Botanical designer blooms in Highland Park from The Eastsider LA
Story by Cynthia Greenburg — Photos by Martha Benedict
“The big aha was in NY,” Valerie Jurado says. It was there the daughter of Filipino immigrants who grew up in East L.A. suddenly found herself going from mass producing “baby’s-breath-1-800-FLOWER” style arrangements to designing $400 bouquets for Wall Street bankers. Not to mention keeping big ticket accounts like Kenneth Cole happy. At these modern, high-end floral shops, in addition to an all-encompassing position coordinating events for The Queens Botanical Garden, Jurado’s perspective went through a fundamental shift.
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