The Art of the Flower

It is four-thirty in the morning on another surprisingly dreary mid-May Vancouver morning.   Janine Ryan has just sprung out of bed.   No, she isn’t going to the gym for a work-out, nor is she slipping into a Porsche to make her way to the stock exchange; rather Janine is bee-lining it to Burnaby in her delivery rig, headed to the dutch-style flower auction.   Next to Holland, this local flower auction is the second largest in the world.   And because this is the only auction of its kind in the West, retailers and wholesalers from as far away as Oregon and Alberta make the trek for one of the three days per week the auction is open.  Up to 90% of the flowers at the auction are from local greenhouses, with the rest imported from Holland and beyond.

If Janine had chosen to get some extra sleep, she would have been forced to buy from a wholesaler who would have then tacked on a 10-15% surcharge, a surcharge which would then be added to the retail price.  Luckily for her customers, however, Janine is able to offer the best price for the freshest  flowers at Tapestry in West Vancouver. Janine and her partner, Margaret, prefer to have control over the selection, quality, and price of their purchases.  Today, Janine is buying dozens of white peonies, specifically chosen for a wedding client. The prices on the flowers drop as the three auction clocks wind down. Janine places her bid on an electronic keypad and ends up very happy with both price and selection. She brings her winnings back to the store and starts preparing for the day.

Janine Ryan started working part-time in a flower shop when she was just thirteen-years-old.  Margaret Baker, her mother and business partner, is a trained horticulturist who together with Janine took courses in running a floral shop. They were drawn to Ambleside in West Vancouver because of its undeniable beauty and because a retail spot happened to come up at just the right time. Their clientèle do not just come from West Van, but from everywhere in the world,  since being online means clients from near and far.

Janine tells us that up to 70% of Tapestry’s business is derived from weddings.  ”People come to Vancouver for a destination wedding because of the scenery or because they have family here,” says Janine. ” In fact,” adds Margaret, “many couples choose an early spring or fall wedding because they can coordinate their ceremony with a cruise to Alaska.”   Once the duo reveals their experience with the wedding market we begin to pepper them with questions of the bridal variety.

How do brides choose their flowers? Well, it turns out that a lot of brides turn first to magazines and then go about investigating the availability and cost of their choices. Magazines are able to offer a entire context for the flowers–a whole look is already put together–and of course it is usually gorgeous.   Other brides have a strong personal preference for what they want–they have always loved roses, or daisies, or calla lilies.  Flower choice also runs with trends in fashion.  ”Last year,” explains Janine, “brides were choosing hot pinks, purples, and jewel tones”.  Calla lilies were and are still popular because of their wide array of colours and because of their soft simple appearance. Calla lilies also photograph very well.  This year early spring brides, those getting married in May to June, are choosing more neutral pinks, softer purples, and creams. For winter weddings, brides often go with whites and evergreens.  Culture can also be a deciding factor. For some Asian cultures white signifies death as does yellow for Persians. For East Indians, nothing says wedding like marigolds.

However a bride comes to make her choice, we may not realize that her tastes in flowers, and ours, have been shaped by availability.  Here on the West Coast, we begin to crave tulips in February.  Yes, we want some colour by that point in the year, but we have been trained to expect tulips partially because Lower Mainland greenhouses have put tulips on the February schedule.  Calla lilies are a summer flower and “if a bride wants peonies,” says Margaret, “then she will hopefully be planning a May wedding.”  Of course, flowers can always be imported from South America and other climes but they can get very expensive very quickly.  Peonies, for example, can cost up to five times more when imported.  When one considers the extent to which flowers are used not only in bouquets but also to decorate a venue, it is no wonder most brides are happy going seasonal.

Speaking of which, according to Janine, venue is a huge issue in Vancouver. By all accounts, the venue is the first thing that has to be booked and in the summer season there is fierce competition for prime locations.  Since the trend is to have the ceremony and reception all in one place, many of the country clubs around town have become very focussed on the lucrative wedding market.  This is certainly the case up at Furry Creek which is a popular mid-Whistler wedding location.

In fact, venues are so tight in and around the city that the wedding season has been expanding over the years to accommodate everyone.  Weddings take place all year, but “the season proper” now runs from March all the way through to October. Not only are favourite venues more likely to be available outside of June and August, but the cost of the same venue is often much less in early spring and late fall.

Janine and Margaret deliver flowers to any venue in town. They decorate pews, isle runners, and arches, as well as place centerpieces on tables–all at no charge.  Janine tells us that she loves the celebratory aspect of weddings and feels very privileged to play a role in the couple’s big day. “Quiet often,” she says, “I will go out to dinner after setting up a wedding because I just feel so thrilled for the couple that I feel like celebrating.”  Janine and Margaret begin preparing the flowers the afternoon before the wedding so the flowers have a rest period before they are delivered. They overbuy at the auction so once back at Tapestry they can select only the very best flowers.              

This brings us to the issue of flower care. According to Margaret, roses are one of the longer lasting flowers and can stay fresh for ten days to two weeks with proper care.  What turns roses, or any flower for that matter, brown is bacteria from vase water that clogs the stems.  A flower can also get an air pocket on the bottom, preventing the stem from absorbing water. This is why stems are usually cut on an angle—to increase exposure to that much need H2O.  However, wedding bouquets are cut flat across.  This makes it even more important that bouquets are not only delivered an hour or so before the ceremony, but also that the bouquets are put down in the shade or into water before and after the ceremony–especially if photographs are going to be taken.

We chat to Janine and Margaret as they work away on the day’s flowers. Customers come in and leave with bouquets tucked under their arms.  We have been talking about weddings for so long we have forgotten to ask about the other events Tapestry caters to.  ”We do everything,” says Margaret. “Even funerals.”  Oh yeah, funerals; we forgot about those.  ”My mum does most of the funeral flowers”, says Janine.  ”And she always cries. I cry at weddings and she cries at funerals.”  That’s a tough one. But after visiting Tapestry, we are convinced that whatever the event, one will always get beautiful fresh flowers.