Golden Flowers and Continental Flowers teamed up with Miami-based floral designer Nelson Gonzalez of Evolution Events to create a floral heart in Coral Gables, Florida.
Large hearts adorned with flowers and a message of peace took center stage in 40 cities across the world earlier this month, part of a unified act on behalf of the floral industry to show “compassion and support” for victims of war.
“With the powerful symbol of these hearts, we want to show our compassion and support, and connect and inspire more people to help and speak out against injustices,” a statement about the March 12 “#LoveNotWar” campaign says.
The campaign was spearheaded by Augusto Solano, president of the Colombian Association of Flower Growers and Shippers, and several horticulture companies that partnered with Blanchere Illuminations, a French display lighting company.
“Many companies and people in are working together show that they will do what it takes when help is needed,” the statement says. “And more than anything, these victims need urgent help.”
Floral companies whose warehouses are typically filled with flowers and plants have offered space to collect clothes, food, blankets and personal hygiene products for Ukrainian refugees. Floral companies are also deploying trucks and drivers to deliver aid, according to the statement.
The floral hearts, seen and photographed by thousands in dozens of cities worldwide, touched on flowers’ unique ability to convey a universal feeling of love and support.
“We work in a sector with beautiful products with powerful symbolism that speak an international language of love and friendship, of gratitude and support, offering comfort, and most of all, hope,” the statement says.
In the U.S., Golden Flowers and Continental Flowers teamed up with Miami-based floral designer Nelson Gonzalez of Evolution Events to create a display on a pedestrian street in Coral Gables, Florida, says Eric Fernandez, general manager at Continental Flowers. The flowers, mostly roses accented with green ball dianthus, were donated by exhibitors at the Wholesale Florists and Florists Supply Association’s Floral Distribution Conference, which was held a few days prior in Miami.
When the team arrived to tear down the display the following day, there were so many people taking pictures that they had to wait awhile, Fernandez says.
“It was a tremendous success,” he says.
Click here to see more photos from the #LoveNotWar campaign.
Floral displays (from left to right) in Zurich, Switzerland; The Hague; and Portugal.
Amanda Jedlinsky is the managing editor of SAF Now.