Everyone loves beautiful flowers and this week I’m taking you Behind the Door of Canary Jane’s Flowers in Hawthorn, Victoria. Located in a cute little shopping strip on Burwood Road, you can’t miss the bright yellow shop with a white picket fence and a bicycle out the front! This is not your average florist, it’s a vintage paradise for flower lovers and anyone looking to brighten up their day!
Canary Jane’s is the creation of Rebecca Stacey who was inspired to design “a fifties style kitchen that sells flowers” in her cute shopfront space three years ago. A checkerboard floor, vintage kitchen cabinets and even a pink sink evoke an old school charm that is perfectly complimented by the fresh blooms. Rebecca tells me that after many years of working as a florist it took a bad car accident to push her to follow her dream of opening her own space. “Things like that make you evaluate your life” says Rebecca, “I thought it’s now or never”.
The name “Canary Jane’s” came from Rebecca’s love of the movie Calamity Jane and the original cowgirl it was based on, Martha Jane Canary. Once she opened the shop, Rebecca quickly realized she needed some real canaries to go with it and that’s how Bill and Doris became her shop birds. Perched in their vintage white cage, Bill and Doris keep Rebecca company as well as sing to any customers who might be visiting.
Rebecca likes to stock only seasonal, locally grown flowers and tends to favour colour and textural blooms in particular. Her favourites are anemones and she likes to feature a “flower of the week” on her chalkboard wall with a written meaning and a big bunch of the blooms underneath. There are beautiful fragrant posies, big arrangements and a wall of colourful blooms that Rebecca can turn into whatever sort of bunch a customer might be imagining. You can expect the unexpected at this florist, a bouquet might include a surprise apple or a ceramic rabbit may become a vase. Canary Jane’s Flowers also stocks an interesting selection of cards and gifts. Quirky items like kewpie dolls and vintage brooches make a statement amongst the more delicate soaps and candles.
Like many of the spaces I visit there is also a less glamorous side to the business – the workroom – which is located behind the shop counter. This is where Rebecca and her staff store vases, clean flowers and wash buckets (every florist’s least favourite job!) but also where beautiful wedding flowers are created.
When it comes to weddings, Rebecca loves designing garden style bouquets and finds her brides are often looking for something a little different. She loves an interesting colour scheme and creating custom bouquets for her brides. Appointments are held in the shop which means there are often fresh flowers to look at and brides get a feel for Rebecca’s quirky style. “I never set out to focus on weddings” says Rebecca “it’s something that happened naturally and through word of mouth”. There have even been a few hens flower workshops in the store.
It’s the community support that Rebecca loves most about her store. Sometimes customers will bring her a coffee from the cafe next door or some treats for the canaries. If she needs some roses to open up, the shop across the road will “babysit” them in their warmer space and she might grab them some lunch to share. It’s really the people who make the shop such a happy place to work says Rebecca, and the flowers just complete the feeling!
Images by Rebecca Stacey and Carly Elizabeth Photography
Ms Chinoiserie Says: What a gorgeous “sunny yellow” florist shop; all those beautiful blooms will definitely brighten anyone’s day!
About Amelia Waddell of Make Your Day Wedding Styling: I’m a wedding stylist and proud store owner who loves to chat weddings with everyone and anyone! I love to talk shop with other business owners (particularly over some chocolate cake!) and am the first to try and have a sticky beak behind the scenes of any event. My free time is spent ‘investigating’ new cafes, stores and events. Make Your Day Wedding Styling is my creative outlet and I love nothing more than that ten minutes just before the guests enter the wedding reception, it feels like a special sort of magic!
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