KOCHI: Looking back, Keralites used to herald the onset of Onam with the song Poovepoli Poovepoli Poovepoli Poove on their lips. Flowers have remained an important element in the life of Malayalis. Over the years, the fondness for flowers began to grow in our minds. Presently, be it any occasion, flowers are an integral part of our life. City Express introduces to a few people who have put their heart and soul into the endeavour of flower arrangement.
Meet Gerald Castelino, Sreejesh Valiyaveetil, Roopa Sreenivas and Anu Mathew who have been there in the flower business for quiet some time.
From bouquets, elaborate flower arrangements and head dresses to decorations, they unanimously agree that flowers are the timeless decor options with undimmed appeal.
Most people today prefer to convey the message of love, apology, condolence, congratulations and friendship through flowers.
Roses, carnations, orchids, tulips, lilies, gerberas, anthuriums and irises are the most sought-after flowers here, says Gerald Castelino. He has some more interesting facts to share about flower arrangement. “Flowers represent various zodiac signs and I arrange flowers accordingly, especially for birthdays. The flowers that represent our zodiac signs have a story to tell about our life and traits,” he explains.
Gerald diverted his interests to this field 15 year ago, after deciding to give up his white collar job. From then on he has been popular for his distinctive style of arranging flowers. His unfathomable creativity, along with his immense love for flowers is the key behind his success. “I have specialised my work in doing bulk arrangements for functions, from a man’s birth to death, church arrangements, head dresses, bouquets, flower baskets, vehicles and the list continues,” says Gerald. Gerald, who has customers who request flower arrangement according to their zodiac signs, says, “Rose represents love, passion and wisdom, carnation is a symbol of mother’s boundless love, good luck and admiration, lily represents chastity and virtue and the list goes on.” Gerald believes that this practice imparts a positive energy in us. He defines Bangalore as the hub of flowers. All of his flowers are brought from there. “I enjoy this field very well. Flowers never fail to charm us. But at times I face difficulty in arranging flowers according to the customers’ wishes. It is unpredictable. At times the price may shoot up tremendously based on the seasons,” says Gerald. The range of bouquets starts from `500 and increases according to the flowers, size and season of flowers.
Flower arrangement involves necessary design principles of harmony, balance, proportion and contrast. There are no written rules. It is all about arranging the flowers creatively according to one’s imagination, believes Sreejesh Valiyaveetil who has an experience of eight years in the industry. Sreejesh has put up his own venture named Occasions to jazz up celebrations.
His success mantra lies in his systematic approach. He customises his design along with the customers. Later on, he sketches it before starting the work. “Unlike earlier days, the demand for flowers has increased, irrespective of religion. People say it with flowers. Flower arrangements are made considering every class of people so that it is accessible to all,” says Sreejesh. The price of his arrangements and bouquets starts from `200.
Sreejesh imports 70 per cent of his flowers from Bangalore and 20 per cent from Ooty. Carnation, gerberas and lilies are bought from Ooty. “Flowers from Ooty are more healthy as their stems are stronger and the bud size is more. Flowers can be classified into three different categories, based on their quality. ‘A’ category flowers are the foremost in quality. They are of export quality and high in cost. I usually prefer flowers of ‘B’ category as they are affordable. ‘C’ category flowers are of the lowest quality and will easily wear off,” explains Sreejesh.
Roopa Sreenivas has been in this field for more than 13 years and her success rate increases by the multitude every year. Being an active member of the Orchids Club, her gardens are filled with beautiful orchids. It was her husband’s enthusiasm that encouraged her to start a small enterprise that grew up to great heights under the tag of Orion Orchids.
Along with the flowers from her own collection in the garden, she imports flowers from Bangalore also. “It is all about your interest and flair for arranging flowers. You should cuddle them with love. It is the perfect way to spend your free time at home and it provides leisure too,” says Roopa. Her innumerable ways to mix and match different flowers of various shapes, colours and sizes enable her to stay in this field with constant success.
Being a newcomer, her elegant, easy and exquisite style of arrangement brought Anu Mathew huge success within a short period of three years. “This venture was started with the intention of killing the boredom of sitting at home,” smiles Anu. Having a keen interest in gardening gave her the idea of transforming her passion into a career. She started on a smallscale by making bouquets for close ones and doing flower arrangements in churches. Later on, the business was expanded and her diversified style of arranging flowers gained popularity. She also does bouquets and arrangements using dry flowers. Fresh flowers are brought from Bangalore and dry flowers from Thrissur.
“I do spray-painting to satisfy the colour needs of my customers. A patch of golden or silver brings an elegant look. I always try to bring out new designs by using different materials of cloth, straw and jute. Lilies are the most reasonable ones as they are huge in size, so only less number of flowers is required. Gerberas are the costliest,” says Anu.
All the above four are strictly against preserving the freshness of flowers chemically. They all see to it that they take immense care while buying and arranging flowers.
Natural methods of using fresh water, spraying a mixture of lemon juice and salt or storing the flowers in cool dark places are the best to maintain the freshness and everlasting fragrance of flowers.