Presenting

25 e global supply chain is a vibrant patchwork of people, flowers and logistics that assimilates beauty from every part of the world. "I splurge on gorgeous premium blooms because it's what defines my studio's brand. And beauty comes from everywhere," Chapple says. Chapple's northern-Virginia-based studio specializes in premium flowers for life's big and everyday events. e Sun Always Rises In Colombia's mountain steppe region, the sun rises predictably just before 6 a.m. every day. Maria Salcedo and 350 other Alexandra Farms employees arrive to tend, cut and pack the 300,000 garden roses they ship each week from the farm's 1 million specialty garden rose bushes. "We started Alexandra Farms because we wanted to bring back the romance to cut roses," Joey Azout, president of Alexandra Farms informs. "We asked ourselves, 'Where are the roses that had fragrance? Where are the roses that would prolifically bloom in the vase and perform for the consumers?" Bred primarily for bud volume and stem length, traditional roses had lost their appeal to Azout. "We set out to find, grow and sell those poetic garden roses," Azout continues. "And, at first, it was not easy to find garden rose varieties because breeders were filling growers' needs for hardy roses that would be productive and survive the trip from Quito to Moscow. But hard work, lots of travel and perseverance allowed us to select beautiful, romantic roses to grow. And after 10 years, we have been able to select and grow more than 60 varieties that have the characteristics we were looking for." "Big, open, fluffy blooms—with lots of saturated color. Our bride, Meryl, wanted the full effect of old-fashioned romantic garden roses for her wedding day," shares Holly Heider Chapple of Holly Chapple Flowers. Chapple's northern-Virginia- based studio specializes in premium flowers for life's big and everyday events. "I don't know much about flowers, so I just told Holly I wanted lush, full flowers—and that I loved garden roses!" 2021 bride Meryl Miner informs. "I wanted to steer away from whites and traditional blush bridal colors, instead preferring variations of reds and corals as a complement to the blue chinoiserie jars we chose." Jose Azout (right) and employee at Alexandra Farms

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