John McDonald

Hello! I’m John McDonald, a florist from Scotland with over 30 years experience in the industry.

After falling into floristry as a Saturday job, I worked in various different shops before setting up my own, Acanthus in Dundee. I then moved to work at the renowned Gleneagles Hotel where I headed up the floral team for 10 years.

An avid demonstrator, I enjoy competition work, winning Best in show at the SAFAS Show 2015 and I have won gold at Chelsea twice, as well as ‘Best in Show’ in 2019. Now I am best known as the presenter on the YouTube channel ‘ Flowerjoos’ which creates weekly floral design ideas.

In recent years I have developed a passion for Sogetsu Ikebana and gardening. I now live in Hungary and enjoy being able to grow material that were impossible in Scotland. I am very excited to be able to join you for this interesting workshop on using a Japanese Kenzan to create a contemporary floral design inspired by Japanese Ikebana (literally meaning ‘make flowers alive’).