A letter from Marianna

Born and raised in the Netherlands, I grew up with a passion for petals in rural Twente. My father, a concrete truck driver, often used cement to ‘enhance’ our back yard. But my mother, unperturbed, never failed to find or create a crack in that concrete, to plant some of her many, many flowers. Her enthusiastic and good flower sense inspired a passion in me that eventually received the focus it deserved when I trained with the Floral Design Institute and became a professional floral designer. Soon after launching Petal Passion in 2005 and becoming a Portland Oregon florist, I realized that the flower industry did not always make Mother Nature laugh as one might have hoped. Aggressive growing practices and flowers that had traveled long distances, covered with chemicals, made me rethink the career that I had chosen. Being an avid gardener, growing the flowers personally was a logical–but not simple– next step. However I felt strongly that a greener option was essential, so I started working towards this goal. Now, in addition to conventional options, Petal Passion offers a line of seasonal bouquets that are sustainably grown “in harmony with nature and the neighborhood!” Utilizing underused and neglected areas in my North Portland neighborhood and using environmentally sound practices.  Audacious Bouquets, available from April through September.

Working with flowers, creating art with this beautiful natural media, resonates for me the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson who so aptly proclaimed that ‘Flowers are the Earth laughing”.  I could not agree more.