Congratulations to Joseph Delarge of Eco Stems

It is a real pleasure to announce that Joe Delarge, incredibly nice person, talented designer and owner of a beautiful flower shop in Toronto called eco|stems won the first ever "Inspired Designer" title at the recent 2014 Canadian Florist Business Forum in Toronto.

On January 13, Joe beat out five other talented participants, each who turned in something very different, with a bright purple bouquet in a blind vote among both attendees and exhibitors. Honourable mention went to runner up designer Stephannie Devine from College Park Flowers in Courtice Ontario.

Joe didn't just with the 2014 Inspired Designer title. In addition he won the chance to design the bridal portfolio for an upcoming issue of Canadian Florist.

This isn't the first time Joe and his store have been in the news - he has also received attention for his commitment to the environment. eco|stems is a green and socially sustainable full-service retail flower shop. They use only local, organic and Fair Trade flowers to create their designs, limit their water use, reduce carbon dioxide emissions with bicycle deliveries. They also reuse/repurpose floral containers and materials before buying anything new, and buy biodegradable/recyclable (preferably made from recycled materials) whenever possible.