Photography by Chymo Pothography
Approximately 50 km from Milan and 20 from the Swiss border, midway between Como and Lecco, at Longone al Segrino, is the 5000 square metre Flower Farm owned by Olga Campagnoli, a nurserywoman and garden designer who, with her mother Cecilia (who has owned Floricoltura Giussani for more than 40 years), carries on the family business which is now in its third generation.
Her educational background has been in languages and economics, focussing on cultural heritage management, which took Olga to Paris. She returned home to do a master's degree at Milan Polytechnic where she specialised in landscape conservation before joining the family floricultural business. From 2007 to 2015 she designed gardens, giving full reign to her creativity while getting ever closer to the typically English aesthetic of the 'imperfect' garden. Out of this she developed her ideas on growing different varieties from those found on the market in Italy, and in 2017 Olga embarked on a path of experimentation, research and study to devote a part of the nursery to cut flowers, growing them using organic farming methods in this location between the Pre-Alps and Lake Como, without the use of pesticides and offering only seasonal flowers.
Two years later, the activity was extended and changed to accommodate the interest shown by a mainly foreign public. The Flower Farm began to organise nursery visits, courses and workshops to bring both professionals and non-professionals closer to the culture of seasonal cut flowers, which often evoke memories of times gone by and of customs from far away.
In addition to supplying selected florists, Olga is also responsible for wedding and event arrangements and welcomes professionals and flower lovers and those who share her philosophy to her nursery, where she organises workshops, training courses, ad-hoc harvesting, conservation and planting classes, as well as visits for small groups to the Flower Farm, where they can discover varieties little known to the general public, and enjoy breakfast or take tea together.