Conversations with florists: Hermina Bevilacqua, Camberwell Florist, VIC
By Flower Industry Australia (FIA).
Camberwell Florist is a family business in Melbourne, Victoria and has become a symbol of something enduring in a world that moves too quickly. Here, amid the changing seasons, there’s a quiet attention to detail to each bouquet and countless conversations with customers who have grown to feel like family. Recently, we spoke to co-owner Hermina Bevilacqua, about the quiet joy of working with beautiful flowers, her roots in Yackandandah and her commitment to sourcing quality flowers. She runs the business with her husband of 33 years, Joe Bevilacqua. They have two daughters, who are going to suprise Hermina with their own floral designs on Mother’s Day. We hope you enjoy this conversation.
FIA: Tell us about yourself! What’s your background in floristry, and what inspired you to become a florist?
Hermina: Flowers and gardening have always been a part of our family life, for generations. An opportunity came up to take over a flower shop inside Camberwell Fresh Food Market in 1992. It started as a humble flower stall, selling flowers, seedlings, and plants. The business has evolved over time. It now has a digital presence – www.camberwellflorist.com, on IG @camberwellmflorist, FB @camberwellflorist, and linkedIn @camberwellflorist.
Originally named, Camberwell Market Florist, the name was shortened to Camberwell Florist. We were fortunate to be awarded Boroondara Business Award in 1999 and Bronze Medal Winner at the 1999 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. We initiated contact and collaborated with the Design School at Swinburne University to build brands and branding awareness for all the stores inside Camberwell Fresh Food Market. We were responsible for and ran Family Days at Camberwell Fresh Food Market from 2012-2015. We initiated and published monthly newsletters for the Camberwell Fresh Food Market 2012-2014. We were members of AQAF (now disbanded) – ensuring standards of quality for the flower industry.
FIA: How did your floristry business begin? What were some of the highlights and challenges along the way? Where do you source your flowers from, and what do you look for when selecting blooms? Are there particular styles or trends that inspire your floral designs?
Hermina: We source our flowers from a variety of places, with the emphasis being on quality locally grown flowers and foliages. Some of the places we visit are Santospirito Flowers, Epping Flower Market and growers in the Dandenong Hills areas.
We tend not to follow trends. Our focus is on quality locally grown flowers. The emphasis is on colours, textures and abundance. Attention to detail in all aspects from quality products to beautiful gift-wrapping.
What’s the most exciting thing to you about the flower industry right now? Any trends or innovations that florists should be aware of?
Hermina: Being in the industry since 1992, we have a close-knit relationship with customers who we chat with regularly. They want quality locally grown flowers. We tend to agree with them, so that’s our focus. If you’re starting out in the flower industry and you want to be a florist, there are somethings you should know. A good knowledge of the flowers and foliages is a start. Knowing when they flower and post-harvest treatment.
As flowers are a luxury item, customers want to make sure they enjoy them for the maximum length of time. For example, we provide our customers with Alum Powder for Hydrangeas, with instructions on how to use it. We had a customer come in, and after we started chatting I found out her grandmother was a florist, and she would use Alum Powder to condition hydrangeas. I was surprised to learn that this conditioning process has been around for a long time!
There are many other techniques for post-harvest conditioning, and these are important to keep flowers fresh, so customers gain confidence in buying these beautiful, but perishable products.
FIA: What do you love about your local flower scene? Is there something unique about your community that influences your work?
Hermina: Because we continuously source for quality flowers and products that are seasonal, we enjoy offering these to our customers. A lot of our customers are keen gardeners, artists and stylists, so we discuss flower origins, their names, where they are grown,etc. I am asked frequently what my favourite flower is. I really love all of them, each one is particularly special. I love when Mulla Mulla is in season. It dries very nicely. Natives have become very popular lately, and there are so many beautiful Banksias with their wild trailing foliage. We are so very lucky to have beautiful, quality locally grown roses. Customers are very impressed with these, especially when I explain the varieties have a fragrance. I love the changing seasons and looking forward to flowers that are in season throughout the year. For example, in Spring we’re excited for the first Peonies, Lily of the Valley, Dogwood, and Lilac. At Christmas, we have Holly, Lilies, Festival Bush. This changing of seasons and flowers makes the life of a florist very exciting and continuously interesting.
My Mum and Dad had a farm on the outskirts of Yackandandah, north-east Victoria, where they were self-sufficient, and they grew pretty much anything you could think of. They had a fruit and vegetable garden, as well as a flower garden. The fruit, mainly apricots, was harvested, preserved in jars and the rest made into jam. We used the preserved fruit in winter. Dad would grow amazing Lily of the Valley, Hydrangeas and Roses. Mum could propagate pretty much anything. We were beekeepers and extracted honey from the hive frames. There were also chickens, and Mum would raise them from chicks. She would place them under a light (for heat) and place them next to our wood fired stove/oven to keep them warm. We also had our own eggs, and the chickens and ducks would be culled and roasted in the wood-fired oven for special occasions, like Christmas and Easter. Any left-overs from dinner and food prep were given to the chickens. We had a nanny goat, and Mum would make soft cheese with the milk. The farm had lots of old trees, so we would collect the wood for fire. In winter Mum would be the first one up in the morning to light the fire in the wood stove/oven to make the kitchen warm for the rest of the family. It was a simple and contented life.
So I guess having been raised on a farm gave me the knowledge about how plants are tended to, being a part of nature, and enjoying the seasonality of what nature brings.
FIA: What are your most proud moments as a florist? How has working with flowers shaped you and your life?
Hermina: Working as a florist gives me lots of pleasure. Working with flowers and foliages, creating arrangements focussing on colours and textures provides me with a creative outlet which is what I love to do. I am never bored. There is always something new to learn.
It’s a real privilege to have the skill to create flower arrangements for people who come to the store wanting to give flowers for an occasion. We discuss what they are for, what colours they would like to include, and we get to work to create a one-off bouquet especially for them. It’s very satisfying when they are happy with the end result.
FIA: What’s in store for the rest of the year? Any exciting projects, advice or thoughts that you’d like to share?
Hermina: We are always planning for the major retail events – Mother’s Day, Christmas, Valentine’s Day.
