La Musa de las Flores
High in the Mexican mountains, a florist grows a delicate English garden for large weddings and Paris fashion brands.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson
Photo - Masha Golub.
Gabriela Salazar wasn’t always interested in flower arrangements, but after she moved to London to study Architectural Interiors, she fell in love with the colourful array of florals at the New Covent Garden Flower Market. Now the florist lives in Valle de Bravo, a small town two hours from Mexico City, after relocating from San Luis Potosi seeking a tranquil location with fresh air and an abundance of plants. “I moved here to grow flowers and to be surrounded by nature,” Gabriela muses. “I’m always grateful to wake up in such a quiet place.”
La Musa de las Flores’ homegrown style is loved by many, and clients include Yves Saint Laurent (YSL), Hermès, and Mont Blanc; as well as gracing the pages of Vogue Italia, House & Garden, Architectural Digest andDesign Hunter. In 2019, La Musa was featured in Phaidon’s Blooms: Contemporary Floral Design; a survey of 80 contemporary floral designers who create contemporary art with flowers across the world.
“I learned through hard work, and by trial and error, what I can and can’t grow here in Mexico,” says Gabriela Salazar. Photo - Masha Golub.
Photo - Masha Golub.
Every day the florist wakes up at 6am; without an alarm, trusting her late grandmother to come and wake her. “Each night before bed, I close my eyes and remind my grandmother to come and wake me,” Gabriela poetically shares. “She always has done.” After coffee, and the school run for daughter Maria, the day begins working in the garden tending to the English flowers she fell in love with while in London.
“My fascination with flowers started in London – I moved there to study Architectural Interiors at a design school, but after a few visits to the New Covent Garden Flower Market, I felt I could spend my life among flowers.”
“When I moved back to Mexico five years later, I really missed the flowers I’d been working with in the UK,” Gabriela explains. “In Mexico, we grow a lot of flowers, but not in the colours and varieties I had fallen for in England like garden Roses, Japanese anemones, Helleniums, Hellebores, varieties of Hydrangeas you can’t find in Mexico like paniculate, and sweet peas.”
“I like effortless arrangements that look lush and romantic but very soft and cared for,” says Gabriela Salazar. Photo - Maureen Evans.
“Each flower should have their own place to breathe in an arrangement; it is important to care for each bloom and place them kindly inside the vessel,” shares Gabriela Salazar. Photo - Lucia Hunter.
Gabriela Salazar in her garden. Photo- Ana Laframboise.
Photo - Masha Golub.
These blooms inspired her to produce her own garden and allow her arrangements to take on a flow suited to nature. In her practice, and the classes she teaches, Gabriela lets this idea of tending to the flowers grow —rather than focusing on a technique— such as using chicken wire for “more movement and better life in the vase.”
“I feel flowers are not just beautiful to arrange but working with them also teaches you how to be patient, kind, resilient, graceful and many other life lessons. I simply can’t think of a better way to spend my life.”
The studio has flourished, and Gabriela now works with a team of local women who assist for the large-scale weddings in Mexico (with 500+ guests!), events in California, and floral design classes all around the world. But, growing these sorts of wildflowers in Mexico hasn’t always been easy, with failure tingeing the process. However, Gabriela learnt to build her garden under greenhouse to avoid the two seasons of heavy rain or drought. "Now my garden is full of annuals and some perennials – dahlias thrive here– and this small garden supplies the plants I need for my floral studio, La Musa de las Flores.”
Photo - Maureen Evans.
“I'm inspired by Mexican culture. I love color, especially orange and yellow, but I love to mix them with more muted tones to keep the arrangements soft and with a calm energy,” says Gabriela Salazar. Photo- Ana Laframboise.