Who knew that a creative little dare between two friends would lead to such an amazing outcome! In seven short months, 64 artful bouquets were created between the two of us, using only locally grown flowers and foliage, the vast majority gathered from our farms. If you count all of the lovely creations posted by other weekly Seasonal Bouquet participants around the web/globe, the total soars to around 600. Add in all of the beauty that was crafted during our three floral workshops in Philadelphia and the inspiration of The Seasonal Bouquet Project is undeniable.
During our SBP workshops, there was so much talk about the future of the industry and how we as growers and floral designers can help rally for a change. The floral industry is a global one and often horribly toxic. If you do any amount of digging into how it operates, you’ll surely have your heart broken. For many years, it has been a real uphill battle for local growers to sway the hearts and minds of the consumer masses. But after a long struggle, we will be the first to declare that real change is underway!
There is a swelling grassroots movement taking place in the fields, backyards and flower shops all over the globe. Florists are tilling up sunny spots in their lawns to plant little cutting gardens; passionate seasoned farmers are increasing their variety selection, field size and taking on weddings; famous floral designers are buying farms to grow their own product, and so many brave souls are finally diving into their long-held dreams of working with flowers. It is such an amazing change to witness first hand!
And so we come to the final chapter of this one particular (and incredible) project! It’s been quite a ride, but The Seasonal Bouquet Project was only meant to be a one season gig. We never planned for it to take on such a life of its own, though we are ever so grateful it did. We’ve been asked repeatedly, by others and ourselves, what’s happening next. As it turns out, after much careful consideration, we are both keen to pursue independent projects of our own. To be most effective on the quest to transform the floral industry at its core, we’ve decided to take a divide-and-conquer approach going forward. We each have different strengths and expertise to offer and there are just so many things that we each want to do to help this movement gain momentum. Of course we’ll continue to support and collaborate with each other. We’re just taking different roads to the same final destination: a floral industry that’s firmly reconnected on all levels with the local seasons and local farms.
This project has been such a tremendous gift for us both on so many levels. While it is with heavy hearts that we close out this amazing little project, you can be certain we’ll be inspiring in new ways in the coming season. Thank you, thank you, thank you for joining us on this fantastic journey!!! It is a bittersweet farewell. Of course, the site will remain up as an image library and reference for locally-grown designs.
Thank you a million times for inspiring us!
So much love,
Erin + Jennie
To continue following along with our flower-filled adventures, please visit us on our individual blogs:
Jennie :: Love ‘n Fresh Flowers :: http://www.lovenfreshflowers.com
Erin :: Floret Flower Farm :: http://www.floretflowers.com
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