Self-taught and self-employed, the Young Florist & Flower Grower of the Year takes pride in how far she has come since Covid lockdowns.

Jade Bedel has turned her foraging hobby into forging a successful business – evolving her love of flowers into Willow and Sage Botanics. Now she offers sought-after wedding florals and popular floristry classes.

Self-taught and self-employed, the Young Florist & Flower Grower of the Year takes pride in how far she has come since Covid lockdowns, when she would pick flowers around her parents’ rural west Auckland home.

“I started picking some bunny tails from the beach and kind of illegally foraging from people’s fence lines, making pieces for myself. We went into lockdown so I decided to sell some on Etsy,” Jade, 24, explains.

“Like most people, I’m sure, when you start with something that you love, it’s great, sales start rolling in. Then you realise, ‘This is actually a business, and I need to learn all the things’.

“It’s nice now to look back and see how far I’ve come, and all the little hurdles and things that I’ve learned,” she says. “I don’t think you’ll find a creative that says that it’s not a whole learning curve. It is just me the majority of the time, so it is everything from finances to marketing.”

She has more than a dozen weddings booked this year and bolsters those with floral workshops in the off-season, based in a wing of a barn at the family home.

Aware there is still so much to learn, Jade invested in training – through online classes with florists in America and Australia and sought the support of a business mentor.

“I was really lucky because my parents had businesses when I was growing up, so I leaned on my mum at the very beginning.

“Marketing has evolved, it’s now so centred on social media. It’s taken a long time to understand who my ideal client is, and who I’m talking to, to then attract the people that I want to work with.

“What I love the most, is being able to get to know the people that I’m doing the flowers for, and bring something to life that reflects them.”

Jade admits she wouldn’t call herself a people person, and loves working alone: “I do what I want, essentially – especially when I get to work with people who give me creative control and freedom. I love working with people who are just as excited about the flowers as I am and about creating this whole experience, especially with weddings.”

Jade’s family moved from France and initially lived in Wellington for about 15 years. She had a stint in Wanganui and moved to Auckland just over a year ago. She is planning to move to France next year, for a year, to gain more experience.

Initially Jade was planning to be a yoga teacher and homeopath, and completed a diploma in homeopathy through the College of Natural Health and Homeopathy.

“I’ve never really felt like I belonged in anything, as cliche as it sounds. None of the traditional paths really felt right. It feels right to do what I’m doing now.”

She hopes that in future there will be a way to combine both skillsets.

“I’d love to find a way to merge that side of the natural wellness with floristry – that potentially could work through the workshops. I’d love to do yoga classes in nature. Just being in nature fills my cup.”

Her workshops, she says, allow people to disconnect from the hustle and bustle and reconnect with nature and tap into their creativity.

“They always leave feeling so good and really happy with what they’ve made, and surprised often that they could have even come up with that.”

And she recently got to feel the positivity her flowers bring to a wedding: “I stayed the longest I’ve ever stayed at a wedding. And I loved it. I was behind the scenes, but I had to move the florals from the ceremony to the reception, and I got to see the bride and groom walking down the aisle and the guests coming into the reception space, and see everyone’s reactions. Most of the time, you’re in, you’re out, and you come back and it’s all finished.”

Wedding days can be stressful, she points out: “There’s this fantasy of living the life of a florist. It’s not all glam and it’s not all fun. Most of the time I look like a trucker with some gumboots, shorts and a cap.

“It is a lot of lugging dirty, heavy buckets around. It is quite physical on top of the whole mental logistics of the actual wedding day, and trying to remember everything that needs to be done. But it’s worth it, I just love what I do.”

About The Young Horticulturist of the Year

The Young Horticulturist of the Year (YHOTY) is an intensive two-day competition for talented young professionals from a range of horticultural sectors.  Run by the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture Education Trust, the YHOTY was launched in 2005 and culminates in choosing a supreme winner at a prestigious annual awards.

There are six finalists vying for the supreme title and a prize pool worth more than $50,000 at the grand final, held in Karaka, Auckland on November 5 and 6.

The sectors are:

• Young Grower of the Year (Horticulture New Zealand Fruit & Vegetable Sectors)
• Young Amenity Horticulturist (New Zealand Recreation Association)
• Young Viticulturist of the Year (New Zealand Winegrowers)
• New Arborist (New Zealand Arboriculture Association Inc)
• Young Florist/Flower Grower (FLONZI Florists and Flower Growers NZ Incorporated)
• Young Plant Producer of the Year (New Zealand Plant Producers Incorporated)

The competition’s valued Official Partners are Woolworths, Fruitfed Supplies and T&G Fresh. Young Horticulturist of the Year celebrates 20 years in 2025 and is managed by the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture Education Trust.

For tickets to the awards dinner on Thursday, November 6, 2025 and further information go to younghort.co.nz

About the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture Education Trust

The Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture Education Trust is a volunteer group of industry professionals passionate about investing in future sector talent, through developing leadership and self-development capability.