Saskia Havekes is the owner of acclaimed Potts Point florist Grandiflora, specialising in striking floral installations for events as well as beautiful flowers for every day. She has produced two beautiful books, one focusing on arrangements and Grandiflora Celebrations focusing on her work for events both public and private. We suspect she is the earliest riser amongst our Week in Pictures contributors.



Just about the most important activity at Grandiflora is going to the Sydney Flower Markets at Flemington, three mornings per week. I will never give up doing this. The early morning start of 4 am, while challenging at first, quickly morphs into being invigorating! I have been doing this for over 20 years and I am always thrilled and enriched on every single visit. The camaraderie, the visual feast, the heady fragrances and the fast pace always crank up the adrenalin and create a rush to the pulse. Arriving back at the shop, the van always full to overflowing and groaning with abundance; it's all hands to the pump to unload. Lightning speed has to be applied by everyone as the parking is restricted. There is always much more than we can fit comfortably into the shop, so usually the whole load is piled up on the footpath outside until we can creatively jostle vases, urns, and buckets around to install everything inside. It's a bit like a Rubik's Cube trying to make it all fit!



Once all the floral elements are sorted, there is time for a quick and necessary coffee stop over the road at Fratelli Paradiso. This ritual is something that we never skip, as it spurs us on for the remainder of the day. People may think that working with flowers comprises of standing around languidly all day thinking about which bloom works best with another. For the most part there is a lot of lifting, carrying, sweeping, trimming stems, cleaning up green waste, and filling buckets with water. You have to be quite strong physically and have endurance and unyielding passion. By this time of the morning we must start either creating pre-ordered arrangements, or working on installations for corporate clients, ready for pick up or delivery.



Often, a meeting is also scheduled with a bride, new client, or collaborating artist. The shop space is very narrow and everyone must be mindful of the closeness. Sometimes a prospective bride is teetering on a stool in amongst a flurry of orchids and tulips being snipped and positioned.



Sometimes we have to leave the shop and go to other premises to work on large installations. This was so with the enormous job we recently did for the Children's Hospital. Days of spray painting and assembling dried leaf bundles, and construction onto wire frames, meant the finished work could be transported directly to the event site.



There are no true set hours in floral work. And mostly we have a very tight time frame. Often we are installing work late at night for a couple of hours of enjoyment for a function or event, and then have to go back after midnight to dismantle it all so the next day there is not a trace.  It is a very ephemeral experience.



The Magnolia Grandiflora is our eternal inspiration, guiding light and muse. The streets in the shop's neighbourhood are peppered with these giant beauties. We never tire of her majesty, nobleness, and quiet complexity. For all this I was inspired and compelled to create fragrance.  launching in Australia at the end of the year.



We have been working with Sally Cooper for some time now.  She is a ceramicist who creates individual pieces with the Japanese wabi sabi philosophy in mind. We collaborate together on colour, shape, form, and utility needs, but Sally has the final word on the creative process and the aesthetic.



On occasion we will create a dinner evening in the shop to round off the day, or to celebrate a milestone.  Or to welcome international guests.  As there are no amenities, we will engage a chef from one of the many talented restaurants in the neighbourhood to fashion a menu of their choosing.  The heady ambience is created with myriad candles, intoxicating floral fragrances, and an enchanted- forest surrounding of flowers, branches, berries, and barks.

To see more of Saskia's work, visit the Grandiflora website or follow Grandiflora on Instagram @grandiflora_sydney, on Pinterest or via their Facebook page.