A sure sign of spring in our community is the upcoming 49h annual Flower Day at the Detroit Eastern Market where thousands of Southeastern Michigan gardeners swoop in to buy flowers from Michigan, Ohio, and Canadian farmers. As I am sure similar traditional events take place around the country, the one-day event is an opportunity to stock up on a multitude of colorful flowers for home landscaping needs.

This event for my Mother and Aunt and a ton of other Mothers to prepare to do battle in maneuvering around a swarm of people with young children in tow to pick up plats of annuals for planting in their yards. As a child, I can remember not only the mass throngs of people but the food vendors selling yummy treats, and the music from local musicians to keep visitors entertained while they shopped.

Of course, this year will be different as the organizers have scheduled a 4- day flower event to be spread out each Tuesday for the entire month of May to manage social distancing practices.

Being exposed to gardening at a very young age has grown into a love for landscaping and bringing the outdoors in our home to this very day. Being surrounded by flowers, freshly cut and positioned throughout your home has quite an enduring, positive effect mentally, along with impacting your senses of touch, smell, and sight.

With a wide range of options for purchasing flowers for any occasion from brightening someone’s day to adding a splash of color to your home to an occasion that warrants a carefully designed bouquet or a massive installation. Flowers are a lifestyle purchase and can be appropriate for any celebration from Holidays/observances, Weddings/Anniversaries, Corporate Events, Bar Mitzvahs, Showers, Christenings, Birthdays, or Funerals.

Floral Industry Trends of 2021

1. Online Subscription Services exploding in 2020 for obvious reasons. Industry experts predict that trend increasing as we’ve all gotten used to online flower delivery to long-distance loved ones. A loving statement to gift someone a continuous monthly floral delivery to their home is convenient for the purchaser and provides consistent sales for the vendor.

2. Sustainable buying by decreasing our carbon footprint in buying from local vendors and similar to food, by being able to trace the journey from farm to home. In addition, independent florists are creating florals without cellophane and plastic wrappers and instead, choosing alternatives to lessen the impact on the environment. The horticultural industry as a whole is rethinking its business models in reducing the amount of virgin plastic used for trays and pots by instituting systems to collect and reusing customers’ trays. In addition, new technologies are emerging to decrease the amount of plastic in how the plants are packaged and transported from wholesalers to consumers.

3. Florist Designers will experience a boom of business as weddings will bounce back from the wide-scale cancellations from last year. There is an expectation of innovative and inspired designs to fulfill the wishes of the bride and groom who have postponed their big event.

4. An interesting trend that has been introduced by the disrupter start-up, Bloomerent, within the wedding space is flower-sharing to eliminate the environmental waste of single-use flowers. Bloomerent connects florists and brides and makes it possible for brides to participating in reducing the amount of fuel, waste, and pesticides being used while saving money by sharing arrangements.

Elite Floral Designers

In hiring the best of the best among floral stylists, below are a few of Beau Satchelle favorites because of their exceptional talent, have all built an exclusive clientele of celebrities and affluent clients, created major installations all over the globe, and have stunning Instagram accounts for future clients to get a sense of their style

Jeff Leatham – Celebrity Florist Designer and artistic director of the Four Seasons George V Hotel in Paris with studios in Beverly Hills and Philadelphia; has worked with Wynn and Encore Casinos and collaborated with fashion brands Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Burberry, and Cartier. This spring he is launching a nationwide high-end floral delivery service called “Bloom Bundle” containing specialty fresh flowers from Holland and South America.

Phillippa Craddock – London Based floral designer commissioned for the floral décor of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. Her clients include Vogue, BAFTA, Christian Dior, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, as well as an array of private clients. She hosts online Masterclasses for enthusiasts and florists each year to learn design fundamentals and the business of running a floristry.

Amy Merrick – Writer and floral stylist who has written for a number of publications including the Wall Street Journal and House and Garden UK. Her work has been published in numerous magazines such as Vogue and Architectural Digest and She has created installations for The Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA PS1.

Preston Bailey – known for his globally-celebrated larger than life, jaw-dropping installations, 70ish-year-old, Preston Bailey can transform ordinary spaces into lush theatrical environments. A premier wedding planner, floral couturier, and author, he is currently teaching up-and-coming designers and leads a production team to bring his designs to life.

Putnam & Putnam –New York City-based floral design company has built a global reputation for their romantic, dramatic designs and installations using color as their guiding inspiration. Clients list include Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyonce and brands Bergdorf Goodman, Vogue, and Harper’s Bizarre. As with their peers, the florist duo has expanded their brand into books and introduced an online educational platform called the Putnam Flower Channel.

Van Wyck & Van Wyck – Family Owned Event Design and Production Team have specialized in huge hanging enchanting floral installations to attract celebrity clients such as Madonna and P. Diddy. They pride themselves on weaving their clients’ stories into the production and “thrive on making the impossible possible…if you can dream it, we can build it!”. They specialize in private parties, weddings, Non-profits events, destinations events, and Brand experiences

Top Online Delivery Florists

If your goal is just ordering a magical arrangement for that special loved one and be confident in a florist guarantee of a beautiful bloom that can be shipped nationwide (and in some cases offer seasonal subscription services, same day or next day delivery depending on the locale, curated boxes, and eliminating the middleman so flowers are shipped directly from the farm). Here are 10 exceptional vendors that have survived and thrived during the pandemic:

5. Terrain

8. Etsy

10. FlowerBX

Last year, has truly been a reminder to stop and smell the roses as life is so finite. Take time today and buy a bouquet of flowers for someone you love. -AJ

Share Your Thoughts in the comment section below or on Twitter!

Content Contributors

Floral Daily – Industry’s biggest impact Is reducing the Amount of Plastic

Haute Residence –5 Celebrity Florists You Should Follow on Instagram

The Spruce – Best Flower Delivery Services Online

Thank You to the following photographers for capturing flowers in all their glory!

Karina Forster – Daisy’s Close up

Vardan Sevan – pink Flowers designed to welcome guests

Marc Babin – Floral Arrangements for Dinner Party

Vika Fleisher – Stunning Flower Red and Pink Arrangement

Ilaria De Bona – Flower Shop

Chalo Garcia – Leather and Flowers