Visual Essay 12 — Floral sourcing & styling with Sophia Kaplan

‘I’ve always loved being surrounded by nature and pottering around a good garden. I have vivid memories of spending hours picking little strawberries and pulling weeds in my Nonno’s backyard as a kid. But it wasn’t until years later, when I found myself forging alpine flowers while on holiday, that I had a bit of an epiphany. Sitting on the mountainside, marvelling at the beauty and abundance of these flowers, and the scene I found them in, I decided I wanted to make flowers a part of my life and career.”

The shape of the Hive Vase is particularly pleasing. The smaller mouth, paired with the wider base makes arranging really quite easy. For some arrangements I have used hellebore at varying heights and made use of the curved mouth to allow some stems to drape downwards. For others I have allowed the shape of the vase to be highlighted with the simplicity of a few stems of cornflowers.

Sometimes less is more. Have a play, but don’t feel bad about removing stems that aren’t working or are cluttering the arrangement. Highlighting negative space can be really powerful. Just use the spare stems in another vase.

I also love visiting botanic gardens, farms, national parks, and being a voyeur of other people's gardens. Inspiration for arrangements can derive from finding little vignettes — whether it be pansies intermingling with strawberries and violets in my garden, or wind swept grassy dunes dotted with wild freesias on the island I’m currently visiting.