Meet the winner and finalists in FR’s latest bimonthly flower design contest.
By Nita Robertson, AIFD, CFD
Florists’ Review is delighted to present the winner of and finalists in our November “Best in Blooms” flower design contest. We received more than 40 entries from floral designers across North America.
Four of those designers were chosen to compete in the “‘Best in Blooms” floral design challenge sponsored by Alexandra Farms and Smithers-Oasis North America. We asked each finalist to create a rustic wedding centerpiece highlighting the four varieties of lush pink garden roses provided by Alexandra Farms—‘Tsumugi’, ‘Miyabi’, ‘Princess Hitomi’ and ‘Princess Pinku’ spray, as well as the ECOssentials™ Containers, OASIS® Midnight Floral Foam and OASIS™ Rustic Wire provided by Smithers-Oasis.
The winner, Amanda Rodgers, owner of Bouquet Atlanta in Atlanta, Ga., will receive a “Florist Spotlight” feature in a future issue of Florists’ Review, a $500 merchandise credit from Smithers-Oasis and 240 stems of garden roses from Alexandra Farms.
For information about how you can enter future editions of our “Best in Blooms” contest, visit our website at FloristsReview.com.
WINNER
Amanda Rodgers
Bouquet Atlanta
Atlanta, Ga.
@bouquetatlanta
Amanda Rodgers, a florist-farmer in the Atlanta area, is a big proponent of locally grown flowers. She grows a lot of the product she uses, and she supports other local farms, as well. She specializes in bespoke garden-style flower arrangements. “We love local flowers and feature blooms and foliage from multiple local vendors,” she notes.
About her design, Rodgers shares:
“I wanted to create wild rose gardens with vines and flowers ‘growing’ up through the roses. I used the OASIS™ Rustic Wire to secure various vines together, to appear like they were growing together. I grouped flower types and varieties together to mimic nature, and I used several different flower shapes, sizes and textures to create interest and dimension.”
MATERIALS
Botanicals
• Rosa spp. ‘Myabi’ (Wabara garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Tsumugi’ (Wabara garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Princess Hitomi’ (Japanese garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Princess Pinku’ (Japanese spray garden rose)
• Delphinium × Belladonna (larkspur)
• Dahlia spp.
• Zinnia elegans (common Zinnia, youth-and-old-age)
• Celastrus scandens (American bittersweet, climbing bittersweet, false bittersweet)
• Ozothamnus diosmifolius (rice flower)
• Vitis viniferous (grapevine)
• Rubus fruiticosus (blackberry vine)
• Wild grasses
Hard Goods
• ECOssentials™ Designer Dish
• OASIS® Midnight Floral Foam
• OASIS™ Rustic Wire
FINALIST
Joey-Lynn Curry
Remington’s Flowers & Co.
East Troy, Wis.
@remingtonsflowers
Joey-Lynn Curry loves all the texture and dimensions that can be used and showing people flowers in ways they’ve never seen before.
About her design, Curry shares:
“From the moment I received the beautiful garden roses from Alexandra Farms, my mind immediately channeled an intricate centerpiece combining both dimension and texture. My goal was to accentuate the roses while sprinkling in a few of my other favorite botanicals. I wanted the arrangement to present itself as a rustic yet chic and clean floral design, so I incorporated elements such as Japanese maple leaves and Japanese fantail willow branches. Once I chose my botanical elements, I mimicked the dynamic motion of the fantail willow by creating three large coils of OASIS™ Rustic Wire to swirl around individual Ranunculus stems. Color also played an important role. I found it important to keep the color palette cohesive yet distinctive while allowing myself to be creative in designing an arrangement that reflects the contest goals and my personality.”
MATERIALS
Botanicals
• Rosa spp. ‘Myabi’ (Wabara garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Tsumugi’ (Wabara garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Princess Hitomi’ (Japanese garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Princess Pinku’ (Japanese spray garden rose)
• Paeonia lactiflora (Chinese peony, garden peony)
• Ranunculus asiaticus (Persian buttercup)
• Serruria florida (blushing bride)
• Daucus carota (chocolate lace flower, chocolate Queen Anne’s lace)
• Amaranthus caudatus (love-lies-bleeding, tassel flower, foxtail amaranth)
• Chamelaucium uncinatum (waxflower, Geraldton waxflower)
• Hypericum androsaemum (tutsan, St. John’s wort)
• Berzelia albiflora (formerly Brunia albiflora/Brunia laevis) (knob bush, coffee bush, silver Brunia)
• Scabiosa stellata (starflower pincushion, paper moon, Scabiosa pod)
• Acer palmatum (Japanese maple)
• Laurus nobilis (bay laurel, laurel, bay, sweet bay, Grecian laurel)
• Salix sachalinensis/S. udensis ‘Sekka’ (Japanese fantail willow)
Hard Goods
• ECOssentials™ Designer Dish
• OASIS® Midnight Floral Foam
• OASIS™ Rustic Wire
• OASIS® Waterproof Tape
FINALIST
Iuliia Prokhorova, CFD, TMF
Wild Veggie Bouquet
Corpus Christi, Texas
@wildveggiebouquet
Iuliia Prokhorova, CFD, TMF, founder and leading designer at Wild Veggie Bouquet in Corpus Christi, Texas, is known for innovative designs combining flowers with fruits and vegetables. Each of her handcrafted arrangements is influenced by her love of nature and art, accompanied by her exceptional eye for beauty, color and texture.
About her design, Prokhorova shares:
“Alexandra Farms provided four varieties of amazing, opulent garden roses, and although we were allowed to incorporate other flowers, I thought that doing so would take attention away from the stars of the show. So, I focused on highlighting the roses and the OASIS™ Rustic Wire, thinking about an empty late fall garden with no greenery but all kinds of textural branches. I formed lengths of Rustic Wire to replicate the fun slinky-style curls found in Southern Smilax.”
MATERIALS
Botanicals
• Rosa spp. ‘Myabi’ (Wabara garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Tsumugi’ (Wabara garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Princess Hitomi’ (Japanese garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Princess Pinku’ (Japanese spray garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Romantic Antike’ (Deluxe garden rose)
• Solidago spp., tinted (goldenrod)
• Rhaphiolepis indica (Indian hawthorn)
• Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’ (copper beech, European beech)
• Pinus spp. (pine cones)
Hard Goods
• ECOssentials™ Rectangle Planter
• OASIS® Midnight Floral Foam
• OASIS™ Rustic Wire
• OASIS™ Florist Wire
• OASIS® Floral Adhesive
• Wool yarn
FINALIST
Nelson ZêPequéno
Plants & Anime
Los Angeles, Calif.
@zznelsonzz
Nelson ZêPequéno is a multimedia artist in Los Angeles, Calif., who works as a freelancer in scenic/floral design and fabrication for marketers and event producers. His designs stem from a sustainability-first approach by upcycling postconsumer waste into media for floral art and expression.
About his design, ZêPequéno shares:
“Following the rustic wedding theme, I wanted to create a centerpiece that incorporated the amazing products provided by Alexandra Farms and Smithers-Oasis while staying true to my mission as a designer to bring sustainable practice to the forefront of my art. I used a scrap wood round and OASIS™ Rustic Wire to set the theme, then freestyled the placement of garden roses, envisioning a wild rose bush growing from an old tree stump.”
MATERIALS
Botanicals
• Rosa spp. ‘Myabi’ (Wabara garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Tsumugi’ (Wabara garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Princess Hitomi’ (Japanese garden rose)
• Rosa spp. ‘Princess Pinku’ (Japanese spray garden rose)
Hard Goods
• LOMEY® Design Bowl
• OASIS™ Rustic Wire
• Pin frog/Kenzan
• Wood round
