Meet the florist: Jardine Hansen

September 2023

Hello, flower lovers!

Welcome to September, everyone – and that means welcome to Spring! Hurrah! To kick off our celebration of this glorious season, our featured florist this month is Jardine Hansen of Jardine Botanic. Jardine is known for her stunning organic floral designs, often inspired by the landscape that surrounds her home and workplace in Sydney’s iconic Blue Mountains.

Jardine creates bespoke arrangements for weddings, events, corporate spaces and private homes. In 2021, she began making her own ceramic vessels which she uses to hold minimal, yet beautiful, arrangements at events. Jardine is also a strong supporter of the floral community, and runs a yearly masterclass with two other floristry legends, Aleksandra Keast (our featured florist for February) and Sean Cook (of Mr. Cook fame).

Jardine’s love of plants and flowers began in her childhood, when she spent many days with her grandmother wandering through sprawling gardens, picking flowers and learning their botanical names. Now Jardine infuses that love into her floral art, taking inspiration not only from wild abundant gardens and natural landscapes, but also from ikebana, sculpture and architecture.

I love the way Jardine uses flowers to create her own kind of loose, free-form art. From minimal arrangements to rich bountiful bouquets, she seems to effortlessly transform a selection of blooms into magnificent showcases of botanica. With an amazing ability to retain her flowers’ natural shapes and flow, Jardine creates designs that display a wonderful spontaneity.

In addition to Jardine’s amazing talent, she is also a beautiful, warm-hearted soul. When I reached out to her for this project, she quickly responded with an offer of support in whatever capacity I might need. She has been very encouraging and honest throughout our working relationship, and is always keen to share her knowledge. So here’s a little shout out to you, Jardine! Thank you so much!

Our flower for September is Jardine’s favourite: the flannel flower. Here’s what Jardine had to say when I interviewed her for our 2023 Planner.

1. Which flower inspires you the most and why?

Ooh, that’s a tough question. Flannel flowers are perhaps my most adored flower. When I first moved out of Sydney to the Blue Mountains nine years ago, I fell deeply in love with flannels after seeing them growing in the wild. There’s something really special about seeing a flower in its natural habitat that I feel very lucky to witness.

2. Any fun facts about flannel flowers you’d like to share?

I adore how flannels look so delicate but grow in the most skeletal sandy soil on ridge lines. It’s so remarkable – they are so tough. I love the tiny triangle of sage grey-green on the tips of each petal, and they truly feel like flannel; they’re so soft and velvety.

They are a flower that can look exquisite but themselves or they also play nicely with other natives or non natives. I like to keep them quite high in an arrangement so they don’t get lost and so that they look as though they are dancing about which is how I see them in the wild, moving gracefully in the slightest breeze. 

3. Can you share any styling tips for flannel flowers?

Flannel flowers peak in early Spring which is when so many other gorgeous things come into flower. I like arranging them with hellebore and ranunculus, and I especially adore them amongst sage, russet, golden and buff tones. These colours reference the palette of the landscapes in which I’ve been lucky enough to see flannel flowers growing.

You can find Jardine’s website here and follow her on Insta here.

Shannon x

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