Bouquets blossom, thanks to floral diplomacy
Passion for flower arrangements landed Laura Dowling in the White House
For many years, Laura Dowling was a policy strategist in Washington, D.C., working first for a think tank based at the Smithsonian Institution and later for The Nature Conservancy. It was a trip to Paris in 2000, though, that redirected her to what would be her greatest passion: floristry.
Struck by the ethereal beauty of Christian Tortu’s floral arrangements, Dowling was inspired to study in his newly opened L’Ecole des Fleurs. She continued working at The Nature Conservancy, launching a part-time floral design business in her kitchen, making bouquets and arrangements for events and weddings on evenings and weekends. Her husband encouraged her to respond to an open call for a new White House chief floral designer during the Obama administration.
“I didn’t think I would go from my kitchen to the White House, but I entered the competition. There were months of interviews, and it culminated in a competition and an interview with the first lady,” said Dowling, who was chief floral designer for the Obamas from 2009 to 2015.
Dowling has now published her fourth book, “Bouquets” (Stichting Kunstboak; $35; 144 pp.), and will be in Houston March 7-8 to speak at the HTown Home and Outdoor Living Show at Silver Street Studios at Sawyer Yards. She’ll have two time slots on each day, speaking one day on her experience at the White House and about her book on the
other, offering advice to those wanting to up their floral-design skills.
Her book is project based, with vivid photography and detailed instructions to guide you through dozens of floral arrangements. Organized by emotions, chapters include tranquility, charm, nostalgia romance and dreams, and the bouquets themselves have inventive names, such as Dancing Daffodils, Here Comes the Sun and Green Bean Casserole.
Before her Houston visit, the Washington state native spoke with the Chronicle about her White House experience, the transformative power of flowers and her new book.
Q: I love the term you used in your first book, “Floral Diplomacy.” Do you think most people consider how flowers affect us on that level?
A: I have this background in policy and policy analysis, so I’ve always looked at language and analysis as a tool for problem solving and conveying messages. I saw the potential to use flowers in the same way. Flowers have a long history of conveying meaning and metaphor in so many cultures.
I handled flowers for state dinners, and my first one was for India. I used the Indian peacock as the emblem. It’s significant in Indian culture … and we used vivid apple green and purple and fuchsia — the colors of the peacock — as a jumping-off point. I would craft a story about how all of these things could come together to honor the guest country and blend in the best of American culture and tradition.
Q: What events were the hardest to do?
A: The state dinners always had the highest stakes, but the most complicated project would be the White House Christmas because of the logistics with 55 different trees and miles of garland. We started with an inspiring theme — my favorite was “Simple Gifts” in 2010, the first Christmas I worked on. Christmas was a year-round project for me. I never stopped thinking about what special projects we could do.
Q: Flipping through your book, it looks like doing floral design at home takes a lot of pots and vases, different wires and other gadgets. How could a DIY beginner get started?
A: It’s total simplicity: Start with a plastic bucket or the simplest recycled container and decorate it. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on a fancy container. I don’t use a lot of extra mechanics in the vase,
but a little bit of floral foam can hold heavier stems in place. Just fill the pot with water, use an underlying structure of greenery and arrange flowers simply and lightly. That’s the message I want to convey. You don’t shove flowers in, but build them in layers. Figure out a way to create interest and intrigue as if you’re walking through Monet’s garden or, maybe in the case of Houston, the Azalea Trail.
Q: In your new book, you pay as much attention to decorating vases as you do the actual bouquet. Are highly decorated vases part of your signature style?
A: Creating an integrated container to carry out the whole theme is a signature design element. If you have a beautiful antique vase or a favorite cut-glass piece, those are wonderful. I like to explain the idea of what you can do to create something on a vase that’s as interesting as the flowers.
Q: How many different flowers or stems do you like to use in one bouquet?
A: In general, a bouquet will have a few different elements, something you call the focal point, the big flower, like a hydrangea or peony, something that makes a big statement. Then I have something I call a main flower, the structure, and that could be a rose or something with a sturdy stem. Third would be accent flowers, smaller things, like sweet peas or freesia or things you can weave around. They have softer stems and are more delicate and they create interest around bigger flowers. The fourth thing is texture, which gives dimension to a bouquet — some kind of berry or foliage. The final thing is something I learned in Paris, and that’s the finishing touch, such as a butterfly that floats above. That could be a ranunculus or an orchid, little flowers that float out of the bouquet as if they’re an escaping element.
Q: What advice — something you learned the hard way and wished that someone had told you sooner — would you give a budding floral designer?
A: Don’t underestimate the power of the little details. Learn and never stop perfecting your skills and the craft. There are many opportunities for workshops for learning about design and studying with master designers. Try to take advantage of that and to study at home, then branch out beyond flowers to learn about architectural design and art history and color theory. And one thing I learned in Paris was to do something different than the prevailing trend. Set yourself apart and create your own signature style.
diane.cowen@chron.com
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