There are moments in this industry that remind me why, after all these years, I am still completely in love with flowers.

Last Thursday was one of those moments.

I had the incredible honor of speaking at the annual CalFlowers Fun ’N Sun event, surrounded by some of the most talented and passionate people in the floral industry. Growers, designers, wholesalers, flower and foliage farms, breeders, bucket and supply companies, manufacturers, educators, speakers and longtime friends all came together under one roof.

And everywhere you looked, there were flowers.

Not ordinary flowers either. Breathtaking flowers.

An Industry Built From So Many Hands

One of the things I loved most about this event was being reminded just how many people it takes to bring a single flower into someone’s life.

Before that flower ever arrives at a flower shop or lands in someone’s hands, there is an entire world behind it.

There are the growers who wake up every day and nurture these incredible crops. There are breeders developing new varieties. There are the people responsible for harvesting, processing, transporting and distributing them. There are the companies making our buckets, tools, supplies and mechanics. And then there are the florists and designers who take all of that beauty and give it another life through creativity.

We are all connected by flowers.

Being able to walk through Fun ’N Sun and actually talk with the people behind these companies was one of my favorite parts of the week.

The Creativity Was Everywhere

The floral presentations and installations were absolutely magnificent.

Everywhere I turned there was another color combination, flower variety, texture or design that made me stop and look again.

The themes were incredible. The designs were inspiring. The flowers themselves were spectacular.

As a designer, events like this refill your creative tank. You suddenly find yourself looking at a flower you’ve worked with hundreds of times and seeing another possibility.

That is the magic of being surrounded by other creative people.

Creativity feeds creativity.

Then I Got to Take the Stage

Being invited to speak was an incredible honor.

I’ve spent more than three decades with flowers in my hands, but standing in front of the very people who grow, supply, transport and support the flowers I work with every day felt completely different.

I was nervous!

But I also knew exactly what I wanted to share: what I have witnessed flowers do to people throughout my career.

Flowers aren’t simply something beautiful that we sell.

They comfort people.

They celebrate people.

They help us communicate when we don’t have the words.

They change the energy of a room.

They connect us.

And that is the message behind my work as The Flower Doctor and Flower Energy.

Being able to talk about that in a room filled with people who have dedicated their own lives to flowers was incredibly meaningful to me.

The Connections Matter Just as Much

One of my biggest takeaways from the week wasn’t something growing in a bucket.

It was the people.

Our industry has its ups and downs. There are incredible seasons and there are challenging ones. That makes opportunities to gather, learn from one another and support one another so important.

Sometimes one conversation leads to a friendship.

A friendship leads to a collaboration.

An introduction becomes an opportunity.

And sometimes you simply meet another flower person who understands exactly why you have chosen this wonderfully crazy industry.

That’s priceless.

Proud to Be Part of This Flower World

I left Fun ’N Sun feeling grateful, inspired and incredibly proud of our industry.

It is such a joy and an honor to be part of CalFlowers and to support California-grown flowers and the larger floral community.

To the growers, designers, speakers, suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, organizers and every person who helped create such a beautiful experience, thank you.

Thank you for growing.

Thank you for creating.

Thank you for innovating.

Thank you for keeping this industry moving forward.

And thank you for reminding me that even after spending most of my life surrounded by flowers, there is always something new to discover.

Last Thursday I may have stepped onto the stage as a speaker, but I walked away as a student all over again.

And that’s one of the greatest gifts flowers continue to give me.

With flower love,

Jenny Barker
The Flower Doctor
Author of Flower Energy: Channeling the Healing Power of Blooms

Photo Credits:
Photos courtesy of Simie Seaman