Lisa interviews Olivia Wilson for the East London Flower Collective Project - a flower grower and florist who advocates for positive change in the global floristry industry. A champion of seasonal growing, she believes that working with British-grown flowers offers us an incredible opportunity to reroot ourselves in the soil we stand on. Here, she shares her earliest memories with Lisa and explains why she loves working with the land.
Lisa: Could you introduce yourself in your own words? What do you do?
Olivia: I’m a flower grower and florist, and increasingly a campaigner advocating for positive change in the global floriculture system. I’m also cofounder of the SSAW Collective, a community of chefs and growers who came together to help people draw the connections between food and flowers.
L: What benefits does working more seasonally bring to you and others?
O: Working seasonally is an amazing way to connect with nature and the natural rhythms of life. It can help you explore ways of living which are more in tune with the natural world. I think, with the pressures of the climate emergency, this has never been more important.
Very often people think about the provenance of the food on their table but they don’t necessarily place the same importance on flowers. I want to change this through the stories we can tell.
L: What’s the difference between how the majority of florists work and how you work?
O: Up until the 1950s, the flowers people bought here were grown here. But in the 1980s, Holland had a huge growth in their floriculture industry, while the transportation industry also boomed. So now the majority of our flowers are imported. We’ve lost touch with what it means to be truly seasonal.
Customers have become used to seeing uniform flowers – standardised in height, shape and scent. A lot of florists are used to working with these flowers because in some ways they’re easier, but they’re less natural and often dipped in preservatives to help them survive the long transits.
Our growing movement is trying to work seasonally with flowers and it marks a huge shift in ways of thinking for all of us. It means that you’re not only in touch with the vagaries of the weather, and the cycles of nature, the actual flower you’re using is very different, too.
L: How do British-grown flowers differ from imported ones?
O: UK flowers have very different properties. Overall, they’re more individual, which adds interest and beauty to an arrangement, but they don’t necessarily last as long. It definitelyrequires a mindset shift for the florist and it asks customers questions about what they want from a bunch of flowers.
We've been conditioned over the last 50 years to expect flowers to last. But if a loaf lasts too long in the bread bin without going mouldy you wonder what nasty preservatives are keeping it that way. The same is true of flowers. In the natural cycle of life, things change, evolve, move. And that's what flowers should do. We need to learn to love the life cycle in a vase and appreciate flowers as a visual representation of the ephemerality of life. It’s part of the beauty.
L : Can you source seasonally-grown flowers all year round in the UK?
O: The main season is from March to November. That's when I and most flower farmers who grow predominantly outside, or in unheated polytunnels, can have flowers. But I think the amazing thing about floristry today is the way that any type of foliage can be used.
For me, and increasingly for others, the flowers you bring indoors want to represent what's outdoors. So in winter, a beautiful gnarled branch or a sprig of pine is beautifully in tune with the season. There's value in thinking about this seasonal approach as an opportunity for real change and to be more creative long term rather than just a trend.
L: What will it take for more florists to use UK-grown flowers?
Right now, we probably don't have enough supply to meet the demand. So that’s something I'm keen to get more involved with – creating a better infrastructure for florists in the UK who want to work more seasonally. Lots of florists want to do more, but they're not able to. They’re also restricted by the expectations of the customer.
This is also why the education piece is crucial. And why conversations like this one are so important. There’s a massive issue with social media images selling unrealistic and unsustainable images of floral beauty. People want to replicate them but it’s hard for florists, creatively, who won’t necessarily be able to replicate these designs sustainably. We have a job on our hands, communicating what’s realistic with our clients.
L: What are your views on the global floristry industry?
O: Well, the floral ecosystem is always going to be global and that isn't a problem. But what I hope our movement can do is challenge how flowers are produced and grown in other countries. We should all be empowered to ask ourselves certain questions. Do they meet the same standards that we’d expect if they were produced here? Are people paid properly? Are workers protected if pesticides are being used?
Florists often can’t find out a lot about the products they’re using. And this is, in part, down to a lack of labelling. I guess wherever flowers are grown, we need more human stories around their production. We need to think of them, and the humans growing them, as less likecommodities.
L: What’s your earliest memory of a garden?
I have really strong memories of my grandparents’ gardens. I also remember one of the gardens next door to theirs, their neighbour Joyce. She used to grow sweet peas every summer. Their heady scent is so nostalgic.
My maternal grandparent’s garden was like a midsummer night's dream, a secret garden. At least, that was my childhood perception of it. We used to make rose petal water from the roses. My dad's parents, on the other hand had an allotment. And I hold powerful memories of visiting their allotment and seeing all the vegetables.
Was there a moment in your life when nature changed your perspective on things?
I remember walking with one of my oldest friends, Mary at about ten years old. We took our shoes off as we strolled through the park, and it sparked this intense philosophical discussion about our need to feel nature. We came across a dead bird which became this profound moment of reckoning with life’s cycles. We both lost a parent a few years later. But this experience and knowing from a young age that nature gives us births and deaths and rebirths, proved to be incredibly comforting somehow.
To have my hands in the soil has become a sort of subconscious primal need. Not something I can be without. Growing things feels essential to me.
Follow Olivia @ Wetherly. She wears the Gardener tshirt.
The East London Flower Collective is a new T-shirt and original print collection from Bangkok-born artist, Lisa King as well as a portrait series of UK florists, gardeners and growers – telling the stories of those who rise with the sun to bring beauty to the world’s flower markets and gardens.