Hands-On Flower Workshops in Philadelphia
Learn Sustainable Floral Design
Imagine walking long rows of flowers in bloom, snipping the ones you love the best, and taking them back to a work station in a light-filled space to create a stunning piece of floral art all your own. Think you need to travel to Tuscany or some other distant locale to indulge in such a treat? In actuality, you can have this enriching experience right here in Philadelphia at Love ‘n Fresh Flowers! We offer many unique and deeply enjoyable hands-on learning opportunities at our farm.
All of Love ‘n Fresh Flowers hands-on workshops focus on sustainable floral design techniques that effortlessly showcase locally-grown botanicals, including those snipped right out of your home garden. Students are encouraged to explore their own style of design while receiving supportive encouragement and instruction. Every class also includes an opportunity to ask questions about growing your own flowers!
Three Workshop Formats
We have three workshop formats to make sure everyone feels like they can blossom in floral design.
Floral FUNdamentals: Total beginners and casual hobbyists are delighted by our fun and easy Floral FUNdamentals classes. These workshops are 2-3 hours in length and tackle one specific design project, as noted in the workshop description. Floral FUNdamentals emphasize the fun of floral arranging and we use this time together to tickle your creativity and build a sense of community and connection among students. Each workshop includes a short farm tour, a detailed design demonstration, many buckets of blooms and foliage from our farm for students to choose freely from, a chance to walk around the farm and cut some special stems yourself, and all the tools and materials you need to create your floral project. Workshops are kept to a small size (10-12 students) so everyone has plenty of time to chat and feel relaxed in the space. The majority of our flower classes are Floral FUNdamentals. To see the full schedule of workshops, click here.
Advanced Series: For those students who have attended many of our intro classes or have attended other design courses in the region, we host three workshops a season that focus on a more advance floral design project. These classes require a solid understanding of flowers already. This series is a great way to level up and learn even more about sustainable mechanics for floral design.
Floral Cohorts: This is an intensive, hands-on 6 month training program designed to help budding florists in our region tackle the critical components of being a professional floral designer. Be it starting their own small floral business or becoming a sought-after freelancer for an established floral company, the Floral Cohort tightens up your skill set, prepares you for the realities of producing beautiful event florals, provides pricing formulas, and develops a sense of supportive community within the group. The Floral Cohort is by application only. Please click here to learn more.
Flower Care Tips
Attending one of our workshops and want to know How to Make Your Blooms Last Longer at Home
Lots of Water: Cut flowers drink A LOT of water! Replenish the water in the vase daily and fully change the water every 2-3 days.
Keep Out of the Sun: Cut flowers die more quickly if exposed to bright light and/or heat. They do NOT want to be in sunlight.
Trim Stems: Every 2-3 days, when you’re changing out the water in the vase, trim off about ½ inch from the bottoms of the stems so the flowers can more easily take up water.
Use Sharp Scissors: When trimming stems, use sharp scissors to make a clean cut. Dull blades smash up stems, stopping the free flow of water.
Avoid Fruit and Veggies: Ripening fruits and vegetables like bananas, oranges, apples and tomatoes give off an odorless gas called ethelyne. Being around ethelyne causes flowers to die more quickly. Do not set you flowers near fruit or veggies.
Wash Your Vases: Bacteria build up quickly in dirty vase water. Bacteria clog the stems of flowers and cause them to wilt faster. To avoid this, always wash your vases well after each use. If you wouldn’t want to drink out of it, neither do your flowers.
Use Flower Food: If you aren’t the type of person to remember to do all of the tips listed here, make sure to use those little packets of flower food to extend the life of your flowers. Flower food won’t work as well as all of these tips, but it will help.
