Decorating is fun. Whether you know what you’re doing or not, whether you’re a girl or a guy, making a space your own is a fun way to express a little creativity and create a home that is going to make you happy. I bought most of my apartment’s decor secondhand, but I splurged on a couch, some art, and a bunch of plants. Scientific studies have proven that having plants in a home increase oxygen and feelings of well being. I thought about that the other day when a friend of mine talked about how much she loves having fresh flowers in the house, and whenever she has guests she makes sure to pick some up. Derek Woodruff has made a life out of providing plants and floral arrangements for lovers of flowers and beauty throughout the Midwest.
“My favorite flower is a carnation, which most people are baffled by,” Derek said.
I certainly was baffled. As a young lady, it’s been ingrained in me that carnations are cheap. The redheaded stepchild of fresh-cut flowers.
“The stigma is they’re a grocery store flower, they’re cheap, you get them in high school. But, the varieties of carnations that are available nowadays, the color palettes are really beautiful, they last forever, they don’t make the water gross. There’s lots of reasons.”
He knows what he’s talking about. Derek has been working with flowers since high school. Initially, Derek was drawn to architecture. He liked the design aspect of drafting but found that the math and numbers were more dominant than the artistry.
“We had to do these occupational research reports and we got to choose whatever we wanted to do. I was obsessed with Jurassic Park at the time and I thought, ‘paleobotany that sounds like a cool thing.’ So I started researching that.”
Paleobotany studies fossilized plants. So while other people were obsessed with dinosaurs from prehistoric times, Derek was interested in the plants from times past. Derek’s high school offered a vocational program that focused on plant science, when he started he was given two options; landscaping or floral design.
“I chose floral design because I thought that I didn’t wanna do all this heavy lifting, little did I know in the floral industry there’s lots of heavy lifting,” Derek said. “So, I randomly fell into floral design. My instructors saw something in me, they thought I was creative and really encouraged me to practice and be a competitor and go to conventions.”
Others have seen Derek’s talent as well. He’s a North American Floral Design champion.
“A World Cup is held every four years like the Olympics. Last year I competed in America’s Cup, which was the qualifier to send the U.S.A. representative to the World Cup. I was the runner up, so I like to call it the biggest loser,” Derek joked.
Derek grew up in Jackson, Michigan and got his first floral shop opportunity in Traverse City. He fell in love with the area when he and his friend came up during high school. When Derek graduated he moved to Traverse City, Michigan and finished school at Northwestern Michigan College.
“When I moved here I had a job lined up as a florist. It was Hibbard’s Flowers which used to be downtown. From there I worked for Weaver’s Flowers and Distinctive Flowers and then I started my own business.”
Derek’s business, Floral Underground, is mostly lifestyle based, meaning that the business is mostly focused on providing flowers for people who home make or are using the flowers to enhance their interior.
“It’s not so much about a funeral, I want them around me because this is how I live my life.”
He provides flowers to some local businesses, but Floral Underground does the bulk of it’s business in subscription boxes that go beyond Northern Michigan. The boxes are curated by Derek depending on the season and new trends in floral design. He assembles boxes with everything his subscribers need to make an arrangement at home. He then shoots a video tutorial on how to assemble and design the arrangement for subscribers to follow.
“It’s lifestyle floral. My client is the recreational floral designer. Because I’m a floral educator I want that to carry through on my product.”
The boxes contain the flowers, a vase, a flower grid to help place flowers, plant nutrients, and finishing spray. The vases are from 46 & Spruce and are nice keepsakes of their own.
If you would like to keep flowers regularly in your home with the added benefit of supplies and guidance, check out Floral Underground. If you would like to see Derek in action, he’ll be doing a demonstration at Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home for their holiday open house on December 14th.
“There’s music, there’s food, they can tour the home. Peg Jonkhoff has me come in and do a live floral demonstration. I’m doing DIY centerpieces three ways is the theme. One will be a plant-based or terrarium based centerpiece for Christmas, one will be foam-free and one will be more traditional.”
Put some new life in your home with Floral Underground. You might be surprised how much joy having flowers in your home brings.
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