From Garden To Gathering: Alyssa Garrison’s Dreamy Blooms Are Pure East Van Magic

Step inside the whimsical, flower-filled world of Alyssa Garrison, the creative force behind Random Acts of Pastel (and soon-to-launch Swan Song Florals), where cottagecore meets colour-drenched romance. Grown right in her East Vancouver garden and arranged with an artist’s eye, her bouquets feel like they’ve been plucked straight from a storybook—wild, seasonal, and impossibly beautiful. In this Q&A, Alyssa shares how she turned a passion for growing into a blooming business, why local flowers hit different, and the magic behind every stem. —Noa Nichol

Your bouquets feel wild, romantic, and straight out of a storybook—how would you describe your signature “Random Acts of Pastel” aesthetic?

Storybook is the perfect word to describe my florals! I love working with specialty blooms that have an ethereal, other worldly quality, something out of a cottagecore dreamscape. In the past I’ve leaned exclusively into pastels (as my instagram name suggests), but when it comes to flowers I find so much beauty in the full spectrum of rich shades and textures, leaning into pops of colour alongside the softer tones. This aesthetic evolution comes with my official flower farmer brand launching this spring, Swan Song Florals (find the IG page here) 

There’s something so special about flowers grown in your own East Van garden—how does that local, homegrown element change the way you design each bouquet? What are your favourite blooms to grow and arrange?

I worked in a floral shop for a short time and quickly came to realize that for me, the magic is in growing flowers, not just arranging them. There’s so much to learn when it comes to growing from seed – every variety has it’s own timing and special set of care needs. Sometimes you’ll have a big failure that breaks your heart (in fact every year I’ve been growing I’ve had one or two things go terribly wrong just based on weather, disease and pests) but that’s part of the game. When something blooms especially well, it’s the most satisfying feeling in the world! 

You don’t need a ton of space to grow cut flowers, just sunshine and patience. I’m actually offering gardening consulting and tending this summer to help more people learn to grow flowers for their own homes – but fair warning, once you start, you might find yourself digging up the grass to grow more and more every year like I have. 

Some of my favourites to grow are Dahlias, Scabiosa, Snapdragons, Sweet Peas, Stock, and reliable perennials that mark the passing of the seasons, like Lilac and Spirea. 

From nervous first market moments to launching your brand—what has surprised you most about turning your passion for flowers into a business?

Sometimes people will advise against making your hobby into a business, and for awhile that’s all it was for me: a hobby. When I started growing more than I could possibly enjoy in my own home, I started sharing I had bouquets to sell on my neighbourhood’s Facebook group, and demand grew from there! 
It’s been a pleasant surprise to not have the *magic* of growing lose it’s shine – if anything having an excuse to spend more time in the garden doing what truly fills me up is a dream come true. I’m trying to start small this year with a local neighbourhood retailer here in Hastings-Sunrise, limited floral subscriptions, and garden consulting, but I have so many ideas for how I’d like to scale in the future. 

Your arrangements feel so seasonal and alive—do you design around what’s blooming, or do you ever have a “dream bouquet” in mind first

My designs are 100% based on what’s growing in the garden. Spring through fall, I’ll take walks around my garden every morning, looking for newly bloomed varieties or old plants that need to be cut back or removed altogether. Gardening is so cyclical and grounding, creating a framework for the inevitable passing of time through beautiful displays of colour. I’ll see one blooming flower, get an idea, and start pulling whatever I can to compliment it – often before I even start arranging, the buckets of flowers look so perfect thrown together in their “collections”

All of that said, now that I have a few years of experience, I definitely planted specific seeds based on the dream bouquets that I’d love to make. I can’t wait to watch them come together over the next few months! I’ve got a lot of really special stuff in the ground and it feels like the countdown to Christmas. 

For someone picking up one of your bouquets (host gift or centrepiece!), what’s your favourite way to style or gift your flowers to make the biggest impact?

In my opinion, simple is best. I hate when flowers are drowning in layers of plastic and tissue paper – let the blooms themselves shine! A simple paper wrap, a bit of ribbon, and a thrifted vase are my go-to’s for presentation. And of course buying from local growers big and small goes a long way – if you want the freshest, most beautiful seasonal blooms, seeking out local is your best bet!