Alexandra Farms announced the winners of their second annual Garden Rose Design Contest. Participation was even higher this year than for the first edition of the contest. Hundreds of entries were submitted, by designers in 37 countries around the world.
As in 2018, they invited submissions in two categories: Wedding Bouquet and Everyday Design. This year, the contest also took place in two arenas, as two separate contests: a World contest and a second contest specifically organized for designers in the Commonwealth of Independent States, plus Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, with a single category of design and with Russian as the common language.
World contest winners
Judges for the World contest were Jose R. Azout, president of Alexandra Farms; David J.C. Austin, managing director of David Austin Roses; Tomas De Bruyne, international floral designer and educator; and David Coake, editorial director of Florists’ Review.
First place / Wedding Bouquet - Floral Designer: Tobey Nelson, Tobey Nelson Events + Design. Varieties used: Bridal Piano and Mariatheresia. Photographer: Suzanne Rothmeyer Photography
First place / Everyday Design - Floral Designer: Katie Noonan, Noonan’s Wine Country Designs. Varieties used: Caramel Antike and Golden Mustard. Photographer: Ashley Ludaescher
Second Place / Wedding Bouquet - Floral Designer: Nancy Zimmerman, Fancy Florals by Nancy. Varieties used: Miranda and Keira. Photographer: Stephanie Wood Photography
Second Place / Everyday Design - Floral Designer: Jessie Partridge, Maidenhair. Varieties used: Romantic Antike, Caramel Antike and Princess Charlene of Monaco. Photographer: Jerrod Partridge
Third Place / Wedding Bouquet - Floral Designer: Kara Beane, Joyous Blooms. Variety used: Miyabi. Photographer: Paige Keeton-Blu Knot Wedding
Third Place / Everyday Design - Floral Designer: Meghan Maldonado, Flowers by Mae Mae. Variety used: Romantic Antike. Photographer: Devon Donahue
Readers’ Choice / Wedding Bouquet - Floral Designer: Gina Thresher, From the Ground Up Floral. Variety used: White Cloud. Photographer: Sara Anne Photography
Readers’ Choice / Everyday Design - Floral Designer: Julie Mulligan, 1-800-Flowers.com. Variety used: Princess Hitomi. Photographer: Joe Scafuro
Commonwealth of Independent States winners
Judges for the Commonwealth of Independent States contest were Jose R. Azout, president of Alexandra Farms; David J.C. Austin, managing director of David Austin Roses; Araik Galstyan, general manager of the Araik Galstyan Moscow International Floral Design School; and Galina Kondratieva, deputy chief editor for floristry at Moscow-based Flowers Magazine (Цветы).
First place, CIS - Floral Designer: Irina Snatenkova. Varieties used: Mayra’s Rose, Princess Kishi, Mariatheresia, Mayra’s Bridal Pink, and Tess.
Second place, CIS - Floral Designer: Alexandra Kostryukova. Variety used: Juliet. Photographer: Ameli Décor.
Third place, CIS - Floral Designer: Lilit Aghayan. Varieties used: Cream Yves Piaget and Angie Romantica (not grown by Alexandra Farms).
Readers’ Choice, CIS - Floral Designer: Fatkullin Rome. Variety used: Juliet. Photographer: Danil Shestakov.
Prizes
In each contest and category, the first-place winner will be invited to join in early 2020 for an all-expense-paid trip for two to the fragrance-filled greenhouses at Alexandra Farms, located high in the Andes mountains in the savannah of Bogotá, Colombia.
The remaining winners can choose from the grower's garden rose varieties and place orders to receive them—free of charge and freight included—until their award is exhausted. Second-place and Readers’ Choice winners will receive 1,000 stems; third-place winners will receive 500 stems.
For more information:
Alexandra Farms
www.alexandrafarms.com