Stepping into Engadine Florist we are greeted with a stunning wall of flowers, a colourful and sweet smelling haul, each stem carefully selected at the flower markets.

We are also welcomed by the equally lovely Naomi, co-owner of the store and one half of the wedding floral styling duo The Sisters (sister Esther wasn’t in the store on the day we visited).

We’re regular customers at Engadine Florist and always leave the store with some beautiful flowers and a real feeling of inspiration from seeing what Naomi and Esther have created. Their passion for flowers, floral art, styling, creating and life in general is obvious and delightful.

We sat down with Naomi for a chat about what it’s like working with family, her fave flowers, floral trends and more…

How did you get started?

We’ve had the store for six years and I’d been working for the store for another six years before we bought it. The opportunity came up to buy the business and Esther and I always thought we would go into business together, because we’ve always both loved fashion and design and that kind of thing.

So we bought it, and the first year Esther studied at TAFE and looked after all the paperwork and I was the full time florist. Now she’s fully qualified and we’ve been floraling ever since.

Do you love working together?

It’s the best. It really is. We’ve always had an honesty policy and very open communication. But it’s funny, even with the stock and our window displays, we just agree. We don’t have conflict. It’s pretty much perfect.

Do you bring different things to the business?

Totally. I am the older sister so there’s part of me that’s really organised and good at planning. Esther’s a little bit more free spirited than me. Although a lot of design stuff we’re eye to eye on but she has visions. I might come up with and idea, but she knows how to bring it to life and work out how we could do it.

What sort of trends have you seen come and go since you’ve had the store?

So when we bought the store we took out things like gerberas, things that have been around forever. Trends-wise, it went through a really cottagey, vintage phase. I think that’s gone now. There’s lots more colour. Our style is very earthy, but it’s changed from being vintagey to now just using lots of raw materials, which I really love. So lots of berries, interesting foliage and flowers with texture.

How do you go about finding interesting things at the markets?

Well 60% of the flowers we have in-store day to day are pre-booked. I get a bit of a standard order which makes things a little bit easier and keeps the quality high. Usually one of us does the regular pick ups and then the other goes and finds interesting little bits. It’s when we find more unique things that people come and say ‘What is that?!”

What’s coming up for autumn/winter?

There’s so many beautiful things coming out. Soon we’ll have all the bulb flowers like Hyacinths, Freesias, Ranunculus. They’re my favourites. Cymbidium Orchids start at the end of July as well, which look beautiful dotted around the house with a single stem in a vase.

Do you have any personal faves?

As well as with the Cymbidium Orchids also I love peonies, but there’s a special type that comes out for a few weeks a year called a Tree Peony. You can get them in an amazing deep red. I had them for my wedding. They’re gorgeous. Not long-lasting, but the ones I love never are. I also love dahlias.

Any exciting plans you can tell us about for the store coming up?

We did a reno recently and that was in the pipeline for ages. We wanted to simplify the look a bit. We’re planning a workshop with Megan Morton at The School. There’s Mothers’ Day, so we always have something fabulous planned for that.

Engadine Florist

www.engadineflorist.com.au 8/69 Station Street, Engadine 2233 02 9520 3141

The Sisters www.thesisters.net.au By appointment only