Boom and bloom! Every flower, every designer, and every attendee who caught a plane to get themselves to the 2025 edition of Madrid Blooms transformed their way of loving and seeing the floral world even more during the three days of one of the world's most important flower congresses.
Giving each flower a voice, an emotion, and a place in not only day-to-day designs but in incredibly beautiful installations was one of the purposes that was fulfilled by renowned floral designers and artists worldwide who were part of this edition such as Holly Chapple, Ana Belen Rodriguez, Katie Rosellen, Hamish Powell, Blooming Haus, Laetitia Mayor, and Federica Carlini. Tune in to know all the floral delights that went on during these magical days organized and created by the Founders, Sylvia Bustamente and Pilar Fuentes.
Some of the Most Brilliant, Talented, and Creative Minds Landed at the Madrid Blooms Congress
What happens when Madrid blooms? Creativity explodes. All of these top-notch designers brought to the table the unimaginable aspects of creativity, skills, technique, and much more on the 29, 30, and 31st of January. Attendees to this year's edition were quite impressed since day 1, with visitors coming from Mexico, the United States, Africa, Colombia, Alaska, and many other countries to learn from some of the best floral artists in the world. As said by many, the groups of designers that attended the congress this year were the dream team, to say the least. All of this said, what went on during the three days of this spectacular event —one which left many with a jaw-dropping and chilling sensation of happiness and joy? Keep reading to know more in detail about each day.
Thursd Latam is proud to have not only participated as one of the main press channels, but being one of the main sponsors who played a key role in connecting the flower industry industry with some of the world's leading growers and breeders in Latin America. The team works to ensure that the most innovative and exclusive floral varieties receive the visibility they deserve, and this event is a perfect example of this. Now let's get to it!
Day 1 - A Warm Welcome to Madrid Blooms
It was 9:30 am and the excitement of people arriving at the Institucion de Libre Enseñanza —an architectural marvel in Madrid— could be greatly sensed because what better plan than attending a floral congress that has demonstrations and workshops to learn from? This is exactly what Madrid Blooms offered this year.
On the first day, Ana Belen Rodriguez from inaugurated the congress by sharing more of her life, how she started in the floral design world, and what her particular style was, one she loved sharing with the world. Something that makes her particularly special is her ability to make extremely different designs, using unusual materials and sources from nature such as hard branches, palm branches, and materials she finds in outdoor spaces that are not typically used in day-to-day design.
Following up in this exciting meetup between floral designs and enthusiasts was Holly Chapple, sharing her magical story as well as magical designs using some of her favorite garden roses by Alexandra Farms.
The sensitivity of Ponderosa & Thyme's Founder, Katie Rosellen during her introduction had the audience feeling her extreme love for flowers and how they have been a medium to heal several aspects and areas of her life. Designing and using her hands have been essential for her to cure part of her anxiety and bring her back to life. This is the message she transmited to everyone, leaving the loud words in the room to always feel joy and be present.
Shortly after, French expert in luxury weddings, Laetitia Mayor had everyone saying Oh-la-la! During her presentation, she introduced to the public to her 'Florésie Frameworks, a workshop dedicated to the design and production of modular metallic structures for event florists and decorators specializing in sustainable floristry techniques. The final result was an incredibly delicate wedding-style arch with greenery along with pink and white flowers starring chrysanthemums from @deliflor_americas and pink and white anemones from Floraprima.
After a short break where all the attendees were able to network, laugh, and eat delicious tapas, stomping hard right after was British floral superstar artist, Hamish Powell. He found his curiosity in nature when he was a young boy after noticing that you can find nature anywhere in the world. It's accessible to anyone at any time.
He said:
"Flowers and nature are a language that we all speak."
During his presentation, he made an extremely colorful, fun, quirky, and spontaneous design (words that describe him as a person) using lemons, mimosa flowers, and Clematis from Marginpar.
The kings of sustainable floral businesses came right after with the crowd welcoming Michael Dariane and Michal Kowalski, owners of Blooming Haus London, a B-Corp and Planet Mark-certified floral company. They hand-select the finest flowers from both local sources and trusted international growers, ensuring each bouquet is as unique as it is stunning. This dedication, as well as how they handle and create sustainable practices every single day in what has become an automatic manner for them and their team has made Blooming Haus the go-to florist for sustainable-praised high-profile events, including London Fashion Week and the Vogue Fashion & Film BAFTAs party.
Last but not least to join the group was Italian floral artist Federica Carlini. She brings waves of inspiration from what she is surrounded by, with a very artistic style that resembles shapes, ideas, and even mood boards she has in her mind to create table styling. Being the last presentation of the day, people felt utterly and strongly inspired by what they had seen during the day, leaving the first day of Madrid Blooms in complete happiness. Everyone will always remember her phrase:
"When in doubt, leave it out."
The energetic and warm-hearted designers took on the full stage and had the entire audience on a standing ovation. Marvelous seeing, feeling, and hearing everyone share their stories, design styles, and life and work motifs.
Day 2 - Hands in Action to Explore Different Types of Floral Art and Design
The second day was filled with excitement and creative minds bound to make some of the most artistic pieces while carefully observing the professionals imparting the workshops making new friendships and having a good time with flowers, plants, and resources coming from nature.
From one hall to the other in the stupendous Casa de Mexico venue in Madrid, you could hear different ambiances and floral languages being spoken. From Federica's Italian poise to Katie's inspirational room filled with music to inspire her students, to Anilas differentiated Ikebana style being explored.
.jpg "Ana Belen Rodriguez workshop")
Later that afternoon, Hamish came to conquer with his boldtastic colors and floral design using striped white and peachy parrot tulips mixed with a dose of green and black-leafed Begonias. The result? Absolutely smashing!
Simultaneously, in another one of this venue's fantastic rooms, soaking the environment with sunlight, Blooming Haus Founders gave a very insightful workshop oriented towards a specific technique they usually use for each of their artistic creations. A complementary color palette was chosen, using huge purple anemones from Floraprima along with carnations from Fillco Flowers and both roses from Ecuador and Colombia.
Floresie took a more minimal and simple approach to her workshop by teaching how to make a wedding centerpiece, resulting in a soft-vibed but perfectly complementary piece for a wedding.
Day 3 - Sharing Techniques for Spectacular Floral Installations
Hands on flowers, hands on plants, and brilliant minds who love flowers were so excited to experience this day... installations. These would then be left to visit at Casa de Mexico during the weekend for the public to visit the admirable teamwork that was performed for hours. To define each installation would be impossible but Hamish left a piece that will be forever remembered and photographed in the mind of everyone as the quirkiest orange statement piece they've ever worked on as floral designers. Everyone was amazed and it made the venue stand out even more.
Federica was inspired by the Spanish flamenco dance, creating with her team of floral artists and designers two flamenco heels with different textured materials as she loves, and deep red carnations which gave the piece the most spectacular touch. Immersing into another room in the gallery was the Blooming Haus team craning and brainstorming with mood boards and inspo on the walls. Premium foliages, Viburnum, branches, full-on greenery, and white dainty flowers made part of a center table, decorated and styled from table to chairs to amp up the floral touch in a simple but elegant manner.
As they like to say:
"Flowers are a luxury."
Katie Rosellen’s workshop at Casa de México was more than a workshop for the students. They described it more as an immersive experience rooted in creativity and reflection. She began by filling the space with music, creating an atmosphere that encouraged her students to relax, wander, and gather inspiration from their surroundings. This free-flowing exploration set the tone for the construction of a striking installation: a 'Nest of Peace'.
Using premium branches as the structural framework, Katie of Ponderosa and Thyme and her students carefully intertwined in Alexandra Farms garden roses and voluminous hydrangeas from Elite Flowers, layering textures and colors that brought forward both strength and serenity. The nest grew organically, symbolizing a sanctuary shaped by collective vision, patience, and the natural beauty of the materials themselves.
How to describe Ana Belen Rodriguez's work? Out of the ordinary, eclectic and very, VERY different but giving her creations a glimpse of Ikebana. Weaving with straw-type materials and hanging pieces of thin wood from the ceilings, the end result was definitely an immersive installation filled with texture and movement, two characteristics she, as a floral designer loves.
Floresie's Laetitia captivated attendees with a stunning installation inspired by traditional Indian garlands, reimagined on a grand, contemporary scale. Drawing from the rich cultural significance of floral adornments in Indian ceremonies, the piece showed cascading arrangements of Chrysanthemums from Deliflor which stole the center stage. The installation highlighted the carefully detailed and meditative process of floral installations for events.
As students, guests, and floral designers left the venue, Holly Chapple's masterpiece marked the end of this fascinating and memorable experience at the entrance of the venue, leaving in place a wedding-styled composition using garden roses by Alexandra Farms, tulips and greenery.
Madrid Blooms may be finished for the year, but the floral revolution it sparked is just getting started. Hope to see you in next year's edition! Let's keep the love for flowers growing. Thank you Sylvia and team for such warm welcome and for making everyone have the time of their lives. For more pictures and awesome videos coming soon, visit Madrid Bloom's Instagram.
VENUES
@institucion_libre_de_ensenanza (Spain)
Venue @casademexicoenespana (Spain)
SPONSORS
Garden Roses @alexandrafarms (Colombia)
Chrysanthemums @deliflor_americas (Colombia)
Carnations @fillcoflowers (Colombia)
Ranunculus @floraprimaofficial (Ecuador)
Flowers @marginpar (The Netherlands)
Roses @flowervillageroses (Ecuador)
Silk Ribbons @pomegranatecolours (Spain)
Hydrangeas @theeliteflower_ (Ecuador)
Branches @hortadelaviola (Spain)
Sustainable Arch @floresieframeworks (France)
COLLABORATIONS
Catering chopandchop.es (Spain)
Hotel @oneshot_hotels (Spain)
Flowers @barendsen_es_pana @barendsen_flowerexport_holland (The Netherlands)
Kenzan @tierrazen (Spain)
Pruner @gaimamaquinaria (Spain)
Healthcare @quironsalud (Spain)
Magazine @thursdofficial (The Netherlands)
PROJECT BY
@madridflowerschool (Spain)
@flowerhousemexico (Mexico)
