My love for flowers goes way back, an adventurous kid, who was very inquisitive, always out & about, up a tree, in the garden; covered in dirt, up the mulberry tree after school; uniform covered in juice (much to the chagrin of my mother) you get my drift.
Anything to do with nature has always been a fascination to me, how it grows? Why it grows? Why that colour?, Why the shape? Have you ever taken the time to really LOOK at some blooms, they’re amazing. Take the orchid? The snapdragon? Even the humble daisy. Have you ever noticed how a tulip will bend towards the light? A-MAZING.
My Nonna was a keeper of African violets, they were ever present in a large oven tray in her home, under the kitchen window (for that perfect light), she lived in a unit block so a ‘garden’ could be a challenge. Every day the first thing she would do is wish them good morning, give them an egg cup of water & remove any spent leaves or blooms. It was love. It was care. It was nurturing. All of the gifts she also passed on to me. My Nonna taught me how to appreciate the wonder of life & its creations (I did already have a very active imagination- so her subject was easy to mould lol).
I was still pretty young (primary school age) when I decided that it would be a fabulous idea to regularly pick all of the flowers in our garden & make up little posies to have in the house, I think I probably overdid it lol, but you could find me most afternoons in our Garden in Northbridge & later Mosman, scouring the garden for all of its delights. As a result, my mother found me a weekend job at the age of about 12 or 13 at our local florist; I’m sure, so that I would leave something on the bushes for her to admire lol.
I began my training at Peach & Lavish, beginning early in the preparation of wedding florals (very lucky indeed) & also working in the store in the local shopping centre. I then moved on to work at Sweet Violets in Mosman, where I received the bulk of my floral training for about 3 years, under the lovely Anna Hartshorne & her very groovy daughter, Lisa, who also owned a business down the road specialising in design, styling & also dried & silk florals. Both ladies were very talented & generous with their knowledge, awesome kiwi women, they taught me so much.
Life went on, I finished school & went on to university to study teaching, always keeping my hand in floristry, along the way. I met my husband Rory there, in Armidale NSW. Fast forward a number of years & a lot of different experiences, jobs (& business’s) & I came to work at Tall Poppy Florist -Tamworth, in 2002.
Moved on after 12 months & worked elsewhere, had our first child, the beautiful Jessica & 9 months later we actually bought Tall Poppy Florist in 2007. We have built it up to what you see today, we also had 2 more beautiful babies, Savannah & Ryan (all referred to at one time or another as the Tall Poppy Babies lol).
I mention our children because they are a huge part of why I do what I do, they have all come to work, as babies & even now. They are a part of the fabric of this business & it has also become a huge part of their life too. They have been there for Valentine’s Day & Mother’s Day deliveries, they’re there when beautiful wedding flowers are delivered to an excited bride (& groom). Our girls in particular have a love for making posies & of all things, discarded stem tee pee’s.
They have also had the benefit of a happy & content mother, who can scratch that creative itch, every day. To be a florist can be bloody hectic a lot of the time, but to be able to bring happiness, joy & even comfort to people everyday makes me so so lucky. To be able to do what I do. I love my job (albeit sometimes up a ladder for hours on end, may not feel that way, but then you get to stand back & go WOW! I just did that).
We are a quirky bunch here at Tall Poppy Florist, though I’ve never met a florist yet who is not a little left of centre. We get to run about like headless chooks sometimes, creating some amazing stuff, that we are so proud of. We spend our days drinking cold cups of coffee or tea, freezing our bums off to accommodate the flowers lol & bringing something special to the every day.
You can convey so much in a bunch of flowers, a feeling, an emotion, a memory….the list goes on.
We love what we do & we do what we love, how awesome is that!
At Tall Poppy Florist - Tamworth, we deliver to Hospitals, nursing homes, business's & homes. We can assist in delivering worldwide as well as interstate. If it's a Tall Poppy design that you would like we can deliver to Tamworth, Armidale, Gunnedah, Willow Tree, Quirindi, Moonbi, Kootingal, Bendemeer, Kingswood, Moore Creek, Daruka, Murrurrundi, Loomberah, Moree, Barraba, Manilla, Uralla, Walcha - WE GO EVERYWHERE MAN!!!
(If there is somewhere we haven't mentioned please call us on 0267613900 to enquire for different area's)
