Mornings... as a florist.

Mornings as a florist start a couple of hours before sunrise (especially in Winter!). And while it's freezing cold at the moment, it's actually a gorgeous time to be up and about.

The markets house an incredible community of vibrant personalities and have a wonderful buzz about them. It's hard to stay sleepy under the bright lights, surrounded by early morning banter and wall to wall flowers!


I love starting my day before the sun comes up, surrounded by beautiful flowers and fabulous people. For those first couple of hours of the day, outside it's cold and silent while the rest of the world is yet to stir. Yet we are the privileged few under the lights, in amongst the hustle and bustle, starting our days with gusto!

Stefan (or, more appropriately we think, Stefan-otis) - market super star!*
*Also, a stellar sweet pea swindler and fabulous field rose finder!

"Are these for a special occasion?"

This is a question I love to ask people when they're selecting flowers. I delight in hearing who they're for, why they've chosen a certain flower, or what occasion they're acknowledging. There is so often a wonderful story behind a visit to the flower shop, and hearing the stories is one of the best parts of my day.

Some of my favourite responses have been for flowers for no reason - spontaneous, "just because" flowers. It's nice to know these people were thinking of someone special, and are taking them flowers to remind that person of just how special they are!

"Nah, not really... she's not feeling well so I thought these'd brighten her day"

"No particular occasion; my husband was complaining that nobody's ever sent him flowers, so I thought I would!"

"No, not today... she's had a tough week at work, and it's winter so it's all a bit gloomy. Thought she'd like these"

"Nope, and I'm not even in trouble!"

"Oh, my flat mate's going through a bit of a rough patch, so figured this'd be a nice thing to do"

"No, but my girlfriend always walks past here and points out the orchids, so I'm going to surprise her"


To all the fabulous people who have shared their stories with me, and the lovely men (and women!) who've gone home carrying flowers "just because", you make my day and remind me why I do what I do... High Five!

It's always a privilege to be a part of a wedding and help create a lovely atmosphere for the day. The process of meeting with a bride for the first time to discuss her flowers, and as the day comes closer, watching out at the markets as the flowers she's chosen start to come into season, then finally creating the arrangements and meeting her on her big day is really special.

The smile on a bride's face the moment she first holds her bouquet is pricesless, and absolutely makes my day.

Catherine and Sean's wedding was no exception. Firstly, what a gorgeous day for a wedding! Not a cloud in the sky, warm winter sun... perfect!

Here are a couple of snaps of their flowers...



Friday afternoon saw us creating table centres of tall tortured willow, decorated with individually wired pink dendrobium orchids.

The shop felt a bit like an enchanted forest with all of these cherry blossom-esque arrangements! (It was quite nice being surrounded by them, and we were quite reluctant to let them go! Never mind - they had a wedding reception to make gorgeous, so I delivered them to the city on Saturday morning).



Catherine chose a soft, dense posy of David Austin roses, Julia roses, strawberry bush, blushing bride, freesias and dusty miller foliage. With the David Austins opening up, the bouquet smelled fabulous! (They say smell is one of the strongest triggers for memory, so I hope every time she smells roses, Catherine will think of her special day!)

A beautiful winter day, a happy bride and a shop full of flowers. Lovely!