Blumen Studio

The Gatineau Hills just across the river from Ottawa are on fire with fall colours: bright yellows, golds, piercing reds, calm ocher and deep greens glow brilliantly. The atmosphere upon entering blumenstudio is no different. Unlike the common plastic-flooded flower shops and their rainbow-petaled displays that remain constant all year, blumenstudio’s organic offerings evolve with the season. Depending on when you walk through the doors, the palette of colours in blumenstudio will vary as owner Katrina Kosk’s bouquets reflect the local harvest. During fall, for example, there are collections aptly named “Ray of Sun” for the season’s yellows and oranges, and “Play of Purple” identify the autumn flowers in shades of purple and green.

“Everything in my shop, I make, I create. There is no plastic in here,” boasts Katrina. “Everything is all-natural, made locally, or imported from Germany or Holland, and is made of stone, clay, glass, metal, wood, porcelain and of course vegetation!” Even the pots that house mini-succulents, air plants and massive exotic houseplants are all designed by Katrina herself and made mere blocks away at LOAM, the local pottery studio. This is the core philosophy of blumenstudio, a brilliantly conceptualized and understated shop that houses a world-class florist whose values of nature and craftsmanship are perfectly expressed in a line from her website: “alive with heart.”