Let's Be Honest About Florist Culture for a Second

There's a specific kind of post that keeps showing up in my feed and I'm going to be real about it.

"Florists who tape their vases aren't real florists."

"Contemporary designers only work in two shapes and two colors — branch out a little."

I'll be honest, these posts make me roll my eyes. Not because I don't have opinions about floral design. I absolutely do. But because there is something genuinely baffling about choosing to spend your creative energy tearing apart someone else's work instead of making your own.

Here's the thing nobody wants to say out loud

We are all insecure. Every single one of us.

I have had uncharitable thoughts about another florist's work. I'd be lying if I said otherwise. But I've also learned to recognize those thoughts for exactly what they are: my own insecurity dressed up as criticism. Because for every "hmm, not sure about that," there are five moments of genuine "oh my God, that is stunning." Five moments of being pushed to try something new because someone else had the guts to do it first.

That's the energy worth feeding.

Why this keeps happening

Floral design requires no license, no degree, no formal training. Anyone with ambition can start a business tomorrow. That means we are all competing for the same clients in the same market with trends that shift faster every year,and nobody wants to hand over the playbook they worked hard to build.

I get it. Scarcity makes people protective.

But here's what that logic misses: the florist booking a client you wanted didn't take anything from you. There are enough occasions, enough people, enough reasons to buy flowers that this industry does not have to be a zero sum game. It just doesn't.

What it actually costs

It took me ten years to start this business. Ten years of convincing myself I didn't have the eye for it, that my work wasn't ready, that I wasn't enough. I was terrified to put anything out there, and honestly, some days I still am.

When I see a post implying that someone's methods make them less legitimate, I think about every person sitting on the fence about whether to start. Every designer second guessing whether their work is good enough to share. Every florist who almost didn't.

Someone out there read that and put their flowers back in the bucket.

What I'd rather see

A like. A genuine comment. A "this is beautiful" to someone whose style looks nothing like yours. The willingness to admit that a rising tide lifts all boats, even when it doesn't feel that way in the moment.

There are florists out there who share their process, answer questions generously, and show up for this community with real warmth. I am grateful for every one of them. They are the reason I keep going on the hard days.

We built businesses out of something as inherently generous as flowers; the least we can do is match that energy with each other.

So here's my ask

Go leave a kind word on someone's post today. A florist you admire, a newcomer putting their first arrangements out there, someone whose work is nothing like yours but clearly comes from a place of genuine love for the craft.

Start there. See what happens.

I'm rooting for all of you. Even the ones I've never met.

Tate Stem & Stone Floral Co. — Austin, TX