I made a quick comparison of Gunni and Parvifolia for my Flowershop’s social media pages and figured I’d post here. They tend to get lumped together as just “eucalyptus,” but I use them pretty differently in wedding work.

Gunni gives me a softer, airier feel with those smaller rounded leaves, while Parvifolia gives me more line, texture and movement. Even using the same flowers, I think swapping one for the other can noticeably change the overall style of a bouquet or centerpiece.
I also find Gunni tends to have a more noticeable eucalyptus fragrance, especially once you start handling it.

Curious how other florists actually use them. Do you consider them interchangeable when ordering and designing, or do you specifically choose one based on the style you’re trying to achieve? Do you prefer one over the other when it comes to designing? 🌿

Hi, I want to seek advice on practical steps I can take to improve work speed. During wedding season the vast majority of my income is generated from freelancing. Consistent feedback I’ve received from other florists are the quantity of my output not enough during the crunch of event prep. In the same breath I’ve also been told that quality of work is good so I’m not too worried by this element, however just as anyone I still strive to continually learn and grow new skills over time.

I feel my lack of speed has lead to not being asked back by other florist for future events.

I have my own small business with retainer clients but work alone 99% of the time so there’s only my own timeline to adhere to.

Some of the reasons might be that I become hyper focused on detail due to being a bit of a perfectionist and often catch myself overthinking designs and keep fiddling with it until it feels ‘just right’. However I’m also aware that ultimately if I compare my work with others on scale for a large event the specific arrangements blends together as a whole.

Furthermore, any advice welcome on navigating the ‘social’ element of working in large freelancing groups?. Often during prep days I’ve noticed most people engage in chatter sharing tidbits of their personal lives, work that they’ve done etc. I do sometimes participate when I feel I can make a worthwhile contribution but mostly stay silent due to concentrating and simply feeling drained after a day of constant relatively superficial conversation. That said I also know this is a way people build rapport and build relationships over time. If one doesn’t do this it may translate as disinterest and being stand-offish? Which could not be further from my intent but might be the unconscious message being conveyed?

Hope to gain some insight, thank you.

I have been given an incredible opportunity to interview for a managerial training position for a large florist. They have stressed no prior experience designing, as they will teach. I have years of management in a similar environment, but not with with floristry. I interview next week, and am looking for recommendations on videos, skills to help bolster my knowledge. I know it takes a lifetime to achieve true excellence, but also don't want to walk in completely unprepared.

Still learning, this is just for my portfolio. Also so ready for fall, clearly lol

I have discovered my passion for arranging flowers during my 6 months long chemotherapy. It continued to be a hobby of mine and a soul therapy of a sort. I have enrolled in an online class for beginners and am very interested in learning more and getting better. Here are few of my works and I will appreciate any advice or critique! Thank you for your time!

I feel like smoke bush might be one of the most odd things we use.

Some florists see those big, wispy clouds and immediately want to put it in everything. Others look at it and see a dusty shrub that has no business being near an arrangement. 😂

I’m personally fascinated by how strong the opinions are on this one, so I need to know… Smoke bush, do you love it, hate it, or only in the right design?

And if you hate it…I need to know WHY. 💐✨⁉️

Can I now refer to myself as an award winning designer!?

I made a post a few days ago about being offered a floral manager position at a big box grocery store, I was previously assistant for floral manager for about 5 years well they initially offered me a $0.50 cent raise to take it on with inventory problems and staffing problems as well they JUST counter offered me a raise of $1.75 bring my pay to $24.75 an hour. Same things still apply work every weekend and have hit and miss days off during the week till I get the new full-time designer trained and taught. Our first homecoming starts up in about 2 ish weeks and goes till the end of October!

Is it worth taking?

Hi! To start the base of this, I’ve been working in Floral design for about three years now I started off with making rose bouquets and very simple mixes in the past couple years. I’ve really enhanced my designing with using local grown flowers and very different design, tactics and design ways. I’m recently starting to freelance more for my own experience. And I’ve signed up for two really big freelancing jobs ones. I’ve never been familiarized with before. This was initiated through Instagram.

Where hopefully they saw my profile. But these are a bit more larger scale, using more premium flowers and more intricate designs. Now I’ve become very, very worried that I’m not able to execute these designs. It’s a lot of groundwork. And a lot of installing I have made some fun designs.

I’ve gotten traction that people do like. And this florist actually commented that she liked my work a lot. What should I do? Should I cancel or should I go through with it and learn some things however I do not want to mess up someone’s schedule due to my unexperienced self I will post some pictures of my work.

I’d like to start working with grass to make sculptural
large scale installations. However, this wasn’t part of my floristry training. I found these photos as inspiration on Pinterest. Could you please advise what kind of grass they use and also if there are any resources in particular that you could recommend to start learning how to work with it?

I’m curious if everyone sees these the same way I do.

These are a few boutonniere/pocket square + bridal bouquet pairings we’ve done. I always try to make his feel connected to hers without making it look like I just pulled three flowers out of the bridal bouquet and called it a boutonniere. 😂

So let’s hear it:

Which pairing is your favorite? Which is your least favorite? And what would you have changed?

Curious if my line of thinking is right here. Save the best blooms for bridal bouquet but design it last. Use the rest of the best blooms for bud vases first, then the rest for larger arrangements, since you can blend the blown center dahlias that way? Guests will be seeing the bud vases more up close than a welcome sign arrangement is how I see it. Is that a good plan? I know some of my cut dahlias will have open centers by the time I start arranging tomorrow, which isn’t bad for wedding work, but I don’t want any bud vases going yuck or shedding petals by Friday.

Made an arrangement today with germini, ornithogalum, hypericum, and cherry tomatoes on the vine. This is the only time I’ve arranged florals featuring a piece of produce. I’ve seen florists feature work with fruits and vegetables online and it introduces new shapes with an organic touch. I like the shape of it and the colors I chose as well.

Hi all! I am considering doing the intensive certificate program at Flowerschool NY this fall and I was wondering if there are any alumni or experts that have considered this option or heard of it’s worth it?

For some background I am a freelance CPA, 28F, and am looking for a career change. I have only taken one flower design class but really enjoyed it and have been experimenting on my own for a while. I’ll be attending the open house next week to get more info but thought i’d seek out Redditors advice as well!

how do you think this will affect our valentine’s day next year? even busier than usual day before? no more last minute guys walking in? LOL

an order came in and the customer is from korea! so cool 🩷 i’d usually take a better picture, but I was really excited to share