It wasn’t just the competitors that shone at the 2023 World Cup, the venue did too. Floristry industry consultant Karen Barnes, together with Details Flowers Software, created flower recipes totalling over 200,000 stems to include everything from table flowers to the World Cup logo to telephone boxes. It took a highly experienced team to pull it together, but they did, and the result was stunning.
Happy Birthday Interflora!
Glowing in gold, this huge 100 celebrating Interflora’s centenary, greeted visitors in the foyer of Manchester Central. Carnations, roses, dahlias and butterfly ranunculus were the floral stars in this impressive recognition of a century of Interflora saying it with flowers.
Sponsored by Coloriginz
Floral Fundamentals
When floral art is at its best. This huge, free-standing installation set the tone for the standard of floristry throughout. Designed, constructed and decorated by Floral Fundamentals, an international team of floral designers. Seven structures each standing at over 3m high, were infilled with thatching reed before being exquisitely decorated with individual flowers in test tubes in a carefully curated ombre colour scheme.
World Cup Logo
Fancy a selfie? So many visitors stopped to stand and admire (and have their picture taken) in front of the impressive World Cup 2023 logo. Suspended inside a gold coloured circular frame, it was surrounded by a luxurious floral selection of roses, peonies, alliums, dahlias and nerines, all in the signature World Cup colours.
World Cup logo sponsored by Coloriginz
"I’m at the World Cup"
Another selfie hotspot were the red telephone boxes. There weren’t many who could resist ‘making a call’ framed by a classic, cottage garden array of asters, campanula and clematis wreathing both inside and out of this iconic British symbol.
Phone boxes sponsored by Marginpar
Driven by Flowers
Looking to the future, and tying in with the message of sustainability, which was central to the competition, the next generation of electric vehicles were on show – decorated with flowers, of course. The electric Interflora delivery van parked outside the venue was filled with heat-loving protea and anigozanthos, an appropriate selection, considering the exceptionally hot weather, while inside a Synergy-supplied car was covered in a carpet of 2000 pink roses.
Electric vehicles sponsored by Coloriginz
The Bandstand
Central to any village green is a bandstand, although they don’t usually come as beautifully decorated as this one. Using foam-free techniques throughout, each upright post was lavishly covered with willow, wax flower, dahlias, carnations and peonies, with elegant trails of grasses and amaranthus. Troughs of garden roses and Setaria grass completed this quintessential aspect of traditional England.
Bandstand sponsored by Coloriginz
Having a Moment
Where better to rest weary feet than on a gently rocking swing, in amongst a bower of roses? Over 2000 were used to create this natural, meandering, soft palette of colour. A fitting place to finish.
Swing sponsored by Naranjo Roses
The words ‘well done’ and ‘congratulations’ don’t really go far enough to express the work that went into bringing the vision and floral recipes to life. Thank you to Karen Barnes and Details Flowers Software for creating the flower recipes and to a dedicated and extremely hard working floral décor team who made the magic happen.
Su Whale is a florist and freelance writer with over twenty-five years' experience in the floristry industry. She is the author and publisher of three best-selling books: Cut Flowers, 4th edition (2020) Cut Foliage, 2nd Edition, (2021) and Houseplants (2019), all bookshelf essentials for the professional florist.
