In a time like this, during a global pandemic where most of us are hunkered down and quarantined at home, there is a desire for the occasional venture out of our isolation stations to find a fun and safe creative outlet to spend time with our friends. Fern Botanica provided that for me and and two girl friends recently in a private flower crown making class with the owner, Julia. I had been communicating with her via e-mail a few weeks in advance and she was extremely friendly and accommodating in helping us schedule a date that would work for us, and also assuring me above all else, that the class would take place safely at their shop/studio. We had two hours of great fun and felt very safe with our masks on while we were having our creative flower crown moment and there was plenty of ventilation with the door being open and the breeze flowing through the space. Julia was a peach, and really enlightened us about her business and I loved the fact that Fern Botanica is eco-friendly. They compost, and use chicken wire in their floral creations as opposed to using floral foam which is not environmentally friendly.
I found this info right from their About Us section on their website very encouraging:
"Fern Botanica is a woman-owned, Astoria local florist with a mindfulness towards sustainability. We understand that while flowers are not the most eco-friendly, anything we can do as a small business to reduce our carbon footprint i.e. not using floral foam, using local vendors, recycling & composting is a step in the right direction."
TLDR: The flower crown making class was well-priced, and my flower crown is still sitting absolutely gorgeous (pack myself on the back!) on top of my autumn apple display and will hopefully last for years to come. Also, any bride/groom or party planner looking for a florist should absolutely consider Fern Botanica. The shop itself is chic, airy, and beautiful with a nice variety of goods for sale from local makers (i.e., face masks), and a completely fortuitous Queens find. read more