From the Beginning...
“Where Flowers Bloom so does Hope...”-Lady Bird Johnson
With flowers, we know that their beauty is to be enjoyed for such a short sweet moment. We also know that when they bloom again there is a sense of hope and renewal, an assurance of whatever the day brings even a single bloom can push those worries away. It is this belief in the power of hope that Florian adopted this very quote as our motto, which graces our shop window.
Florian was not formed overnight. It’s existence started as a seed not yet planted. When I was a young girl I gravitated toward the arts, I would sketch, draw, study still life, and just admire books upon books through my teenage years into adulthood. I studied ceramics, art history, design, interior design, color theory-basically anything I could get my hands on that involved art. It wasn’t until after the birth of my twin sons in 2004 that I discovered floral design. Attending the Floral Design Institute, it was then that the seed was planted. It was the perfect combination of color, design, hands-on, creative, and the challenging part to me was that it had such a small window of existence. Unlike a painting or a sculpture, this piece can only be enjoyed for a very limited time. This intrigued me.
With this new found passion planted within me, I set out to work for and learn from a variety of designers and flower shops from California to Illinois, Del Mar to Chicago. As life happens, I found myself a single mother of three at the age of 35. This propelled me into a career field unrelated to flowers yet used a different set of skills and creativity: I became a Firefighter/EMT. This was an important part of the birth of Florian-significant to its creation-just as a forest fire gives the opportunity for new life to occur. For some flowers and plants, fire is a necessity in order for it to grow, to bloom. The time came for me to return back to my roots, back to flowers.
In January 2018, Florian was born-named for the patron saint of firefighters, St. Florian. Upon researching the name, I discovered before the saint chose his namesake it was a common word used to represent the color yellow and meant flowering. How fitting! Initially I started from my home; quickly it was realized I would need a shop. In August 2018, Florian opened at the Prescott Gateway Mall located in Prescott, Arizona. Now just a little over a year old, it has been such an adventure. So many wonderful moments have happened that I can not wait to share with you. Most recently, I will get the fantastic opportunity of working on the 2020 Tournament of Roses Parade floats as part of a team of designated florists. What an honor! Of course I will be sharing that with you! Be sure to follow Florian on Facebook @florian.fdem and Instagram @florianfloral Most of all, please feel free to stop in the shop and say hi!
Wishing you blooms aplenty,
Aileen Casillas
