Melanie Stapleton: Founder of Cecilia Fox & Ikebana Student

We first connected with Melanie Stapleton (@ceciliafox) while discussing Ikebana for her upcoming book, but have been a fan of hers for years (along with tens of thousands of others on instagram). Originally from Auckland and the founder of the iconic studio Cecilia Fox, Melanie has spent nearly three decades immersed in flowers. Her style is wild, seasonal, and deeply responsive to her collaborators and surroundings.

In this conversation, Melanie shares how ikebana has reshaped her process after 30 years in floristry, why generosity is at the heart of her work, and how her upcoming book Pretty Dirty reflects a lifetime of creating, learning, and letting flowers lead the way.

How did your journey with flowers begin, and what projects are you currently working on? 

I began my floristry career at the age of 16 in Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand. I got a job as a junior florist in a suburban florist shop. Making coffee for the senior florists, sweeping the floor, processing flowers and washing buckets. I started Cecilia Fox in Melbourne in 2005..

I've got an exciting wedding season coming up and my book that I’ve been working on for a couple of years now comes out next March so I'm working towards some very beautiful flowery launches in Australia and Aotearoa in the lead up to that.

What first drew you to study ikebana?

I've always been really interested and inspired by ikebana, as a florist its impossible to not be. When I returned to Aotearoa to live in 2021 life was much quieter and covid really gave me a chance to slow right down. I've been a commercial florist for 30 years and it’s been really special to take on the role of student. 

What benefits have you found from studying ikebana so far?

I’ve been studying Ikebana for just over a year and just in the last few weeks I had a real breakthrough with my practice. I felt a shift in how I was designing in class and how I was feeling when I was making. I think my natural inclination is to make things very quickly but Ikebana has taught me to enjoy the process much more. 

What do you love most about working with flowers?

There are so many things to love about working with flowers but being immersed in the seasons is something that I value above all else. As a florist you become very in tune with the natural world and start to notice all of the cycles and seasons of our universe. 

What are your favourite flower photos in your camera roll from the last month?

The magnolias have been in bloom here so I've taken a lot of photos of magnolias and I had the first of my fragrant freesias flower in my garden too.

How would you describe your style of floral art?

I'm a bit of a chameleon, but I would say that my style reflects the seasons and is shaped by my collaborators. Its wild and messy and with a deep love of the materials.

Do you have a favourite material or season to work with?

There is always a flower I love for every season, or micro season. I love tree peonies and blue ixia and beared iris. I adore hellebores and daphne, camellia and cymbidium orchids, I couldnt do without hydrangea and waterlilys and smoke bush and life is made infinitely better by rose hips and chrysanthemum. I love using Muehlenbeckia Astonii, its a New Zealand native and critically endangered in the wild but the city councils have done a great job of planting it extensively around Auckland and are often pruning it back. It’s so sculptural and I use it at any opportunity.

Where do you usually source your flowers, vases, and tools?

We have some really wonderful small scale growers around Auckland that grow incredibly beautiful materials. I also buy from our wholesale market which is on 3 times a week. It is a dutch auction style where there is a clock that ticks down and you push your button when it gets to the price you want to pay - you just have to do it before anyone else does! I buy online and drive to the market when the traffic has died down. I also forage, I pick a lot from my garden and I’m an opportunist I’ll never go past a windfall branch. I often knock on doors to see if I can pick something from a neighbours garden. Around where I live there are a lot of new developments so beautiful old gardens get bulldozed for a row of new town houses. 

I have a real passion for ceramics and I often have vases and vessels custom made by ceramicists. I love the work of Asobimasu in Melbourne and and Thea Ceramics in Aotearoa. 

What’s your favourite tree & why? 

This is as hard as the ‘whats your favorite flower’ question. Winter - magnolia. Spring - apple blossom or an oak or dogwood. Summer  Pohutakawa ( a new Zealand native that has a bright red flower at christmas) Autumn - Ginkgo or Liquid Amber.

Which floral or ikebana artists inspire you most?

I love Azzmin at Braer’s work and Ani at Stone Willow. I love Frida Kims work and Wagner Kreusch. I love how they weave the teachings of ikebana into their work on every level. Watarai Toru has the most beautiful patience and curiosity. I'm endlessly inspired by Emily Thompson.

What’s the best advice you’ve received on your flower journey?

These are some of the things that make an amazing event and I think an incredible life in flowers - Spirit of generosity -  More than money -  Almost impossible. 

What advice would you give to someone starting ikebana or floral design?

I think I would give very different advice if you were planning on making money or starting a business as a floral designer as opposed to creating ikebana or floral design for yourself. The latter can be as simple as making time to gather materials and allow yourself space to devote to creating.  They both start with falling in love with the materials and learning from the materials, studying and really getting to know what speaks to you and the designs you want to make. If you plan to make a business, you must find an audience, take every opportunity that is available to you.

Any favourite tips or techniques you'd share with beginners?

I always tell aspiring commercial florists to learn to drive a van. Get used to loading and unloading vans. So much of floristry is production and logistics and just a tiny bit of it is the actual making. Its all inherently creative and requires a strong body and an agile mind.

What are your biggest achievements in your career so far?

The most challenging thing I’ve ever done is to write my book Pretty Dirty, it was so far out of my comfort zone.

I've had the luck and the opportunity to make flowers for so many incredible celebrations and worked with some amazing collaborators.

Flowering Now is a project that I started with Katie Marx an incredible Melbourne florist, when we were both living and working in Melbourne. A kind of flower show where Melbournes flower community came together to share their love of nature in ways that defy traditional understandings of floristry. With no competitive aspect, each florist created a work of scale, an installation and we opened to the public over a weekend. Katie and I hosted 2 of these events and we would love to do another one we are just waiting for the timing to be right.

What’s the biggest difference between Western and Japanese floral design?

Japanese aesthetic whether that is in fashion, interior design, or in flowers has a powerful pull the world over. I think that the old adage that Japanese floral design is about less and western is about more more has changed in recent years. Designers are both inspired and informed by each others work and there is not such a binary of east v west in 2025. We live in a global community and flowers are a place where we can share our love of the natural world and perhaps look at the things that bring us together as designers working with this medium. 

What challenges do you face working with flowers professionally?

The challenge of working towards a more sustainable industry is something that we are always striving for. To inspire and to demonstrate the joy and the meaning flowers can bring while creating a thriving industry now and into the future.

Where should flower lovers go in your city for a 24-hour visit?

Well, that depends on the time of year… In the early spring the Botanic Gardens Camelia and Magnolia walk is incredible. The Winter Gardens always has something wonderful to see. If you were an all round nature lover you could head out to the Waitātakare Ranges where pristine New Zealand bush, thriving native wildlife and rugged black sand surf beaches offer the most wild and spectacular glimpse of what Aotearoa has to offer.

What’s next for you in your flower journey?

I'm really excited for my book to come out, I cant wait for it to be and I’m really thrilled to host some workshops that speak to the book. 

Thank you, Melanie, for sharing your journey with us. Your reflections on slowing down, embracing seasonality, and making space for ikebana remind us that flowers are not just materials, but teachers.

Explore more of Melanie’s work at ceciliafox.com, follow her on Instagram @ceciliafox, and watch out for her upcoming book Pretty Dirty: Flowers from Creation to Compost—launching next March.