Field to Vase: Designing with Dahlias Workshop – Femme Petale

About this workshop

As part of the Love Dahlias Festival in Douglas, South Africa, Field to Vase: Designing with Dahlias Workshop – Femme Petale brings together slow, seasonal flowers and natural, farm-to-vase design.

Farmer–florist Teneale Coetzee, founder of Femme Petale Flower Farm, will guide you through her signature field-to-vase approach – from how she thinks about stems in the field to how she places them in the vase. In this special festival edition, the focal flower in every arrangement will be dahlias, supported by seasonal foliage and companion stems.

You’ll leave with a better eye for design, more confidence with your bucket of blooms at home, and an arrangement you created yourself.

Important: Each participant must bring their own vessel/vase/flower pot to arrange into. Pots may be purchased on the day (limited stock).

About Teneale Coetzee & Femme Petale

Teneale is the hands and heart behind Femme Petale Flower Farm, a seasonal, bio-organic flower farm and farmer–florist studio. Her work centres around:

• Slow, intentional growing – seasonal, field-grown flowers

• Farm-to-vase design – picking, preparing and arranging straight from the field

• Natural, foam-free mechanics – flowers that move and breathe, not stiff “stuck” arrangements

She teaches flower lovers and emerging growers through on-farm workshops, field-to-vase classes and online education, always with the same message: start where you are, with what you have, and design from the heart.

At the Love Dahlias Festival she adapts this teaching to focus on dahlia-based arrangements, showing you how to let these statement blooms shine.

What you will learn

In this workshop, Teneale will share:

• Building a design around dahlias as the focal flower

  • Choosing supporting stems and foliage that make dahlias stand out

  • Creating shape, movement and balance without losing the “garden” feeling

• Foam-free mechanics and vessels

  • Simple, sustainable ways to support your stems (no floral foam)

  • How vessel choice changes the look and feel of your design

• Finishing and refining

  • When to stop adding stems

  • Small tweaks that shift an arrangement from “okay” to “this feels right”

You will watch Teneale demonstrate her process and then create your own dahlia-focused design with her guidance.

At a glance

• Event: Field to Vase: Designing with Dahlias – Femme Petale Workshop

• Host: Teneale Coetzee – Femme Petale Flower Farm

• Location: Villiera Guest House, Douglas, Northern Cape, South Africa

• Focal flower: Dahlias from the Love Dahlias field (with seasonal foliage and fillers)

• Style: Field-to-vase, foam-free, natural garden style

• Skill level: Suitable for beginners and enthusiastic home florists

• Ticket type: Workshop ticket for one person

Who this workshop is for

This workshop is a good fit if you:

• Grow or buy dahlias and feel unsure what to do once they’re in a bucket

• Love the slow flower / farm-to-vase movement and want to design in that style

• Prefer arrangements that look natural and garden-inspired, not stiff and formal

• Are a home gardener, aspiring flower farmer, florist or floral designer wanting fresh ideas with dahlias

You don’t need any formal floristry training. If you love flowers and enjoy working with your hands, you’ll be comfortable here.

What’s included

Your Field to Vase: Designing with Dahlias – Femme Petale Workshop ticket includes:

• Entry to the workshop with Teneale Coetzee at the Love Dahlias Festival

• Use of dahlias as the focal flower, plus seasonal foliage and supporting stems

• Use of a vessel and foam-free mechanics for your design (to use during the workshop)

• Demonstration, teaching, and time for hands-on arranging with personal guidance

• Your finished arrangement to admire during the festival and take home afterwards

Important: Each participant must bring their own vessel/vase/flower pot to arrange into. Pots may be purchased on the day (limited stock).

Important ticket information

• This product is a workshop ticket, not a physical item.

• No parcel will be shipped and courier options at checkout do not apply.

• One ticket admits one person to this specific workshop.

• Tickets are non-refundable, but you may transfer your ticket to another person if you can no longer attend.

• Full Festival Ticket Terms & Conditions apply to this event.

After checkout you will receive:

1. An order confirmation email from Love Dahlias.

2. A follow-up email closer to the festival with the final date, time, venue and any last details you need to know (including what to wear and where to meet).

Please use the same name and email address for all your festival bookings so we can keep your reservations together. 24