Have you ever seen a bouquet of flowers that just made your heart sing—I mean, sing? When we found out about Janet’s work at Floral Verde in Michigan this was just the feeling! Incredible composition—classic like Flemish paintings and modern like Frank Gehry’s buildings. Brilliant flower choices—local wildflowers alongside tropical blooms. Innovative vessels—seashells, for one! Well, we were in love! Janet creates some of the most original and beautiful floral designs we’ve ever seen and it’s our great pleasure to welcome her as the newest guest writer on C&B. A warm welcome to Janet!

Hi Clover & Bee readers! My name is Janet. I’m an architecture-major turned florist, and the proud owner of Floral Verde. I have lived in the Midwest for most of my life. I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and currently live in Flint, Michigan. I was introduced to the world of flowers when I took my first job with a florist at the age of 16. I spent hours after school scrubbing buckets and making boutonnieres, and I realized that I loved flowers!

In college I took a little detour, and I picked up a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. I worked a couple of internships in the field and decided that while hand drafting is fun, and model building is a blast, the bulk of the work just did not satisfy my desire to create something with my own hands. Even though I don’t intend to practice architecture, I believe my architecture training is what really gives me an edge as a floral designer. I’m super critical of proportions, balance and details in my own work, and I apply these lessons every day to create art with flowers and foliage.

I started my floral studio three and a half years ago, after spending a few years learning the ropes, working at retail and wholesale florists. I’ve chosen to focus on weddings and events because I love the challenge of guiding my clients from idea, to design, all the way through creation and delivery. It’s an incredibly rewarding process.

The major trend I am anticipating in 2010 is a switch from tight, clean, modern bouquets to loose, unstructured, romantic bouquets. I’m really excited about making more hand-tied cascades next year. Wisps of feathers, soft fabric, ruffles and movement are going to be really important texturally. Not only will bouquets be loosening up, but this trend will carry into the shape and texture of centerpieces too. I love the look of balanced asymmetry in bouquets and centerpiece designs.

As far as color palettes go, I see them becoming more nature inspired. Vintage and slightly dirty colors like mustard, sepia, nude, taupe, eucalyptus, slate, dusty mauve, and eggplant will be used alongside brighter colors to create more complex and interesting color palettes.

As I move away from a more structured look, I hope to replace a lot of the roses, mini callas, and cymbidiums in my floral palette with foliage, wildflowers, pods, berries, and branches. Right now I am excited about scented geranium, dusty miller, leucadendron, bunny grass, seeded eucalyptus, baby blue eucalyptus, eucalyptus bells, cotinus, agonis, nerine lilies, tweedia, scabiosa, astilbe, sweet peas, ranunculus, eucharis lilies and lady slipper orchids. Novelty items like fern curls, sponge mushrooms, succulents, scabiosa pods, berzelia and privet are great for adding that unexpected touch.

It’s an absolute dream come true being able work in a field that I love. I can’t wait to spread the joy by sharing some projects and ideas with you!

Look for Janet’s column in the coming months—flowers, flowers everywhere! Utterly charming!

Tags: floral design, floral verde, michigan wedding, wedding inspiration