Flowers from Nobel’s hometown again on the table

Last year the Nobel Foundation nobbed Italy’s San Remo and put Dutch imports in the vases.

Now order has been restored.

The flowers from Alfred Nobel’s hometown are once again sent to this year’s big party.

– As a resident of San Remo, I am proud. This is one of Europe’s oldest traditions, says Enrico Oliva, director of the Alfred Nobel international association San Remo and who has been the Nobel Foundation’s contact and coordinator regarding the flowers.

“Logistical challenges”

Last year’s announcement came suddenly and stirred emotions among local growers in the Italian coastal town of San Remo where Nobel spent his final years. Every year, tons of flowers have been donated to the Nobel Festival in Stockholm City Hall – but last autumn the tradition was suddenly broken. The Nobel Foundation has previously explained it with “logistical and time challenges” during and after the pandemic.

It was simply too late to also manage a delivery of flowers from San Remo – therefore Dutch import flowers ended up in the vases.

To avoid repetition, a solution has now been found in Italy. The municipality of San Remo, the region of Liguria and the Riviere di Liguria Chamber of Commerce have reached an agreement to donate money so that the traditional Italian gift of flowers is once again sent to Stockholm. 40,000 euros have been awarded, reports Efanews.

For its part, the Nobel Foundation in Sweden undertakes to make it visible that the flowers come from San Remo. A multi-year agreement, underlines Enrico Oliva.

– Yes, we have spoken to both sides, and I have suggested that we should come to a long-term agreement so that we don’t have the problem every year with financing the flowers.

Must be local flowers

The news is received with joy by current Nobel florist Per Benjamin, who made the banquet in 2022

– I think it’s absolutely fantastic, and I like the connection to where Nobel lived and died.

TT: What does it mean for a florist that the flowers come from San Remo?

– Above all, it is the feeling of being able to work with flowers from San Remo. The florist gets wonderful flowers, and heavy on tradition in a way.

According to the agreement, the gift of flowers to Sweden must be locally produced. Exactly what will be sent to Sweden this year is a secret, but it is highly likely that buttercups – a relative of the buttercup that replaced previous large-scale carnation and rose plantations – will be included in this year’s donation, believes Enrico Oliva.

– San Remo will only donate flowers that grow in San Remo’s greenhouses and hills. So we will not go around and buy the flowers.

In the agreement, this point has been very important for the local authorities. But what is sent is secret, he says and continues.

– But of course – buttercups. There will perhaps be some ranunculus and some green stems that can bring out the color of the flowers.