Quito International Workshop Recap

This spring we hosted our first international workshop in Quito, Ecuador at the beautiful Hacienda Cusin. There were over 20 attendees and three talented instructors, and over the course of a week we had two full days of design, two flower farm tours and explored the city of Old Town Quito. Read on to hear more about each day's activities and view the gorgeous images from the trip!

P.S. If you are interested in joining us on our next international trip to The Netherlands, get more information here.

DAY ONE

We began the workshop with a full day of design instruction from Holly Chapple. Holly demonstrated her bouquet making process using her signature Syndicate x Holly Chapple Egg then helped the students make their own centerpieces using the new tips and tricks Holly taught. After breaking for lunch we jumped right back in for another demonstration from Holly, this time for a centerpiece using the Holly Chapple Pillow. After the students completed their own versions of a centerpiece Holly walked the students through her business process, finishing up with a Q&A. To wrap up the night and celebrate a successful day one we had a group dinner complete with delicious Ecuadorian cuisine!

Holly Chapple teaches at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Holly Chapple teaches at Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Flowers including roses, lisianthus and stock at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Attendee making a bouquet at the Holly Chapple teaches at Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Attendee making bouquet with roses, plumosus, spray roses, anemones at the Holly Chapple teaches at Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Holly Chapple demonstrates making a centerpiece at the Holly Chapple teaches at Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Attendee makes centerpiece of roses, bouvardia, stock at the Holly Chapple teaches at Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Bouquet with anemones, lisianthus, ranunculus, plumosus, stock, garden roses.

Arrangement with bougainvillea, ranunculus, icelandic poppies, toffee roses, garden roses, tulips, sweet peas.

DAY TWO

Sue Mcleary of Passion Flower Sue kicked off day two, starting with a demonstration on how she makes her signature floral wearables - the students then tried their hand at making their own, from headbands to necklaces to shoulder pads. Sue then led the students in creating a foam free floral arch and wall installation using her burrito technique. After another delicious lunch Veronica Cicero of Anthology Co. worked with the students in creating large-scale urns.

Sue Mcleary leads students in a demonstration at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Students working on foam-free installation at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Students working on arch installation at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Sue Mcleary and students working on a foam-free installation at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Students working on a foam-free installation at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Foam-free arch installation at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Veronica Cicero of Anthology Co. leading a demonstration for large-scale urn arrangements.

Student working on large-scale urn arrangement at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Students with their completed large-scale urn arrangement at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Large-scale urn arrangement featuring toffee roses, larkspur, gloriosa, clematis, eucalyptus, tulips from Mayesh Wholesale.

DAY THREE

After two full days of design demonstrations we had the opportunity to visit two flower farms local to the Quito area. First stop was Green Rose, grower of over 100 rose varieties. Following a tour through GreenRose's greenhouses, we headed to ValleFlor. Here we saw many of their varietals of which the gorgeous delphinium was the star. After our second farm tour, Jose Javier and his wife Estefania, owners of Green Rose, graciously welcomed us into their beautiful home. Here we were treated to a performance of their show horse then given the opportunity to ride the horses ourselves. We finished the night with an incredible dinner full of Ecuadorian dishes.

Students touring GreenRose farm during the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Greenhouse of roses at GreenRose in Ecuador.

GreenRose employee harvesting roses.

GreenRose employee demonstrating rose cultivation.

GreenRose employee making bunches of yellow roses.

Rose assembly line at GreenRose in Ecuador.

ValleFlor employee discussing displaying statice.

ValleFlor employee leading tour of delphinium greenhouses.

Pink alstromeria at ValleFlor.

Tour of ValleFlor delphinium greenhouse.

Horse stables at horse ranch in Ecuador.

Show horse performance at ranch in Ecuador.

Table setting featuring toffee roses from GreenRose in Ecuador.

Group photo of attendees at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

Mayesh staff at the Mayesh International Workshop in Quito, Ecuador.

DAY FOUR

For our final day we were able to experience the beautiful city of Old Town Quito. We started with a guided tour of the city and its history, followed by lunch and time to shop and explore. Upon our arrival back at Hacienda Cusin we were treated to a farewell dinner with a special Ecuadorian dance performance.

Old Town Quito, Ecuador.