A couple weeks ago I was contacted by Becky Devlin and introduced to her work through her Roost Website and Sugar from Sunshine Blog. She has a 7 acre flower farm in Virginia Beach and also is a floral designer. Her work is gorgeous and I am a fan of her philosophy. I am quite flattered that she did a blog post about my work (below) which includes photos by the talented Kate Headley. I have been enjoying her website and blog, check them out!
Designer interview: Sidra Forman
I could gush on and on about Sidra Forman and her endless talents: floral designer, gardener, chef, community activist. I read an article featuring Sidra’s designs in the Summer/Fall issue of Washingtonian Bride and it made me re-visit her website and blog. (I had checked out her site in the past and loooooooved her work, but don’t remember exactly how I landed there). It was a great article called “Green Day” about sustainable, local and organic flowers. The article immediately caught my attention, both for the obvious reasons, and because it also featured fellow cut flower grower and friend, Andrea Gagnon, of Lynnvale Studios in Gainesville, Virginia. But that’s a different post for a different day (soon!). As you can see from the photos, Sidra’s designs have an unfussy, organic quality to them. Her main priority, when choosing the flowers she uses is “finding the best flowers available”. She says, “during the warmer months in D.C. I use local growers and supplement what I grow in my urban garden. Other times of the year, I rely heavily on flowers from other parts of the year including Holland. I buy only from sources that sell flowers that are raised with practices that are mindful of both the earth and the laborers.” The amazing photos are courtesy of the talented Kate Headley, someone whose work I also admire greatly.
Sidra started out arranging flowers for a restaurant that she owned with her husband and brother more than 15 years ago. She started getting requests to design flowers for events and when they decided to close the restaurant, she turned her focus to floral design. When I asked her to describe her design style, she said, “I get the best flowers that I can and try to get out of the way.” I love that! Her philosophy really shows in the natural way her designs let the blooms speak for themselves.
It amazes me that Sidra arranges flowers for about 40 events per year and still finds time to help head up The Farm at Walker Jones, an urban farm connected to a Washington D.C. public school. I read through the blog for this amazing project and love seeing the photos of the kids eager to learn and readily tasting all sorts of foods from the gardens. And maybe I was hungry, but I think my favorite post is Sidra’s recipe for Zucchini Cake, which I can’t wait to make.
When I asked her what she feels makes Sidra Forman Flowers unique, she said, “I enjoy the collaborative process with my clients, hearing what they’re looking for and then figuring out together a version of that original version.” Three things she’s loving right now? “Porcelain berries that grow wild in my city garden, the foliage from my leather leaf viburnum plant, and dutch anemones.” Life doesn’t get much better than that.
Check out Sidra’s website to see more of her floral design, home restaurant, gardens and yummy food at www.sidraforman.com, read her blog at www.sidrapractice.com and check out her labor of love, The Farm at Walker Jones at www.wjfarm.wordpress.com/ . Thanks so much to Sidra for sharing herself and her work!
