HELLO
i’M Melissa Jane
But my friends call me Mel.
I live in the beautiful country side town of Te Horo on a 1.5 hectare property in the sunny Kāpiti Coast with my husband, two kids and fur Kid, Ranger.
I was born and grew up in Wellington and always had a natural flair for the creative arts and design. With over 16 years of floristry experience under my belt, I’ve worked my floral magic on just about every imaginable occasion. After professional floristry training in my early 20’s I spent five years working up to management position at Wellington’s top boutique florist.
Then I jetted off to the UK to live and work in London and travel Europe. This is where I had the opportunity to up skill by creating stunning installations in iconic buildings, top London Boutique hotels and cater to all the British floral lovers (David Attenborough being a highlight). But as they say, there’s no place like home. So when my overseas adventure came to an end, I returned to my roots armed with a treasure trove of knowledge and experience, ready to make my mark.
My entrepreneurial spirit led me to launch my own online floristry business and after just 6months, I outgrew the garage space where I was working from. I then went on to open up shop in the Northern Wellington suburb of Ngaio. Warming hearts through the community for 7 delightful years whilst making waves with head turning pop-up arrangements for New Zealand Flowers Week including transforming the capitals iconic land mark in to a Botanical Bucket Fountain and creating a Korowai made entirely from from fresh Lily petals (see below photos). These projects made head lines and inspired other local creativity and floral enthusiasts.
However, life had its own plans. With a move north to the Kāpiti Coast and a growing family with a new addition on the way, I made the bittersweet decision to close my brick- and - mortar establishment, prioritising the precious moments with my loved ones.
After planting a couple of Dahlia tubers 3 years ago on our rural land, this sparked a new passion for growing flowers.
Amongst the whirlwinds of parenthood, I have been learning a lot about what not to do, unintentionally killing a few plants here and there but also having some surprise successes trialing other plants. This has fuelled my excitement for expanding our garden next season.
Now settled into the country lifestyle, I am wholeheartedly embracing this exciting new chapter of my career. I am hopeful the flexibility of working from home will allow me to strike a harmonious balance between motherhood, my my passion for floral design and blossoming love for floriculture.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2018/11/05/summer-comes-early-for-wellington-bucket-fountain/
