My Blog

The first question may people ask me is, “Why did I start FlowerSchool?’

First of all, I am not a florist. I love flowers, love to entertain and love to cook. Most of my technique in cooking I learned the very old-fashioned way – from my mother. I developed my skills while living in France and going to different restaurants, always tasting, always trying new recipes. I had taken a class at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, one of the oldest and most revered schools for cooking, but much of what I learned was through experience.
I had watched the burgeoning interest in sophisticated food preparation in this country from the 70’s to the ever-growing explosion of interest in fine foods from all over throughout the next 3 decades. Everyone, it seems loves to cook!
I did not, however, want to start a cooking school. There are many fine ones that have been established in the past 30 or so years, and I am sure many more will continue to open.
I considered myself okay with flowers – not inept, but not enormously talented. I loved them and I always liked to go to the wholesale market and buy them before a party, but I knew that there was a lot that I was missing. I decided to tale a class at a flower school in Paris that had been written about in the New York Times – half as a lark and half as a determined experiment. One class and I was hooked. I had to bring the concept to New York.
And so I did…
FlowerSchool New York started in January 0f 2004 with an impressive roster of talent. My love of flowers has developed alongside my appreciation for the talented teachers who come up with so many beautiful ideas.
So here starts my blog after 4 years of working with flowers and florists among almost unimaginable beauty.

December 2, 2008
Economic news is bad; everyone seems to be anxious about the future. The Sunday Times had a feature on gift giving for the upcoming holidays and not one flower related gift was mentioned! Flowers may be a luxury, but what a way to lift one’s spirits. A beautiful bunch of flower in your arms draws almost as many smiles from people as walking down the street with a pack of puppies on a lead.
We are in the midst of an Introductory Series taught by Felipe Sastre (one our most popular instructors) and my students are commenting on how relaxing working with flowers is. If only more people could realize the restorative power of flowers, perhaps we could all be a little bit less stressed as we face challenging times.


We recently added a new teacher to our group and he is truly a delight. His name is Olivier Giugni and his website is www.olvier.com His last class was brilliant. I was pretty glad that most of the students were fairly advanced because he had us do 3 arrangements in one class – which is a lot! We said goodbye to the last student at 7:00 PM for a class that generally lasts two hours. But everyone was quite pleased with what they learned as well as what they took home and we are all looking forward to Olivier’s next class in 2009.

Our Thursday Master Class with Meredith Waga of Belle Fleur is long sold out, however we shall be having her return in Spring 2009 when the local peonies are in bloom.
We do, however, have space in our last three master classes of the year. The first is a field trip to the flower market with Cas Trap, which is being held this Saturday at 10:45 until 1:00. We will purchase flowers, tour the market and then come back and make a bouquet for our holiday table. This special program includes lunch and it should be both fun and informative.
Our two other master classes are December 11th with Gary ReDavid featuring winter white colors. I call it a Dr. Zhivago look when we do it, we recreate the luxe look of old St. Petersburg in winter. A fantasy perhaps, but one that should help us get through the shortest days and longest nights of the year.
Our last class is with Remco Van Vliet and if it is anything like last year’s class at the same time of the year, it should be spectacular! Not only is Remco great with flowers, but he manages to give us new ideas on table décor as well. If you have a chance, please go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and take a look at his creations in the Great Hall which he decorates each week of the year.
We should have our 2009 Schedule up on our website soon so you can register for our newest classes and have something to look forward to for the new year!
I look forward to hearing from you all soon…