The mint bed is in
bloom: lavender haze
day. The grass is
more than green and
throws up sharp and
cutting lights to
slice through the
plane tree leaves. And
on the cloudless blue
I scribble your name.
Sunday by James Schuyler
Our Story
Lavender Haze Floral Design was born in 2021 out of a tiny kitchen in Davis, California, when our lead floral designer and owner, Mandy, was in graduate school. She desperately needed a creative outlet as she trudged through her PhD training. Mandy knew first-hand how most flower options are completely out of budget for most folks, and set out to offer options that even students could afford. We’ve stayed true to this core value as we’ve grown our business and we continue to offer designs at all price points.
As a queer, disabled woman, Mandy felt that most traditional floral studios were not accessible or welcoming to everyone. We center queerness and belonging in all of our work and we truly aim to bring flowers to everyone. Our name, Lavender Haze, inspired by the poem Sunday, by gay poet and Pulitzer Prize winner James Schuyler, was chosen to celebrate queer love.
We relocated to Whittier, CA in 2025 and are now serving Los Angeles, Orange County, and beyond.
Our Values
We believe flowers are for everyone.
Because we all deserve to experience art, beauty, love, and joy, no matter your budget or identity.
We are committed to environmentally sustainable floristry and business practices.
Read more about our eco-conscious commitment here.
We price transparently.
We know that flowers can be expensive. We will always work with you transparently to bring you the most beautiful blooms on your budget, while securing the necessary revenue to pay our staff fairly and to (hopefully!) stay in business to keep bringing flowers to our community for years to come.
We build, promote, and support community.
We believe in the power of community to transform the societal norms of individualism and extraction that fuel unsustainable practices and emotional distress. We believe in bringing people together, feeling our emotions in community — whether celebratory or grievous — and quality time with our loved ones. We prioritize partnering with small business whenever possible.
We celebrate diversity.
We love love and we love community! We have always prioritized making our business welcoming, inclusive, and safe for everyone. We warmly welcome clients who identify as LGBTQIA+; Black, Brown, and Indigenous; immigrant and non-residents; disabled; survivors… everyone! You are safe here, no matter your identity and lived experiences. We will never support or collaborate with companies or clients who support bigotry and hate.
Meet the Team
Mandy Joyce (she/her) | Owner & Lead Designer
I first fell in love with floral design working in a small local flower shop as a teenager. I never stopped designing, and 15+ years later I’m always learning new techniques and styles.
Floral design is art and, for me, this art form has been an integral part of my own emotional healing and re-connection with my younger self. Flowers communicate deep emotions and self-expression, and it is my priority to design flowers that express our clients (you)!
I am a scientist by training and I hold a PhD in Ecology from the University of California, Davis. My research and teaching is focused on understanding how the most vulnerable species and ecosystems may cope with climate change. With my scientific background, and my own climate distress, prioritizing environmentally-friendlier business practices has always been — and will always be — a deeply rooted commitment for Lavender Haze. You can learn more about our eco-conscious practices here.
Apart from flowers, I love dogs, food, coffee, outdoor adventures, board games, live music, and quality time with friends and family. I really do believe that life is for living!
Aviva (she/her) | Floral Designer
Maisie (she/her) | Head of Support
Jennie May (she/her) | Artist & Maker
I am an artist specializing in watercolor and gouache painting, but I love dabbling in other mediums and creative pursuits. I live in the wilds of Maine, enjoy foraging for natural materials, and am forever inspired by the nature that surrounds me everyday.
Since I was a young child I have been enamored by the simplicity of a beautiful and thoughtful card. When I was a kid, I even had a business of selling my homemade greeting cards made from the finest construction paper, gel pens, and stickers. Now I am delighted to continue creating cards that hold the most special messages (though now my cards are each hand painted with watercolors, gouache, and ink, on 100% cotton watercolor paper).
While art and words are my passion, I am an engineer by training. I spent years focusing on my engineering career path (while also raising my three kids)- and one day I met my breaking point, realizing I needed to spend time doing something more creative. So I picked up a paint brush, and have been painting ever since. During my mid-career crisis I also was blessed to find another wonderful creative outlet- a position as the children’s librarian at my local library. Through my work as a librarian I have found that community and small acts of kindness have a real and immediate and impact. Anytime I feel anxiety about the state of the world, I find peace sharing moments of connection, words, and art with real people.
I welcome you to share kindness, enjoy a simple pleasure, pursue something new, or make a local connection- and witness the impact it has on your life and perspective.
Our Eco-Conscious Commitment
The floral industry has a lot of work to do. Just like most other industries, unsustainable practices, unfortunately, became the norm as globalization grew. For the floral industry, this includes shipping flowers across the world, growing out-of-season flowers in energy-intensive heated greenhouses, pesticide use, reliance on single use plastics and toxic floral foam, and labor exploitation. Some florists are challenging the norm and committing to un-learning these standard, harmful practices, while many other florists are comfortable with the status quo.
Lavender Haze is, and always has been, committed to environmentally friendlier floral design. We are always finding ways to eliminate or reduce emissions & waste, reuse anything possible, and up-cycle materials that would normally be wasted. Environmentally-friendlier design is a practice and a commitment that our business is deeply rooted in. Some of our practices include…
Sourcing Sustainable Flowers
We prioritize sourcing local, seasonal flowers whenever possible, including flowers grown in our home studio gardens. We are building partnerships with local, organic farms, and under our 5-year plan, we are working on shifting to using 100% seasonal, local, and sustainably-grown flowers.
Mechanics & Supplies
We are a 100% foam free floral shop and are always thinking of creative ways to use alternative, reusable mechanics in all of our designs. We do not buy new floral vessels; all vessels are sourced second-hand from our local community and thrift stores. We also offer a vase return program: return your vase and get 10% off your order! Have lots of vases sitting around? We will buy them from you! Please reach out to hello@lavenderhaze.com.
Waste Management
No flower goes to waste. Rather than tossing cuttings — the industry norm — we save every single tiny flower to use in small arrangements, such as our signature ‘Hairpin Drop’, and in dried floral art.
We save all rubber bands, twine, wire, and any other reusable material to give it another life. We sort all of our waste into compost/organics, recycling, and trash to ensure that only the absolute minimum goes to the landfill.
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”
— Audrey Hepburn
FAQs
How do I take care of my flowers?
Flowers are perishable goods! With some minimal effort and care, you can significantly extend the life of your blooms. We recommend to:
Keep flowers out of heat and direct light. If you pick up flowers in advance of an event, we recommend storing them in a refrigerator or a cool room.
Every day or two, quickly check that all stems are under water and, if not, top off the water or gently tuck the flower back if it’s become displaced.
Fully replacing the water daily is best practice, but we understand that we are all busy people and most people won’t do that (it’s okay, we promise!). At minimum, replace the water after 4 to 7 days, sooner if the water is visibly murky, with fresh, cool water, and the provided floral food packet. To replace the water, take the arrangement to a sink, gently hold the blooms to one side, and simply pour the water out the other side. We recommend using a pitcher (gooseneck kettles work great) to refill the water underneath the blooms, doing your best to keep water off the blooms themselves.
If you see a bloom die, remove it from the arrangement! Not all flowers will go at the same time, and many will last for weeks if you remove any dead flowers before they get icky.
Do you deliver?
Yes! We offer complementary delivery for orders $45+ within our “Neighbors” delivery zone and for a small, distance-based fee outside of this zone. You can see our delivery map here.
Why are flowers so expensive?
It’s easy to forget that flowers are perishable goods, which require refrigeration, quick transportation, and significant processing. Some flowers are much more affordable than others — exotic and out-of-season flowers can be up to 5x as expensive as other, seasonal options! Furthermore, when you purchase a flower arrangement, not only are you paying for the flowers, you are also paying for the materials included (vases, flower food, ribbon, tissue paper, etc.), shipping & transportation, and, most importantly, our labor and expertise!
How do you set your prices?
We price per stem — yes, we literally calculate the cost of every single stem when we source them, because prices can greatly vary and change daily. We then include the cost of materials, such as the vase, floral food, and ribbon. Critically, we have to charge for our labor and overhead! Finally, we include a reasonable delivery fee (if applicable). If you ever have questions about pricing, we warmly encourage you to ask us, and we will be happy to discuss it with you.
“She loved the flowers and so did my family and other admirers.”
- Bertha, Customer