new zealand: bloom saloon

For the past year I've been working in a small town an hour north of Auckland called Matakana. It's a place full of new energy and buildings, fresh talent mixed with traditional Slow Town ethics. There's a Farmer's Market (read this article about it in the NYTimes) every Saturday morning, a wonderful gallery called Piece, a spectacular cinema, and a light-filled florist shop called Bloom Saloon (images of Lucy and her shop here). Lucy Rowsell, the owner of Bloom Saloon, was kind enough to answer some questions for me, and share a few images of her work. Thanks Lucy!

"The best part of owning my own shop is the creative control that I
have. I love liaising with my clients and coming up with individual
arrangements for their needs. I really enjoy interior 'decorating' the
shop space with flowers, packing it full of colour and vibrancy."

"Right now with it being summer in New Zealand I love the blue flowers
that are around like gentian (below) and hydrangeas. I use a lot of ruscus for its colour and how long it lasts; it is such great filler in both
bouquets and arrangements. I am also enjoying likopodium for its shape
and tension and also camellia foliage for its classic beauty."

"As far as new trends in wedding flowers I see many brides taking a
simpler and therefore cheaper approach to their flowers by perhaps not
ordering as many as they would have in the past. I see brides going for bold colours, natural themes using native plants, simplicity in shapes
and styles." 

"On my day off I usually end up doing some office work from home but
once that's done I like to go to the beach and go to my Kung Fu class. I
try to really 'get away' from work but that can be hard when you have
your own business especially during summer when there is a lot of
wedding work to prepare."