Behind the Scenes at the David Jones Flower Show

Running from Thursday the 1st of September until Sunday the 11th, this year’s Flower Show looks to the unrivalled beauty of Australia’s underwater wonderworld, The Great Barrier Reef.

A celebration of all things bright and beautiful, the David Jones Flower Show marks Spring’s glorious beginning. Brought to life by a 33-year collaboration with Seedflora’s George Low, this year takes a deep dive of epic proportions, venturing into our most treasured wonder of the natural world, The Great Barrier Reef. With twenty installations, 300,000 individual blooms and more than 40 different flower species across the iconic Elizabeth Street Flagship store, join us as we take you behind the scenes.

Drawing over 500,000 people every year, the David Jones Flower Show is a spectacle like no other. Like many things at David Jones, it’s a celebration steeped in history, originating in the 1920s as store staff adorned their shop counters with Springtime flowers from their gardens. Much loved by David Jones’ enigmatic leader Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, these humble origins grew into a more formalised event with the introduction of festivals, before officially becoming the annual David Jones Flower Show in 1985.

Today, the Flower Show sees the Elizabeth Street Flagship store transform, with visitors from around the country coming to wander, gaze and admire the arrangements and installations, as well as the delights of the new season. Commemorating the first show of its kind in two years, guests will be welcomed into the store with a glamorous champagne bar on the ground floor. For those looking for the full experience, look no further than the flower show tour, complete with high tea and a complimentary glass of Mumm Champagne afterwards on Level 7.

The official flower show designer for 33 years, George Low of Seed Flora is back again, working with thirteen florists over 860 hours to bring Elizabeth Street into bloom. Drawing on the season’s theme of ‘Nature’s Wonder,’ this year’s inspiration looked to our own backyard, taking a deep dive beneath the waves of the majestic wonderworld that is Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Brimming with life in unimaginable forms and colours beyond the on-land spectrum, the beauty of a regenerated reef is reimagined using an up-cycled reefscape built from re-purposed objects. It’s through these aquatic ecosystems in floral splendour that David Jones hopes to shed light on the Great Barrier Reef’s regeneration, inspiring people to take steps in supporting its preservation.

Reflecting an underwater wonderworld, this year David Jones has also partnered with non-profit volunteer organisation Rethink Recycling Co-op to support the reduction of plastic waste and repurpose the use of hard cycle lids by creating a giant, recyclable fish sculpture. Made from entirely repurposed materials, the 1.2m fish sculpture, ‘Bud’, is surfaced with 10,000L of plastic lids sourced from landfill. Bud will be donated to SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium at the conclusion of the Spring Flower Show where it will reside permanently.

With the spirit of Spring in the air, David Jones is excited to announce that its iconic Flower Show will be returning to Melbourne for the first time in decades. Scheduled for October in the newly-renovated Bourke Street store, keep an eye out for the extra-special announcement, coming soon.

The Spring Flower Show will be on public display at David Jones Elizabeth Street from 9:30am Thursday 1 September – 5pm Sunday 11 September.