The delight of budding

Flowers, plants and season have a magical connection. Every year, after the gray winter months, we look forward to spring with longing. In no season can you so enjoy the budding, the rising, the budding - and that at all levels, from bulbs to trees.

'I like to put my creativity to the test'

Chantal Post loves the different aspects of the profession: running a floral business, decorating events and sharing knowledge through workshops and demonstrations. With an undeniable passion for the profession, she has worked her way to the top in the Belgian florist community. Last year she crowned herself Belgian champion and soon she may represent her country at the World Championships in The Hague. What drives her? How is she preparing for this prestigious competition?

'Vegetative is difficult to execute commercially in the current zeitgeist'

The theme Nature, Naturally! can be approached in different ways, according to floral designer Max van de Sluis. 'For me as a florist, vegetative is the most obvious and perhaps the most ultimate in its beauty. Yet in the current zeitgeist, vegetative is difficult to execute commercially.'

'Reason that I went in a more realistic direction, using as a starting point the materials you can easily obtain at wholesale, and then using them to make arrangements with a natural look.'

'I wanted to achieve that natural look by processing the flowers in a certain way. Think of solutions like processing each species at a more or less distinct height, a more parallel placement, growth forms, movement, finding combinations with old natural flower forms from outside and or by incorporating branches.'

'This expands the possibilities quite a bit and makes it possible to put your style, emotion and feeling into this. This path is more commercial and more realistic in its feasibility.'

'Reuse to Reduse'

Floral designer Hanneke Frankema is always looking around for substrates. That yielded her, for example, a set of beautiful wooden tables, one of which she was able to immediately deploy this edition. 'Keeping eyes open, I always say. For example, we had bought up leftover wood from a staircase maker, and what was underneath in the Big Bag? All beautiful cylindrical hardwood pieces in various sizes. I put them in a beautiful bowl and incorporated the flowers between them. Waste can be reused beautifully this way.'

'I also like to use (leftover) wooden boards and beams as substrates on a regular basis. For example, a piece of beam that was left over from the construction of my classroom next to our house found its way into an arrangement where it was used as a foundation. So what would normally be thrown away could now be used very nicely for an arrangement.'

'Old materials also regularly get a second life. For instance, as the base of a fine sweet heart, I used dried Craspedia - so I never throw it away! You can make beautiful dried and therefore long-lasting bases or objects from them. Also the bases themselves can often be remade numerous times with different and/or fresh materials. In short: reuse to reduse!

Nature, naturally!

For the special theme Nature, naturally! vegetative floral creations, as it grows in nature, are the starting point. Transparency also plays a major role. The arrangements are created as much as possible through the use of sustainable techniques and responsible materials.

'My preference is for local seasonal materials'

Erik Lockley creates worlds of movement, tension and balance. Flower wizard or botanical morphologist or innovative artist with flowers and plants is how he describes himself. 'I have a passion for flora and have been experimenting with plants, branches and berries and basically everything that belongs to plants for many years.'

His modern creations with a classical touch are beautifully balanced yet contain tension. 'I meticulously follow the golden section in my floral design. For competitions and larger commissions, I first make sketches which I then translate into models. This allows me to assess whether the proportions are correct and whether the piece is technically feasible. I like to build structures that support but also tell stories of harmony, durability and elegance.'

'My preference is for local seasonal materials - you don't always have to reach for imported flowers. I've also been working with recycled materials all my life, something that now fits perfectly within the trend of sustainability.'