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Photo report Expo Flor Ecuador

Expo Flor Ecuador 2024 is a wrap. The third edition again took place in Quito where many innovations and novelties were showcased. Visitors from, among others, North America, Europe, and even the Middle East found their way to the Metropolitan Convention Center. See and learn more about the giant roses, vibrant alstroemerias, new varieties of Gypsophila and the farms that grow them. Also, our FloralDaily editor was present to make our traditional photo report.

Click here for our photo report

Some exhibitors were anxious about whether the expo would actually take place due to the political unrest in Ecuador; however, it turned out that there was little evidence of this last week. “In the face of everything—wars and pandemics—we adapt,” said Alejandro Martinez of ExpoFlores in his opening speech. “All thanks to the breeders and growers who continue to persevere.”

In addition to the many roses for which Ecuador is famous, the country’s climate is also ideal for a wide range of other flower varieties. Alstroemerias the size of dinner plates, Gypsophila in various types, colors, and sizes, and giant ranunculus were all on display. Hydrangeas remain popular as well, according to Marcel Salman of Kolster. “Our Dutch hydrangeas are grown here in Ecuador and are very popular. The colors of these ‘Dutch Hydrangeas’ are so vibrant; you won’t find anything like them here.”

 See our photo report here.

Sulaiman Aloqaibi from United Flower Group highlights the challenges facing the Dutch market. He imports flowers and plants from around the world to Saudi Arabia but has noticed a significant decline in the number of flowers imported from the Netherlands. This prompted him to visit Expo Flor Ecuador. “Since COVID, wedding planners in Saudi Arabia stopped buying fresh flowers, except for table arrangements. Weddings became smaller during the pandemic, and to maximize reuse, they turned to plastic flowers from China. Additionally, the creativity of florists in Saudi Arabia has been heavily influenced by online shopping. Customers see pictures of flowers and want exactly what they see in the photos. As a result, there has been a 60% reduction in the import of Dutch flowers, as they are not available year-round.”

It’s clear that Ecuadorians know how to make an impact, as evidenced by the impressive stands at the fair. The bigger, the better seemed to be the motto, with booths thematically designed and overflowing with flowers. The theme of “bigger, brighter, bolder” was certainly taken to heart. Next year, many growers, breeders, and other interested parties will gather in neighboring Colombia, where Proflora will take place again in early October. In just a few weeks, the floral community will convene in the Netherlands, where many exhibitors and visitors from Expo Flor Ecuador will also be present at Trade Fair Aalsmeer and/or IFTF from November 5 to 7, 2024.

See our full photo report here!

Publication date: Wed 16 Oct 2024

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The versatility of preserved flowers in event planning

In the world of event planning, the choice of floral arrangements can make or break the ambiance of any gathering. While fresh flowers have long been the classic go-to for adding a touch of beauty, the rise of preserved flowers is transforming the industry. These exquisite blooms, meticulously treated to retain their charm and allure, offer a long-lasting and versatile alternative to traditional options. Whether you’re organizing a wedding, corporate event, or any special occasion, preserved flowers, including timeless roses, provide an elegant and enduring solution that adds sophistication to any setting.

Unlike dried flowers, which have their own rustic appeal, preserved floral arrangements capture the essence of fresh flowers while maintaining their vibrant colors and soft textures. The preservation process allows these blossoms to be enjoyed for months or even years, making them a wise investment for any event. By incorporating preserved flowers, you introduce a unique element to your decor while embracing a sustainable option that minimizes waste. From classic beauty to contemporary elegance, these preserved blooms are proving to be an innovative choice for event planners seeking to create memorable experiences.

Elevate Your Event with Preserved Roses: A Classic Touch for Modern Gatherings

Incorporating preserved roses into your event decor adds a classic and timeless elegance that resonates with any audience. Unlike fresh flowers that may fade quickly, preserved roses maintain their beauty and vibrancy over time, making them ideal for events where lasting decor is essential. Whether you’re hosting a wedding, corporate gala, or intimate gathering, preserved roses offer a luxurious and enduring option that keeps your floral arrangements looking fresh throughout the event.

The preservation process not only preserves the natural color and softness of the roses but also provides a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to fresh flowers. Each rose product can seamlessly be integrated into various aspects of your decor, from opulent centerpieces to delicate bouquets, without the concern of wilting. By choosing preserved roses, you’re adding a touch of classic beauty while enhancing the overall aesthetic with lasting charm. Whether your event requires a bold statement or subtle elegance, preserved roses are a perfect addition that will leave a lasting impression on the guests.

Quick and Elegant Gifts: The Appeal of Preserved Floral Products

For event planners aiming to add a thoughtful and elegant touch to their gatherings, preserved floral products offer quick and memorable gifts that attendees will appreciate. Whether it’s a wedding, corporate event, or another celebration, including preserved flowers in gift boxes can elevate the experience for guests. Each flower, created with the same preservation techniques that ensure the longevity of floral arrangements, is perfect for creating lasting memories without the stress of last-minute preparations.

Gift ideas might include preserved roses elegantly arranged in a decorative gift box, dried flower bouquets that exude rustic yet sophisticated charm, or small accessories like preserved floral keychains and boutonnieres. These items not only serve as beautiful mementos but also as practical keepsakes that can be enjoyed long after the event. Unlike a fresh flower that may wilt before the event concludes, preserved floral products retain their vibrant colors and soft textures, ensuring a lasting impression. This makes them an ideal choice for event planners who want to offer something unique and enduring, all while keeping the process quick and seamless.

Enhancing Your Floral Decor: Creative Uses of Dried Flowers in Event Planning

Incorporating dried flowers into your event planning opens up a world of creative possibilities, allowing you to enhance your floral decor with unique textures and colors that fresh flowers simply can’t provide. Dried flowers, such as billy balls, pampas, and other botanicals, bring a rustic charm that can be beautifully contrasted with preserved floral arrangements for a balanced and sophisticated look. These elements can be used to create stunning centerpieces, accent pieces, or even hanging installations that add depth and interest to your event space.

One of the key benefits of using dried flowers is their durability and versatility. Whether you’re planning a garden-themed event or looking to add a touch of nature-inspired elegance to an indoor space, dried flowers can be effortlessly incorporated into various aspects of your decor. For example, a mix of green eucalyptus and other dried botanicals can create a lush, natural backdrop, while darker tones, like black or deep burgundy, can add a dramatic flair to more formal settings. Additionally, these dried florals pair well with preserved flower arrangements, offering a harmonious blend of texture and color that can be tailored to any theme.

By choosing dried flowers and leveraging preserved flowers throughout your decor, you not only add a unique and lasting element to your event but also embrace a sustainable approach to floral decor.

In the distance, pristine warehouse racks and the sound of cart wheels can be seen and heard. In the foreground is a welcoming arch of baskets spilling with flowers, like the entrance to a secret garden. And in a way, it is. This is Pioneer Imports & Wholesale, one of the floral industry’s family-owned business dedicated to delivering quality permanent botanicals to professionals for almost 50 years. The facility spans 24,000 square feet and houses a vast array of flowers, baskets, foliage, containers, and accessories. Employees work happily in this U.S. operation, including the design team and the family owners. This dynamic, dedicated team drives the organization’s expansion through a service-focused approach.

“We specifically design our products to meet our customers’ needs,” explains owner Dave Botchick. “We have learned about the colors our customers prefer, baskets of certain shapes or sizes, and gift basket considerations. We apply this knowledge to ensure we deliver the best quality items that serve event, floral, and gift professionals. We are here to serve.”

While many businesses could not weather the storms over nearly five decades, Pioneer has succeeded by both watching trends and industry needs and never straying from its commitment to serving professionals. If something does not fully address a need—whether for customer profitability or artistic expression—it is refined or replaced.

Working alongside Dave is his daughter, Sarah, who is intensely focused on spreading the message. While managing the demanding design and marketing calendar, she collaborates with the customer service team to maintain the personal touch that dates back to the company’s earliest days. Even in today’s high-tech world, service remains a strong priority.

Service representatives are available to discuss your needs by phone, email, or live chat. The experienced team can quickly retrieve and discuss any item. They also offer virtual appointments or in-person sample room visits if desired.

Decades after starting with only greenery, the Botchick family has expanded their offerings to include artificial flowers without losing their meticulous attention to detail. Their product line now features not only realistic foliage but also vibrant flowers, with each item crafted to fulfill a specific purpose. For events, considerations of length and durability are crucial. Their lifelike cabbage roses, hydrangeas, peonies, and more allow designers to use permanent botanicals confidently. Value-priced bushes are thoughtfully colored to be seen from afar at memorials. Every detail is considered, with leaves and petals meeting botanical standards and reflecting a commitment to beauty and quality.

Pioneer’s collections inspire users with complete looks and room settings. Understanding the importance of proportion and realism to event and floral designers, Pioneer collaborates with leading industry experts to create designs that meet their high standards. This collaboration ensures that the products are not only realistic and well-proportioned but also aligned with the tastes and needs of designers. While grouping items can tell a cohesive story, designers also have the flexibility to shop by flower type, color, and more to bring their artistic vision to life

The Botchicks are firm believers that their success is rooted in their early investment in website functionality and photography, long before it became standard practice. With a background in graphic and website design, Sarah leads the ongoing effort to continually improve their website. Their site stands out in the industry for its usability and versatility.

They understand that features like image zoom, photos of items in use and product videos help users make confident purchases. Every detail matters in online shopping, and they are dedicated to providing all the information customers need to make informed decisions.

Their commitment to quality products for professionals makes visual media essential. These products are neither intended for consumers nor mass-produced and cheaply imported. They are exclusively designed to meet user needs and created by trusted manufacturers.   The company has worked diligently to elevate the perception of silk floral design. Dave often says, ‘Permanent botanicals are art. Just as you would appreciate a painting of a flower without expecting it to be a real flower, so too can you value the artistry of realistic silk flowers.’   From continuous investment in content for professionals—such as articles, photos, and videos—to investing in the products themselves by launching hundreds of new items each season to stay on-trend, Pioneer Imports & Wholesale balances it all.  

But they would not do any of it if it did not address the needs of professionals. “We know we are here to serve the event, floral, and gift professionals. Our users are valued, and we want them to succeed and continue bringing beauty to the world.”

Similarly, they are true to who they are both inside and outside the walls of Pioneer. Working with integrity, honesty, and compassion, they treat their customers and each other as they wish to be treated. They believe that employees and customers are on the same team, working together to achieve shared goals. They provide the best products and services, going the extra mile to ensure every detail is addressed.

They understand that creative leadership and a problem-solving attitude are crucial in helping their customers. They are confident that by working together, they can navigate challenges and create exceptional customer experiences!

Get to know the professional quality, convenience and connection provided by Pioneer Imports & Wholesale today. Save 15% off your order placed by 10/15/24. Must mention promo code: FRD924.

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Writing credit: This article was a collaboration between writer Laura Vitale along with David and Sarah Botchick of Pioneer Imports & Wholesale.

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Oscars 2024! Why So Few Flower Dresses?

By Jill Brooke

Along with Women’s Wear Daily and others, Flower Power Daily declared that the Academy Awards in 2023 was a blooming year of flower-inspired dresses. Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, Iris Apatow, and Yara Shahidi among many others,  wore floral-inspired dresses.

Not for 2024! Flowers did not bloom at the 96th Academy Awards and were grounded it seemed. Not sure why this occurred, but what a shame. Zendaya and Anette Benning wore Armani fashions that had a floral theme – though Zendaya’s was of a palm tree on “rose” silk, but aside from these examples, there was a drought of floral dresses.

Though Mary Steenburgen wore a floral jacket she wore when she won Best Supporting Actress in 1981 when she won for “Melvin and Howard.”

I still swoon over some of these dresses from previous Oscar years. Especially these Oscar de la Renta from years past on Jessica Chastain that was breath-taking in its garden appeal.

However, the clever folks at Scotts Flowers NYC created something very smart. They paired the stars’ non-floral dresses with bouquets inspired by the fashions. So for 2024, this is what we will share. Hope we will see more floral fashions in the coming years. (2020 was one of my favorites).

And to be fair, at the after parties, stars went floral as seen in this montage from Oscar de la Renta. After all, Oscar is all about flowers, and Nicky Hilton, Chrissy Teigen and Pamela Anderson wore the company’s fashions for the after-parties.

But the actual Oscars didn’t have any floral dresses that were particularly memorable. Ah well.

Here’s to spring and more floral fashions blooming.

Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD and a contributor to Florists Review magazine. She also won the 2023 AIFD (American Institute of Floral Design.) Merit Award for showing how flowers impact history, news and culture

Photo Credits: People and Instagram

Created by event planner Jung Lee – and her company Fete – the flowers are inspired by how both the U.S. and French flags are red, white and blue. The flowers are mainly roses – the U.S. national flower – including the American Beauty variety and Piano Roses. The American Beauty rose was bred by Henri Lédéchaux in France in 1875, and was originally named  “Madame Ferdinand Jamin.”

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Jung Lee Made Roses and Iris Stars of U.S. State Dinner Gala

By Jill Brooke

What flowers were used for the U.S. state dinner honoring French president Emmanuel Macron?

Created by event planner Jung Lee – and her company Fete – the flowers are inspired by how both the U.S. and French flags are red, white and blue. The flowers are mainly roses – the U.S. national flower – including the American Beauty variety and Piano Roses. The American Beauty rose was bred by Henri Lédéchaux in France in 1875, and was originally named  “Madame Ferdinand Jamin.”

It is Ronald Reagan who signed the bill for the U.S. to have the rose as its official U.S. flower in 1986.  It’s a good thing that the marigold didn’t win as almost happened because it could have impacted Jung Lee’s color scheme and vision for this event.

The tall candelabras holding the garnet red candles were meant to mimic the Statue of Liberty, which is France’s gift to the U.S.

France’s state flower is the fleur-de-lis. Look at how she incorporated this lovely flower and had it draped individually in bud vases. The three petals of the iris symbolize the holy trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit but also harken back to Louis VII. He loved the iris and officialized the flower as the exclusive royal decoration by wearing a blue robe with golden irises on his coronation. In fact, it was called the fleur-de-loys translated as the flower of a lily which is why some confuse the lily with the state flower instead of the iris. But it is the iris that is France’s state flower.

After the pandemic put the pause button on state dinners, this marks the first state dinner in several years. It honors France, America’s oldest ally. The glamorous event hosted 300 people and is President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s first state dinner after two years in office. More state dinners are planned in the near future.

Jung Lee is known for creating tailored storytelling events – where the flowers seamlessly infuse the theme of the party. The flowers are always lush but don’t overpower the storytelling – and the conversation flows along with the wine. What a coup for this event planner and definitely a special place in her highlight reel.

Here is more detail on the roses Jung Lee chose. Abundance and beauty are the signatures of both roses as well as an interesting history between the two countries.

) Piano Roses

It is a classic red garden rose that has dark red petals on the outside, but the deep cup is filled with lighter red petals on the inside. Furthermore, the swirling and tightly overlapping petals spread apart just far enough to reveal golden stamens deep within.

2) American Beauty

The hybrid perpetual has cup-shaped flowers with a brilliant crimson color and up to 50 petals situated on long stiff stems. The buds are thick and globular and open to strongly scented hybrid tea scents. In 1875, it was brought to the United States from France by George Valentine Nash.  It was introduced as a new rose cultivar named ‘American Beauty’ by Bancroft and Field Bros in 1886, but quite soon identified as ‘Madame Ferdinand Jamin’. In 1888, Bassett & Washburn first introduced the rose to other florists for purchase. It became a famous greenhouse variety and was the best-selling rose cultivar in the United States until the 1920s. Due to its high price per stem (at least two dollars per stem right from its launch in 1886) and its popularity, the cultivar was called the million-dollar rose. Its popularity remained focused on the United States and still is.

Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD,  floral editor for Aspire Design and Home magazine and contributor to Florists Review magazine. 

Photo Credit: CNN

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Jet Fresh Flower Distributors Partners with Details Flowers Software

Jet Fresh Flower Distributors, Inc. Floral November 23, 2021

Jet Fresh Flower Distributors is proud to announce its partnership with Details Flowers. The family-owned and operated wholesaler, importer and distributor located in Miami, Fla. is working together with the floral software company encouraging flower buying within the platform.

At the same time, Jet Fresh Flower Distributors is also forming strategic partnerships with wholesale flower companies throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean in order to maintain the cold-chain needed to supply these orders and not bypass wholesalers. 

“Currently, the trend has been for event and retail florists to bypass wholesalers and order their flowers from Dotcom suppliers or importers from Miami, California and Holland, which are then express delivered overnight, they hope,” said Mike Black, president of Jet Fresh Flower Distributors and Jet Fresh Flower Growers, S.A. “With our experience, those people aren’t consistently successful because they lose the entire proper cold-chain.” 

Since the pandemic, the need for express delivery services has increased tremendously. For many florists, overnight delivery services and air freight are their only options for receiving flowers. Unfortunately, shipping flowers in these ways can lead to greater headaches caused by damaged or lost product. These express delivery services aren’t equipped with the proper refrigeration to maintain the cold-chain, and are difficult for floral professionals to rely on. 

When Details was looking for a partner, Black knew we needed to create a system that’s been proven to prevent issues caused from these delivery practices.

“Our idea is to offer flowers available, compile the orders and ship them with our strategic partners via refrigerated carriers,” said Black. “We want to give wholesalers the time to be able to offer additional products, including supplies and hard goods, and give buyers access to even greater products.” 

Black says the idea is for there to be no disappointment from flowers which were transported poorly. As a result, Jet Fresh also plans to cover the costs of transportation to the wholesaler as well as the wholesaler’s margin. 

“The wholesaler is ensured to have those costs covered in the prices we are quoting,” said Black. “It’s never the wholesaler’s loss.” 

Black says that partnerships are the future, and the continuous development of innovative practices such as this will help the flower industry work more efficiently.

“We’re getting in on the ground floor,” said Black. “I won’t be surprised if systems like this [Details Flowers] can be integrated in the future with programs such as Komet Sales.”

Jet Fresh Flower Distributors is currently offering buying through Details Flowers only in the state of Florida, and they have already partnered with Carlstedt’s Flower General Wholesale Florist to cover the Orlando territory and north.

“We are very eager to take off with Details, said Fernando Ortega, general manager of Jet Fresh Flower Distributors. ”However, we need to do it right and take all the proper steps to ensure the success of the program —walking before we run.” 

The Details Flowers software is helping florists, designers and event planners grow their business with an all-in-one system that connects them with growers, suppliers, wholesalers and educators. Details tailors their users’ floral professional needs with an attractive, easy-to-use platform that helps them plan, organize and execute floral events successfully. 

Users will have access to Jet Fresh’s top, most popular event flowers from some of the world’s premier farms including: Rosa Flora Limited, Alexandra Farms, Flores Del Este, Esmeralda Farms, Sande Flowers and Jet Fresh Flower Growers to name a few. 

Flower buyers will also be able to expand their horizons with color-enhanced Hippy Psychedelic Roses as well as custom-printed Speaking Roses, offering an even more customized, personalized floral experience for their customers to remember.

Details Flowers was founded in 2015 by Corrine Heck. As an event florist, she designed and executed hundreds of floral events, but took her career to another direction where she wanted to develop an all-in-one software solution for floral professionals. Today, there are over 700 floral professionals nationwide who are growing their businesses with the Details Flowers software and seeing great results. 

Learn more about the Details Flowers software and all the exciting solutions they are offering their users with Jet Fresh Flowers. Visit: https://blog.detailsflowers.com/blog/new-partner-jet-fresh-flowers

Bruce A. Chester, owner of Martha E. Harris Flowers and Gifts in Madison Park, pulls some roses from a cooler at his shop recently. The business, which Chester inherited from founder Martha Harris after she passed, celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2020. Although 2020 was a rough year overall, Martha E. Harris Flowers & Gifts in Madison Park celebrated a significant milestone in 2020 when the shop turned 40 years old.

Although they have been unable to do so yet, owner Bruce A. Chester hopes to fete the achievement along with his husband, staff and customers, with a party sometime this year. He said he didn’t want to celebrate without the loyal customers who have supported and sustained the floral and gift boutique through the year and especially the pandemic.

“Our amazing customers have shown such incredible support through this extraordinary year we have all been going through,” Chester said in an email. “A huge thank you to them.”

Founder Martha Harris started the her floral business in her garage 40 years ago before it moved to a storefront in University Village and then to its current location at 4218 E. Madison St. In 1996, Harris hired Chester as a floral designer. Chester already had extensive experience in the industry, having gotten his start in it as a young teenager, and was working somewhere else when he applied to work for Harris on a whim.

“It all just fell together in a day, basically,” Chester said.

When Harris was diagnosed with cancer, she began turning more duties over to Chester. She later told Chester she wished to leave him the business in her will, and when she passed, he formally took over the business.

“It was just kind of a natural transition to me, taking over,” he said.

Chester said the adjustment was fairly seamless, in part because he and the staff had worked with each other for a long time, and there hadn’t been much turnover.

“I was more than willing to do it,” he said. “It’s a legacy to carry on.”

Chester said turning 40 years is significant for any business, but it is especially so for floral shops and boutiques.

“I believe florists and any business dealing in perishable items have an even more difficult time as our product must be sold right away,” Chester said in an email.

He said, while movies and TV shows often make floral shops look like romantic enterprises, running one is hard and demanding work.

“As much as every day is wonderful working with beautiful gifts from Mother Nature, the business requires long hours, flower shopping at five a.m., working past midnight on holidays, (and) the sacrifice of any personal life, time with friends and family around the holidays,” Chester said in an email.When new floral shop owners realize all that, accompanied with lots of lifting, stressful deadlines and more, they frequently get out of the business quickly.“Luckily, I am a person that thrives on this, and it is my passion for it that keeps me going on […]

Source: Celebrating 40 years

Lisa Wiencek arranges flowers in October at her FloraLore booth at the Oak Lawn Farmers Market. The Tinley Park resident launched a Community Uplift Project during the pandemic, taking nominations and donations to deliver small, surprise arrangements to people. When the COVID-19 pandemic really started to take hold in March and the first stay-at-home orders went into place, like many small business owners Tinley Park’s Lisa Wiencek felt blindsided.

“At the beginning of COVID, I was like, ‘I want to chill out. I don’t know what I’m going to do,’” Wiencek said. “I just shut down.”

Wiencek, 34, had just started FloraLore, a floral design company, out of her home studio roughly a year and a half ago. But 2020 marked the first full year for her, when she expected to get the business off the ground and truly up and running.

COVID-19, and the restrictions and anxieties that came with it, quickly changed her expectations. She was trying to regroup.

“Then, I got three calls wanting flowers in the span of maybe two days,” Wiencek said. “I was like, ‘OK, maybe I need to come out of hiding.’ But then I was realizing to fulfill those orders, I was buying more than I actually needed, because I buy wholesale bunches. What can I do?”

That is when she remembered posts she saw in a Facebook group, where some fellow florists mentioned they had started programs during their slow months. They would take nominations and send surprise flowers.

“It wasn’t called Community Uplift, but it’s basically the same thing,” Wiencek said. “I was like, ‘That sounds really beautiful.’”

She saw an opportunity to help some folks through the trying times ahead while using flowers she had bought in bulk. FloraLore’s Community Uplift Project was born.

She was about to make a connection through one of those deliveries and turn the effort into something much bigger.

“I got a call from somebody who owns a pizza parlor a little bit south of where we live,” Wiencek said of Tony’s Villa Rosa Pizzeria in Frankfort. “He was like, ‘I just wanted to say thank you. You delivered one to my mother.’

“So we started exchanging flowers for pizzas. I sent out some from his shop, actually. I brought about 20 to his shop that he then distributed to his customers. It started taking off.”

People started posting about the flowers they had received. And FloraLore was getting more nominations and donations on her website on a page set up for that purpose.

“I think overall I delivered 262 arrangements,” Wiencek said, with her site noting she received $1,820 in donations for the program. “I guesstimated $10 per, which covers the cost of delivery and flowers, but it’s not quite the retail price. ”She took a hiatus from the program in the warmer months while she was doing farmers markets in Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park and Mount Greenwood. Lisa Wiencek talks with a customer in October at the Oak Lawn Farmers Market. Wiencek said one of the things she enjoys most about floral design is […]

Source: A startup florist worried the pandemic would kill her business; delivering surprise bouquets helped it thrive

Full Bloom is an HBO Max original floristry competition show by Eureka Productions hosted by celebrity florists Simon Lycett , Elizabeth Cronin , and Maurice Harris . The show’s eight episodes see ten florists competing for a grand prize through two types of contests: short individual designs with a specific flower at its center and team contests to create massive floral sculptures. The structure of Full Bloom ‘s competition is both a blessing and a curse. It distinguishes itself from this year’s other floral competition show, The Big Flower Fight on Netflix, which saw teams of two competing in one large sculpture event each episode. But it’s also a curse. With so much of each episode dedicated to the team contests, you neither have time to get to know the individual artists, their skills, nor their personalities. Additionally, the team aspect adds an awkward dynamic that feels foreign to the nature of forestry work.

There is a lot to enjoy in Full Bloom . The themes of each contest are unique and deliver exciting results. The music and set are mostly enjoyable, and the hosts are dynamic and different from one another. I especially appreciate that throughout each episode, the hosts will do short demonstrations for the viewers about simple floristry techniques that can enhance their own flowers at home. I like how they are as emotive about what they are judging as the contestants are about their creations. Maurice can be a bit too harsh for me sometimes, but that’s more on me than anything.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of aspects that feel like they don’t work. The way each episode works is that the first and second place winners of the individual contests are made team leaders on the large-scale team contest in the second two-thirds of the show. As much as it’s entertaining and beautiful to watch the huge constructions happen, they also leave a lot to be desired from a television perspective.

For one, this format makes it very difficult to get to know any of the contestants. Because so much time is just spent watching them work together and build these huge constructions, from mock shop windows to towering Van Gough recreations, you spend only a fraction of the amount of time with the individual contestants as you would in other shows . This format also leads to an uncomfortable system for eliminating competitors.

Each episode declares a winning team, all members of which are secure for that day. The losing team’s leader then must tell the judges whom they believe was their weakest link to help them decide who should leave. I get that this is a reality competition show, but putting the onus of deciding who to eliminate on the team leaders feels wrong. It seems to be done in part because these team contests are so large it’s hard to tell who contributes how. Or as some contrived means of bypassing showing actual footage of individual contributions since the 45-minute runtime and potentially limited […]

Source: REVIEW: ‘Full Bloom’ is Pretty But With Thorns