Jane Packer, the celebrated and world-renowned florist who transformed the floral industry, sadly passed away on the 9 November 2011, aged 52.
Jane began her illustrious career as a schoolgirl when she took a Saturday job at a florist in her home town of Chadwell St Mary in Essex. She spent most of her first pay packet on flowers to take home. It was this passion for flowers coupled with her unique flair for colour and texture that transformed a schoolgirl hobby into a global brand.
Building the brand was hard work. Aged just 22, Jane opened her first shop on James Street just off Oxford Street. To pay the rent, she worked seven days a week, getting to market at 5am and working on floral arrangements through the night to fulfill the orders for the following morning. It was three years before the shop turned a profit. A turning point came when Jane was asked to design the bridal flowers for the wedding of Sarah Ferguson to the Duke of York in 1986. That was the defining moment of her career. In the same year she wrote her first book, Celebrating with Flowers. Jane went on to produce many other books, her latest one being At Home with Flowers, published by Ryland Peters & Small. |
