HOW IT STARTED

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Our project began in a small home garden in the Czech countryside in 2012. We had a hard time finding local and organic flowers, so we decided to grow our own. Suddenly we had a huge selection of blooms found nowhere else and, moreover, fresh, chemical-free and grown with love. Soon our flower arrangements were appearing at weddings, events, shops, galleries and lifestyle magazines; caterers and restaurants were ordering edible flowers and herbs from us; and our flower arranging workshops were selling out in minutes. After several years, our garden became too small for our growing business and new ideas, so we decided to expand. We were looking for a new property and during our travels discovered Bornholm. We fell in love with the island and decided to take a chance and move here and establish h(e)aven bornholm project.

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 WHO WE ARE

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Lukas Paderta is an experienced landscape architect who studied garden design in the Czech Republic and France. Albert Friess is a Canadian who studied landscape architecture in Vancouver and taught English in the Czech Republic. Together we teamed up to found the first organic flower business in the Czech Republic, Květinové lahůdkařství (Flower Deli). We are flower enthusiasts, herbalists, rose collectors, set designers and stylists with a dream of creating a “functional botanical garden” where the plants we grow can be enjoyed in a beautifully landscaped environment and utilised by local people, businesses and organisations.

 

WHAT WE BELIEVE IN

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We believe that flowers should be local and free of pesticides and chemicals and do not need to be transported across the planet. We believe a huge variety of flowers of different colours and textures can be grown successfully in Denmark -- especially on the sunny island of Bornholm, where the climate is uniquely mild -- and easily outdo the assortment sold at conventional flower shops. The abuse of workers and use of toxic chemicals prevalent in the global flower industry is in complete contradiction to the beauty and fragility flowers represent. That is why we believe the only way flowers should be grown is organically, sustainably and locally. We believe that every garden should be an oasis for insects and other wildlife, to help increase biodiversity. By being local and sustainable, we are helping in our own small way to fight the climate and environmental crises. 

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