Mountbellew florist makes history at Bloom 2026

YVONNE Miland, owner of Milands Garden Centre & Florists in Mountbellew, was part of the team that helped deliver one of the largest floral showcases ever seen at Bloom 2026.

Over five days, 76 florists from across Ireland collaborated on award-winning floral installations, demonstrations, competitions and educational displays, helping to showcase the talent and professionalism of the Irish floristry to thousands of visitors.

"I also had the opportunity to collaborate on a large florist installation during the festival, designed by Diana Toma, an internationally renowned floral designer, meet visitors from across Ireland, meeting a lot of my own customers who were delighted to see what we were doing and help promote floristry as a creative and rewarding career,” remarked Yvonne.

Yvonne is a board member of the The Institute of Flowers. They were awarded a Gold Medal for Floristry for its feature competition From Seed to Full Bloom: The Future of Floristry in Ireland. A Bronze Medal was awarded to floral designer Benny Agius for the highly acclaimed Universal Studios Minions Garden.

A major highlight of Bloom 2026 was the Institute of Flowers’ own professional floristry competition, Floral Fashion, which returned for its second year and attracted an exceptional standard of entries from florists across Ireland.

The competition challenged participants to create wearable floral art, pushing the boundaries of creativity, craftsmanship and technical skill.

“It was a pleasure and honour to meet the President of Ireland, a fellow Galway woman, and we were delighted to present her with a beautiful bouquet which included Irish Eucalyptus from Tanner foliage and a beautiful brooch made by Clara Agnew,” added Yvonne.