La Dolce Vita
A Florals and Watercolour Workshop
amongst the olive groves in an idyllic valley in UMBRIA
ITALY
18 to 23 June 2026
A dreamy five days of abundant flowers, good company, food, wine and watercolours…
come and experience the sweet life with us in a stunning hamlet in the Umbrian countryside…
Please click the button below to find out how to reserve a place
Or email VICKI@THEWILDFLOWERSCHOOL.CO.NZ
STAY in a hamlet or “borgo”…. a collection of ancient stone houses surrounded by vines and olive trees
PICK blooms locally from a slow flower farm
CREATE natural garden-inspired floral arrangements and paint floral still lifes and al fresco landscapes in watercolour
EXPLORE the local countryside, nearby villages and the lovely town of Spoleto
Create naturally arranged FLORALS: a summer garden bouquet tied with silk ribbons we will colour ourselves with dyes made from foraged natural botanicals; an overflowing abundent table arrangement; an opulent urn arrangement and a floral installation to adorn our Final feast.
Come with us on a road trip to a small local flower farm- pick your own blooms to arrange with later- then explore the beautiful town of Spoleto
Paint watercolours of your favourite bloom or a floral still life of your floral arrangement or a landsape of the Italian countryside… be inspired by local Italian Renaissance artists like Perugino, Raphael and Botticelli.
Take part in a cooking lesson with a local Italian chef- and cook the pizzas in our own pizza oven
After the morning workshops each day, enjoy lovely long al fresco lunches overlooking our peaceful valley.
And each afternoon take time out to wander in the valley, relax in the shade of an olive tree in the garden, or take a dip in our pool to cool off…
CREATE… from an abundance of blooms!
On the first morning Vicki from The Wildflower School will chat with you about her floral philosophy of “undone” flowers. Sit back and enjoy her OPULENT URN arrangement demonstration… naturally “unarranged” and inspired by how things grow in a garden, and by a painterly laying of colours and textures. Then work in pairs to create your own larger scale arrangements in vessels.
Then Vicki will pass on some tips about painting florals in watercolour- and you will work on your own WATERCOLOUR PAINTING of your urn arrangement- or maybe of just a single bloom.
The next morning we will create a naturally arranged hand-tied PAINTERLY BOUQUET- and tie it with the silk ribbons we have dipped in dye baths made from natural botanical ingredients… then we will have a photo shoot of our bouquets being modelled around the gardens of our borgo.
On the following day we will embark on a morning ROAD TRIP. We will stop for a cappuccino in an Umbrian hill top village on our way to a local SMALL FLOWER FARM just over the border in the Lazio region. Silvia started going flowers at I Giardini di Mafalda just a few years ago- and we are lucky to be able to pick a bucketful each of her lovely blooms to take back to the borgo with us. On the way home we will visit SPOLETO- a beautiful town in UMBRIA- where you will be free for an hour or so to explore and have lunch before we return to our hamlet.
ON our final day of workshops we will create overflowing RENAISSANCE INSPIRED TABLE CENTRES…. and these will adorn our final feast. Then Vicki will run an al fresco watercolour LANDSCAPE PAINTING session for those who are keen… Late in the afternoon you may wish to work with us in creating our La Dolce Vita final feast tablescape…. maybe whipping up a foraged floral installation!
STAY…
in an ancient stone hamlet nestled in an unspoiled valley in Umbria
Our BORGO, or tiny village, has been owned by the same Italian family for generations. It is made up of a collection of stone cottages, the elegant family villa and a large estate. We will stay in the four beautifully renovated stone houses- which are furnished with antiques and still retain their rustic charm.
The borgo is surrounded by pretty terraced gardens, a lovely pool and overlooks an olive grove laden valley.
We can’t wait to be there- living the dolce vita- and creating beautiful florals and paintings al fresco… with an aperol spritz or glass of vino in hand!
PICK… at a slow flower farm
On the ROAD TRIP we will drive to a lovely local flower farm. Pick your own flowers- and then bring your bucketful of blooms back to the borgo to create with later….
these beautiful blooms have been grown sustainably for us by the lovely Silvia from I Giardini di Mafalda less than an hour away in Lazio.
EXPLORE…
the Umbrian countryside. Known as the “Green Heart of Italy”, its rolling hills and valleys are dotted with vineyards, olive groves and cypress trees …
and medieval towns like Spoleto, or honey coloured stone hilltop villages like Trevi- with their cobbled streets, and the art studded churches and galleries
LIVE LA DOLCE VITA!
After The Workshops Each Day Linger Over A Long AL FRESCO Italian Lunch. Relax By The Pool. Explore The Surrounding Countryside And Villages.
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All the lovely details…
Day One: Arrival Cocktails And Welcome Dinner
Arrive in the afternoon and settle in to your room…. Meet your fellow guests- enjoy a cocktail or two- while we chat about all the lovely workshops we have planned for the next few days… And then relax and enjoy classic Italian dishes and wines at our Welcome Dinner
Day Three: Morning WORKSHOP - Garden Blooms Hand Tied With Natural Dyed Silk Ribbons
We will learn how to colour silk ribbons in dye baths made from natural pigments…
Then Vicki will demonstrate her technique for creating a beautiful hand tied bouquet… she will talk about how she selects her floral ingredients, the roles of different types of flowers- how she layers them in , just as she layers in tones in a watercolour painting….. and how she has looked for inspiration in her love of art history- and in particular of the Italian Renaissance artists. Then you will each create a beautiful hand tied bouquet with flora sourced from a local tiny flower farm. Our creations will be evocative of La Dolce Vita- and the abundance of the season of early summer in Italy.
Our bouquets will then be modelled and photographed…
Day Four: Morning ROAD TRIP to a SMALL FLOWER FARM
Let’s all drive in a convoy to pick a bucket of blooms at Silvia’s flower farm: I Giardini di Malfada less than an hour south of us. Cosmos, achillea, sweet peas, forget me nots, cornflowers, scabiosa, phlox, fox gloves, dahlias, zinnias and more…
On the way we will stop for a cappuccino and a quick wander in a small hilltop village- and then after picking our blooms we will visit the famous Umbrian town of Spoleto. Have some time to yourself to explore the cobbled streets and have a lunch before we head back to the borgo…
Spend the afternoon walking the trails in our valley and exploring the countryside- or relax by the pool!
Day Five: Overflowing TABLE VESSELS… La Dolce Vita inspired!… for the FINAL FEAST
Vicki and Zoe from The Wildflower School will demonstrate how to arrange in a vessel for a table centrepiece using a grid of chicken wire a a base structure. The look is opulent, overflowing abundance… MORE IS MORE as we try to capture La Dolce Vita in a vase!! Then from the beautiful floral ingredients you picked at the flower farm the day before, you will make your own vase arrangement for our final feast table.
Later in the morning, for those who would like to, join Vicki as she gives you some tips on painting an alfresco landscape- and create your own watercolour impression of our local valley view to take home with you…
Later in the afternoon we will create a L A DOLCE VITA TABLESCAPE and floral installation for the FAREWELL FEAST….
Day Two: OPULENT GARDEN URNS Workshop
Vicki from The Wildflower School will talk a little about her “undone” floral philosophy. She will take us through her garden and painterly- inspired creative process as she creates her URN arrangement.
Then, taking inspiration from this, the bucolic beauty of our surroundings, and the artists of the Renaissance, we will work in small groups to create larger scale arrangements in vessels.
Floral Watercolour Workshop:
In the afternoon, you may choose to join in on a WATERCOLOUR session where you will create a small painting of your URN arrangement or of a single bloom.
Then relax, swim, explore…
Our La Dolce Vita Workshop Is Suitable For All Skill Levels- From Those Who Have Merely Dabbled At Arranging Flowers To Professional Botanical Stylists…..
You Just Need To Love Flowers …. And Eating And Drinking And Soaking Up The Sunshine In Lovely Umbria!
BEGINNERS and FLORISTS…all welcome!
EAT… In
A simple breakfast will be laid out for you each day. Then after the morning workshops we will serve a lovely relaxed long lunch al fresco on the terrazza in the shade of an olive tree. Four of the dinners will also be in our Borgo- including The Welcome and Farewell Dinners, and a pizza night after after our cooking lesson
Our chef (my partner Mark- and trust me- he is a great cook!) will use local produce and create simple classic Italian dishes…accompanied by lovely wines from the local area- and an Aperol Spritz or two!
EAT…Out
For lunch in Spoleto on our Road trip day, and for dinner on one of the evenings, you will be free to make your lunch/dinner plans at one of the local restaurants….
Explore further afield…
On the Road trip morning we will visit the nearby hilltop village of Trevi and the medieval town of Spoleto… but there is a lot more of beautiful UMBRIA to see- here are some of our favourites for you to consider in your travel plans…
SPOLETO is famous for its annual festival Festival dei Due Mondi- The Festival of Two Worlds- which just happens to begin 3 days after our workshop finishes!…. so if you are a lover of the performing arts- opera, music, theatre, dance and visual arts- then check out the festival program and plan to stay on in Spoleto after the workshop…
In the days before or after our 5 days of la Dolce Vita (and maybe in the afternoons after the morning workshops each day if you have a rental car) you may wish to explore more of the stunning region of Umbria…. the area around us is studded with beautiful hill top villages. And we LOVE the elegance of PERUGIA and the Renaissance art collection in its Palazzo Dei Priori, the serenity of LAKE TRASIMENO, ancient ASSISI and GUBBIO, and the beauty of ORVIETO with its incredible cathedral. And of course it’s not that far into Tuscany to the lovely Arezzo, Cortona and Siena….
INVESTMENT…
7300 NZD per person for a Private Room with En Suite bathroom (NOTE: there are only 4 of these rooms)
6800.00 per person for a Private Room, sharing a bathroom with one other room
or 6300 NZD per person for a Shared/ Twin room, sharing a bathroom with one other room
(NOTE: As at August 2025 7300 NZD is approximately equivalent to 6700 AUD/ 3300 GBP / 3800 Euros/ 4400 USD )
A deposit of 3000 NZD is due on booking to secure your place. A second payment of 2000.00 will be due by 1 December 2025. The final balance is due before 1 April 2026.
EARLY PAYMENT DISCOUNT option:
In order to receive a NZD 300 EARLY PAYMENT discount from the full amount you may choose to pay the full balance immediately to secure your place, rather than just the deposit.
“WILDFLOWER SHOOL FAMILY” Discount: if you have attended a Wildflower School course or workshop in the past please enquire about this discount
Other ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS:
NOTE: if you are sharing a room with a partner or friend who is NOT planning to participate in the floral workshops then the reduced rate for them for room and board only will be 4000NZD- and for you 6300.00
NOTE: Places usually book out fast! ! ! So if you missed out last year then don’t delay
Also ancient, renovated but characterful stone buildings don’t always allow for ensuites in every room. In our Borgo there are only FOUR Private rooms with private bathrooms- so if it is essential to you to have your own bathroom then please book early.
(But note if you do miss out on one of the ensuite rooms and need to share a bathroom it would only be with one other room)
Please note: we will CONFIRM once we have reached our minimum required bookings -and at this point all payments will be NON REFUNDABLE.
In the unlikely event that we do not receive sufficient bookings before the 1 January 2026 you will contacted and your payments refunded to you.
Payments are NOT refundable once the trip is fully booked and we have confirmed it is going ahead . This is because we, and other attendees, have already committed to large expenditure for accommodation and airfares etc, so we are unfortunately not able to offer refunds as that would jeopardise the viability of running the workshop. However if due to unforeseen circumstances you are unable to attend, you can arrange for your place to be transferred to another person whom you have found to take your place- and please let Wildflower know.
Please keep this in mind when booking flights- and we highly recommend you take out travel insurance IMMEDIATELY on payment of your deposit to us!
Included
accommodation for 5 nights - Arrival after 4pm please on the 18th of June and Departure before 10am on the 23rd of June
a welcome dinner on the first evening- so we can all get to know each other!
5 simple breakfasts, 3 lunches, 4 dinners, wines and other beverages for all meals at the borgo
a tote bag with linen apron and other gifts
a tiny travel watercolour paints set, brushes and paper
all flowers and foliage and use of florist tools, materials, vessels and equipment
silk and natural dyes to hand make ribbons
an Italian cookery lesson
a flower picking experience at I Giardini di Mafalda in Rieti, including visits to Trevi and Spoleto (we may do this little road trip in a convoy of all our rental cars)
Not Included
travel to Italy
travel insurance
transfers to the accommodation- though once you have booked we will send information on the closest train stations etc- and if you don’t have a rental car we will try and pick you up if at all possible
car hire- NOTE: we highly recommend you hire a car if you want the freedom to take off and explore in the afternoons
Register interest below or email me on vicki@thewildflowerschool.co.nz to make a booking
or phone for a chat on +64 274420787
We can’t wait to see you in Italy!
CIAO
Vicki xxx
Register interest using the button below
Or email VICKI@THEWILDFLOWERSCHOOL.CO.NZ