Flowers are a very low-margin, high-labor, perishable medium, and our supply chains are complex and vulnerable,” explains the Manhattan-based floral designer Emily Thompson, who hopes to reopen soon. | Sending flowers on Mother’s Day has long been a way to convey closeness despite physical distance. Now, with many people self-isolating away from their families, this small act feels especially poignant. But as businesses have closed on account of the coronavirus, and as events have been postponed or canceled, the demand for flowers has withered and growers have been forced to destroy millions of blooms. “Flowers are a very low-margin, high-labor, perishable medium, and our supply chains are complex and vulnerable,” explains the Manhattan-based floral designer Emily Thompson, who hopes to reopen soon. |
| Some florists who aren’t able to deliver bouquets this month have found alternative ways to spread beauty: the Brooklyn-based designer Ariel Dearie is selling photographs of her elegant arrangements of ranunculus flowers, allium stems and philodendron leaves (profits from the sale of her “Carondelet” print will be donated to Covid-19 relief), while Brittany Asch, of the Manhattan studio Brrch, is sculpting “virtual bouquets” by adorning photographs of people’s homes with gifs of unfurling taffy-pink lotus flowers, spinning roses and Technicolor hibiscuses. For those designers who are still able to make deliveries, creating arrangements has become an exercise in using whatever blooms they can find — tulips from local growers, roses from their gardens, even weeds from nearby hillsides. The results are a reminder that more spontaneous arrangements can feel a bit closer to nature, and that even the humblest blooms have the power to move us. Here, 10 florists from around the country who, despite sourcing challenges, are delivering joyful, unexpected arrangements within their areas in time for May 10. (It’s best to order by Tuesday.) | Some florists who aren’t able to deliver bouquets this month have found alternative ways to spread beauty: the Brooklyn-based designer Ariel Dearie is selling photographs of her elegant arrangements of ranunculus flowers, allium stems and philodendron leaves (profits from the sale of her “Carondelet” print will be donated to Covid-19 relief), while Brittany Asch, of the Manhattan studio Brrch, is sculpting “virtual bouquets” by adorning photographs of people’s homes with gifs of unfurling taffy-pink lotus flowers, spinning roses and Technicolor hibiscuses. For those designers who are still able to make deliveries, creating arrangements has become an exercise in using whatever blooms they can find — tulips from local growers, roses from their gardens, even weeds from nearby hillsides. The results are a reminder that more spontaneous arrangements can feel a bit closer to nature, and that even the humblest blooms have the power to move us. Here, 10 florists from around the country who, despite sourcing challenges, are delivering joyful, unexpected arrangements within their areas in time for May 10. (It’s best to order by Tuesday.) |
| The florist Elizabeth Jaime, of the Miami studio Calma, specializes in tropical, Art Deco-inspired arrangements made with statuesque flowers that often have an artificial look: shiny anthuriums, birds of paradise and dried fan palms. But recent changes in flower availability have prompted her to experiment with softer, more romantic compositions with a focus on striking palettes. For Mother’s Day, she will choose blooms in shades of bright pink and yellow, a scheme inspired “by the start of spring,” she says, “and also brighter times.” In order to support other small businesses affected by the coronavirus, she has partnered with the local spa Sana on a wellness gift bundle, in which one of her bouquets will be accompanied by rose-hip body oil and a dry brush kit, as well as the pizzeria Stanzione 87 on a set that includes a bottle of rosé and a spice-infused olive oil. Bouquets from $75. | The florist Elizabeth Jaime, of the Miami studio Calma, specializes in tropical, Art Deco-inspired arrangements made with statuesque flowers that often have an artificial look: shiny anthuriums, birds of paradise and dried fan palms. But recent changes in flower availability have prompted her to experiment with softer, more romantic compositions with a focus on striking palettes. For Mother’s Day, she will choose blooms in shades of bright pink and yellow, a scheme inspired “by the start of spring,” she says, “and also brighter times.” In order to support other small businesses affected by the coronavirus, she has partnered with the local spa Sana on a wellness gift bundle, in which one of her bouquets will be accompanied by rose-hip body oil and a dry brush kit, as well as the pizzeria Stanzione 87 on a set that includes a bottle of rosé and a spice-infused olive oil. Bouquets from $75. |
| In March, as businesses in New York began to close, Taylor Patterson, the founder of the Brooklyn-based floral design studio Fox Fodder Farm, which specializes in textural, naturalistic compositions of mostly locally sourced blooms, was sent a photo of one of her arrangements — a thicket of spindly, blossoming cherry branches and crimson nandina leaves — languishing in a trash can outside a restaurant that she supplies flowers to in Manhattan. “It reflects so much of right now,” she says. “We have to leave behind the way we did things before and start over.” For Mother’s Day, she’s hoping to source lilacs, peonies and poppies from local farmers, but will make ebullient bouquets with whatever has on hand. “I’m focusing on what’s in nature and celebrating that,” she says. Bouquets from $35. | In March, as businesses in New York began to close, Taylor Patterson, the founder of the Brooklyn-based floral design studio Fox Fodder Farm, which specializes in textural, naturalistic compositions of mostly locally sourced blooms, was sent a photo of one of her arrangements — a thicket of spindly, blossoming cherry branches and crimson nandina leaves — languishing in a trash can outside a restaurant that she supplies flowers to in Manhattan. “It reflects so much of right now,” she says. “We have to leave behind the way we did things before and start over.” For Mother’s Day, she’s hoping to source lilacs, peonies and poppies from local farmers, but will make ebullient bouquets with whatever has on hand. “I’m focusing on what’s in nature and celebrating that,” she says. Bouquets from $35. |
| Even before stay-at-home orders went into effect, Leah Pipes Meltzer, the founder of the Austin-based floral design studio Serracinna, incorporated blooms from her garden and wildflowers plucked from West Texas roadsides in her arrangements. Typically, though, she prefers to pair humble blooms such as irises and nasturtium with more exotic varieties, like fern curls and carnivorous pitcher plants: “These seemingly opposing forces are at the core of the studio,” she says. For Mother’s Day, she’ll use native larkspur, misty blue nigella, wild mustard and dill flowers in her bouquets. In addition, she’s selling living moth orchids in both burgundy and hot pink, supported by woody cactus skeletons foraged from her own land. “Offering long-lasting plants feels important right now,” she says. Arrangements from $130 and orchids from $65. | Even before stay-at-home orders went into effect, Leah Pipes Meltzer, the founder of the Austin-based floral design studio Serracinna, incorporated blooms from her garden and wildflowers plucked from West Texas roadsides in her arrangements. Typically, though, she prefers to pair humble blooms such as irises and nasturtium with more exotic varieties, like fern curls and carnivorous pitcher plants: “These seemingly opposing forces are at the core of the studio,” she says. For Mother’s Day, she’ll use native larkspur, misty blue nigella, wild mustard and dill flowers in her bouquets. In addition, she’s selling living moth orchids in both burgundy and hot pink, supported by woody cactus skeletons foraged from her own land. “Offering long-lasting plants feels important right now,” she says. Arrangements from $130 and orchids from $65. |
| In 2004, when the floral artist Manu Torres moved from Michoacán, Mexico, to Portland, Ore., he fell in love with the Pacific Northwest’s greenery. He began combining local foliage with tropical plants such as birds of paradise, palms and monstera from his homeland to create vibrantly colorful, otherworldly arrangements, often dyeing flowers in exuberant, artificial shades from Maya blue to powdery pastel yellow. “This blend is where I found my aesthetic,” he says. Inspired by spring and the blooming gardens he sees on his now socially distanced walks, Torres will assemble mixed bouquets that include pink lilacs, coral-colored ranunculus and blue-dyed bunny tails and pampas grass, which will be paired with a box of almond pralines from the Portland-based bean-to-bar chocolate factory Cloudforest. Arrangements from $55. | In 2004, when the floral artist Manu Torres moved from Michoacán, Mexico, to Portland, Ore., he fell in love with the Pacific Northwest’s greenery. He began combining local foliage with tropical plants such as birds of paradise, palms and monstera from his homeland to create vibrantly colorful, otherworldly arrangements, often dyeing flowers in exuberant, artificial shades from Maya blue to powdery pastel yellow. “This blend is where I found my aesthetic,” he says. Inspired by spring and the blooming gardens he sees on his now socially distanced walks, Torres will assemble mixed bouquets that include pink lilacs, coral-colored ranunculus and blue-dyed bunny tails and pampas grass, which will be paired with a box of almond pralines from the Portland-based bean-to-bar chocolate factory Cloudforest. Arrangements from $55. |
| Ren MacDonald-Balasia, the founder of the Los Angeles and Honolulu-based floral design studio Renko, grew up on Oahu, Hawaii, where she spent her childhood catching tree frogs in the rainy Mānoa Valley and poring over a collection of curios that belonged to her grandmother, the first female Japanese-American journalist. (Among the items were a photograph of her grandmother interviewing Humphrey Bogart and the shoes she wore while marching with Martin Luther King Jr.) “I try to recreate that feeling of wonder every time I make something,” says MacDonald-Balasia, who designs lush, tangled arrangements that evoke the vivid landscapes of coral reefs. For Mother’s Day, she’ll construct what she calls “fruit gestures,” hand-woven baskets overflowing with edible rambutans, cherimoyas, plantains and Thai eggplants, and swaddled in passionflower vines and oversized hibiscuses. She’ll also make arrangements featuring foraged purple mallow, climbing nasturtiums and towering foxgloves. Arrangements from $175 and fruit gestures from $150. | Ren MacDonald-Balasia, the founder of the Los Angeles and Honolulu-based floral design studio Renko, grew up on Oahu, Hawaii, where she spent her childhood catching tree frogs in the rainy Mānoa Valley and poring over a collection of curios that belonged to her grandmother, the first female Japanese-American journalist. (Among the items were a photograph of her grandmother interviewing Humphrey Bogart and the shoes she wore while marching with Martin Luther King Jr.) “I try to recreate that feeling of wonder every time I make something,” says MacDonald-Balasia, who designs lush, tangled arrangements that evoke the vivid landscapes of coral reefs. For Mother’s Day, she’ll construct what she calls “fruit gestures,” hand-woven baskets overflowing with edible rambutans, cherimoyas, plantains and Thai eggplants, and swaddled in passionflower vines and oversized hibiscuses. She’ll also make arrangements featuring foraged purple mallow, climbing nasturtiums and towering foxgloves. Arrangements from $175 and fruit gestures from $150. |
| “I thought Mother’s Day would be a good opportunity to get back to flowers in a simple way,” says the floral designer Marisa Competello, whose Chinatown-based studio, Metaflora, is known for its striking, sculptural arrangements defined by unexpected combinations of color and texture: puffy clouds of smoke bush, say, juxtaposed with spiky magenta musa or floppy green foxtails. Her spare use of components — sometimes just one or two per arrangement — imbues her work with a distinctly modern feel, and she often gravitates toward blooms that have fallen out of fashion: “Anthuriums are among my favorites,” she says of the waxy heart-shaped flowers, which had their heyday in the ’80s. “They’re so provocative.” But this month, she is offering more organic hand-tied bouquets — many featuring tulips and lilacs — with what she calls a “happy, springlike” feel. “Flowers should be joyful and colorful right now,” she says. Bouquets from $100. | “I thought Mother’s Day would be a good opportunity to get back to flowers in a simple way,” says the floral designer Marisa Competello, whose Chinatown-based studio, Metaflora, is known for its striking, sculptural arrangements defined by unexpected combinations of color and texture: puffy clouds of smoke bush, say, juxtaposed with spiky magenta musa or floppy green foxtails. Her spare use of components — sometimes just one or two per arrangement — imbues her work with a distinctly modern feel, and she often gravitates toward blooms that have fallen out of fashion: “Anthuriums are among my favorites,” she says of the waxy heart-shaped flowers, which had their heyday in the ’80s. “They’re so provocative.” But this month, she is offering more organic hand-tied bouquets — many featuring tulips and lilacs — with what she calls a “happy, springlike” feel. “Flowers should be joyful and colorful right now,” she says. Bouquets from $100. |
| Michael Woodcock and Ezra Woods, who run the Los Angeles-based floral design studio Pretend Plants & Flowers, create dramatic, petal-dense arrangements with thick layers of flowers including sweet pea vines, garden roses, pink jasmine and seafoam statice. Woodcock, a co-founder of the interdisciplinary design studio and wallpaper brand Work + Sea, and Woods, a fourth-generation florist and co-founder of the perfume brand Régime des Fleurs, established Pretend Plants & Flowers in 2018. “Our aim is for our designs to have dynamic gesture,” Woods says, “and feel transporting and escapist.” Their Mother’s Day offerings will feature frilly bearded irises in creamy pastel hues, fragrant gardenias and what they call “special twinkly flowers” — wild allium, delicate Queen Anne’s lace and fuchsia cistanthe blooms. “We are trying more than ever to bring joy and romance,” Woodcock says. Arrangements from $165. | Michael Woodcock and Ezra Woods, who run the Los Angeles-based floral design studio Pretend Plants & Flowers, create dramatic, petal-dense arrangements with thick layers of flowers including sweet pea vines, garden roses, pink jasmine and seafoam statice. Woodcock, a co-founder of the interdisciplinary design studio and wallpaper brand Work + Sea, and Woods, a fourth-generation florist and co-founder of the perfume brand Régime des Fleurs, established Pretend Plants & Flowers in 2018. “Our aim is for our designs to have dynamic gesture,” Woods says, “and feel transporting and escapist.” Their Mother’s Day offerings will feature frilly bearded irises in creamy pastel hues, fragrant gardenias and what they call “special twinkly flowers” — wild allium, delicate Queen Anne’s lace and fuchsia cistanthe blooms. “We are trying more than ever to bring joy and romance,” Woodcock says. Arrangements from $165. |
| The florists and farmers Heidi Joynt and Molly Kobelt cultivate their own blooms on their 30-acre property in southwest Michigan, arranging the results in lush, textured bouquets that highlight the innate beauty of their crop. “Our design process begins with the integrity of materials,” Joynt says. “We try, when possible, to focus on seasonality and locality in the interest of being good stewards of the land.” Their voluptuous arrangements balance pillowy blooms like oversized white anemones with smaller, denser varieties such as fuzzy yellow forsythias and cuplike hellebores. For Mother’s Day, Field & Florist will fashion bouquets out of whichever plants are flowering on their farm, which will probably include blush-pink peonies, crimson ranunculus and ruffled golden-orange daffodils. Arrangements from $65. | The florists and farmers Heidi Joynt and Molly Kobelt cultivate their own blooms on their 30-acre property in southwest Michigan, arranging the results in lush, textured bouquets that highlight the innate beauty of their crop. “Our design process begins with the integrity of materials,” Joynt says. “We try, when possible, to focus on seasonality and locality in the interest of being good stewards of the land.” Their voluptuous arrangements balance pillowy blooms like oversized white anemones with smaller, denser varieties such as fuzzy yellow forsythias and cuplike hellebores. For Mother’s Day, Field & Florist will fashion bouquets out of whichever plants are flowering on their farm, which will probably include blush-pink peonies, crimson ranunculus and ruffled golden-orange daffodils. Arrangements from $65. |
| Updated July 22, 2020 | |
| Katie Chirgotis, the creative director of Eothen, a floral design studio in Santa Cruz, Calif., creates emotive arrangements — often using golden grasses, twining honeysuckles and bearded irises — that have a narrative bent. This month, she created a soft brown and coral-colored wreath of dried Queen Anne’s lace, sea oat sprigs and tentacle-like amaranths in honor of the Super Pink Moon; another recent arrangement reimagined the myth of Venus with piles of iridescent abalone shells, mauve sweet peas, rust-colored ranunculus and gardenias. “I’d like to think there are stories being told in the flowers that I make,” she says. Next week, she’ll create orchard-inspired bouquets with butter-yellow wildflowers, powder-pink sweet peas and branches of small, newly grown peaches. Arrangements from $125. | Katie Chirgotis, the creative director of Eothen, a floral design studio in Santa Cruz, Calif., creates emotive arrangements — often using golden grasses, twining honeysuckles and bearded irises — that have a narrative bent. This month, she created a soft brown and coral-colored wreath of dried Queen Anne’s lace, sea oat sprigs and tentacle-like amaranths in honor of the Super Pink Moon; another recent arrangement reimagined the myth of Venus with piles of iridescent abalone shells, mauve sweet peas, rust-colored ranunculus and gardenias. “I’d like to think there are stories being told in the flowers that I make,” she says. Next week, she’ll create orchard-inspired bouquets with butter-yellow wildflowers, powder-pink sweet peas and branches of small, newly grown peaches. Arrangements from $125. |
| “I want to make people feel transported,” says Sophia Moreno-Bunge, the founder of the Los Angeles-based floral design studio Isa Isa, whose ethereal arrangements evoke overgrown gardens and the windswept, wildflower-strewn hills of Malibu. Among the last installations she created before the pandemic was a delicate, tangled composition of flowering plum branches, pink sweet peas, fiery gloriosa lilies and whole tangerines for the Highland Park store of the fashion brand Shaina Mote. For Mother’s Day, her bouquets will comprise flowers from local small-scale growers — including speckled peach foxgloves, golden roses and drooping angel’s trumpets — offset by clusters of foraged weeds such as bright mustard flowers and purple-petaled wild radish. Bouquets from $115. | “I want to make people feel transported,” says Sophia Moreno-Bunge, the founder of the Los Angeles-based floral design studio Isa Isa, whose ethereal arrangements evoke overgrown gardens and the windswept, wildflower-strewn hills of Malibu. Among the last installations she created before the pandemic was a delicate, tangled composition of flowering plum branches, pink sweet peas, fiery gloriosa lilies and whole tangerines for the Highland Park store of the fashion brand Shaina Mote. For Mother’s Day, her bouquets will comprise flowers from local small-scale growers — including speckled peach foxgloves, golden roses and drooping angel’s trumpets — offset by clusters of foraged weeds such as bright mustard flowers and purple-petaled wild radish. Bouquets from $115. |