PLANTING LOCAL ROOTS
Coriander Girl 1604 Queen St. E.
416-532-3333, coriandergirl.com
The recently relocated Coriander Girl gives new meaning to the term “fresh flowers.” Proprietor Alison Westlake creates arrangements you won’t see anywhere else, and they’re sustainable too, as she tells Sarah B. Hood.
Q What are “sustainable” flowers?
A I try to be all organic. I wouldn’t claim 100%, but year by year, we get closer. For 2013, I’m going to try to go 100% local. I’m starting to collaborate with a local gardener, Sarah Nixon of My Luscious Backyard, who grows flowers [in the city]. If you have a front yard and there’s nothing going on, she will create a beautiful garden and harvest the flowers. She supplies me now with buckets of fresh flowers; she’s starting to supply me with beautiful, organic, fresh-smelling roses and dahlias. We’ll be collaborating on weddings.
Q Your recent move has given you a backyard; what are your plans for that?
A Urban Harvest [an organic seed and plant supplier] shared the space this spring. I’ll be starting a tea room in the backyard, probably in August. There’s nothing else like that in this neighbourhood.
Q Is it true you invite people to “bring your own vase?”
A We don’t import any glassware. We encourage our brides to bring in their own vessels, however they collect them; Sally Anns and Value Village. We supply antique vessels, and we support local artists. We carry beautiful pottery by Krystal Speck; she did a series for Coriander Girl. The colours are very soft shades that let the flowers shine: muted turquoise, muted blue — almost the colour of water — some earthy greens and a nice sort of eggshell tone. Q You carry other crafts as well. A We have beautiful jewellery made by a local designer, Kalpna Patel of Old Weston jewellery. She works with a lot of silver, vintage lace and little beads, Swarovski crystal and some pearls. I have handmade cards by Erin Candela, who paints each one individually. We carry candles, soaps and lotions from Honey Pie Hives and Herbals out of Milford, and we now have beautiful preserves from The Merrill Inn, which is a B&B in Prince Edward County. Q What’s the shop name about? A Coriander is an herb, and I came from a gardener’s background. I was thinking of a name that would imply something fresh and kind of garden-y; then I found out that coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant, and I liked that as the metaphor for the business: coriander being the idea and the shop growing out of it.