Welcome to the FlowerSchool New York blog. Here you'll find daily updates on what's going on at the school, photos from recent classes, details about upcoming Master Classes, book recommendations, and more. We're constantly expanding the blog to supply new inspiration to our enthusiastic and constantly growing community of flower design professionals and enthusiasts!
The flowering plant has only existed on earth for the last 100 million years. As hard as it is for me to think of a world with no flowers, it’s true.
Varieties of flowering plans have come and gone over that time. Recently, Russian scientists were able to bring back a plant that existed on this earth 32,000 years ago.
Any idea of what variety of cut flower we use today it looks most like?
We have to take a moment to revel in a recent event that Lewis Miller of LMD created at the beautiful Pierre Hotel in New York City. Creating a romantic and beautifully textured landscape, Lewis undoubtedly achieved perfection in this autumnal secret garden. Take advantage of the opportunity to work with this incredible designer in Lewis’ upcoming class “The Cosmopolitan Garden” on Thursday, February 16th at 5pm; register for the class HERE.
Read more about the Pierre Hotel event and view more images HERE.
On Monday night, FlowerSchool New York had the greatest pleasure hosting a book party event for Matthew Robbins’ new book, “Inspired Weddings.” Matthew had just finished an incredible ten city tour with his book, and we were so happy to have Matthew return to FlowerSchool as the capstone of his trip.
FlowerSchool was filled with the most beautiful Japanese blooms which were very generiously donated by Bloom Japan Network Co., BJN Asia Co., and the Naniwa Flower Auction Co. With Matthew at the helm signing books and creating several incredible hand tied bouquets, this was a perfect evening for any flower lover.
We hope everyone who came had a great time and are enjoying the flowers and book!
If you are looking for another opportunity to see even more Japanese flowers, be sure to stop by the Japan Bloom Fair at the Japan Society (located at 333 East 47th Street) today from 10:00am – 4:00pm.
Matthew with Yutaka Shirakawa of the Bloom Japan Network.
Need to escape to the doldrums of winter? Do you miss the sight and color of beautiful sweet pea, ranunculus and peonies?
Then you’re in luck! This year’s Japan Bloom Fair will take place on January 31st and February 1st hosted by The Japan Society. Now in it’s third year, this event showcases some of the best flowers on the market coming from Japan, highlighting the exquisite and unique beauty of Japanese flowers. In their first show Japan Bloom Fair brought over 200 varieties of flowers to New York, many of which had never been seen before in the States. This year’s collection will surely impress, inspire and exhilarate any flower enthusiast during this cold winter month.
During the event Japanese top floral designer, Mr. Kenji Takenaka, will make several flower arrangements using Japanese flowers which are not yet available in the US market.
The Japan Bloom Fair will take place at the Japan Society located at 333 East 47th St. on Tuesday, January 31st from 1:00pm- 6:00pm and Wednesday, February 1st from 10:00am – 4:00pm.
Last Thursday, famed New York designer, Olivier Giugni, gave a fantastic master class where he taught the class how to create a large scale, modern design for any interior space. Olivier explained to the class how before he begins working on an arrangement, he first thinks about the space and atmosphere of where it will be placed. Will it be showcased in a large atrium of a grand hotel, or on a side table in a modern bedroom scape? Asking these questions provides a guideline for the type of arrangement and design characteristics you will create for the space.
Olivier continued by explaining how his famed leaf wrapped vase asthetic also came from this concept. When Olivier was first getting started in his studio, he wanted to create a way for the client to not see the water in the vase as it dirtied over time. He decided to use a clever (and brand new!) design concept to solve a ever present problem for many clients. Olivier’s use of large leaves and greens has not only become his iconic look, but allows for a more approachable and accessible look for many clients.
For this class, Olivier introduced a type of greenery called horsetail stems or “shavegrass” that many of the students had never worked with before. This unique grass-like perennial is largely grown in California and is completely hollow, making it very easy to manipulate and use in a very modern looking arrangement. Paired with the horsetail, Olivier brought beautiful French Tulips from Nice, France that were just starting their season. The beauty and charm of these tulips against the stark green of the horsetail was a great combination. Oliver mentioned that he enjoyed pairing the two because the horsetail acts as a supportive wall for the tulips giving them guide to grow.
Take a look at more images on our Facebook Page!
Celebrating the success of his first book ‘Matthew Robbins’ Inspired Weddings’, FlowerSchool’s Matthew Robbins is on the move promoting his book throughout the country! After his first stop in Atlanta, Matthew will be making his way to San Antonio and Denver next. While in Atlanta Matthew was invited to do a segment on Better Mornings Atlanta where he gave easy and creative tablescaping ideas. Watch the full segment HERE.
Follow Matthew’s tour experience on his BLOG. Maybe he will be in your area next!
Matthew on the set of Better Mornings Atlanta.
Celebrating their 4th anniversary, A Rose by Harvest will be hosting their annual Rose Show next week. This event will showcase a collection of remarkable roses including garden roses, unique rarities, limited productions, and traditional roses from South America, Japan and Holland.
There will be somewhere from 300 to 400 different varieties displayed, of which 50 to 100 varieties that are new to the market and not yet commercially available. This will be a fantastic opportunity to not only see extraordinary roses, but to also give growers feedback naming your favorite colors and varieties.
The show will be held on January 16th & 17th from 8am-7pm at 111 West 28th St. Below are just a few pictures from last year’s show!
After a brief lunch break, many of the students from Ariella’s afternoon class returned for a second session. For her evening class Ariella wanted to highlight using citrus for seasonal designs as it is an element she loves to showcase around the holidays. After spending many years in California, Ariella reminisced how the scent of citrus still takes her right back to spending winter months on the West Coast.
To really pop with the bright colors, Ariella chose a beautiful blue ceramic container that paired wonderfully with the orange. After a quick refresher on wiring fruits, Ariella began her demonstration expertly creating a Californian, chic organic look for the season. Similar to the first class, Ariella used privet berries to build her base and create a foundation, but this time the design was coupled with tulips, beautiful ranunculus, hints of narcissus and orange citrus that gave this arrangement a completely different look than the first class.
Check out more images of Ariella’s classes on our Facebook Page!
Not many can call the White House home, however when Emily Thomson was asked to design the annual holiday installation at the White House she beautifully transformed space to become alive and majestic.
Read Vogue.com’s recent interview with Emily to learn how to transform your own home into presidential perfection this winter season.
Also check out Emily’s blog to see behind-the-scenes photos of the installation!
East Room, The White House
