Get to know the flower sommelier
Christopher Barrett Sheridan
I'm sure you're all more interested in flowers than you are in origin of The Flower Sommelier, but a brief introduction will help reassure that I'm not a front for an Artificial Intelligence operation. I live and garden in the Philadelphia region (America's Garden Capital), and on the New Jersey Coast, with deer my nemesis in the first instance, and sandy soil and wind providing challenges in the second.
I earned a Certificate in Ornamental Horticulture from Longwood Gardens during my transition to a second career. In my first career, I was a national-level public interest lawyer, clerked for two judges, and earned three degrees (from Tulane and Villanova - twice), all of which focused on writing and research, so I'm following the model of Sarah Raven (originally a British medical doctor), more than Piet Oudolf (Dutch nurseryman and legendary naturalistic designer). The point of sharing my background is that horticulture is a big umbrella, and for anyone looking for a rewarding first, second (or third) career, there's a place for you. In my case, that place is as an writer, researcher, spreadsheet nerd, educator, photographer, and garden/floral history enthusiast (old garden books, heirloom plants, and historic gardens).
My Initial and Primary Focus - Fragrant Flowers and Aromatic Foliage (2023-present)
I'm an active member of GardenCOMM (formerly the Garden Writers Association), and this experience helped me appreciate the benefit of developing a specialty/brand which resonates with the public.
While a number of excellent books have been written about scent over the decades, this is a subject that hasn't received its due compared to other gardening topics. The lack of coverage is understandable given the challenge of writing about something which is ephemeral, unpredictable, and subjective. On the other hand, most of us instinctually poke our noses into a bloom when we encounter one, so it's the second most important quality in a flower after color. Scent is also a source of memory and escape, healing and comfort, and simple delight (when it comes to the pleasing scents).
Given the the overwhelming number of flower choices, cultivars ranging from just released to centuries old, the challenges of climate change, and the opportunities to make your garden a compelling place, I think you'll agree the world is ready for The Flower Sommelier.
Venues: 2023 Garden Comm Annual Conference, 2024 Philadelphia Flower Show, 2024 GardenComm Virtual Conference (North American Natives), 2025 West Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association Winter Symposium, 2025 International Master Gardener Conference, American Horticultural Society, The Women Gardeners of Ridgewood, NJ, Northwest Louisiana Master Gardener Fall Luncheon, Lake County Master Gardeners, Indiana
The Flower Arranging Sommelier?: A Most Unexpected Tangent (2023-present)
When I was planning my first program in 2023 (Laurel Hill), we knew we wanted to cover scent and history and I gave the events manager three choices: the now national-level scent lecture (noted above), a meadow tour, and something to the effect of "maybe we could make Victorian posies with scented plants," expecting we would offer one of the three options. Brittanie said let's go with the tour and posies, and so we did.
During the next couple of months I learned everything I could about nosegays and posies/tussie-mussies and Gregg, my good friend, former instructor, and native plant expert, helped me prepare for the meadow tour, and the program was wonderfully successful, with strong attendance and perfect spring weather.
This also served as my Longwood audition and the following April "Tussie-Mussies" debuted as a three-part lecture, garden/conservatory tour and workshop, which is still my preferred model when teaching at a public garden.
At this time, I was still a garden academic/historian who taught one bouquet workshop a year. In late 2024, while discussing potential 2025 Philadelphia Flower Show topics with the programming director, I was told that the staff really wanted me to give a demonstration in the Members' Lounge (at that point, my comfort zone was 45 minutes of PowerPoint, a 5 minute posy and then 10 minutes for questions).
Tussies are quick arrangements, so to fill the hour, I added Chanticleer Bowls (floating arrangements) and enlisted my 14 year old niece and 12 year old nephew as my design team (so I could cover all of the content about both design styles and handle Q&A on a rolling basis).
The kids did great work and it was also an engaged conversation with the audience. The person in charge of the Members' area really liked the floating Chanticleer Bowls, so they became centerpieces for the lounge seating for the rest of the week. It was kind of fun to be uncredited/secret exhibitors at the Show, and like it or not, once you've done a demonstration at the Flower Show, you're a floral designer, or at least a floral design instructor! (which is really painful for a former trial lawyer/political operative to admit ;-)
In the time since, I've taught bouquets, floating arrangements, flower parfait, and Pot Et Fleur at Longwood, and I am now a Floral Design Certificate student. While I've developed and taught one Certificate class, my focus is still on bringing the joy and creativity of floral design to novices and casual amateurs. I also love seeing professionals and serious amateurs in class and I always try to make sure that the plant palette resonates with all experience levels.
Venues: Philadelphia Flower Show, Longwood Gardens, Hardy Plant Society, Laurel Hill East and West, Capitol Hill Garden Club and National Capitol Area Virtual Garden Club (virtual), Texas Master Gardener Conference (two virtual programs), Villanova University Graduation Workshop, Northwest Louisiana Master Gardeners
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My Secondary Focus - Vespertine Gardens (Evening, Twilight, White, Moonlight and a few other synonyms) (2025-present)
For most of us, gardening is a process of lifetime learning. and evolving interests. My emphasis on evening gardens is an extension of my work with scented plants, especially those which are night blooming. Interests in climate change mitigation, public health, sustainability and garden history are also motivating factors in embracing this genre.
Perhaps most importantly, vespertine gardens are some of the most wild and romantic, as well as peaceful, spaces that have ever been designed. They can be intimate and they can be grand, but if done right they're always captivating.
Venues: Longwood Gardens, International Master Gardener Conference, Greater Rochester Perennial Society and Master Gardeners of Monroe County New York (joint program), Talbot County Garden Club, and Annapolis Horticulture Society
A Second Tangent - Virtual Work-Alongs (2026-present)
I'd been thinking about how to build remote workshops for at least a couple of years, but was reluctant to suggest it to potential clients without a successful test case. Last fall, I was asked to give a presentation for the Capitol Hill Garden Club in January. We ultimately decided to have a Tussie Mussie Workshop, and my good friend and Club member Teri Speight (author, educator, garden all-star) insisted that we offer the program as a "work-along." I was happy to travel to Washington, but their practice was that winter programs are virtual and so we built a recommended shopping list and instructions and I modified the PowerPoint for a Zoom experience. The program was enthusiastically received and some club members shared beautiful work while we were online, while others saved the information for future use.
In June 2026, I offered Tussies Mussies and Floating Arrangements to a much larger audience at the Texas Master Gardener Conference. In addition to their inherent beauty, Tussies and Floating Arrangements are great teaching tools for kids and novices and Master Gardeners are the heart of garden education in America, so I was pleased to partner with them!
Venues: Capitol Hill Garden Club and National Capital Area Virtual Garden Club, Texas Master Gardener Conference
My Third Adventure - Historic Garden Design, including Garden Cemetery Design (2025-present)
I've always had an interest in history, starting with World War II (documentaries and model ships), continuting with American history, European history and international relations when I was school, and moving on to political and constitutional history during my first career. Art history (mostly Impressionism at first) was added during my service on the Board of the Young Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As noted above, my first presentation was a scented plant meadow tour and posy/Language of Flowers class at a historic cemetery in 2023. Then history hit the back burner for a bit while I focused on scent. In 2025, I was able to attend the Williamsburg Garden Symposium for the first time, I was accepted to the Historic Landscape Institute at Monticello/University of Virginia, and I developed a number of garden history focused programs for 2026.
Venues: Philadelphia Flower Show, Longwood Gardens (Early American Garden Design, Philadelphia Founding Era Garden Tour, Five Centuries of American Cemetery Design, and one in the pipeline for 2027)
Future Directions (2027- )
Creative growth is a combination of good planning, unexpected inspiration and serendipitous meetings.
I taught my first Art in Bloom class in 2026, an Henri Rousseau themed pot et fleur (pictured), and I'm looking forward to exploring the relationship between art and garden/floral design more in the future.
In 2026, I also progressed from one-hour tours of Longwood Gardens gardens and conservatories (as part of the lecture, garden walk, and make and take model) to full day tours of Early American Gardens in June and Historic Cemeteries in October (five gardens in a day). The next step will likely be multi-day tours of horticulturally (and garden history) rich regions of the United States, and then maybe overseas.
Venues: to be determined
Gardening is lifetime learning (a sample Flower Somm year)
2025 Continuing Education
Fall Flower Arranging Workshop at Andalusia (pictured)
Pressed Plant Workshop: Advanced Techniques at PHS
Art Nouveau Floral Design at Longwood Gardens (Certificate Elective)
Perennial Plant Conference at Scott Arboretum
Designing Change: Landscape Continuity in an Age of Uncertainty at Longwood (2 day conference)
26th Annual Chanticleer Lecture - Lessons from Landscape: Designing for a Mediterranean Climate
International Master Gardener Conference (presenter and attendee)
Historic Landscape Institute at Monticello (6 days)
Longwood Roses in the Garden Photography Masterclass
A Demonstration and Garden Visit in Swarthmore, PA – Learn the Secrets of Good Container Planting and Stroll through Belvidere, the Garden of Andrew Bunting (Hardy Plant Society)
Floral Design Foundations at Longwood (Certificate Core Class)
Andalusia Garden Symposium
Colonial Williamsburg Garden Symposium: Celebrating the Influence of Great English Gardens (3 days)
2025 Galanthus Gala
Philadelphia Flower Show (floral demonstrator and attendee)
West Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association (presenter and attendee)
Note: not including one-hour zooms and other brief, but valuable programming.
2025 Garden-Related Travel
Newport, Rhode Island
Columbus, Ohio
Charlottesville, Virginia
Memphis, Tennessee
Williamsburg, Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Baltimore, Maryland
My Original 2023 Vision for the Flower Sommelier
The Flower Sommelier
While this may be a snobby, self-proclaimed title, it's a half-joking and half-ideal alias for a garden educator, and I actually have worked in the wine business and written hundreds of tasting notes for a boutique wine shop.
At the same time, I don't believe that my sense of smell or tastebuds are special. With wine and flowers (as well as with beer, salsa, and chocolate), I have my favorites, but I also appreciate that there's a time and a season for almost everything.
In your own flower journey, some colors and scents (and shapes - e.g. trumpets, disks, and spires) will resonate more than others, but the joy is in the journey.
Sadly, some plants aren't reliable in every climate and location, but if a plant performs well in your garden then it's a good plant. If you love it, it's a great plant! If you share seeds, or cuttings with fellow gardeners it becomes a "Passalong" - which is the ultimate compliment a plant can receive (but the RHS Award of Garden Merit, and recognition as an All-America Selection are also highly coveted).
I'm not here to tell you what's "in or out," but to highlight interesting plants and places for you to explore. Some will be old, some will be new, some will be temperate, some will be tropical, and a lot will be available as seeds or bulbs, because these are the most cost effective ways to connect gardener and plant. A reputable garden center is a good place to start your plant hunting, but in the 21st Century, we can have it all, if we're willing to do a bit of homework.
Wild and Romantic Gardens
Before I considered becoming a garden writer and designer, I was a fan of Impressionist painting, which while primarily French in origin, originated about the same time Robinson wrote The Wild Garden in 1870. As you might expect, I've also been a fan of Piet Oudolf since the Highline opened in NYC, as his work has the same impressionistic qualities, but with an innovative prairie and grassland plant palette - which offers winter interest.
A Wild and Romantic Garden can be a large space or a small courtyard. It can be temperate or tropical, or a combined planting where the climate is suitable (e.g. Charleston and Savannah).
Old buildings, mature trees and shrubs, and antique garden elements contribute to a wild and romantic ambiance. For me, the appeal of the style is the abundance of colors, fragrances, textures, and atmospheric qualities.
Ephemerality is also an important quality of the wild and romantic garden. Plantings provide 3-4 seasons of interest, wildlife come and go, plants rise and fall like water in a fountain. Desirable plants are allowed to self-seed. It's a space where people feel something.
At the moment my focus is on writing projects and speaking engagements, but starting in the autumn of 2025, I will be available for design consultations. In the meantime, I'll be adding a lot of photos from my travels and garden visits to help convey this philosophy and aesthetic.
I'll also be posting links to gardens which are strong examples of this design genre.
Flowers and Floral Design Education
Flowers and Floral Design Education
In many cases, the best way to appreciate a flower is to leave it in the garden until it's time to deadhead. At the same time, many plants are agreeable to our artistic and culinary pursuits, and every gardener should grow enough flowers to allow for some guilt-free cutting.
In addition to bouquets, wreaths, and holiday arrangements, there are many ways to be creative with flowers.
There are container gardens, Kokedama, Ikebana, dried flowers, pressed flowers, wearable flower arrangements, potpourri, teas and tisanes, floating arrangements, edible flowers, photography, landscape painting, and botanical illustration.
While I can't claim to be an expert in all of these areas, I am an enthusiastic learner and supportive teacher, and someone who can direct you to the best sources of information.
All of these activities are therapeutic, and your work product will be a source of personal pride - as long as you remember that floral arts are like yoga - you learn a position, and every time you practice, you work closer to the ideal.