Rooted in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, Rebecca Armstrong is the human, aka floral designer, behind Phosphorus Botanical. Her style is fresh, no-fuss floral design rooted in sustainability. Big on color, texture, and making things feel alive, pulled straight from the outdoors and into whatever you're celebrating, Rebecca makes part of this week's florist special.
This Week’s Pick - Phosphorus Botanical by Rebecca Armstrong in the Spotlight
Born and raised in Western Washington, it’s the place that will always feel like home to her, even though she’s an adventurer at heart. A big part of Rebecca's life has also unfolded on the road and in Brooklyn, where the energy and rhythm of the city shaped her in different ways. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest—exploring forests, walking the coastline—gave her a lasting connection to the mossy landscape while keeping utmost respect for the ecosystems we’re all a part of.
A full year of flowers featuring Rebecca
Armstrong comes from a family of growers, wanderers, fishers, and creators. From her parents and grandparents, she learned to garden, identify native plants and birds, and read the tides. Nature was never separate from creativity—her family often turned what they found outdoors into something made by hand: wool sweaters, braided rugs, shell lights, pear honey, wood carvings, photographs of local wildlife. That way of seeing the world—observing, appreciating, and reflecting the rhythms of nature—continues to shape how she works as an artist today.
With a background in academic arts and years spent as a museum arts educator, she’s found her place at the intersection of creative practice and environmental connection. It’s where she feels most grounded—and most herself. At this point, she created Phosphorus Botanical. Keep reading to know all about this business, aiming at creating sustainable designs and keeping sustainable practices all along.
A Mind in Motion - What Inspires Her
Much of her design inspiration comes from the native wildflowers and plant species she learned about from her parents while exploring the outdoors, as well as from folk and fairy tales, vintage and contemporary fashion, cinema, and music. A theatre kid at heart, she approaches every project like a story waiting to be told—finding the thread of magic within it and translating that into a floral expression.
She’s deeply sentimental and genuinely curious about the people she creates for. It brings her joy to honor someone’s spirit, their dreams, a relationship, or a vision through her work. Her goal is always to create meaningful experiences that feel both personal and a little surreal—something authentic with just the right amount of dreaminess.
There’s a playful energy and sense of wonder woven into her designs, where romance and beauty are balanced by a little grit and funk—because, to her, that’s how nature works, too: nothing pure without a bit of wild.
Keeping It Real - Phosphorus Botanical's Sustainability Ethos
For Rebecca, sustainability processes in her floral business are very, very important. She says:
"I work along a strong value system that focuses on stewardship and adoration for the earth. I work hard to make sure I'm making as little of an impact on our dear earth as possible while working in the events industry, hoping to help quell the waste that so often goes unmitigated."
She practices them in a number of ways, including:
- Limiting the use of harmful materials like single-use plastics, and omitting the use of toxic floral foam and bleached flowers.
- 80-90%% of the flowers and botanicals she uses are grown in Washington, Oregon, and California, with the summer months almost entirely sourced from Western Washington.
- Rebecca enjoys working with dear local farms and wholesalers to source flowers and therefore limit emissions from fossil fuels in transportation from afar (it’s also more fun to design with what is seasonally, locally available- the colors work so well together).
- Breaking down her own events so that everything is properly composted and reused if possible.
- Being mindful and responsible on occasional foraging trips. She never collects more than necessary, as she would rather the plant remain healthy and provide habitat for other creatures, and there are many plants and areas Rebecca would never ever ever take, like precious wild spaces or rare native flora.
- Being mindful and responsible regarding elopements. When bringing natural materials into wild spaces, nothing is left behind, and she doesn't bring in any material that could be potentially harmful or invasive.
Rebecca is a proud charter member of Emerald Hour, Slow Flowers, and Something Green, groups that share resources for florists and wedding vendors to work together to build a more earth-friendly and sustainable industry.
Rebecca Chose Phosphorus Botanical - Here’s Why
She grew up on Puget Sound, spending countless hours with her family navigating the nooks and crannies of those salty, kelp-filled waters on a little boat (which, for one summer, doubled as their home while her parents built a new house). They would travel down Hood Canal, sometimes all the way up to Canada, but most often they stayed closer to the San Juan Islands—camping on the boat, fishing, climbing rocks, and timing the tides. Rebecca and her brother would shove off in the tiny dinghy to explore rocky coves, searching for geoducks and starfish.
At night, they’d tie up at a dock or buoy and settle in to sleep. Her dad would swirl a fishing net through the dark water, and the first time she saw the sparkles, she thought they were mermaids. He told them it was phosphorus, which made the water and certain organisms glow. The word stuck with her. It sounded beautiful and carried the feeling of that moment: how science and mystery were always tangled up together.
She’s always been drawn by the magic of nature and how humans naturally respond to it by dreaming up folktales, fairy stories, and hauntings. As a kid, she was constantly building gnome homes, trying to commune with fairies, and spinning ghost stories. In her own way, she still does.
That sense of wonder, that childlike way of seeing, continues to shape how she moves through the world. She believes it’s what connects people—both to each other and to everything beyond us. If you want to see all her work, make sure to visit Phosphorus Botanical's Instagram account.
Photos by @phosphorusbotanical.
