Events | Holiday Flowers

TEXT by Celine MacKay | PHOTOGRAPHS by This past week we were delighted to collaborate with Anthropologie on their special Holi-DIY series, which was taking place in stores across Canada and the US. Ours took place at the Toronto Shops at Don Mills location - the store looked beautiful decked out in greenery for Christmas, the perfect backdrop for our event centering on holiday flower arranging. We enlisted the help of Alison Westlake of Coriander Girl, a fabulous flower shop located in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood on Queen Street West. Besides the opportunity to work with delightful and fragrant holiday greenery and blooms, we took the opportunity to share a little about WHY sustainable flowers are so important

A Pure Green & Anthropologie Collaboration

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This past week we were delighted to collaborate with Anthropologie on their special Holi-DIY series, which was taking place in stores across Canada and the US. Ours took place at the Toronto Shops at Don Mills location - the store looked beautiful decked out in greenery for Christmas, the perfect backdrop for our event centering on holiday flower arranging. We enlisted the help of Alison Westlake of Coriander Girl, a fabulous flower shop located in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood on Queen Street West. Besides the opportunity to work with delightful and fragrant holiday greenery and blooms, we wanted to share a little about WHY sustainable flowers are good to think about. Here are the important bits in a nutshell:

Flowers are often grown quite a distance from where they are sold, most often in developing countries with potentially unfair labour laws with little regulation.
They are grown using huge amounts of fertilizers and pesticides, all which taint the bloom and pollute your home and body (when you take that first whiff).
Ever notice that commercially grown flowers have next to no scent? This isn't a coincidence, they're often bred that way to avoid insect pollination or interaction.
The flower industry often uses scarce resources such as water in countries that can't afford to spare it.

It's a little scary, but fear not, there's lots you can do to fight this, the biggest being to simply request locally grown blooms. There's a surprisingly thriving industry in North America growing flowers all year round - your support ensures their continued survival and will help make them more affordable. You can also request pesticide free blooms, an important factor. Enough with the serious stuff however, and on with the fun! We had a fabulous night with Alison, who got everyone started with the basics to create stunning arrangements quickly and easily at home, anytime of year of course but we focused on holiday arrangements. Read below for our quick tips to do this yourself:

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Cabbage Rose, one of my all-time favourites! The thick waxy petals will last a really long time!

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Another of my faves, Ranunculus. You might notice that the stems will eventually fall over long before the bloom expires. Just snip it off and then float the bloom in a shallow bowl. You'll get at least another week of enjoyment from them!

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1. Start by establishing your scale. This is important to get the right perspective and feel, right from the start. We had everyone bring a vintage vessel to make their arrangements in - I particularly loved this tarnished silver cup. Start by filling your vessel with filler, in this case we used eucalyptus and holiday greenery such as cedar. Stand each stem up on the table to measure the appropriate length of the stem before cutting - you'll want to start with a 'collar' of greens to support your blooms - these should be just barely taller than your vessel. Go slowly and build as you go - the highest point of your arrangement should be roughly twice the height of your vessel.

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We snacked on yummy macarons and sipped strawberry pellegrino and red wine as we went!

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2. When you snip each stem, be sure to cut on an angle. This accomplishes two things: it creates more surface area for the plant to drink, and it ensures that the stem doesn't settle against the bottom of the vessel, preventing it from drinking.

3. You should be using room temperature water only to avoid shocking the stems.

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4. For teacup arrangements or small shallow vessels, use clear florists tape (it's basically super skinny scotch tape) and create a honeycomb or gridlike pattern over the top of your vessel prior to filling with blooms. This provides structure and support for your blooms, keep them nice and snugly in place instead of falling over the side.

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Most of the participants were really surprised how easily the arrangement came together when they took the time to properly establish the scale. Don't be afraid to take your time, many had to start over if things just weren't working. Also, the goal here is NOT perfect! Alison and I both feel very strongly that symmetrical, perfectly arranged bouquets are boring. Channel your creativity and use your eye - little blooms popping up here and there are lovely, or don't be afraid to let your greens swoop over the sides of your vessel.

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This lovely gal brought a square vase on purpose because she had always struggled with them, finding that blooms fell into the corners and left ugly bare spots in the center. The florist's tape trick worked just as well here as it does for shallow vessels, et voila!

A very big thank you to Alison & Anthropologie for collaborating with us on this wonderful event! We had a blast and can't wait to do it again! And of course, I can't leave without saying thank you to everyone who attended - you were all a lovely bunch and I appreciate you all!

PHOTOS: The first image is from Trish Papadakos' Instagram, the remainder were all taken by myself.

NOTE: This summer we also created a pop-up farmer's market for Anthropologie - here's a peek.

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