\nBy Andrew Alexander | Photo: Pollen
\n
![\"rabbit3\"](\"http:\/\/simplybuckhead.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/rabbit3-300x300.jpeg\")
\nPods, vines, thistles, pinecones, fantastic buds and exotic blooms\u2014whether it grows, curls, creeps or blossoms, it\u00a0can become part of an arrangement at the\u00a0unusual floral boutique Pollen.
\n\u201cWe get things other florists don\u2019t use,\u201d says\u00a0shop owner Bonnie Garrison, 46, who has run\u00a0the cozy little shop in the heart of Buckhead on\u00a0East Paces Ferry Road with her husband Chris\u00a0Condon, 42, for the past eight years. Since its\u00a0opening, the pair have sought to create a singular aesthetic in their work. \u201cWe have a certain\u00a0look, so our ideal client has to be someone\u00a0who is willing to go with our look. We really do\u00a0our thing. You have to be open to surprises.\u201d\u00a0Pollen sells primarily cut flowers, but the\u00a0pair also put their unique stamp onto potted\u00a0plants, gardening, weddings and parties, and\u00a0in the selection of gifts like handmade cards\u00a0and artisanal pottery in their retail store. Garrison\u00a0and Condon choose unusual plants for\u00a0their arrangements and try to source seasonally\u00a0and locally, including some blooms and\u00a0vines from their own garden. Their home\u00a0base in the Serenbe development southwest\u00a0of Atlanta also allows them to look through\u00a0the abundant forests there for natural objects\u00a0to add to their arrangements. \u201cWe get a lot\u00a0of inspiration from the woods,\u201d Condon says.\u00a0\u201cWe hike a lot, and we forage a lot.\u201d
\n\u201cEven though it\u2019s only an hour away, a lot of\u00a0pine trees that don\u2019t do well in Atlanta are very\u00a0prolific there,\u201d Garrison says. \u201cWe find these\u00a0big, beautiful pinecones on the trails. We even\u00a0find mosses and other things that can become\u00a0part of an arrangement.\u201d
\nHusband and wife share an aesthetic that favors a rustic, lush, full, colorful look. Garrison grew up in Athens and attended the University of Georgia, originally majoring in English. When she arrived in Atlanta in 1991, her first
\njob was as a part-time assistant at Flowers of Holland, formerly at Lenox Square. A friend who had seen her work recommended she start working full-time at Planters, a gardening business that shared her offbeat aesthetic. \u201cI
\njust really liked it,\u201d she says. \u201cI started working there one spring and it opened my eyes to a whole new world. Just the types of things we were able to do: It was a different ball game from a flower shop at the mall.\u201d
\nCondon, a sculptor and a recent graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design, was working on an outdoor sculpture project for Planters when the two met and hit it off. \u201cI dragged him into the business,\u201d she jokes. \u201cHe grew to love plants, and he was really supportive when I wanted to leave Planters and start doing my own thing.\u201d
\nCondon still has a working studio and sells his sculptures at galleries around town, including Buckhead\u2019s Signature Shop. He says that his work as a sculptor influences his work in floral arranging, and vice versa. \u201cIt\u2019s always about form and composition,\u201d he says. \u201cFor our events, there\u2019s more than just flowers on the table. We start getting into environments and building things, working with light fixtures and walls. That\u2019s something I bring to the design aspect that works really well.\u201d
\nThe couple says they\u2019ve witnessed an evolution in Buckhead tastes and styles over the years. \u201cI think Atlanta has become less formal, which is good,\u201d Garrison says. \u201cI feel like when we started out ten years ago, people just expected these big, stemmy, formal, hotel-type arrangements. I think people have moved away from that. Things are more organic and relaxed, even if it\u2019s a more formal event. And people aren\u2019t as frightened about color as they used to be.\u201d
\nIn the end, the flowers themselves are just an extension of a broader style, an aesthetic which the couple says extends to every aspect of life. \u201cI\u2019m just so crazy about style, especially mixing it up,\u201d Garrison says. \u201cSo many people are worried about all these \u2018rules\u2019 about style. But I think it\u2019s great to bend the rules. At home we have so many different colors and patterns we put together. I think it\u2019s that way with flowers, too. If it\u2019s something you really love, it’s going to go with the other things you love.”
\nPollen
\n<\/strong>432 E. Paces Ferry Road | Atlanta | 30305
\n404.262.2296 | www.pollenatlanta.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Style in bloom At Pollen, wife-and-husband team Bonnie Garrison and Chris Condon create the perfect arrangement By Andrew Alexander | Photo: Pollen Pods, vines, thistles, pinecones, fantastic buds and exotic blooms\u2014whether it grows, curls, creeps or blossoms, it\u00a0can become part of an arrangement at the\u00a0unusual floral boutique Pollen. \u201cWe get things other florists don\u2019t use,\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[16,1],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"yoast_head":"\n