Anyone who has let a garden go a little wild knows the look. It's not manicured, with clipped edges and tidy rows, but the sort where stems can intertwine into each other and something more unexpected turns up in between, where you didn't plant it. That mess, held just on the edge of intention, is what Isabella Persano has built her floristry practice on.
Her florist and gift store, World of Petals, recently opened on High Street in Westgarth, and it's already turning out to be more than that.
Starting it wasn't really a leap, she says, more the obvious next thing. 'It felt like the next natural step for me to develop and expand my own style in floristry.' Five years into the trade, she was ready to give her own ideas some room. There was also something she'd wanted to do for ages, which was to open a giftware shop stocked with her own handmade pieces and other things she'd chosen with care. The store carries a small, considered range of brands now, including Hinu, Noosa Basics, Tara's Treasures and Stay Put, alongside a few objects Bella has made herself.
What you notice is how generously she speaks about everyone she worked for before this. Going out on her own hasn't meant cutting ties.
'I love everyone I have worked for in the past, and I still dabble between working for them when I can.' She puts her whole love of the craft down to those people, and calls floristry a beautiful, supportive community. 'I wouldn't be here without them.'
Ask how she'd describe her style and she doesn't hesitate.
‘With a sense of play.’
Image by @thomasjpg
She's a keen gardener, and it shows; she takes her cues from the glorious tangle of an overgrown plot. Her training, though, was nothing like that. She learned at TAFE, which she's grateful for because it taught her the hands-on skills and the design rules every florist needs. What she does with those rules now is the fun part. 'It's been fun to rebel against those norms,' she says. The logic is simple enough. Stick to the rules and you'll make something 'beautiful,' sure, but beautiful and exciting aren't the same thing. So, she reaches for unconventional materials instead, chasing something trickier, an arrangement that looks like an overgrown garden but still feels deliberate.
The High Street shop is a big step, and she's honest that most of what she's learned from it has nothing to do with flowers. 'It is all the non flower related things that I have learnt about the most in this process.' How a display pulls people into a space, what they gravitate towards and why; that's the stuff that's surprised her. She calls it 'really liberating,' finally getting to find out what she likes making and curating when nobody else is setting the brief.
Mostly, she's excited about who else might use the space. Two exhibitions are already booked, and she clearly relishes the idea of collaborating and reworking the store for a few weeks at a time. 'I love bringing in fresh energy and seeing what different ways I can get people into the store.' The shop is open to pop-ups, gallery openings, 'and anything else you can think of.'
Persano is just as frank about the hard bits. The toughest so far has been doing it on her own. Floristry, the way she describes it, is a deeply collaborative thing, so the quiet of running a shop solo has been the biggest adjustment.
'I love sharing the passion with other florists and making things together,' she says, and then she's straight into the kind of thing she misses, gushing over 'how beautiful is this wonky stem' or 'how beautiful is the smell of this daphne.' She can't bring someone in to work with her yet, but she's quick to call that a phase, not a permanent state. 'It is definitely not going to be this way forever,' she says, with one eye on where World of Petals is headed.
Underneath all of it is a mission that goes well past the shop's front door. She wants people nearby to actually notice the natural world, to 'tune into the little nature filled corners in such a big busy concrete city.'
There's a story she tells that captures it. She'll show someone a material she's found at the flower market, and a week later they'll come back to say they've noticed their neighbour growing the same thing for the first time. For her, that's a small way of helping people slow down and tune into the nature around them. It's also where seasonality and sustainability come in.
'It definitely limits what I can source from the markets but I like it that way,' she says. She asks suppliers what's been grown locally and backs local flower farmers, which means giving up year-round access to things like calla lilies.
The trade-off suits her. When something rare does turn up, it's a genuine event, shared with clients who love that same unpredictability. 'They enjoy the unpredictability and with that comes the freedom to play with rare varieties we haven't seen in, say, years.'
The same openness runs through how she works with clients. A good collaboration, to her, isn't about whether someone shows up with a clear vision or none at all. Rather, what matters is that they appreciate how unpredictable nature is.
'Collaborating in that way is exciting and encouraging, it leaves space for openness and creativity.' As for what she hopes people feel when one of her arrangements arrives, it's fairly simple. Curiosity, a bit of appreciation for the world outside, a passing thought about what it took to grow the thing, and more than anything, excitement.
'That's how I feel when making arrangements and objects, so I hope people can feel that.'
For now, she's in no hurry. She'll run with the current set-up for a while, filling the quiet winter months with workshops and exhibitions, and then see what spring turns up. Weddings and events, hopefully. She seems happy to let the seasons set the pace.
'I'm excited to embrace each of the seasons and take note of their ups and downs,' she says, 'and take on board whatever comes my way.'
Which is more or less how a gardener thinks - plant it, treat it with care, give it room to grow and see what happens.
Visit World of Petals at 77 High St, Northcote VIC 3070