Mystery still shrouds last month's departure of head White House florist

Mary Bruno

Mary Bruno Jul 5, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Mystery still shrouds last month's departure of head White House florist</h1>
                <h2><p>Laura Dowling, the Obama administration's chief of flowers, has been arranging White House blooms since 2009. But according to Washington Post sources, Dowling was suddenly escorted from Pennsylvania Avenue on Friday Feb. 13 (ohh, bad day) and more than a month later people still don't know</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/mary-bruno-crosscut-com/">Mary Bruno</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>Laura Dowling, the Obama administration's chief of flowers, has been arranging White House blooms since 2009. But according to <a href="But%20the recent exit of head florist Laura Dowling, who’d been in the job since 2009, has been a much quieter affair. So hush hush, in fact, that most outside of 1600 Penn knew nothing about it. There’s still no official comment on why Dowling is no longer at the White House, but according to a source with close ties to current residence staffers, she was escorted from the building on Friday Feb. 13">Washington Post sources,</a> Dowling was suddenly escorted from Pennsylvania Avenue on Friday Feb. 13 (ohh, bad day) and more than a month later people still don't know why.</p><p>The administration has been largely mum on the subject, confirming only that “Laura left her position earlier this year,” thanking her for her service and wishing her well. Dowling was politic in her statement, saying she'd "resigned in order to pursue exciting new opportunities and explore my passion for floral artistry and design." And the mystery lingers  . . .</p>
          </article>

Laura Dowling, the Obama administration's chief of flowers, has been arranging White House blooms since 2009. But according to Washington Post sources, Dowling was suddenly escorted from Pennsylvania Avenue on Friday Feb. 13 (ohh, bad day) and more than a month later people still don't know why.

The administration has been largely mum on the subject, confirming only that “Laura left her position earlier this year,” thanking her for her service and wishing her well. Dowling was politic in her statement, saying she'd "resigned in order to pursue exciting new opportunities and explore my passion for floral artistry and design." And the mystery lingers . . .

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By Mary Bruno

Mary was Crosscut's Editor-in-Chief and Interim Publisher. In more than 25 years as a journalist, she has worked as a writer, editor and editorial director for a variety of print and web publications,