Fleurs de Villes stopped in Nashville last month to bring the artwork of Cheekwood Estate & Gardens to life en fleurs. Alex and the team at Flwr Shop won Most Realistic with their floral interpretation of Girl with Doves. We catch up with the award-winning florist as she shares insights on the business of flowers and reflects on her most meaningful arrangement.

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WHAT FIRST SPARKED YOUR PASSION FOR FLORAL DESIGN?

Witnessing spring for the first time. I grew up in Miami, where we only have hurricane season and not hurricane season and the flowers are big, bold, brightly colored. When I was eighteen, I moved to Boston in the fall, and endured a rough winter of short days, long nights and not knowing how to dress for the weather. When spring came, I was floored by the beauty. It made me completely fall in love with flowers and appreciate the seasons. 

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TELL US ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS OF BRINGING THE GIRL WITH DOVES MANNEQUIN TO LIFE EN FLEURS?

I really struggled when I first saw the painting of the dress I was supposed to be recreating. It was a white dress! And it was an impressionist painting so I couldn’t see any good detail of the dress to try to incorporate. So I was very unsure of how to do it well. Do I imagine what the dress would have looked like if I could actually see it? Do I do whatever I want, as long as it’s white? I started to glue dried white flowers into the bodice area, got frustrated and left it alone for a whole day. When I came back I started using some celosia and some bleached hanging amaranths and I liked the linear motion I could create with those materials. They gave me the impression of brush strokes. That gave me the idea to stop thinking of it as creating a dress with flowers but to take a step back to look at the entire painting. Once I mentally-shifted to creating brushstrokes with flowers, the whole thing came together well. Subtle color variations and textural variations jumped out and I started to have fun painting with flowers. 

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE LATE-SUMMER / AUTUMN BLOOMS?

Dahlias of course! But the heirloom mums that are starting to be grown again are also super special. 

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WHAT IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL ARRANGEMENT YOU HAVE CREATED?

In 2020, right before the pandemic began, my family and I were in a tornado that destroyed our home and our first shop. We made it to the basement with just seconds to spare. After that experience, I created an 8ft tornado made of dried flowers as a window display in our new shop. 

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WHAT IS THE MOST UNDERRATED FLOWER IN YOUR OPINION? 

The carnation! Yes, there are many that are very garish and they were overused once upon a time, but there are so many truly gorgeous varieties of carnations these days. There are many unique and delicate color options to choose from. You can’t find a more fluffy, ruffly beauty for the price and the longevity!

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HOW DO YOU INCORPORATE FLOWERS INTO YOUR PERSONAL STYLE AND HOME?

Unfortunately, my cat is the kind that likes to eat every green thing that comes into the house. So I can’t really have flowers unless I put them up high. It’s a good thing I own a flower shop or I might have to question my arrangement with the cat. I do spend a ton of time in my garden. I love growing flowers. My garden is magical in the spring. I have 13 roses, many different clematis, iris, daffodils, and this fall I’ll be planting hundreds of tulips.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE MOVIE, TV SERIES OR BOOK THAT INCORPORATES FLOWERS IN A BEAUTIFUL WAY?

The Secret Garden movie from the ‘90s had such an influence on me, and I didn’t realize it until I was well into my flower career. I read the book to my daughter and it’s been a favourite ever since. It speaks about nature and flowers as if they are literal magic. It has become a sacred book to me.

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WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECT OF RUNNING A FLORAL BUSINESS?

Being profitable. The margins are thin and the product dies. There are so many ways to chip away at your margin if you’re not careful. When you run a shop or delivery business, you have to get very good at anticipating how much to buy. Over-purchase and lose margin on waste; under-purchase and not sell as much as you could have. Staffing can have the same effect. Over-staff and you lose margin, but understaff and you have too much chaos and it leads to burnout. 

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WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE FLOWER FACT?

Flowers remind us that beauty carries trade-offs. The strongest scents often signal shorter lives, because producing fragrance consumes energy that might otherwise sustain the bloom. Petal structure matters too: large, layered, or delicate petals tend to shorten longevity, while sturdier forms endure longer. What I love about this fact is that it reveals that nature makes choices. A flower cannot be everything at once; it must spend its energy somewhere, whether on fragrance, size, or resilience. That balance, and the necessity of letting go of one quality to emphasize another, feels deeply human too.