I'm a florist for a hotel in Hawaii. My job involves figuring out what's 'trendy' — and yes, flowers do go out of style.

• Joseph Reyes, 51, is the head florist at Halekulani, a hotel on the beach in Honolulu.
• His floral team consists of four members with a combined experience of more than 40 years.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Joseph Reyes, 51, the head florist at Halekulani, a hotel on the beach in Honolulu. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My name is Joseph Reyes. I'm 51 years old, and I was born in the Philippines but raised in Honolulu. I've been in the floral industry for about 13 years.

I'm currently the head florist at Halekulani, a hotel on the beach in Honolulu

I oversee everything floral at this hotel and across the street at our sister property, Halepuna Waikiki by Halekulani. I've been here at Halekulani since 2020.

I'm in charge of getting revenue for the hotel by trying to book more weddings, create centerpieces, or any other sort of floral needs. It's a group effort. My small but mighty floral team consists of four members with a combined experience of more than 40 years.

When we order flowers, we try to get a variety of different colors

The tropical flowers are grown on the Island of Hawaii. We try to choose different varieties and colors depending on what's available and in season. We have several local wholesale suppliers that we send flower wish lists to, and they source from the farms and obtain what's available and freshest.

We also have a few individual growers I call directly to see if they have anything that I might want to use. Because many of the florals are not grown on Oahu, we also work with many vendors from the neighboring islands for tropical flowers that are grown year round and from California for spring flowers and roses. Our vendor is a local business and has contacts in California and South America.

We change our designs based on the season

For example, the red tones and a lot of silver and gold accents come out around the holidays to make things feel a little more festive. During the holidays, we have some of the best decorations on the island — it's a big job to fill.

What flowers are in fashion definitely changes over time, too. There's always "a trendy look." Certain flowers go in and out of style; carnations have been in and out over the years, for example. They were out, but then Martha Stewart brought them back! Baby's breath also comes and goes depending on the decade.

My career has been an evolution

I've always been interested in art and design. I actually graduated from the University of Hawaii, where I majored in fashion apparel design. I worked for a local fashion designer of women's clothing for about eight years during and after college.

I also worked as an interior designer for three years, and after that, as a florist for 13 years. Fortunately, it's a lot of the same clientele, and with each job I've learned different aspects of design.

The arrangements on-site require quite a lot of care

Working in an outdoor environment, we have to be mindful of how long the arrangements will last. We water and check the arrangements daily and take out parts that are a little worn.

Working in an outdoor environment is different from an indoor, air-conditioned environment. In the summer it's hotter, so we have to refresh the arrangements more often, which is time-consuming.

My day-to-day schedule changes based on what needs to be done

The flower shop is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and someone is here every day during those hours. Each day, we'll check the whole property and see what needs to be freshened up.

We also receive shipments of flowers, create new designs, and take care of the dirty work like cleaning out the buckets and taking out the trash. We're responsible for all of the flowers at the on-site restaurants, banquets, weddings, and special events, and we make the arrangements for inside each of the three executive suites on the property. If someone wants to place a special order, they can go through our concierge team. We fill special orders like leis or designing a special flower arrangement for a room.

My favorite part of this job is the ability to create anything I can imagine

Halekulani has trusted our team to enhance the hotel's appearance and keep our guests happy with our arrangements. We get inspiration from magazines, online, and anywhere else that we can come up with.

It's difficult for me to pick a favorite arrangement I've made. All of the arrangements I've posted on our Instagram page (I do our social media, too!). All of our feedback from guests has been positive. Everyone on our crew is always willing to learn something new.

Most of the time, people in this industry are already very creative, ready to learn, and willing to adapt to the changing styles in the industry. You can't just keep designing the same thing. Eventually, we do want to get more into the wedding business.

As the hotel gets busier, I hope to get more people on our floral team so we can expand our event offerings.