A note from Skye
Poetry in Flowers began back in 1998 when my Aunt Liz opened one of the very first retail stores in Gungahlin.
Over the years the shop has moved between The Marketplace and The Village buildings in Gungahlin and today we’re happily settled in The Marketplace alongside some wonderful local businesses who share our love of the Canberra community.
I joined the Poetry family in 2008, after helping my Aunt during busy periods for a few years before that. I quickly fell in love with floristry, the creativity, the flowers and most of all being able to help people celebrate, love, grieve and connect through flowers.
When Liz decided to retire in 2017 my husband Peter and I took over Poetry in Flowers. We were raising our young family and wanted to build a life where we could support our family while still having the flexibility for one of us to be there when our kids needed us. Owning a small business has certainly given us that although perhaps with a little more chaos than we imagined!
Running a family business is hard work. There are long days, early mornings, busy seasons and plenty that happens behind the scenes, but it is also incredibly rewarding. We’re so proud that more than 28 years after Liz first opened the doors Poetry in Flowers is still a locally owned, independent Canberra florist. We’re also incredibly lucky to have a wonderful team around us. Poetry wouldn’t be what it is today without the talented people who have worked alongside us over the years and we’ll always be grateful for their creativity, hard work and kindness.
One of the challenges of being a local florist today is competing online with large order-gathering websites that can appear to be local florists when they’re not. When ordering flowers online we always encourage you to look for a real local florist with a physical address, a genuine team and a connection to the community. Supporting local means your money stays within your community and supports local jobs, growers, makers and other small businesses.
After all these years, we’re still passionate about beautiful flowers, supporting Australian growers and local producers and creating something thoughtful for every person who orders from us.
Thank you to everyone who has walked through our doors, ordered online, trusted us with a wedding or event, recommended us to a friend or simply followed along over the years. Every order allows us to keep doing what we love while supporting our family and our team and we never take that for granted.
Skye x