Sylvia Cup Design Competition contestant Judy Janzen, AIFD, CCF, refused to be deterred by the contest’s surprise theme and twists. Instead, she approached the theme – Outer Space or Extraterrestrial Floral Designs — like a tricky word problem. She ignored irrelevant details, circling a few key words in the instructions as she aimed to cut through the noise and focused on the task at hand.
Janzen’s strategy, focus, and floral designs skills won the Fresno, California florist first place in the 56th annual Sylvia Cup Design Competition at the Society of American Florists’ annual convention Aug. 11-14 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Janzen, of Chase Flower Shop, and 18 other contestants competed for the grand prize: $3,000 cash, a trophy, and complimentary registration for SAF Amelia Island 2026. The first runner up, Libbie Conley, CF, of Grand Blanc Florist in Flint, Michigan, won $500. The second runner-up, Olga Savchenko, AIFD, of Dragonfly Floristic in Los Altos, California, won $250. The cash prizes and the hard goods used in the designs are sponsored by Smithers-Oasis. Certified American Grown provided the fresh product.
With two hours, each designer crafted three arrangements: a bridal bouquet for an extraterrestrial bride, a ceremonial floral sash for the father of the bride, and a memorial arrangement in memory of the bride’s mother.
The Sylvia Cup’s surprise theme and elements are a hallmark of the annual competition, ensuring designers think on their feet while the two-hour countdown is on.
For the bridal bouquet, Janzen focused on an extended analogous color palette, and s-shaped curve. With the sash she zeroed in on texture and pattern.
“Like a math word problem, they throw in a lot of extraneous things,” Janzen says. “I really focused in, I was deadeye. I had my baseball cap on and was ready to go.”
When a cow figurine was revealed as the surprise element, Janzen was unfazed. Instead of hiding it, Janzen placed the cow at the center of her sympathy piece on a turntable, a required element that each designer had to use. The audacious move worked.
“She took the oddest two things in the entire competition, and she made them literally the star on the stage,” says Marlin Hargrove, AIFD, PFCI, one of the five judges. “It wasn’t woven or tucked in, and I thought, ‘How brave. How bold.’ It was brilliant. It was just such a ridiculous surprise element, and she embraced it.”
Janzen also did her homework. She researched the current and new products by Smithers-Oasis. She practiced her greenery manipulation and wire work. She consulted former winners and listened to how they approached the competition. And when it came time to compete, she focused on the mechanics and technique that every designer knows but that can get lost in the flurry of the competition.
“I planned and thought, and planned and thought,” Janzen says. “And then I gave a nod to the theme, just a nod to it. If you spend too much time on the surprises, you’ve lost all your time. You stick to the plan.”
Her strategy showed.
“What I loved about hers — and it’s just so rare in a competition — is it was so clean,” Hargrove says. “She really concentrated on her mechanics. She made a pretty arrangement, it stayed together, and it was done technically correct and clean.”
Sarah Sampson is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
