About the studio
Fernwood Stem Studio arranges cut flowers to order, in Asheville, North Carolina.
The studio buys from growers in western North Carolina through the season, and from the wholesale market when the season will not give what an order needs. Every delivery is stripped, cut and conditioned on arrival, and the person who takes an order is generally the person who builds it.
Every order begins with the occasion rather than with a price list. What the season will give, how far the flowers have to travel and what the customer actually wants are settled in that order, and the figure follows from them.
Three operating principles
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The price is agreed before the flowers are bought
A from price is a starting figure. The figure that matters is confirmed once the season and the size are known, and it does not move afterwards without the customer being asked.
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The season decides what is possible
Stem availability, colour and vase life set the limit. Where a requested flower would not survive the date, the studio names what it would use instead rather than promising the original.
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One bench, start to finish
An order is not passed down a line. Whoever takes the brief carries it through conditioning and building, so nothing is lost between the counter and the bench.
What happens, in four steps
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Step 1
Get in touch
Send the occasion, the colours and the date through the contact form. The reply says what the season allows and when the studio can have it ready.
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Step 2
Agree the brief
Colours, size, container and delivery are settled in writing. This is where the price and any substitutions are agreed.
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Step 3
The flowers are conditioned
Stems are stripped, cut and left to drink before anything is built. A same-week assessment, where it applies, is agreed at this point and not afterwards.
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Step 4
Collect or deliver
The finished work is watered, checked and wrapped. An adjustment within the agreed brief is part of the same order.
What the studio does not do
Fernwood Stem Studio arranges fresh cut flowers to order. It does not sell house plants or garden stock, does not take on silk or dried-only commissions, and does not hire out vases, arches or props. Where an order needs one of those, the studio says so at the enquiry rather than taking the job on.
Ask about an order
A description of the occasion, the colours wanted and the date is enough to start. The studio replies with what is in season for that date and what it would cost.