Episode 702: Sustainable Floral Design and its History, with Per Benjamin – author, World Cup Winner, and florist for the Nobel Prize Award Ceremonies
February 5th, 2025
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Last weekend I was invited to Vancouver, British Columbia, where two floral luminaries, Hitomi Gilliam and Per Benjamin, were teaching an in-person workshop for students of their Floristic Dialog courses. I wanted to interview Per to learn more of his about-to-be-published book, Sustainable Floral Design – A Sustainable Future found in History. This beautiful new book, co-authored with Max van de Sluis, draws inspiration from different periods through history and translates them into our present time, reviving forgotten techniques, materials, and styles while also generating new ideas from the past. As Per points out, the Egyptians and Renaissance period floral artists were not using floral foam, so why can’t we emulate some of their methods?
Today’s guest is world class floral designer, Per Benjamin. Hitomi invited me to visit her in Vancouver, B.C., which is just about a 3-hour drive north of me, and I arrived there last weekend. She enticed me with news that Per Benjamin would be in town to co-teach with her and mentioned that his new book on Sustainable Floral Design would be published soon.
I don’t need much of an excuse to take the Slow Flowers Podcast on the road, as you know, so this past Saturday, I arrived at the Floristic Dialog workshop and sat down with Per to chat. I’m excited to share our conversation with you.
ORDER LINK: Sustainable Floral Design by Per Benjamin and Max van de Sluis. The cost is equivalent to about $68 US dollars and Per’s studio is set up to ship worldwide.
Hitomi Gilliam has been a past guest of the Slow Flowers Podcast and was a featured Slow Flowers Summit speaker when we gathered in Banff in 2024. I recently interviewed Hitomi about her approach to sustainable floral design for the 2025 Slow Flowers Floral Insights & Industry Forecast, drawing from her use of natural mechanics and decorative structures for floristry – we called this insight “Show Your Work.”
Let me tell you a little more about Per. I first encountered him at the 2019 World Cup in Philadelphia where he was an emcee during the competition. Through his Stockholm, Sweden-based company Benjamin’s Botaniska, Per’s work ranges from demonstrations, workshops, seminars, teaching, judging, business and marketing, team and leaderships courses, shop makeovers and coaching, large-scale events and the occasional day in a flower shop. Since his World Cup victory in 2002, Per has worked all around the world, in over 80 countries. For many years, he has designed the florals for the Nobel Prize Awards Banquet in Sweden and he is the author of dozens of books.
Let’s jump right in and meet Per Benjamin and welcome him to the Slow Flowers Podcast. And as a bonus, at the end of our conversation, Hitomi Gilliam joins Per and the two briefly discuss their collaboration with future Floristic Dialog workshops both online and in person.
I want to close with a quote from the opening pages of Sustainable Floral Design: We must change our way of thinking. Sometimes, we must forget what we have learned and done for many years and embrace the new world with respect for our children and future generations. This means letting go of materials and techniques that are harmful to the environment and finding more sustainable alternatives. We rely too heavily on single use plastic-based materials that end up in landfills or even as microplastics in our oceans. However, there are alternatives and it is important for us to make the switch if we want a future at all.
Thank you for your advocacy, Per!
Find and follow Per on Instagram and Facebook
Sign up for future Floristic Dialog notices
Join our February Slow Flowers Member (Virtual) Meet-Up
In this week’s news, you’re invited to our first Slow Flowers Member (Virtual) Meet-up of 2025. Due to last month’s amazing and well-attended Slow Flowers WORLDWIDE Summit, we opted to skip the January meet-up, but I’m so excited to let you know about this month’s gathering, taking place early due to Valentine’s Day, so please pre-register to join us this Friday, February 7th at 9 am Pacific/Noon Eastern.
The topic is Sweet Peas and our expert guest member is Marryn Mathis, author of the brand new book Sweet Pea School. Owner of The Farmhouse Flower Farm, a ten-acre family-run flower farm located in the Pacific Northwest that she shares with her husband and sons, Marryn is known for her incredible sweet peas, earning her the title “Sweet Pea Queen.” She hosts annual online and in-person Sweet Pea School workshops and sells farm-grown seeds, bulbs, and tubers for all kinds of flowers through her website. At Friday’s meet-up, you’ll learn from Marryn and get all of your sweet pea questions answered. And P.S., we’ll have a drawing for one free copy of Sweet Pea School!
Join us at Slow Flowers SUNDAY!
ALSO, a quick reminder that our first-ever Slow Flowers gathering at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival in Seattle, Sunday, February 23rd. We’re producing a mini-version of the Slow Flowers Summit for a live, in-person, half-day symposium called Slow Flowers SUNDAY.
This special event is designed for YOU — flower farmers, farmer-florists, floral designers, flower lovers, and gardeners! TICKETS are just $99 per person, and include Continental Breakfast, Networking, three inspiring lectures and demonstrations, Door Prizes, a Gift Bag, plus complimentary admission to the NW Flower & Garden Festival. The details are in our show notes and can be found at slowflowerssociety.com.
Thank you to our Sponsors!
This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to more than 750 florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.
Thank you to our lead sponsor, Flowerbulb.eu and their U.S. lily bulb vendors. One of the most recognizable flowers in the world, the lily is a top-selling cut flower, offering long-lasting blooms, year-round availability, and a dazzling petal palette. Flowerbulb.eu has partnered with Slow Flowers to provide beautiful lily inspiration and farming resources to help growers and florists connect their customers with more lilies. Learn more at Flowerbulb.eu.
Thank you to The Gardener’s Workshop, which offers a full curriculum of online education for flower farmers and farmer-florists. Online education is more important than ever, and you’ll want to check out the course offerings at thegardenersworkshop.com.
Thank you to Store It Cold, creators of the revolutionary CoolBot, a popular solution for flower farmers, studio florists and farmer-florists. Save $1000s when you build your own walk-in cooler with the CoolBot and an air conditioner. Don’t have time to build your own? They also have turnkey units available. Learn more at storeitcold.com.
Thank you for joining me today! The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than one million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com.
I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!
Drone Pine; Gaena; Feathersoft; Turning on the Lights
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue
Lovely
by Tryad
http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
In The Field
audionautix.com