Our Japanese Flower Festival took place this past Tuesday and boy, what a day! I received such incredible feedback about this event and the amazing content that was shared by all of our experts - David Dahlson, Amy Balsters, and Amanda Luu. If you missed our live event, we recorded everything and I am sharing it ALL below including the Japanese flower farming blogs!
Please enjoy & let us know what your favorite moments were in the comments!! And I wanted to give a special shoutout to our Japanese flower box winners: Helene Wu, Kathy Bondar, Benjamin Neri-Konowitz, and Anna Rice. I hope you love your flowers!
This is a very long recap, so please feel free to use the links to jump to the section you are interested in:
PRODUCT SHOWCASE | WEDDING DESIGNS | TABLESCAPE DEMO | JAPANESE FARMS
SESSION 1: PRODUCT SHOWCASE, CARE & HANDLING WITH DAVID DAHLSON
David provided a flower tour of our currently available Japanese flowers. You will get to see the stem length, bloom size, and color. In addition, David shared some great tips and advice on how to properly care for and handle these specialty cut flowers that can last for weeks!
SHOW NOTES:
- David, what flowers do you have to show us today?
- Ranunculus White (Flower Spirit Nagano)
- Ranunculus Charlotte
- Lathyrus (Sweet Pea) Ben Shikibu
- Lathyrus (Sweet Pea) Megumi
- Lathyrus (Sweet Pea) Light Brown (dyed)
- Oxypetalum Mable White (Tweedia)
- Oxypetalum Lovely Pink (Tweedia)
- Scabiosa Japonica White
- Scabiosa Japonica Lavender
- Spirea Cantoniensis
- Gloriosa Yellow "Rutea"
- Eustoma (Lisianthus) Wave Classical
- Eustoma Celeb Rich Lavender
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- Eustoma Double Chocolate
- Cymbidiums
- Epidendrum
- Naniwa's Flower Catalog - DOWNLOAD HERE
- What care & handling tips can you share?
- What is the availability?
- Lisianthus - OK this is only "practically" available from March until June. Right now, the price per stem is extremely expensive!! The price goes down once the weather warms up.
- Spiraea: mid-January until early March
- Sweet peas: January until April, or May depending on climate.
- Ranunculus: January until April, or May depending on climate.
- Cymbidiums: January until April, or May depending on climate.
- Gloriosa: almost year-round.
- The caveat with all these items is that from June/July onwards there is not enough material to make freight, so we do not bring in unless there is a large preorder of an item.
- Book - Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style
QUESTIONS:
- Kathy Bondar: What are the bloom times?
- answered in video
- Patti Ruff: Can we find those at the LA Market
- Yes
- Amanda Marie - did you do any special care? Like burning the ends or anything?
- no, David reviewed basic care & handling.
- @cwfloraldesign - does tweedia continue to open once it is cut?
- yes
- @agrundvi - what kind of spirea is that?
- Cantoniensis
- Viviana Silva - are they use for events or retail? (lisi)
- can be used for both - just need to price appropriately.
- Patricia Meyer - will spirea by available toward the end of Feb?
- Erin Ostereicher - can we get a sense of pricing? lisi
- Expensive - please connect with your rep for specific pricing.
- Andrew Witt - any mounted mono lis out of Japan?
- no
- Kathy Bondar - when you place an order do you need to ask for the Japanese type.
- yes
- Michele Elise - Acclimatizing prevents wilting correct?
- yes
- Dawn Mones - where can I get those buckets? Love the square ones.
- not sure - we get them from our Holland & Italian vendors.
- theflowernote: can the catalogs be uploaded so it's available for everyone?
- hopefully - we are checking and will update this post with the catalog once we get it.
- plantdesignevents: is the white or pink sap irritating like blue tweedia is?
- yes, the sap is the same.
- maggieandmefarm: only keep them wrapped until they are hydrated?
- until they are turgid
SESSION 2: UTILIZING JAPANESE FLOWERS IN WEDDING DESIGNS WITH AMY BALSTERS
Amy Balsters of The Floral Coach showcased various centerpieces styles, bouquets, and personal flowers featuring our Japanese flowers. She explains her strategies when it comes to planning and designing with high-end blooms along with highlighting color trends for this year including neutral tones, blush & white traditional palettes, and looks inspired by Very Peri.
JAPANESE FLOWERS IN THE DESIGNS:
- Cosmos Noel Red
- Eustoma (Lisianthus) Amber Double Bourbon
- Eustoma Double Chocolate
- Eustoma Celeb Rich Lavender
- Eustoma Wave Classical
- Gloriosa Yellow "Lutea"
- Oxypetalum (Tweedia) Lovely Pink
- Oxypetalum Mable White
- Scabiosa Japonica Lavender
- Scabiosa Japonica White
- Ranunculus Charlotte
- Ranunculus White (Flower Spirit Nagano)
- Lathyrus (Sweet Pea) First Lady
- Lathyrus Wedding
- Lathyrus Grace
- Assorted Cymbidium
- Epidendrum
SHOW NOTES:
- Let’s kick it off by talking about Wedding Trend Colors. What do you have to share with us today?
- Introduce the three main palettes: Very Peri, neutrals, browns, nudes, and an updated take on blush and white with neutrals
- As we are talking about wedding flowers, let’s dive into the smallest, size-wise, category - personal flowers. I heard you have a Corsage Cuff Design to show us?
- Jan’s Jewels
- Passion Flower Sue - has resources for all of this
- We can’t talk wedding flowers and not talk bouquets! I can’t wait to see what you have to share with us.
- All lavender bouquet, lavender mixed bouquet, neutral/beige/pink bouquet, colorful mixed bouquet, white cascade bouquet, and all pink cymbidium cascade.
- Centerpieces can take a wedding to a totally new level. Incorporating Japanese flowers is a wonderful way to add a touch of luxury to the event.
- Centers: Show lavender palettes, pinks, and all-white pieces.
- End with two large pieces: yellow gloriosa lily piece and a large urn of spirea, Japanese lisianthus, and carnations.
- Do you have any news or events you want to share?
- https://bouquetbootcamp.mykajabi.com/
- Join Amy's newsletter: https://thefloralcoach.com/mayesh
QUESTIONS:
- Kirsten Hognestad Rabishaw - how do you adjust pricing for wedding pieces when you use japanese product which cost more money
- answered in video
- AP Wong - most clients think flowers are just flowers. How do you convey to your clients in the most effective way that the flowers you use are not just everyday flowers but expensive Japanese or Holland flowers, which justify the rate you charge?
- Decide what you need for your client to get the look you need
- Kate Estwing - do you wire alot of the stems for those that are “floating”?
- no
- Jenn Smith - how would you float a flower that has a short stem?
- Amy wouldn’t do that
- Benjamin Neri - a lot of times the stems of sweet come ver short, what do you recommend?
- use them in the base of the bouquet
- Diana Keller Fernandez - is it possible for local gardeners/arrangers to purchase Japanese flowers? (those who aren't in the floral biz
- Typically these flowers are only available through a wholesaler like Mayesh
- Jenn Smith - At what point would you wire these before the wedding? do they hold well out of water for a while?
- Amy wired 3 days before
- Gracy’s Flower Farm: What is the name of the variety of that sweet pea?
- Ben Shikibu
- Becca Brewer: Can someone provide a list of each flower variety Amy used so we can find them on the Mayesh flower library?
- yes, see above
- Cynthia Damico - how many blooms on one stem of Japanese lisi?
- On the Japanese Lisianthus, there are 4 to 5 viable blooms, with long laterals.
- Laura Giles - so I’m hearing floating, monochromatic, and jewel tones for 2022? Any other trends you see that maybe you didn’t mention?
- Florists Review has a great list in their recent magazine about 2022 trends, as well as Thursd.
- Miranda Kerr: where is a good place to buy flower frogs.
- Hannah Thorp Hunt: so the flower frogs are left showing?
- Absolutely, it is often part of the design in minimalist design
- Victoria - is there a rule in flower if you can’t find what you need, do you replace with artificial or just substitute?
- There is no rule in flower design about this, typically just substitute what you need in most designs for something that works.
- mdvball8: Sorry I didn’t catch the name of the book earlier and the website Amy just mentioned. Thank you
- Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style
- https://www.amazon.com/Cultivated-Elements-Floral-Christin-Geall
- viaviflowerfarm What are the light brown sweet peas called?
- light brown sweet peas
- Ben Shikibu
- theflowernote What are you gonna do with all these after?
- Take a lot of pictures and create content/share design tips over on my IG at @thefloralcoach_ and @bouquetbootcamp_
- defineddesigning Is there another flower that you can sub if you cannot get the sweet pea??
- My free flower guide on my website is a great start! Check the guide for LINE flowers over at thefloralcoach.com
- Blue eucalyptus floral design: Your client doesn’t keep the vase? I’m new and I left my vases at the restaurant
- most pickup the vases after the event; if left then be sure to charge for it.
- Blue Eucalyptus - are there carnations in there
- Yes
SESSION 3: MINIMAL TABLESCAPE DESIGN WITH AMANDA LUU
For our last segment of our Japanese Flower Festival, Amanda Luu of Studio Mondine recorded a demonstration on how to create a modern tabletop arrangement using fresh sweetpea, chocolate cosmos, dried foraged grass and xeranthemum. Borrowing stability and stem manipulation techniques from Japanese ikebana, she will create a full Winter tabletop display.
JAPANESE FLOWERS IN THE DESIGN:
- Cosmos "Noel Red"
- Sweet Pea is called "Shirataki"
SHOW NOTES:
- **PLAY DEMO VIDEO**
- How often do you use flower frogs in your designs? Where do you get your frogs from?
- Is there a formula that you use to determine the number of arrangements that you’ll need for 1 table? In the video you mentioned that you would need 2, 14 inch pieces for an one 8-foot table.
- You bundled the chocolate cosmos and I noticed that you used that technique in your book, Ikebana Unbound. Do you want to touch a bit more on why and when you use this technique?
- I mentioned your book, can you tell us a bit more about it?
- Any other projects or news that you want to share?
QUESTIONS:
- Laura Giles - so those dried elements would not even need to be in the water, would they?
- no
- Jenn Smith: is this arrangement built to be one/sided/front-facing?
- no - flowers on all sides
- Katrina Scherer: Is this typically an on-site design? If it has to be designed in the studio, does she recommend more frogs or foam for the flowers that the dune grass is holding in place?
- build majority in studio and finishes on-site.
- Mossome Floral - did she say where the trays came from?
- Floral Supply Syndicate; found them at Lowe's & Home Depot type of stores too.
- Sleeping Bee Garden - Do you find that cosmos last in an arrangement?
- I get about 3 days
- studio.fleuraison - can you repeat the name of the source for the purple flower?
- Velvet Curation Co
- lily of the valleyOC - how early do you make your arrangements ready for big events?
- answered in video - depends on where they are working - start on Friday, sometimes Thursday.
- mdvball8- on this arrangement since it goes at the center of the table did you put the same amount of cosmos on the other side.
- answered in video
JAPANESE FLOWER FARMS SERIES
As part of our Japanese Flower Festival, we are excited to bring to you information about the farms so that you can learn a bit more about where these blooms come from, who grows them, what the growing process is like, and what makes the flowers special. There are too many farms and flowers to cover in our blog, but we worked with our Japanese partners, Naniwa, to bring you information on Cymbidiums, Gloriosa, Lisianthus, Ranunculus, Spirea Cantoniensis, and Sweet Pea.
Overall, there are more than 3000 farms in Japan as a whole, and each region has an organization such as JA (Japan Agriculture) for gathering and distributing the products. There are large and small JAs - they handle not only flowers but also agricultural products. JAs are responsible for ensuring smooth delivery to each market and the consumers. Large flower producers also supply & ship individually, but the main method is to go through JAs.
Each farm has anywhere between 1 and 60 workers and is located in many different areas of Japan. Click the links below to learn more, see pictures, and a few videos.
Cymbidiums
Gloriosa
Lisianthus
Ranunculus
Spirea Cantoniensis
Sweet Pea