National wins recognise floristry skill in full bloom

Greenacre’s Margaret Azar and Kingsgrove’s Samantha Frost were announced winner and runner-up respectively after enrolling in TAFE NSW Certificate III in Floristry this year at Padstow.  Encouraged by their teachers to test their new skills and enter, they exceeded the competition’s tough brief to claim their titles among the best up-and-coming florists in the country.
“As soon as we were given the brief for the competition I knew what I wanted to do and I was happy with my entry, but when I found out I’d won I burst into tears,” Margaret said.
Margaret’s winning entry was a fascinator she titled ‘Lifting the Veil on Dark Times’.
It was described by judges as a brilliant description and floral interpretation of the past three years with the pandemic, natural disasters and war.
Samantha will also complete a Certificate III in Floristry this year before enrolling to study Certificate IV in Floristry, hoping to use her skills and knowledge to open her own business.
“Before the TAFE course I hadn’t worked with a lot of natives, and in this competition, I found and used a lot of delicate flowers I hadn’t seen before,” she said.
“So I was pleasantly shocked to see I placed second in the competition.”