For most of us, floral design looks like a grocery store bunch of tulips, unwrapped, and dashed into a big vase for the table. But when the surrounding interior is so thoughtful and creative, this feels like a missed opportunity. So we turned to an expert on the topic: Florist Alex Crowder specializes in floral interventions for interiors and events, creating arrangements for some of our favorite designers and spaces across NYC and beyond (Roman and Williams and Lindsey Adelman, to name just two). In 2020, Crowder founded Field Studies Flora as a small floral practice. It has since evolved into a full-fledged studio, a “school of thought that operates in rhythm with a way of seeing,” she explains. “Working with nature rather than against it.”
“I grew up in the Ozark mountains in Missouri building fairy homes out of sticks, leaves, wildflowers, and mud,” says Crowder. “I’ve always had a fascination with the plant world and spent hours on my own wandering through the hay fields. In high school, I spent my career days at local flower shops but was disappointed by the disconnect between the landscape I loved and the arrangements flower shops were producing. I liked the idea of working with flowers to make assemblages, but didn’t see that as an option if pursuing floristry.”
“Then in my early twenties, while still living in Missouri, I discovered the work of Sarah Ryhanen of Saipua, Amy Merrick, and a handful of other New York florists who were creating more wild, less restrictive arrangements. I moved to New York and freelanced with many of the florists I admired for several years. It was exhilarating to work under so many driven and innovative women. They paved the way for a naturalistic style of floristry and the work that we now do at Field Studies. My favorite thing: There is no end to what you can learn when it comes to plants. Every day I discover something new about the living world, and I’m always in awe of it. I’ll find a new color combination, learn about a fascinating mutation due to climate change, or discover a new variety of a favorite flower. It’s endless and exciting.”
Here, Crowder shares insights for bringing florals into our homes and lives, taking arrangements from a tired bunch to an inspired composition, often integrating dried and foraged flora within.
1. Look at the overlooked.
“I recently spent an afternoon hauling discarded lichen-covered apple branches out of an orchard and packing them into my car like sardines. A dear friend had just finished pruning her tree, and the cast-off limbs were perfect for an upcoming installation in Boston. This is my favorite way to work: finding a second life for that which is discarded or overlooked,” says Crowder. “On several occasions I have even pulled trimmings out of trash bins at the flower market in New York City, enthusiastically asking ‘Can I have this?!’ This is generally met with laughter, which I’ve always taken as a ‘yes.’ In short, look at the overlooked!”
2. Cultivate an eye for flowers.
“People light up when they see flowers, and for good reason! We have an ancient relationship with them. Like all members of the plant world, flowers have evolved alongside us. They are indicators of upcoming harvests (think: apple blossoms appearing before the fruit) and transient objects of adornment at our most important rituals celebrating life and death worldwide. They hold so much meaning wrapped up in a beautiful package. I think that, consciously or subconsciously, flowers ground us.”
3. Practice educated foraging.
“If you have access to the land, just about any plant can make a beautiful arrangement. It’s important that you have permission from the land steward and are mindful of what you’re taking. A good rule is to leave more behind than you take away, and to make sure you know what you are cutting. I use an app called PlantNet to identify those plants which I don’t recognize. The app content is crowd-sourced and links directly to Wikipedia so you can learn about the plant you are wanting to cut,” says Crowder. “Another great resource is Apple, which has integrated plant identification into the camera on all iPhones. As we move into spring, many farmer’s markets begin to offer flowers along with their produce and there is some interesting overlap here. I love arranging green tomatoes on the vine or flowering cilantro, both of which I procure from my local farmer’s market.
“The safest place to forage is on land that you know well. You want to ensure that you’re not disrupting the ecosystem. Use the plant ID apps, know the boundaries of the land, and be mindful that you’re not spreading a problematic plant. There is a lot of information on noxious and invasive plants. If you’re interested in foraging, it’s crucial that you educate yourself on these species to understand how to best handle and discard them without causing harm to your local ecosystems.”
4. Embrace the temporal.
“Longevity in florals differs from plant to plant. Currently at the studio, we are using a lot of forced magnolia. It’s gorgeous, but the bloom only lasts for one to three days. I’m okay with a shorter bloom life because the show makes up for it, and I love the shape of the skeletal branches both before and after bloom. Right now we are in tulip season, a flower I think only gains beauty as it ages. Some varieties can last well over a week in a vase, lengthening and changing colors as the blooms open. You can find tulips at your local flower shop, farmer’s market, or flower market. I like to encourage people to ask their vendors where the flowers are coming from. Floral imports are largely unregulated when it comes to chemical use, so the closer to the source, the better.”
5. Care for fresh flowers.
“Most cut flowers can last several days, foliage and branches at least a week (if not several). Clean water will give you the longest vase life. Most people don’t have time to clean the water every day, but that is ideal. More importantly, you want to remove any foliage or buds from the stem or branch that are below the waterline.”
6. Don’t forget about dried stems.
“I have two drying racks in the Field Studies studio. Over the last few years I’ve tested several different flowers. Late summer is the best time to do this. My favorites are always the seed pods: Rudbeckia (coneflowers) and echinacea are stunners after the petals have dropped. They look like sea urchins on stems and can last for months and even years. I typically display these in fall through spring. In early spring, I’m mimicking the landscape of the Northeast: bare branches with verdant spring wildflowers, such as daffodils, mixed in.”
“Use drying racks,” explains Crowder. “We hang flowers upside down from grids suspended from our studio ceilings. These racks get full in the summer when we have the most abundant inventory of cut flora and it slowly empties out over the winter. Some flowers dry really well in water, like hydrangea, tulips, and ranunculus. It’s all about experimenting. But make sure you change the water in long-standing arrangements or it will begin to rot (and smell).”
7. Notice what’s around you.
“Keeping flowers in your home is a lovely way to care for yourself,” says Alex. “Obviously, I am a proponent of routinely supporting a local small business (florists or farmers), but I also believe that beauty can be found growing alongside us if we just look. A fallen branch at a local park or a cutting of viburnum from your friend’s front garden are beautiful additions to any home. If you are on the lookout for these opportunities, you won’t have to worry about things going stale. You’ll find options everywhere! The ability to recognize the plant life around us is an undervalued skill, but one that has the ability to heavily impact our world. If we all wondered at plants a little more, what a different world we’d live in.”
For more expert advice, see our posts:
- Expert Advice: How to Redo a Room When Everything Needs Help
- Expert Advice: 10 Tips for Displaying Art at Home from a Museum Curator
- Expert Advice: A Greengrocer’s Guide to Storing Produce and Leftovers
- Expert Advice: How to Layer Scent in the Home, Enigma Edition
Have a Question or Comment About This Post?
Join the conversation