Megan Parker was the head judge at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.
It’s not her first time as head judge either. She had the role in the 2019 show, and intended on being head judge again in 2020, but the show was cancelled due to Covid, and in 2022 but she was unable to attend due to being sick with Covid.
There was a mixture of Australian floristry students and professional florists competing, and there were strict guidelines they had to follow.
The displays couldn’t extend past certain measurements and had to have a visual impact.
She said it was an amazing show, and the calibre of work was high.
One winner of the show was a team of three succulent growers from Collectors Corner Garden World who created an underwater scene complete with a Neptune made of various succulents.
“It was amazing.
A winning piece was created by a team of three succulent growers from Collectors Corner Garden World.
“When you looked at it, it was like you were under the sea.”
A winner of the visual design was Australian florist Matthew Landers who created a polystyrene cloud suspended in the air that the flowers sat on.
Parker said it was incredible to be a part of a team in such a prestigious event where about 108,000 people from the public attended in five days.
She said while the free competition was open to New Zealanders as well, they would have to pay to get all their displays over to Melbourne, which is why she didn’t see any Kiwi competitors.
However, she did take two New Zealand florists over with her, Jessica Cooper from Palmerston North and Nimrekha Collins from Kāpiti, who presented a floral stand that was not judged.
Australian florist Matthew Landers' winning floral display.
She said it’s unfortunate there aren’t any floral shows in New Zealand any more and said there’s nothing to inspire up-and-coming Kiwi florists.
Parker said her extensive history in floristry is what landed her the head judge role, and one of her biggest feats was developing the floristry level two course through the Open Polytechnic, which is a free online course for all New Zealanders.
She’s also in the process of writing a level three course which is due to be released this year.
Parker has a long history in floristry, starting with an after-school job at My Fair Lady Florist in Paraparaumu which she had when she was just 14.
While she didn’t want to work in a flower shop at first, after her first day she was hooked.
Originally, she wanted to be a driver in the navy, but today she is considered a master florist and is the president of the New Zealand Professional Florist Inc (NZPF), a title she has held for four terms.
