Meet the florist: Petrina Burrill
January 2024
Hello, flower lovers!
And Happy New Year to you! I’m excited to say that in 2024, we have another twelve fabulous florists to feature in our monthly journal entries, so this year will surely inspire your own flower fun! Our first guest is passionate gardener and florist Petrina Burrill, who has become well known via her gorgeous Instagram posts, appearances on Gardening Australia and the many articles about her that can be read online (including a great feature by The Design Files).
Petrina creates beautiful bouquets with flowers that she grows herself, handpicking each one, and thrills in sharing the joy that giving blooms generates. Petrina has loved flowers since the age of four thanks to the time she spent in her grandmother’s garden. During the past ten years, Petrina has nurtured her own floral paradise in suburban Melbourne. Her magnificent garden is also home to a fifty-year-old wisteria which forms an outdoor room that she uses for her floral workshops. During autumn, she plants thousands of bulbs and corms to ensure her garden is full of blossoms come springtime.
I love the abundance of happy colours and textures in Petrina’s thoughtful and generous bouquets. It is fascinating to watch her put together flowers by instinct; her organic and spontaneous design process results in overflowing arrangements reminiscent of an enchanted garden. You can feel her love and passion for flowers in every single thing she does and I love reading about her work, watching the progress of her garden and following the floral adventures she embarks on each season. Her garden in spring and summer is just a delight packed with goodness – you can almost smell the flowers through the screen!
Our flower for January is Petrina’s favourite: the garden rose. Here’s what Petrina had to say when I interviewed her for our 2024 Planner..
1/ Can you tell us a bit about your everyday life in the garden?
It has taken years for me to get to know my garden well – when she rests and needs sleep, when she bursts open with joy and life. It’s a lifelong relationship; I am in love with her beauty, persistence and everyday miracles. There is no better sight than when her 10,000 flowers are in bloom! Autumn is my busiest time, when I sow spring flowers such as larkspurs, hollyhocks, columbines, love-in-a-mist, poppies and sweet peas. I also plant tulips, daffodils, ranunculus, freesias and anemones. Each bulb I plant is a prayer or a thought for someone. For me, growing flowers is being at one with Mother Nature. When spring arrives, wisteria falls from above, thousands of cherry blossoms bounce in the light joined by thousands of flowers. It is a sight to behold. Flowers make people so happy. They make me so happy! Towards the end of the hot months, I always tell my garden how well she has done throughout the year, that soon it will be a time for her to sleep. Soon she can drop her leaves and rest for a while.
2/ What are some of your favourite flowers that inspire you? Why?
The garden rose constantly amaze me. Her petals, her perfume, her perfection … The scent of garden roses fills a home and lifts the spirits. Blossom trees inspire me to slow down and to create slowly and purposefully. They are short lived yet hold so much beauty. I also love flowers with bendy stems – they often dictate the shape and form of my work. My bouquets aim to bring a floral garden into the home; they are hand-picked flowers home-grown with love. Flowers and the memories they hold for people also inspire me. I always try and find out people’s favourites and include them in their arrangements where I can or give them as gifts.
3/ Do you have any styling tips for your favourite flowers?
When making bouquets it’s important to look for movement and flow, like you’d see on a windy day in a garden. Layering and creating depth are also key. Often, I use full blossoms as a base. It’s hard for me to choose feature flowers – they’re all beautiful! I gently match their textures and colours, working them in together, and always end with taller flowing flowers, such as poppies or cosmos, for movement.
4/ Sustainability is a growing trend in the floristry industry. Flower growers and designers have become more mindful in lessening the impacts to our beautiful nature. What does sustainability mean to you and your garden? If you could give any advice to aspiring flower lovers, what would that be?
Sustainability is so important in my flower practice. Growing your own flowers reduces your carbon footprint and waste. You can also add value because you have so many flowers growing; I add extra blooms into arrangements because I can. I don’t use any chemicals in my gardening. As a florist, I choose to care for Mother Nature. I am part of the Slow Flower movement which supports sustainable practices. It teaches you to be mindful, to care for the environment and to live in the moment. Slow flowers grown with love bring joy!
You can follow her on Insta here.
Shannon x
SHOP THE ROSE COLLECTION
