Flowering Wild

Floral art transforms old barn

Earlier this year, over a cup of tea, events coordinator Megan Lumgair asked flower grower Sas Long what her favourite art installation was. She replied that it was the Flower House in Detroit. Long was one of a number of florists from across North America who helped transform an abandoned house into a work of ephemeral flower art in October 2015. As it turned out, there was a small disused barn on the property where Lumgair was living, and the wheels clicked into motion. She approached three other area florists—Alison Westlake of Coriander Girl, Alysia McMenomy of Begonia Moon, and Melanie Harrington of Dahlia May—and so was born Flowering Wild PEC. The idea was to transform the space into a one-day work of floral art, using locally grown and in-season flowers and greenery. It would be a free event, open to the public, to showcase the talents of these local florists.

(L-R): Alison Westlake, Alysia McMenomy, Megan Lumgair and Sas Long are framed by flowers and greenery at their Flowering Wild PEC art installation.

The event was timed to fall within Canadian Flowers Week, which started on July 18. “Right now, all over Canada, there’s floral events to celebrate Canadian flowers,” said Westlake. “So this was kind of our love letter to flowers.” The four florists worked together, improvising as they went along, to fill the structure. Most of the flowers came from Long’s Floralora flower farm, or from Dahlia May, and there were also some wild foraged items. “We came in and looked at the possible vignettes, looking at a picture window out to the fields and knowing we’d want to frame that and do something beautiful with the structure,” said Westlake.

They had planned on doing some installation work on Saturday to prepare for the public event on Sunday, but the unremitting heat of the day necessitated a change of plans. “The challenge being, the moment you cut a flower, it’s a perishable product, and we’re dealing with a heat wave,” said Westlake. So instead, on Saturday the four florists installed some of the supporting structures as well as the more hardy and tolerant greenery, leaving the delicate blooms for Sunday. All of the plants were water-tubed to help keep them at their peak beauty through the day. In the end, the installation was a well-curated display of these florists’ skills. Sunflowers and marigolds added dashes of brilliant colour, smoke bush blossoms and allium seed heads provided structure, and dahlias filled in with delicate pastel tones.

Lumgair, who runs the free folk event company, was thrilled with how the day turned out, and is considering making it an annual happening. In addition to the floral display, she also had Hothouse Sauna and Picnic PEC on site. “It’s been amazing. It’s lovely to have people step into our space and see what they can do with their talent and skill set,” she said. “It’s been super-dreamy and lovely to work with all of them.” The opportunity to work collaboratively with other florists was also rewarding for Westlake. “It’s such a delight that we have a beautiful floral community and everyone is friendly, and to work like this is really inspiring,” she said. “I feel so lucky to live in a community where people are lifting each other up and are working together.”