Upcycling,hand-tied and wedding flower arrangements

On January 14 and 15, the quadrennial finals of the NK Floral Art took place at the Trendz trade show in Gorinchem. The NK final is aligned with the international competition calendar. Through three regional preliminary rounds, which took place in 2022, nine candidates had qualified for the final battle for the prestigious Dutch title.

Meaningful practical lessons make a difference

Students of the Flower, Greenery and Styling course at Yuverta mbo Heerlen develop their creativity in the field of floral design and styling during meaningful practical lessons. A special activity was the deepening of the theme of mourning during an exciting floral design assignment.

Iris: majestic beauty

Flowers are ascribed all kinds of beautiful designations. Some we call humble, exalted, glorious, or admirable, beautiful and lovable. There is one that we may rightly call majestic: the iris. Its beauty impressed kings and artists and is thus deeply embedded in our culture

'Longing for the next lesson like craving delicious food'

Japanese-Canadian floral designer Hitomi Gilliam calls herself an "open scource floral educator. All the knowledge and skills she has, she wants to share with others who are interested. She lives on Bowen Island, near Vancouver, Canada. But travels all over the world to teach, both in person and virtually. "Education should be energizing to follow.

'For the finals, I stepped up my game'

On Jan. 15, Franka Roenhorst won the Dutch Floral Art Championship. Together with her partner Hans Zijlstra, she owns flower store Floral Stylist Hans Zijlstra in Groningen. Franka is also the Dutch candidate of the World Cup Floral Art in 2025. Enough reason for an interview with the new Dutch Champion Floral Art!

'One and all emotion captured in a span of time'

For florist Max van de Sluis, spring is one of the most beautiful times of the year. "A lot is happening. Different plants and flowers come up, everything gets color in the garden and nature, and above all, life gets warmer and more pleasant.'

'All of this is all emotion, and moreover captured in a time period. That is what I try to incorporate in my flower arrangements. Sometimes that means working with lots of color, so that an explosion is depicted in an arrangement, as it were. And another time I will choose for the modest transformation of dead nature into the new and young green as it sprouts in spring'.

'It is particularly intriguing and inspiring every year. The spring season has so much to offer. Just think in colors from warm to cold - each color palette depicts its own emotions and pure beauty in the process.'