Pure Summer

After the long rainy winter and late spring, the arrival of summer is perhaps even more welcome than other years. And how nice it is then that the flower trade can give full expression to that with a great assortment of summer flowers.

'Also, play primarily on smell'

Spring is bursting forth and the splash of color is appearing in the form of budding branches, bulbs sprouting from the ground and blossoms shooting into bloom. Green stylist Sjacco Gerritsen can get excited about it every year. 'Spring is the period from which we get a lot of energy at Fleur Inn green styling. New year, new opportunities and every time you notice that the customers are looking forward to making their homes and gardens cosy again with spring flowers.

'We use a lot of flared branches and a lot of natural materials. It is also very exciting and surprising to play on smell. That sometimes gets a little into the background.'

'The smell of spring: daffodils, mimosa, hyacinths, lilies: you can tell from the customer in the store that they love it. Real spring is in color, fragrance and design - we as florists can do a lot with that. And above all also seduce the customer.'

'Spring to me means color and wonder'

In addition to running her business Hilde in house, flower decorator Hilde Pit teaches four days at a VMBO green school where she introduces students to the floral profession during flower & design classes. 'Students inspire me by their wonder about certain materials, all the more fun to inspire them again with new materials.'

'I grew up with National Park Weerribben-Wieden as my backyard. This is where my love for being outdoors and beautiful materials from nature was born. Spring for me means fine materials, color and wonder. Seeing the buds coming back on the trees and the first fresh sprigs in the garden: fantastic.'

'In this season I use bright colors in combination with pastels, all mixed together. I like stubborn materials: fragile ranunculus, but also tulips that decide for themselves which way to grow. Today's customer appreciates flowers much more the way they are now: few leaves, purity. That's something we've seen in recent years, but I'm sure customers will appreciate it even more in the future.

Spring symphony

Spring is arriving. And it can be felt as early as February, although of course it can still be quite a winter well into March and even April. But for now, the outside temperature has been very mild for weeks this year, reason why the bulbs in the garden are sprouting out of the ground, the branches are budding and the birds, judging by their whistling, already have spring clearly in the air.

'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!