If you have a dream to create something, with flowers and ceramics especially, or to create your own field of dreams, you will love the story of Janae Paquin-Bowden - who has followed her creative calling from French teacher to flower grower and potter while raising her family in rural Australia.
After living and travelling in Europe in her twenties, Janae returned home to Australia and was working as a French teacher in a Melbourne primary school when she met her Canadian-born husband Chris. The pair bonded over a love of ‘The River Cottage’ and start dreaming of building a life where they could live off and give back to the land. They began by purchasing a small holding and growing vegetables in the countryside. Fast forward more than a decade, and Fleurs de Lyonville was born - a micro flower farm, with sustainability at its heart, in the Daylesford & Macedon Region of Australia.
“When I saw the van filled to the roof with hydrangeas, delphiniums, foxgloves, dahlias and more I knew from that day I wanted to be a flower farmer…”
The real catalyst for their foray into flower farming came about while searching for wild, seasonal flowers en masse for their wedding in 2014. Janae realised an opportunity and ultimately her dream to extend their small holding to a flower farm and they haven’t looked back.
After the flowers, the pottery soon followed for Janae - harking back to a love of creating with clay from childhood while being inspired by the art and architecture of her travels abroad and of the nature all around her.
Of her pottery studio, she says “It’s almost like walking into my mind. All the things I love to create with are in there. Buckets of dahlias, dried flowers hanging, pottery drying in the corner, my paints out… I still get giddy every night thinking about what to make the next day.”
Here we chat with Janae about the joy of creating, of nature, and of chasing your creative dreams…
Please tell us a little about your upbringing and early aspirations - where you lived, what you loved, and what you wanted to be.
I grew up in a town just outside of Bendigo, which is a couple hours north of Melbourne in Australia. I lived there with my Mum and Dad, and my older brother and sister. Mum and Dad have always been avid gardeners, and I have plenty of wonderful memories being outside in the veggie patch or in the garden with them. Their passion for Australian native flowers certainly has had a lasting influence. I also have wonderful memories of just playing in the dirt, making cubby houses and collecting little clumps of dirt which I loved carving animals out of. If I wasn’t outside, I would have been drawing, painting, or making something with craft - little blankets for our dog, Brown (a very ordinary name for a dog I know – we were quite literal with our animal names then).
Tell us about where you live now and who lives with you…
I now live in a little hamlet closer to Melbourne called Lyonville with my husband Chris, our two children Gigi and Atticus and our two Westie x Scottish terriers named Daphne and Bisous.
When did you discover the world of pottery?
My first memory of pottery was at primary school, where the sports shed doubled as a pottery studio. We would make little coil pots and animal sculptures during class. I think my mum still has them in her garden.




Tell us about the flower farm you have created with your husband - Fleurs de Lyonville. Did you have any prior experience of flower farming?
Chris and I have no formal training in gardening or floristry. We met while teaching at a Melbourne Primary School and bonded over the love of River Cottage. A few years later we bought 8 acres in the country, thinking we would grow vegetables and have a small holding. We soon found out how hard it is to juggle full time work and working on the land.
In 2014 we were married on our block, and I went searching for local flowers that looked like they had been picked from a garden. Nothing too straight or perfect, but scented, seasonal and ‘natural’. This ended up being quite a challenge, which was surprising, as this was right in summer – a prime growing time. However, eventually we found a lovely couple growing flowers organically, but they would only trade for the flowers. We ended up trading one of our sheep for our wedding flowers. When I saw the van filled to the roof with hydrangeas, delphiniums, foxgloves, dahlias and more I knew from that day I wanted to be a flower farmer. Chris always jokes that right after, he had to haul around a half dozen flower farm books on our honeymoon in Tasmania! Two years later I started Fleurs de Lyonville while on maternity leave and now Chris works full time on the farm after ‘retiring’ from being a principal.
“When I saw the van filled to the roof with hydrangeas, delphiniums, foxgloves, dahlias and more I knew from that day I wanted to be a flower farmer. Chris always jokes that right after, he had to haul around a half dozen flower farm books on our honeymoon in Tasmania! Two years later I started Fleurs de Lyonville while on maternity leave…”


Your vase collaborations with us have both sold out within a day. What inspired the urn shape and striking colourways of your unique and very beautiful vase designs?
I love looking through house magazines and seeing how people use flowers in their home, like antique French urns filled with overflowing trailing flowers or mantel vases that complement the flowers. I love to use colour and I am a huge fan of delftware. Blue and white is such a classic style and doesn’t steal the show away from the flowers, but rather enhances them. I always imagine what flowers will go into which vase even before I have made the piece. I also spent a lot of time in my 20’s travelling, living in Europe, and I was inspired by the detail and history of everything.


Can anyone learn to grow and style flowers? And what about pottery? How hard is it?!
YES! We can all grow our own flowers, even if it is just one packet of cosmos in a pot on your balcony. You’ll be blown away with how many flowers you can pick for your home. Choose “cut and come” again flowers, and you will be rewarded. With styling its good to understand some basic sustainable floristry tricks, like using chicken wire in your vases. Also, to keep your flowers lasting longer, cut them the night before and give them a big drink of cold water and keep them in a cool place - they will last longer in a vase.
Pottery can be as hard as you want it to be. You can head to a local studio and make a gorgeous coil vase or if you’re really obsessed like me, you can dream about pottery every night, buy a kiln, and get right into it. There are endless things to learn; I’m 42 and I am constantly learning new techniques and tricks.
Tell us about your workshops - bringing flowers and pottery together to inspire….
This is the ultimate dream, having people of the farm, picking flowers and making pots and combining the two. This is still coming together, hopefully I can pull it all together this year.
Where is your happy place?
My studio! I love being in there. It’s almost like walking into my mind. All the things I love to create with are in there. Buckets of dahlias, dried flowers hanging, pottery drying in the corner, my paints out… I still get giddy every night thinking about what to make the next day.
How do you unwind? What’s your favourite thing to do when not ‘working’?
I love going for a walk with my husband, kids and our dogs through the Wombat State Forest, which is just down the back of our property. We have wallabies, kangaroos, echidnas, kookaburras, and when we are lucky, koalas.
What does wellness mean to you?
Creating with my hands- especially with clay where I can dive into a flow state for hours without realising, or connecting with the soil. I feel like sometimes the garden is asking me to plant something or do some weeding to reconnect with myself. Getting your hands dirty in the garden can increase your serotonin levels.
Do you/have you ever had a mentor in business or in life?
My lovely Mum and Dad have been endlessly supportive and inspiring. Along with Chris my husband, they are the first people I call when I have a new idea, or I need to solve a problem. We chat things out together. I also have a wonderful group of friends around me.
What advice would you give women at a career crossroads and looking to lean into creative pursuits?
Just start… even if it’s just little pottery class once a week or gardening on the weekends. If you love it, you’ll make it happen when the time is right - listen to your heart, it knows best. It might feel risky to change your career and that’s good, it’s supposed to but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it ago.
What’s next for you?
I have a lot of new pottery ideas swirling around; something a little different is coming with still life on clay. I also have a clothing collaboration in the making, which I will be able to share more about soon. Plus, we are taking to kids to France and the UK this year and I can only imagine all the inspiration I will gather from there - I can’t wait!
“If you love it, you’ll make it happen when the time is right- listen to your heart, it knows best.”
Let’s Play Favourites
Flower – Sweet peas
Season – Autumn
Artist – Anna Placidi and Frances Palmer
Interior Designer – Anna Spiro
Scent / Fragrance – L’Occitane, Neroli and Orchidee
Travel destination – France
Place in Australia – Port Fairy in winter
Film (current or all-time) – Amelie
Wellness ritual – Going for a walk and listening to the birds
Colour – Yellow
Beauty product essentials – Go-To Nifty Fifty sunscreen
Restaurant and/or Meal – Oysters or anything my husband makes. He’s the best cook!
Mentor – My Mum and Dad
Era or decade – 1920’s and 30’s
Guaranteed laugh – Being around my Mum
Time of day – Mornings, when the birds wake up
Day of the week – Slow Sundays when we have nothing to do
For more about following their flower farming dream, watch this video interview of Janae & Chris from their website…
Visit www.potterybyjanae.com & www.fleursdelyonville.com.au
Follow Janae’s pottery and flower farm adventures - @janae_paquinbowden_pottery & @fleurs_de_lyonville
Interview by
All imagery courtesy of Janae’s website & instagram or credits in caption
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