Bouquet of the Week: Weekend in Montreal
As part of our recurring Bouquet of the Week series, Garden Collage continues to present a weekly inspirational bouquet that incorporates intriguing new design elements into the traditional practice of flower arranging. This week, GC styles a “Hotel Room Bouquet” to brighten up any temporary residence.
Something really wonderful about traveling to cities with famous farmers markets is buying flowers as an excuse to dress up a hotel room. Bringing a hand-selected bundle of flowers into the stiff environs of what is– by nature– a temporary space, is somehow comforting; it makes you feel at home when you are away. Plus: you can give the flowers to a member of the staff when you leave, which is guaranteed to make their day.
Montreal is a city known for its markets– from the sprawling, pumpkin-filled Marché Atwater to the pantheons of Jean-Talon, where I go every year to purchase foraged Quebecois mushrooms, maple wine, and wild currents.
On a recent weekend in Montreal, I got my flowers from the lovely Binette et filles at Marché Jean-Talon, which is still my favorite tiny flower market in Montreal. The goal for any hotel room bouquet is to keep it cheap and minimal– presumably, you will only be in your space for a few days, so you want to go for colors that will brighten the space without spending a ton of money on this temporary decor. This fall Montreal’s weather was super mild, and I was feeling the soft purple veronicas on the sunny day in which I arrived to make the purchase. They were calling to me. Upon eyeing my selection, the florist gasped, “C’est beau!” (“It’s beautiful!”), which was super flattering to me coming from a fellow french woman.
I was particularly proud of the vessel I used for this arrangement– a mason jar from a green juice I had purchased from Nomad Spa that morning. Re-purposing materials that you already have when traveling is also key if you actually want flowers in your hotel room– this way, you don’t have to buy a new vase, and you are recycling!
