{ About Us }
The Botanist Floral Co. was born from a love affair with flowers, art, and the natural world.
Drawing from the rich history of herbalism, folk tradition, and the natural sciences, our work invites you to be captivated by the magic of flowers and plants, and to dive deeper into the beauty and diversity of nature. Join us as we reconnect with a sense of wonder, and learn to speak the language of flowers for yourself.
Meet
OTANISTCO.
First and foremost, I want to offer you a very warm welcome - I’m so glad to have you here. My name is James Matson, and I am the hands and eyes behind The Botanist Floral Co.
I started The Botanist at a time in my life when I needed to re-connect with a sense of wonder. I have always had a deep love of art, music, and beauty in general, and I was lucky enough to be raised by a family of people who nurtured and supported these passions. Creativity has always been central to my being, and I was blessed to have the hands of loved ones to pass along skills and crafts to help give voice to that creativity.
As I grew, it became an ember that would burn deep inside of me, but over time the pull of stability felt stronger than the draw of that warm, dim glow. The desire to create gave way to the desire to help, and I began to pursue a career in mental health. I poured myself into trying to create social change, holding space for stories and sorrows and helping people look for glimmers of light. I specialized in supporting people around issues of gender and sexuality, and those who have lived through trauma and abuse. I worked in community health centers, in hospitals, and in court-ordered settings. I put all my energy into helping anywhere I could. The more I became a helper, the less I felt like an artist.
And then the world changed. A pandemic hit, people began to struggle, and I began to see even more clients. My life became my work, and my own mental health began to suffer until eventually I realized that I had poured so much of myself into others that there was nothing left for myself. I had become empty and lost, overwhelmed with the pain I saw in the world around me. I began to search for joy, desperate to be reminded that there is good in the world.
As I searched, memories began to appear in my mind. Memories of my tiny hands covered in dirt and held by my grandmothers as she gently taught me how to prune a rose bush. Memories of her garden, the perpetual scent of flowers in her house, and her unfailing love for me. I remembered countless days in distant forests, and the wonder of finding a new and unfamiliar plant. I remembered going to gardens and art museums with my mother, and learning to build things with my father, armed with little more than an idea, some tools, and my own two hands. I remembered the warmth of how it felt to create.
Flowers have become a bright thread that I see running through every corner of my life. My mother tells stories of me as a toddler, searching for flowers to pluck and triumphantly bring to her anywhere we went, and each core memory I have associated with the passage of the time and the rhythm of the year is connected to a flower or plant. For me, flowers are a direct line of connection to those that have walked before me, and they serve as an unbroken link to both past and future. As I began to slow down, their wisdom began to unfold. Functionally, flowers are a plant’s tool of reproduction and survival, but symbolically they are the beginning of a process of rebirth. Once a flower is pollinated, it begins to transform: flower leads to fruit, fruit leads to seed, seeds lead to seedlings, growing into the next generation of plants - and the cycle continues forward.
Flowers represent hope. The Botanist Floral Co. was born out of a passion and deep need to find beauty in the chaos. It has helped remind me that beauty is crucial and that life finds a way: millions of years of evolution are represented in the bloom of every flower. They are an invitation to share, to feel, and to connect to something more.
Flowers are a reminder that there is longevity in beauty, and that loveliness can endure through the darkest times. Come join us as we share the glow of that spark together.
« Il me faut surtout avoir des fleurs, toujours, toujours »
" Above all, I need to have flowers, always & always "
— Claude Monet
{ Our Philosophy }
Meaningful Connections
We strive to foster authentic relationships with everyone we work with - from suppliers to drivers to clients
Sustainable Design
We are committed to sustainable practices and reducing our impact, working with local and organic flowers whenever possible
Luxury Quality
We work with the highest quality flowers available in the Bay Area, ensuring your arrangement will be unforgettable
{ The Specimen Garden }
Through the warmth of summer, The Botanist maintains a cutting garden filled with rare, unusual, & difficult-to-ship flowers
Cosmos, Apricotta
Our passion for the floral world extends far beyond cut flowers, and we are captivated by understanding how plants form. The Specimen Garden is a celebration of wonder, stewarding nature, and contributing to something larger than ourselves.
The Garden also allows us to have access to new or unusual flowers grown and selected for their nature and character, and nurtured at every step of the process.
Alchemilla
For specimens in the cutting garden, The Botanist prioritizes large, showy, opulent blooms with texture and story. Past seasonal varieties have included:
Large, extra large, and dinner-plate Dahlias
Rare and heirloom boutique Zinnias
New or unusual Cosmos
Traditionally used medicinal herbs and plants
Pollinator friendly flowers like Bee Balm, Nicotiana, Echinacea, and Digitalis
Dahlia, Colarette Style
{ The Botanist Apiary }
In support of our Specimen Garden, each year The Botanist Floral Co. maintains a colony of European Honey Bees.
Pollinators hold a uniquely important role in the eco-system. There are more than 20,000 species of bees, and these represent only a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of animals and insects that help with the process of pollination. Even so, honeybees are responsible for pollinating over 80% of the crops that we rely on for food, and due to environmental factors their numbers are declining faster than ever before.
One way we try to support the monumental effort of these beautiful little creatures is to provide a safe environment with ample resources for them to cary out their work. While one garden and one hive may not be enough to tip the scales of sustainability, we believe that change occurs through collective efforts of passionate people. Our Apiary is one of the ways we are committed to caring for the world around us.
Floral Assistants
Completing our menagerie are Huxley & Bentley, who support us in the garden & around the studio.
Both boys are eager to help with every step of the design process, and can always be found near the action offering support and supervision. When you receive an arrangement from The Botanist Floral Co., you can be sure these two helped create it.
{ Huxley }
{ Bentley }
{ Looking for more? }
We are excited to share the magic of flowers and botanicals, offering a variety of ways to experience our work or learn the craft of floral design yourself.
Explore how we celebrate the beauty of the natural world through flowers and botanicals.
