“When I had a bouquet made for me, I always felt the urge to redo it,” reveals Jindřiška as one of the reasons why she decided to open her own flower shop. “I didn’t know anything,” she recalls of her beginnings, a time of major life changes when she was learning from gardening magazines and by trial and error.
Her very first order was 15 roses for a friend across the street. “It took me ages to tie them together; they kept slipping in my hands. It took me about half an hour. Today? I can tie roses in three minutes, maybe less,” she laughs.
From the very beginning, she found success in Děčín, which she attributes not only to luck but also to her enthusiasm. “I can’t remember ever wanting to give up. I went to work excited and often stayed there late into the night. At first, I did everything in the shop myself. Later, my colleague Markéta joined me — she taught me an incredible amount of technical skills,” she explains.
After Markéta joined, the two began entering national competitions, where Jindřiška eventually became the 2019 national champion. “The theme that year really suited me — Fantasy movies. Alice in Wonderland, The Little Prince as the secret discipline I won, Narnia, Harry Potter. I love those fairy tales for adults. It was a huge success for me, but I don’t have any further ambitions. What I enjoy most is my shop. I’m a shop florist,” she adds with a smile.
However, Jindřiška doesn’t consider her national competition title her greatest success. For her, it’s the fact that customers keep coming back and recommend the flower shop to others. “We have friendly relationships with many of our customers. My colleague Soňa and I are really happy about that, because we’re not exactly a standard flower shop, and we’re not exactly standard saleswomen either,” says Jindřiška. “We’re not too fond of customers telling us how to tie bouquets. When I go to a restaurant and order a meal, I don’t go into the kitchen to tell the chef how to cook it. It’s enough for us when customers give us the basics — what kind of flower they want as the main one, what color scheme the bouquet should have, and the price range. The rest should be left to us. It’s a success for us that customers return, are satisfied, and respect our way of working,” she explains.
But that’s not the only thing that makes Květiny Jindřiška different from others. “We intentionally choose slightly different flowers than most shops. Many customers love gerberas, lilies, and similar kinds. We’re not big fans of those, so we prefer to have more unusual types and look for slightly different color tones. We like combinations of dusty pink, purple, and what we call dead meat colors — muted, understated shades,” she describes.
Jindřiška and her colleague Soňa also share a love for wildflowers, which they even grow themselves. “I have a garden where I grow perennials, and from spring to autumn, I’m always experimenting with something. When I see a flower in nature that I like, I take it and put it in a vase. If it lasts a week or two, it goes straight into our shop,” she continues. “We also use a lot of herbs — mint, lemon balm, sage. It’s an added value for customers because the bouquet not only looks nice but also smells great, and they can take a bit of that scent home with them,” explains Jindřiška.
Are you curious which flowers sell the most at Květiny Jindřiška? We’ve got that answer for you too.
Try to guess what Jindřiška answered when we asked: Which flower do you think is underrated?
“Carnation. It’s a beautiful flower that lasts long, has an incredible range of colors, and some even have a scent. Its price has stayed stable, and I think it’s a real shame that it’s still associated with communism. We’re trying to teach people to like carnations again and to show that there are other varieties besides the red ones,” she says.
“Trends in the floral world exist, but they don’t change as quickly as fashion. Right now, cuffs and wrapping papers are popular abroad. That’s not our style. I sometimes use them in the shop for protection, but we sometimes see bouquets with more paper than flowers — and I don’t like that.”
According to Jindřiška, the biggest changes are seen in wedding bouquets. “Cascade bouquets are almost never made anymore, wiring and microphones are gone. Brides now prefer light, loose arrangements. For a while, the boho style with grasses was popular, but that has faded. Besides the classic white and green, we’ve also created dark burgundy bouquets that go almost to black, as well as colorful mixes. I try to talk customers out of dyed flowers, like blue roses, and instead offer naturally blue varieties,” she adds.
As we mentioned earlier, you might not know Jindřiška from Děčín, but you probably know her from social media. Her most-watched video on Facebook and Instagram has been seen by more than 695,000 people.
She started creating content for social media spontaneously. “I had no idea it was something you should do as part of marketing. We’re old school — we just started enjoying it. Some situations keep happening in the flower shop, so we thought, let’s film them,” she smiles.
“From the start, people were coming up to us saying it was great. Over time, we even involved our customers.” Alongside funny videos, Jindřiška gradually added educational content. “Sometimes we poke the hornet’s nest. Customers often don’t realize that in a supermarket they can buy ten tulips for 59 crowns, but we simply can’t offer them for that price. In one video, we showed the difference between a supermarket tulip and a tulip from St. Gabriel — they have a different weight and size,” she explains.
As St. Gabriel, we are the main supplier for Květiny Jindřiška and have been working together for many years. “I’m completely satisfied with the cooperation. I love visiting your wholesale store in Prague and communicating with your sales representative Adéla — we get along really well. She’s always available.
We also work with your great driver Kuba, who is fast, efficient, and reliable. I also have to praise your well-organized website — it’s perfect for shopping,” concludes Jindřiška, ending our interview with words that truly warmed our hearts.
Jindřiška’s story is a true inspiration and proves that even without formal floristry education, you can become one of the best in the field. All it takes is passion, finding your own style, and having a reliable partner — which we at St. Gabriel are happy to be. Register in our wholesale shop and work with the finest selection of plants, flowers, decorations, and other essentials for florists.
