Looped in by Jules Monson

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I am a floral designer, maker, earth ally, and aspiring herbalist. I have always been drawn to flowers but I didn't ever consider flowers as a career - more of a retirement plan. The floral industry is a hard egg to crack and many folks spend years trying to get into it. I was very lucky in that I just sort of fell into it. My first flower job was at a shop in Kensington Market called WilBe Bloomin' and was practically gifted to me from my friend Beth!  It was run by an amazing aquarian, lesbian woman, Beverly Kolbe. At that time I was just coming into my queerness and Bev was the elder queer I needed in my life to begin accepting myself - we became great friends. My journey into flowers began there, in this beautifully cultivated community space, where I could be as liberated as I wanted to be. This was after graduating from OCAD University for Criticism and Curatorial practice. It took a few journeys around the globe and some lost boy days for me to be called back in. After I had sowed my wild oats, I once again found myself in a flower position, by chance. After both of these positions, it still didn't click for me that this was my thing!  I was invited to a flower potluck by a Toronto florist I had just begun working for. It was run by Natasa, the brains behind the Toronto Flower Market. A handful of the coolest florists in the city all joined together and took over an abandoned mechanics garage and just went wild with installations. It was the first time I had ever built anything big, or done any kind of installation work. It felt so natural.  I didn't have to think, I could just do. I finally understood that my medium as an artist was flowers and that the creation of environments was what fueled me.

Flowers continued to guide me to a position at Wild North Flowers as the head designer and eventually to launching my own business, Smells Like Flowers. Smells Like Flowers launched during the pandemic. At that time, I also began farming at Cedar Grove Organic Farm to support the growing practice of Louise Warner of Wild Imagination Co. Louise is hands down my favourite flower grower on this planet. She is well loved and respected in the flower world and has completely transformed the local flower game (IYKYK). I was living in an off-grid cabin and farming. The nature vibes were strong. I was using water from our river to bathe, heating my house with wood, and really depending on nature to hold me, to support my life. The connection was so strong that I had to start asking myself how I was holding nature, how was I treating her, what was my impact? In an industry that is wrapped, re-wrapped, and triple wrapped in plastic, I was at a loss and considered quitting flowers all together. I couldn't claim to care about the climate emergency and continue on. Then, once again, as they always do, the flowers stepped in. I was growing the most incredible blooms with Louise, what was holding me back? I had to go local. So now my practice has evolved to a deeper responsibility. I use my creativity and flower posture to solve problems that would otherwise be solved by buying import flowers or using plastic. This shift has been amazing and has actually boosted my creativity into a totally new zone. It is incredibly rewarding to build relationships with growers and bring them into the creative process. I am thankful to have had so many varying experiences in my life that have shown me all the little corners of the flower world. I walk through it now with so much respect for all the people that walk this life and of course a tremendous respect for the flowers themselves. This is long because my flower journey is about so much more than just making beautiful things. They've taught me accountability, they've demonstrated how to hold community, and they've deepened my spiritual connection to the world. They've taught me about the moon. They've shown me how everything is interconnected; from the microbes in the soil, to the waves in the ocean, to the the moon, and back again.They are the sparkle that calls us in to discover our place in this world and reminds us that we are an essential part of this beautiful system.    

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