A Fancy for Florals : Valley designers cater to clients’ tastes in creating colorful arrangements that range from eclectic to dramatic to romantic.
Mums from the supermarket might be just the thing for an acquaintance with a toothache, but life’s big moments demand more: tiers of tulips, legions of lilies. The right floral designer can add romance to a wedding, make a party more dramatic, an apology more convincing.
But for those whose floral forays are usually limited to buying nosegays for a Valentine, hiring a pro can be daunting. Is the corner shop any good? What styles--and what flowers--are in fashion now?
While florists can offer tips about shopping for a designer, a client’s taste is a big factor in how blooms are put together. True, floral design tends to follow trends in interior design, according to Joanne Jaffe, editor-in-chief of Flowers &, a Los Angeles-based trade publication. As home furnishings have gotten more eclectic, informal, colorful and romantic, Jaffe says, so have flower arrangements.
But this doesn’t mean that the spare, architectural look is out. “We all have to be flexible and give customers what they want,” says Osamu Honjo, a Glendale designer who’s accredited by the American Institute of Floral Designers and known for understated, Japanese-style creations but who also works in a lavish European vein.
Such individualized design, of course, costs more than ready-potted market mums. But for occasions that demand special treatment, here’s a list of some top local practitioners of the floral arts.
Wayne Gurnick spent his high school summers working in flower stores. He now owns Floral Creations by Wayne in Tarzana, a shop built around a spilling fountain, grand piano and a cold case full of premium flowers. Assisted by three staff designers, Gurnick serves individual and corporate clients with a style he calls “versatile--everything from traditional to contemporary.” His customers favor “a loose, airy look with abundant blooms,” and he obliges with bowls of roses, English lavender, French tulips and other seasonal picks. Prices for small centerpieces start at $25 to $30. Dried and silk-flower arrangements begin in the $35 to $55 range.
Mark’s Garden in Sherman Oaks is perhaps the San Fernando Valley’s most atmospheric floral shop. Two of its three showrooms display buckets of blooms along zigzagging tables, allowing customers to stroll among the posies instead of glimpsing them through glass. Owners Mark Held and Richard David oversee eight designers, who create what Held calls “our own version of the English garden look--full and very textural.” Often contained in a rustic basket, its handle twined with herbs and apples, each piece suggests a fragrant, living world full of unexpected combinations. “We don’t do tropical designs, and we only use top-grade, living flowers,” says Held. A basket of his blooms starts at about $40.
A few blocks from Mark’s Garden, Gerard Toh, also accredited by the American Institute of Floral Designers, operates Sherman Oaks Florist with co-owner Thomas Chapman. In their tiny shop, clients watch from mismatched stools as Toh creates his lineal yet soft designs.
“I tend toward the Oriental influence,” says Toh, a native of Malaysia. “But I combine it with a California look by using grasses and other greens that look fuller.” While he enjoys tropical plants, he’s also handy with the English garden-style arrangement, which he often displays in a clear glass bowl. A 16-year veteran of the flower business, Toh learned the trade as a shop assistant and has since won awards for his designs. His prices start at $20 for a small vase of mixed flowers and $35 for dried and silk arrangements.
Not every designer has a shop. Rachel Brooks, known for her free-flowing bouquets for movie studios and stores, is a former shop owner who works out of her home near Studio City.
Petals, her company, specializes in “the look of a beautiful garden in a container.”
Brooks uses such blooms as Dutch tulips, Oriental lilies, garden roses, lilacs and peonies, pairing them with scant, dramatic greenery--maple leaves, flowering branches. Her containers are often one-of-a-kind vintage vases.
Self-taught, with 22 years experience and a very personalized approach, Brooks employs one additional designer. Her prices begin at $40 for a piece that might feature a topiary ball of lilies rising from a bed of roses. Her average charge of $60 to $65 buys a bowl overflowing with the season’s best live blooms.
Ikebana--the Japanese art that uses minimal flowers to create striking, balanced forms--is a major influence on Tokyo-born Osamu Honjo, though he works in a range of styles. Trained in Japanese and Western design, Honjo operates his business, Floral Decor by Osamu, out of a 1920s Glendale farmhouse.
Assisted by two designers, he does flowers for weddings, parties, hotels and homes, and sometimes teaches ikebana. His blooming favorites include ginger, Oriental lilies and roses, which he arranges in a ceramic or glass bowl.
The winner of several national floral competitions, Honjo charges a minimum of $15 to $20 for a simple display. He also designs silk flowers and features them in arrangements from $100 to $1,500.
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WHERE TO GO
What: Floral Creations by Wayne, 18600 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Call: (818) 996-0109. What: Mark’s Garden, 13838 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, till 5 p.m. Sunday. Call: (818) 906-1718. What: Sherman Oaks Florist, 14428 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Call: (818) 784-7165. What: Petals, Studio City / Los Angeles. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call: (818) 509-7722. What: Floral Decor by Osamu, 1027 South Central Ave., Glendale. Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Call: (818) 507-6088.
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Arranging for the Right Designer
Tips for shopping for a floral designer:
* Ask for recommendations from friends, interior designers, caterers and party coordinators.
* Visit the designer’s shop and ask to see samples of work, including photos of arrangements done for particular events.
* Ask how often a shop buys its flowers. Take home some fresh-cut stems from a couple of shops and see how they hold up. Top-quality blooms should last longer.
* Check prices to make sure that the work is within your budget.
* Ask about a designer’s background, training and credentials. Some professionals are accredited by the American Institute of Floral Designers after submitting sample work and taking an exam.
* Evaluate your rapport with the designer to ensure that your needs, taste and budget will be adequately considered.
