The magic of nurturing a tiny speck of dust seed to a beautiful bloom, ready to pick, brings Kate Briant joy.
Kate, AKA The Rural Florist, lives on an orchard 15 minutes from Gisborne with her husband Blake and their young children, George, 2, and Emily, 4 months. Her fresh and dried flower creations are in hot demand, and her talent for hilarious Instagram reels alone is worth following.
Growing up on a sheep, beef and Angus stud farm, followed by a career in horticulture, sparked a life-long love of growing and producing. Time spent working in a kiwifruit nursery kindled an interest in cultivation, and Kate soon developed an impressive garden of her own – largely grown from seed or cuttings.
People often commented on her gorgeous garden, and when she got married and started a family, Kate spotted a niche for flower subscriptions that she thought could work perfectly alongside her new role as a mother. As well as subscriptions for fresh blooms, she has a stand at Makaraka Veges, takes online orders for bouquets, does weddings and events, and sells dried flower creations.
Kate creates beautiful things for others to enjoy, but she is much more than that – a warm and caring person with a zest for life and a wicked sense of humour, I wanted to find out what makes her tick.
Describe yourself in 3 words? Full-noise – I seem to use that term a lot! Fun and straight shooter.
Why do you think people love flowers? They make us happy. Somehow you look at them, see the beautiful colours or smell them, and it releases oxytocin. Flowers are a thoughtful gift that you get to enjoy for a fleeting moment in time. It’s like having a little garden in a vase. A lot of people don’t have gardens these days, so fresh flowers in the home are a nice way to enjoy them.
What’s your favourite flower and why? The King Protea. It was in my wedding bouquet. It’s a show stopper flower and you can also dry them, so they can be enjoyed fresh and on-going. They are very popular in dried wedding bouquets. I’m growing some this year and they mostly flower in winter and early spring when there are not many other flowers available.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? When I was a uni at a party one night, someone said to me, will it matter in five years? If not, is it really worth worrying about? My flower field has been flooded three times already and I think, will it matter next season? No. If George rips a flower head off, will it matter next week? No. We call him ‘the Little Unhelper’! I guess it’s just about not sweating the small stuff like I used to.
Dream way to spend a day? In the sunshine at Mahia beach diving and fishing.
What inspires you? Growing something from a barely able to be seen speck of dust seed into a beautiful, magnificent flower. So many people just see the flower and not the work that goes on behind the scenes. Tending that tiny seed into a seedling and into the garden, watching it grow and picking a beautiful flower gives me a sense of achievement. It’s a bit of magic and a lot of hard work, but it’s still magic, the process that happens, with a little help from me.
What are you reading/listening to? I have to admit I don’t really read books – I buy flower books and don’t read them! And I listen to Spotify music, mostly 70s and 80s hits, with a bit of country thrown in.
There is one book I know I will read when I get my A into G about planning my garden for next year and things like succession planting. That is the Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden by Erin Benzakein.
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