We are thrilled to announce the winners of our second annual Garden Rose Design Contest! Hundreds of entries were submitted, by designers in 37 countries around the world. Ranging widely in style, the submissions truly inspired us with their creative use of color, texture and form, proof that garden roses and floral artistry are a perfect match.
Thank you to all of the participants! We truly enjoyed seeing the creativity of your designs.
Winners, World Contest
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, Tobey Nelson, Tobey Nelson Events + Design, Clinton, WA. Varieties: Bridal Piano and Mariatheresia. Photographer: Suzanne Rothmeyer Photography
First place / Everyday Design, Katie Noonan, Noonan’s Wine Country Designs, San Luis Obispo, CA. Varieties: Caramel Antike and Golden Mustard. Photographer: Ashley Ludaescher
Second place / Wedding Bouquet, Nancy Zimmerman, Fancy Florals by Nancy, Fairbury, IL. Varieties: Miranda and Keira. Photographer: Stephanie Wood Photography
Second place / Everyday Design, Jessie Partridge, Maidenhair, Ocean Springs, MS. Varieties: Romantic Antike, Caramel Antike and Princess Charlene of Monaco. Photographer: Jerrod Partridge
Third place / Wedding Bouquet, Kara Beane, Joyous Blooms, Yukon, OK. Variety: Miyabi. Photographer: Paige Keeton
Third place / Everyday Design, Meghan Maldonado, Flowers by Mae Mae, Chino Hills, CA. Variety: Romantic Antike. Photographer: Devon Donahue
Readers’ Choice / Wedding Bouquet, Gina Thresher, From the Ground Up Floral, Kent, WA. Variety: White Cloud. Photographer: Sara Anne Photography
Readers’ Choice / Everyday Design, Julie Mulligan, 1-800-Flowers.com, Belle Harbor, NY. Variety: Princess Hitomi. Photographer: Joe Scafuro
Winners, Commonwealth of Independent States
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, Irina Snatenkova. Varieties: Mayra’s Rose, Princess Kishi, Mariatheresia, Mayra’s Bridal Pink, and Tess
Second place, Alexandra Kostryukova. Variety: Juliet. Photographer: Ameli Décor
Third place, Lilit Aghayan. Varieties: Cream Yves Piaget and Angie Romantica (not grown by Alexandra Farms)
Readers’ Choice, Fatkullin Rome. Variety: Juliet. Photographer: Danil Shestakov
Prizes
In each contest and category, the first-place winner will be invited to join us in early 2020 for an all-expense-paid trip for two to our fragrance-filled greenhouses at Alexandra Farms, located high in the Andes mountains in the beautiful savannah of Bogotá, Colombia.
The remaining winners can choose from our 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 1000 stems; third-place winners will receive 500 stems.
About the Judging Process
As in 2018, we 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.
We’d like to thank our judges, who faced a challenging task in evaluating so many entries showing a high level of skill and talent.
All designs were judged on the following criteria: how garden roses were used in the design; photo quality; and overall design aesthetic and composition. The judges received a photo of each design (with any identifying information removed) and assigned it a score. The scores were added up, and the three designs with the highest scores were awarded first, second and third place. Readers’ Choice Award winners were chosen by public online voting during the month of July.
Want to participate next year? Be on the lookout in spring 2020 for information on how to enter the contest. Look for the full stories on this year’s contest in the October 2019 issue of Florists’ Review and the September 2019 issue of Flowers Magazine.