Entriken’s Katherine Carothers on Creating Beautiful Flower Arrangements at Home

Katherine Carothers, owner of the Brooklyn-based floral design studio Entriken, shares her favorite scent, tips on where to source and gift flowers in the time of Covid-19, and how to create your own simple, beautiful arrangement at home.

What are some ways to source flowers right now?

There are still a lot of different ways. A flower shop or florist is your best bet for more quality and interesting flowers, as they source directly from suppliers. In New York, the outdoor farmer’s market is still open in Union Square. There are also farm shares of flower CSAs that you can sign up for each season, and they’ll deliver weekly boxes right to your doorstep. It’s totally worth it, and if you love flowers and want to get a chance to play with them, this is a great way. It also makes for a lovely gift. A few that I enjoy: Tiny Hearts Farm, Brooklyn Grange, and The 607 Upstate.

And, of course, there’s always the local deli or grocery store, and even Trader Joe’s, where you can find flowers like daffodils, tulips, and peonies. Some of those flowers might come from further away, and may be a little less fresh, but they’re still great to have. I also love an actual plant that you can keep around. We just got a little indoor Meyer lemon tree at our place, and the whole apartment smells like citrus blossom.

Do you have any favorite scents? And do they ever weigh into your floral designs?

I really do love citrus blossoms and irises. I wouldn’t say I design around scent, though it’s a lovely element, and there are so many really good-smelling flowers—like chocolate cosmos, which smell like chocolate. But I’m careful not to use too many super-strong-smelling flowers in my arrangements. In the spring, when the weather is a bit colder and just starting to warm up, the scents are usually not as strong. I actually love the way lilies smell, for example, but they can tend to give some people allergies because their scent is so strong.

I’m actually a wood-scent person. I love to steal my partner’s patchouli cologne from Santa Maria Novella—just a light spritz. It’s what I imagine the scent of the Victorian era was like.

Any tips on how to create a D.I.Y. floral arrangement at home?

I like to keep it simple, for the most part. I’m a fan of creating little still-life arrangements around the house, like a bowl of lemons or beautiful pears. A great way to create an arrangement with a little depth and movement is to pick up a few bunches of flowers with different textures, and maybe some pretty fruits to add. Take three to five differently sized and shaped glasses, gather them together, and add flowers at different heights, trying to keep them at different lengths, like a wave, and group the colors. Add a few similar colored fruits to the base of the vases. For a one-element bouquet on the kitchen table, cut and put a bunch of flowers in a fun pop can, like a tin of Campbell’s soup or tomatoes. And remember to change the water every few days, which will keep the blooms fresh for longer.