The Parisian Florist—Learning Floristry in Paris

Yesterday I arrived home from a week in Paris and four exciting, challenging days at the Catherine Muller Flower School. Located on Rue des Pyramids, a block from the Tulleries Garden, Catherine hosts floral designers from around the world for classes with absolutely incredible flowers. There are many class choices and mine was “The Parisian Florist.” Here is a bit of what we learned.

Day 1

Design 1- A large design piece

The first morning began with a “Design Piece” and held volumes flowers. Viburnum and beech branches were over 4’ tall. Over two dozen roses were at least 18” tall and had the multi-petaled blossoms of a garden rose. Additions of daisies and chamomile, again with very long stems all filled our buckets to create the design. For support the branch stems were crossed and the roses were grouped into the center of the vase. My design was so enormous that I had to carry it up the spiral staircase and take the picture on the street!

Completed designs were so large, they needed to be photographed on the street!

Design 2 – The Flat Bouquet

In the afternoon, we disassembled our morning pieces to learn the very French interpretation of a hand tied bouquet. Catherine is famous for her opulent bouquets which have increased drama because the flower stems face upward. This was a totally new concept for me and a departure from the standard, outward facing stems that create the traditional round bouquet.

Design 3 – “Forever” Heart Bouquet

Whew! Something not so huge for our final piece, but still very challenging.
Flower names were written on a board before each lesson.

A large hydrangea bloom was divided into smaller pieces with the heads wired tightly. Statice stems were grouped together and wired. The heart shape was formed with hydrangeas placed and the overall form created by folding some of the wired flower heads forward. Additional fresh flowers were added and pieces of dried miscanthus.