florist Holborn in Sicilian Avenue, Stems was established in 1985 by Jan, who still runs the business.
Having trained as a florist in Sweden for three years in the early 80’s, Jan returned to London, and her old stomping ground of Bloomsbury, where she studied at UCL for a BA in languages, and found a beautiful shop to let in Sicilian Avenue.
At that time, Sicilian Avenue was the home of many amazing, specialist businesses, including Black’s vintage clothing,often featured in Vogue, Skoob Books and Connock and Lockie Tailors.
Jan’s hand tied, signature bouquets, tied with garden string were a welcome change from the flat packed, typical English bouquets of the Eighties, and she was soon offered amazing challenges, including Time Out Awards ceremony dinners, an anniversary at St. James’s Palace and building an Icelandic cornfield in a photgraphic studio.
After several years of supplying upmarket hotels, Jan moved on to work with ITV on the South Bank, making all the floral displays for the Green Rooms, sets and star dressing rooms, until last year, when the studios closed.
Nowadays, many one off events are adorned with flowers by Stems – the LSE, events at The Hoxton Holborn, The Rosewood and L’Oscar – the latest addition to beautiful Holborn hotels, where a suite was recently adorned with the petals of 365 red roses!
Stems has four flower deliveries a week, ensuring ultimate freshness and a wide choice of flowers. Jan also grows some flowers, foliage and herbs in her garden at home, which are added to the bouquets to provide scent, shape and texture that are her signature style.
Living near the banks of The Thames, where teasel, wild blackberries, sloe and tansy grow amongst the tall grasses, Jan is inspired by the beauty of the wild flowers, and this is reflected in her work. It has been described as wild. “The space between the flowers is as important as the flowers themselves in the composition. It allows one to see the beauty of the individual bloom, as well as the composition as a whole, allowing the light to shine through.”
Stems also stocks houseplants. There has been a big revival of late, eapecially in the bright, white open workspaces that are popping up everywhere in central London. Plants warm up the starkness, and people are keen to make the space their own.
The sculptural nature of succulents and cactuses is very in vogue, and aloe veras and echeveria are popular choices. People hate the idea of killing plants, and feel more confident with the species that require little maintenance.
Stems hosts flower arranging sessions for groups, and will be holding some classes for how to look after houseplants in the near future.
If you need expert advice, or if you just love flowers and plants, you can visit Stems 7am – 7pm Monday – Friday. Flowers can also be provided for weekend events.
