The Language of Flowers with Floral Designer Althea Wiles

Althea Wiles, founder of Rose of Sharon Floral Design Studio in the Ozark Mountains, brings three decades of masterful experience to every floral creation. At the helm of one of the region's most versatile floral businesses, she orchestrates 75-100 weddings annually while maintaining a thriving corporate events division and daily flower delivery service. With a Bachelor of Arts from Hendrix College and an Arkansas Master Florist Certification, her work has been featured in Homes & Gardens, The Knot, and Southern Living. A champion of thoughtful sourcing, Althea incorporates local blooms when available while maintaining access to premium flowers from global markets. She is a regular contributor to the prestigious Art in Bloom exhibit at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and serves as a respected mentor in the floral industry through her consulting program. Her approach to floral design emphasizes personal service and attention to detail, whether crafting an intimate birthday arrangement or transforming venues for grand-scale events. In this episode, we discuss why Althea fell in love with floral design, the beauty in having her art live only temporarily, how she finds creativity within constraints, which flowers evoke which emotions, the factors she takes into consideration when designing florals,how she uses emotional intelligence when being involved in events like weddings and funerals, how the floral industry and trends have changed and where they’re going, and more.   Follow Althea on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseofsharonfloral/  Check out Althea’s website: https://www.roseofsharon-eventflorist.com/  Subscribe to Version 1's substack: version1podcast.substack.com/  Follow Version 1 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/ Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville