Meeting with four exceptional florists in Rennes [2/4] – Rennes

Alongside fresh flowers, several designers of dried flowers have created their workshops, often private, in Rennes. Among the pioneers, Sarah Langlais. A year ago, she finally opened her shop.

Shortly before the start of rue Guéhenno, a few meters from a master butcher, a bushy garland of flowers catches the eye. In her shop opened in May 2019, Sarah Langlais, 27, finishes designing a bouquet of dried flowers. A practice that she started a little over two years ago and that she sold online before finding a place suitable for her wallet.

In his den, diversity is essential. Small green plants frequent cut flowers, dry arrangements and a few decorative pieces. “The cut flower is starting to take up a little more space but almost two-thirds of what I sell is dried flower”, comments the young woman who holds a license in visual arts, a CAP and professional certificate of florist.

Almost 100% French flowers

On its shelves, do not look for roses. “Even if it means bringing flowers from afar, as much as it is leucospermum, a plant that will never be able to grow in our country”, she illustrates, pointing to an astonishing ball formed of yellow-orange antennae coming straight from Africa.

In summer, its cut flowers are almost 100% French, especially thanks to Breton and Var flowers. “But the choice is still limited and sometimes a bit old-fashioned,” regrets the designer. In addition to in-store sales, Sarah offers clothing workshops and creates creations for weddings. An activity slowed down by the pandemic, but offset by dynamic online sales. “Soon, I am thinking of recruiting an apprentice,” she breathes. A positive signal in the sky already clear of the Rennes flower.

For almost 10 years, Jean-Michel Charrier has been running a shop located at the corner of rue de Fougères and boulevard de Metz. A sober proposal, classic flowers and a watchword: quality.

After working in horticulture and landscaping, Jean-Michel Charrier embraced a career as a florist. His passion: creation. In his shop, thistles, eucalyptus branches, gerberas and white roses. The origin of his flowers, he cares. No more roses from Kenya and Ethiopia. If their cost is lower, according to him “the quality is not there” and the opacity is “total” on the conditions of production, both in terms of products used for crops and the social conditions of the workers. .

For his anemones, Jean-Michel Charrier favors the south of France and for his winter chrysanthemums, he turns to Mayenne. The competition from self-service in supermarkets, feared during the second lockdown in November, does not scare him. “We don’t play in the same court. Them is the price. We, the quality ”, slices the fifty-year-old. A recipe that smiles on him. Despite the crisis, his turnover allows him to keep his two apprentices and his employee.

will not be patron

North of Rennes, the new French champion of florists works in a shop in the village of La Mézière. For her, there was no question of becoming a patron.

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The taste of floral art, Fanny Provost fell into it when she was little. His parents are gardeners and horticulturalists. Her husband, a nurseryman. His passion for plants, creation and competitions succeeds him. In September, Fanny Provost won the 49th Coupe de France des floristes organized by the French Federation of Artisan Florists. For five years, she has worked in the shop that Adélaïde Maros took over in La Mézière. Become your own boss? The thirty-something does not think about it. Managing the administration and finance, which mark the life of business leaders, is no thanks. Fanny prefers to create bouquets at the boutique, give classes at the local craft faculty and tackle new competitions. His only regret? Fail to sell more local flowers. “To have lilacs or hydrangeas from Israel or Kenya arriving in February when they bloom here in summer, sums up the florist, of course that questions”.

Rather than throwing away their production, Jean-Michel and Marie Leven, father and daughter, have created their shop in Rennes. She was born in the wake of the first confinement.

Their specialties? The white hydrangeas, eucalyptus foliage and camellias that they have long delivered to the large Parisian market of Rungis for the event ornaments of the Chanel brand. For almost 10 years, Jean-Michel and Marie Leven and their small family business in Côtes-d’Armor have planted a few plants in the metropolis of Rennes. In an old cucumber greenhouse in Noyal-sur-Vilaine, they cut off all heating to let their production flourish.

With them, no chemical treatments. The diversity of the crops planted avoids the appearance of diseases and the presence of insects or small pests. As for the earth, horse dung replaces fertilizers from petrochemicals. But no organic certification either. “Too expensive, too complicated to implement and customers trust us,” explains Marie.

Privilege in the proximity

In the rows, the nigella with its slender foliage rubs shoulders with dahlias and larkspur, whose flowers grow in spikes. Outside, lilacs, peonies, carnations and ranunculus are about to bloom. Marie will sell them directly to florists, on site, and in her shop open on Place Saint-Germain at the end of confinement. The local, she is attached to it, but she notes that the volume of production and habits are not yet there.

“You have to accept that asking for peony in January is like asking for tomatoes or strawberries. It’s off-season, ”she comments. For the young woman of 25, there is an education to redo. As a florist and producer, she started. For the store in Saint-Germain, the anemones, buttercups and white hydrangeas come mainly from its greenhouses and from the Paimpol farm. Privilege in the proximity.

The continuation of the Monthly of Rennes file on the florists of the Breton capital is to be found in the newsstand number or on the Telegram website from June 3.

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