At her home in the quiet town of Douglas, Alabama, Shandyn Unruh patiently plants rows of ranunculus, pansies, and bearded irises. The autumn days are growing shorter as she places the bulbs into the ground, trusting that the work she does will bear beauty in the spring.
"Flowers have always been my security, my sanctuary," Unruh says. As both farmer and floral designer of Sweetbriar Florals, Unruh has mastered what is known as "natural floristry," a style that celebrates the inherent beauty and personality of each stem. Rather than forcing flowers into rigid arrangements, she lets them bend and take shape as they were meant to—mimicking how they would grow in the garden.
"We let every stem talk to us," she explains. "The rule comes from the stem, not from me."
The story of Sweetbriar Florals began with a friendship. "As a teenager, my best friend was growing flowers for a farmers market—zinnias," Unruh recalls. "One day she said, 'Let's grow flowers.' From that moment, I really fell in love with it. I felt a creative pull to explore that world, and I've never looked back." What started as a shared hobby eventually became a calling–one that would carry her through several moves and life changes.
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