Photo: Jane Packer

The London floral company Jane Packer, which designed and is producing the fresh bouquets given to medal winners at the Olympic Games, is utilizing floristry students at three colleges to assist in the production.

According to the company’s website, the staff and management at Jane Packer, which includes two flower shops and Jane Packer Flower School, are “proud to have been selected to design and produce the ‘Victory Bouquet’ for the medal winners at the London 2012 Olympics.”

In total, 4,400 fresh floral bouquets will be presented to athletes along with medals during the victory ceremonies. To help with the production of the bouquets, the Jane Packer company has called upon floristry students at three colleges: Writtle College in Essex, Adult Education College Bexley in Kent and Kingston Maurward College in Dorset. Approximately 50 current and past students from each school attended a training session at the Jane Packer London headquarters to learn the about the bouquet design, its themes and color theories, and its construction.

In a press statement, the company noted that it was “important to us that, as part of our commitment to the UK floristry community, we involved the educational establishments that provide us with high caliber graduates that help develop our business. It also means that the wider floristry community is involved in the exciting opportunities that London 2012 brings.”

The “Victory Bouquet” was designed by Jane Packer creative director Susan Lapworth to “reflect the energy and vibrancy of the London 2012 Games” and includes roses and herbs, all of which have to be grown in Britain. The bouquet was reportedly intended to mirror the logo for the 2012 Olympic Games. The florals are sectioned into bold quadrants separated by typical British food ingredients, which also add fragrance. The bouquets feature four varieties of roses— pink ‘Aqua’, yellow ‘Illios’, orange ‘Marie Claire’ and green ‘Wimbledon’—along with English lavender, rosemary, apple mint and wheat.

The floral company is named for its legendary founder, Jane Packer, who passed away in November 2011.