A much-loved fixture of Bridgehampton’s Main Street is The Bridgehampton Florist, which has occupied the corner of Main Street and Corwith Avenue for 36 years (and counting). Owners Jim Osburn and Michael Grim are revered by their clients for their outstanding floral creations and their focus on providing exemplary customer service. Hamptons.com recently sat down with Jim and Michael to learn more about their work and their love of flowers.
How would you describe your business?
Simply put, we do weekend flowers for homes. We don’t advertise, ever, but we have a steady clientele that includes a number of boldface names, and we love filling their homes with flowers and decorating for summertime dinners and parties.
How did you get into florist work?
Michael began working with flowers at the age of 14. He and Jim lived in New York City, but began spending summers in the Hamptons and moved out here in 1981 or 1982. For a time they had a business with Jim’s brother in Sag Harbor, which they called Blooming Shells (selling flowers and seashells). Jim worked at Frankenbach’s Southampton Nursery for a time, and then joined Michael at Marders. They planned to open a flower shop in Sag Harbor, but the night before they were to sign a lease, they found out that the Bridgehampton shop was available and thought it was a better location (Sag Harbor was a smaller, sleepier town than it is today). So they took the shop in Bridgehampton and have been there ever since.
How would you describe the style of your work?
English country garden, relaxed. We aim to make it look like the clients did it themselves.
Do flower colors change with the seasons?
In summer everyone wants white — white and green, perhaps with some blue. For fall the palette becomes warmer and deeper, with lush burgundy, purple, orange and yellow. There are dark red peonies, red and purple anemones. Hydrangeas are still in evidence, and dahlias and hellebores appear.
Do you do flowers for weddings and funerals, as so many florists do?
We don’t do wedding flowers except for friends and clients.
We understand you do flowers for the Hampton Classic – can you tell us about that?
We’ve been doing flowers for the Hampton Classic for 36 years. This year we decorated 10 tables in the Grand Prix tent. We also donated flowers for the bar, check-in table and announcer’s booth. We enjoy the Classic. It’s a great close to the season. The Classic seems to be becoming more of a local event again, without the large contingent of celebrities as there had been for several years. The Classic also provides jobs for local young people, who park cars, do cleanup and other work.
Where do you get your flowers?
We source our flowers all over the world. Holland has long been known for flowers, along with France, Italy and Israel. Now Japan has a growing industry in florist flowers; they’re doing a lot of breeding and especially, breeding to create flowers of larger sizes.
I’ve been lucky enough to receive some of your orchids as gifts. Are you also known for your orchids?
We’re known for the high quality of our orchids and we try to keep a variety, depending upon the season.
