A Pocket Full Of Posies

I don’t know whether nice people tend to grow roses or growing roses makes people nice. ~ Roland A. Browne

After meeting Tessa Sabankaya, owner of Bonny Doon Garden Company – which recently moved from its kiosk location outside Bookshop Santa Cruz into Fair Street New Leaf Community Market – I’d opine that nice people tend to grow roses.

And grow roses she does, along with scores of other flower varieties in her expansive garden glen in the Bonny Doon redwoods.

The exquisite art of nature—the play of light on plants, flowers, and intriguing organic shapes—has entranced me since childhood. Even today walking through a lovely garden leaves my heart and soul rejuvenated. ~ Tessa Sabankaya

Employing an intuitive sense of aesthetics, she combines knowledge of flowers and herbs with an understanding of the Language of Flowers to fashion bouquets that not only please the eye, but intoxicate the nose and quicken the heart.

I am personally drawn to her precious fragrant posies, which recall bygone days and an old-fashioned rhyme we chanted as children:

Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posies;
Hush! hush! hush! hush!
We’re all tumbled down.

If Tessa’s floral designs spark a desire to engage your own creativity, you’ll be happy to know that she offers garden workshops several times a year. The next one is scheduled for late November, giving you ample time to dream up a decorative arrangement for your holiday table.

All Tessa’s flowers are organic and sustainably grown “to honor and preserve the natural environment from which we draw our inspiration.” Another reason why I believe nice people tend to grow roses.

Roland A. Browne is the author of The Rose-lover’s Guide – A Practical Handbook On Rose Growing.

The first printing of the Ring-a-ring-a-roses rhyme appeared in Kate Greenaway’s 1881 edition of Mother Goose.

Tagged as: Bonny Doon Garden Company, florist, flower arrangements, flowers, Kate Greenaway, language of flowers, Mother Goose, posy, Roland A. Browne, rose, Tessa Sabankaya