Gerry Arial's book, Arial Feats, showcases his 35 years designing floral arrangements for the world's elite.

Gerry Arial's book, Arial Feats, showcases his 35 years designing floral arrangements for the world's elite.

(Gerry Arial's book, Arial Feats, showcases his 35 years designing floral arrangements for the world's elite.)

Gerry Arial, Ottawa's floral designer to the rich, powerful and famous, has produced a coffee-table book of highlights of a career spanning more than 35 years in which he has done work for the Queen, the Pope, prime ministers and presidents.

The owner of the Silver Rose Floral Gallery on O'Connor Street, says he was inspired and encouraged to create the book by his longtime friend, photographer Malak Karsh, who died last fall. The book includes about 25 Malak photographs of Mr. Arial's floral designs.

In a foreword to the book, Malak wrote: "Whether he's creating for movie stars, royalty, world leaders or the family next door, Gerry Arial injects warmth and personality into every aspect of his original works."

Malak expressed admiration for Mr. Arial's "mastery of the art of illusion, spectacle and ceremony," and described him as "this architect of landmark occasions."

Mr. Arial returned the compliment, dedicating the book to "the late Malak Karsh for his lifelong support and encouragement."

Malak was taking photographs for the book until a few days before his death, Mr. Arial said.

For the past 20 years, Mr. Arial has provided floral displays for big occasions in Ottawa, from formal dinners for visiting monarchs and heads of state to ceremonial occasions in the Parliament Buildings, at Rideau Hall and in the National Arts Centre. He's now working on the Queen's October visit.

"I have done floral arrangements for the Queen, the Pope, five governors general, and nearly every major head of state who has visited Ottawa," Mr. Arial said. He is the only Canadian to design the principal floats for the Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade in California, an honour he likens to winning an Academy Award.

Mr. Arial was a teenager, just starting in floral design, when he met Malak Karsh, who encouraged him to study flower arrangements in the Netherlands, where he spent two years. "I felt like a kid in his first candy store," he recalls in the book of that experience.

Mr. Arial does more than floral arrangements. He can plan all details for a big occasion, and has done set designs for movies, including Little Gloria, Happy at Last, an NBC mini-series on the turbulent life of Gloria Vanderbilt.

Mr. Arial's big break, he recalls in the book, came in 1982. He was hired to make arrangements for a gala fundraising dinner at the Civic Centre attended by Pierre Elliott Trudeau, then prime minister, and 550 people on the occasion of a concert by Frank Sinatra.

"The utter joy of turning mediocrity into magic, infused with the power to spellbind and delight, immediately became an addiction that has continued to energize me throughout my professional life," he says of that event.

Mr. Arial published the book, titled Arial Feats, at his own expense. He declined to say how much it cost him. Initially, he's had 2,000 books printed. The book costs $95 at his store and at Nicholas Hoare bookstore on Sussex Drive.

There have been dramas getting floral arrangements just right for the big occasion. But Mr. Arial says he can't recall anything going so badly wrong that he wasn't able to fix it or find a compromise solution.

Things came close to going wrong when Pope John Paul II visited Ottawa in 1984. Mr. Arial helped design the boat on which the Pope made a triumphant procession along the Rideau Canal on that occasion.

Mr. Arial had planned to decorate the boat with flowers the night before, but heavy winds prevented this from happening. He had to juggle his schedule. And, to do that, he needed to get into the Vatican embassy at midnight to do the floral arrangements there, so he could spend the next morning working on the boat.

"Only by working through the night on the embassy's floral decor before returning to the vessel at first light with my faithful crew and then finishing up in the basilica by noon, would it all get done in time."

Fortunately, he was able to wake up a Mother Superior, who let him in.

Peonies were a favourite flower of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Mr. Arial was determined to have them when Prince Charles brought his bride to Ottawa. Unfortunately, they were out of season.

Mr. Arial kept some peonies in bud and under refrigeration, with the help of chemicals, for more than a month so he could decorate Diana's place setting with the flowers at a banquet in Ottawa. "The flowers barely lasted through the meal," he recalls.

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