In an industry driven primarily by exceptional women, narrowing the field to just a handful each year is no easy task. Across retail, design, seed breeding and cultivation, women continue to influence every facet of the global floriculture sector through creativity, leadership and innovation. This year, Florists’ Review highlights professionals from multiple countries who are making a meaningful impact—not only through their distinctive talents, but also through their commitment to supporting their communities and inspiring their fellow (and future) colleagues. We’re proud to present our 2026 class of remarkable women in floristry.
Flowers from the Secret Garden | Cork, Ireland | @flowers_from_the_secret_garden
Sarah Evans is a business owner, flower grower and florist in Cork, Ireland. She’s also a founding member of Flower Farmers of Ireland (FFOI), a network of Irish cut-flower and foliage growers who seek to promote support and inclusion across the industry in the country. Evans’ style is natural and sustainable, consisting primarily of locally sourced stems and foliage—particularly from her own farm—and foam alternatives, such as chicken wire and steel rope in her design construction. Her naturally striking design style and commitment to sustainability have left a lasting impression on those she has trained, who carry these principles into their own work.
How did you enter the floral industry? What intrigues you about design and how do you continue to evolve with the industry?
My initial ‘toe-dipping’ into floristry was a part-time course, and it was very traditional in its approach, leaving me feeling uninspired. Then when a friend asked me to do a wedding, I got to experience something completely different—a heady combination of fear and excitement, the feeling of being part of and contributing to someone’s special day, and the opportunity to be creative with some really beautiful flowers. That was more than 15 years ago, and it’s been non-stop ever since!
What I love about floral design is that it never stays still. Working with a natural product means that every day is different. When I teach workshops and the students all have access to the same flowers, it never fails to amaze me how each arrangement is so different.
I think it’s vital to be constantly evolving—floristry fashions come and go, new techniques are being developed and old ones rediscovered. I am always trialing new [foam-alternative] mechanics for wedding work, and I really love taking time out to either experiment and create with my team, or to study with other people that I admire in the industry. I have been lucky enough to learn from some really inspiring florists and will continue to do so. I also love teaching and often find I learn things from students as they approach a flower or arrangement with fresh eyes.
You are a founding member of Flower Farmers of Ireland. Tell us more about this organization, its goals, and how it’s influencing growers in the country.
Flower Farmers of Ireland began in 2017 with 20 people in a room in Cork and has grown to more than 100 members. Like so many other countries, most cut flowers sold in Ireland are imported, which is frustrating when we have such a wonderful growing climate here. The organization is focused on promoting the natural beauty, quality and sustainable nature of Irish-grown flowers to the buying public, as well as providing a community and support network for its members. We share knowledge, resources, buying power and provide training—it’s a wonderfully supportive community, with a real mix of growers and florists. For me, it’s incredibly important. The friendship, camaraderie and support are priceless, they are my tribe!
You also have your own sustainable flower farm. What sustainable practices do you impart in your processes? Do you find this is unique to your area?
The Secret Garden, as well as being my workspace, is a sanctuary that I share with nature. We don’t use any chemicals. We rely on feeding the soil and intervening as little as possible—this can be challenging when growing flowers commercially! I put in a wildlife pond a couple of years back and was so thrilled to find frogs in the flower beds last summer. There are two other local flower growers who have now joined FFOI, and within the county of Cork there are quite a few of us, which also means I have more growers to buy from. The area I live in is quite agricultural and traditional, so flower farming would be seen as ‘women’s work’ and maybe a little frivolous, until you explain the retail value of one stem of Dahlia and how many stems you could harvest per plant over a season.
Describe your design aesthetic and what inspires you.
Nature in all its imperfections is what inspires me the most. An arrangement can often start with a beautifully shaped branch that I have found or be inspired by how plants grow together. Walking through the gardens and flower beds, I will often find something quirky or stop-you-in-your-tracks beautiful that will be the start of an arrangement.
I’m obsessed with Constance Spry—she was a visionary, and I love her all-embracing approach to floristry and her disregard for the rules. She was as skilled at arranging in an old pot with vegetable leaves and branches as she was decorating society houses with hothouse flowers. She believed that flowers were for everyone. I caught the Flowers exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London earlier this year and found that both inspiring and moving. I was blown away by Rebecca Louise Law’s dried flower installation.
If I had to describe my aesthetic, this is probably an odd word, but ‘personal.’ It’s about my relationship with the client and my relationship with the flowers—particularly when they are ones that I have grown myself, and how that influences the final arrangements. [My style explores] how flowers connect with people and with each other.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Obviously, I am very proud of my business. I started doing small local weddings out of the back of my car; things have definitely improved! I don’t know if you would call this an accomplishment, but the thing that brings me most joy are the people around me—both within the FFOI, my team and the other industry professionals I work with. Flowers are the stars of the show, but I couldn’t do what I do without the people around me. And whether by chance or design, I have found some of the best.
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