A bouquet of Olympic proportions; The London 2012 Olympic Victory Bouquet! Just like every aspect of the Olympics, much thought, planning and attention to detail goes into designing flowers presented to the Olympic Champions during the medal ceremony. World-renowned florist, Jane Packer, selected roses, rosemary, apple mint, lavender and wheat for the 2012 Olympic Victory Bouquets.
Jane Packer became well known in the late 1980’s for offering an alternative view to the use of flowers. She employed a casual design style that was more accessible than the formal design style of the time. She felt that flowers could brighten any interior setting and could be as exciting as fashion! She is known for grouping individual blooms together in a bouquet in more recent years. She passed away unexpectedly during preparations for the Olympics and her husband Gary Wallis and Susan Lapworth took over responsibilities for creating the victory bouquet.
Why did Jane choose these particular varieties of flowers?
She chose roses because they are an iconic British flower. She wanted to give the bouquet vibrancy so she used four distinct colors of roses divided into quadrants. She used yellow, orange, green and pink roses. To give definition to the quadrants she added British grown rosemary, apple mint, lavender and wheat. She wanted to provide not only a beautiful bouquet but also a fragrant one that would enhance the Victory Ceremony experience. Then it was all finished off with an elegant purple ribbon.
It is great to come up with a design for a beautiful bouquet but when you have to make 4,800 
of them, how do you get it done? With a lot of help! Forestry students from three different colleges around the country have come together to help with this monumental task. The students had training sessions weeks before the Olympics to be sure they were comfortable creating bouquets great enough for champions. It’s an exciting experience for all involved!
My favorite part of these bouquets is the fact that Jane insisted on using local growers for these bouquets! By using flowers from local growers, Jane was keeping the income with the local economy. Anytime you can keep it local, you should! What is your favorite aspect of the Olympic Victory Bouquet? Leave me a comment!
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