Jessica Blossom Clark, owner of Quince Fine Florals, may have been destined for her profession the moment she was named; in fact, the talented florist and her immediate family members all bear floral inspired names (her sister’s name is Lilli).
Jessica's first floral exposure (besides her mother’s passion for gardening and work with the Vancouver Park Board) was through a part-time job when she was 13 years old, under the tutelage of Thomas Hobbs at his iconic Vancouver store.
After high school, Jessica's acting aspirations took her to New York City where she attended theatre school. To help support herself, she arranged flowers for large-scale events at prestigious Manhattan venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
She continued to work as a freelance florist when she returned to Vancouver and until her friends and clients eventually persuaded her to open her own boutique. "I always loved flowers but didn’t know it was my calling," Jessica says. "It's another expression of channelling my creativity."
In 2007, she launched Quince Fine Florals in Vancouver’s Mackenzie Heights neighbourhood. Jessica describes the small shopping district as, “a vibrant little village with helpful merchant neighbours. Everyone takes care of each other and looks out for one another.”
So how did she name the business? Jessica explains that her first apartment was in Vancouver’s South Granville neighbourhood; just outside her window was a flowering quince bush from which she could pick blossoms. “The quince was hopeful," she says. "It was the first sign of spring.”
