An Interview With Milli Proust - Flower Farmer, Florist, Seed Grower & Author

I know a lot of us admire the work Milli Proust from afar.  She is a flower farmer, florist, seed grower and was trusted by Floret to bring their seeds to the UK. We thought we would find out a bit more about this very talented individual.

We would love to hear about Alma/Proust and how it all began, where did the love affair start with flowers? 

Paris and I set up our business separately and established a friendship through our love and obsession with flowers. We would go in together on our annual trade orders for bulbs and corms, but by 2021, I had been bed-bound by hyperemesis gravidarum during my pregnancy, and I reached out to Paris for some help. In a serendipitous twist of fates, Paris had just lost access to the land where she grew her crops. We were both facing losing what we had built, and after just 8 months of working together, we knew we could build something far more beautiful, joyful, and resilient- so we joined forces for good. It's been such a gift to have found our way to each other.

You have a farm where you grow your own flowers from seed for seed and for your floristry events, can you tell us more about the connection with growing your own flowers from seed to flower to floristry vs buying in from big commercial growers?

What we love most about growing our crops is the year's seasonal rhythm. To be able to look forward to ingredients and flowers returning after months and months without them means that our job is often centred around joyful anticipation and the hope of things to come. We never get sick of the flowers we work with because we get them for a few weeks or months, and then they fade, and the next flush of seasonal flowers arrives. It keeps us constantly inspired and never bored. It's such hard work, and crop failures are disheartening. We really think that flowers grown and not flown have an extraordinary amount of beauty, and it makes all the difference in design work, so that keeps us going. We know that each and every stem is so full of our hard work, endless tending, and love that we never take a single flower for granted. 

The present and future live side-by-side in our everyday work. We often refer to past seasons, so planning is a holistic venture. When we work with brides and clients, it is always on the premise that we will create beauty and conjure an atmosphere for them instead of promising specific flowers and working to a tight colour palette. Only some people are keen to work like that, but because those boundaries are inherent when working with nature, the people who want to work with us generally love the ethos we present them with. Being clear about how we can work with the season's limitations allows us to not panic about meticulous planning for events with a wish and prayer that the flowers they want will open on time, but instead to grow what we love and know that we can achieve visually impactful designs whatever the glut of ingredients we have when the day comes. We work with other growers, too, to supply us with colours and textures we might need more of. 

What led you to begin writing books, Seed To Bloom, and more recently The Grower's Guides; Floristry & SEEDS?

I've always loved learning as I do, collecting and sharing information, and writing, too. To weave everything I've learnt and organise it into accessible and easy-to-digest form is such a dream come true. I pour my heart and soul into the books, and I hope many more will come.

Some of my favourite books that were great sources of inspiration and generous with their knowledge are Cut Flower Garden by Erin Benzakein and Grow Your Own Cut Flowers by Sarah Raven. I would also say that if you really want a useful book to take to the greenhouse with you, Growers Guide Seeds should hopefully be your most helpful companion. There’s lots of troubleshooting in there for seedling stage too.

Follow Milli's journey here.