Educating a new generation of Florists since 2013.
Bloom's Beginnings
When Bloom College first opened its doors in March 2013, it was born from a simple but powerful realisation: flowers are medicine for the soul.
Founder Yvette Timmins, an award-winning florist with over 30 years of industry experience, established the school at a pivotal time in her life. Having discovered that the simple act of arranging flowers was a pathway to healing and mindfulness, she set out to build a space that didn’t just teach the mechanics of floristry but also nurtured the spirit.
Before Bloom College existed, Yvette Timmins taught the government-accredited Certificate III in Floristry at Gordon TAFE in Geelong.
While Yvette loved teaching the craft of floristry, she noticed a disconnect. Her classrooms were filled with highly educated students – many with university degrees -who found the rigid, “tick-a-box” nature of the government curriculum frustrating. They were often looking for a change and wanted creativity and flexibility, not just a piece of paper.
Market & Farm Tours
Introducing Bloom College
Driven by a vision to make floristry accessible to everyone, Yvette began building Bloom College behind the scenes in 2012.
On March 24, 2013, Bloom officially introduced itself to the world with a “triple launch” at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, debuting an installation and introducing Bloom College to the floristry world and at the same time, debuting the website and launching the pioneering Bloom College App, ensuring that people could access floristry education from anywhere in Australia, and the world.
Market & Farm Tours
Classrooms & Career Changers
We started small, with Yvette and a small team offering hobby workshops in hired classrooms across Port Melbourne and Geelong. The response was immediate. Whether it was building a terrarium, making a bouquet, or joining a 5-week beginner course, the classes filled as fast as we could schedule them.
Demand grew so quickly that Bloom College opened its own dedicated campuses in Port Melbourne and Geelong. It was here that we introduced our Career Change Courses, designed for those ready to turn their passion into a profession.
These courses were different. We took students out of the classroom to visit flower markets and growers. We taught them event floristry, but more importantly, we taught them modern business acumen. While other schools focused only on mechanics, we taught marketing, strategy, and real-world industry skills.
The result? Bloom College graduates entered the workforce more equipped than their peers. They were highly sought after by employers, and many went on to become industry leaders who now employ the next generation of Bloom students!
New Florist Graduates
Bloom From Anywhere
Yvette also saw a desperate need for accessibility. She met aspiring florists from regional Australia and Tasmania who couldn’t travel to the city, and she connected deeply with those unable to attend traditional classrooms due to physical or mental disabilities.
This was personal. Earlier in her life, Yvette had navigated her own journey through agoraphobia. She knew firsthand that healing came from a mix of mindfulness and nature, something she found within the craft of floristry.
She wanted to share this lifeline with others who felt isolated, creating a way for them to learn without barriers.
Inspired by the positive impact this had on students, Yvette decided to dive deeper into her story with her book Feed Your Soul With Flowers, and the accompanying online Flower Therapy course, to ensure this content was available far and wide.
A New Era
A Pandemic Pivot
When the world shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yvette made the difficult decision to close the physical classrooms.
However, because the school was born with digital accessibility in mind, Bloom College didn’t stop; it just pivoted.
The online curriculum became the core of the business, allowing our community to stay connected and creative during the hardest of times.
Bloom College Today & Tomorrow
Today, Bloom College operates primarily online, with two membership communities: (EDIT WITH LINKS)
- The Flower Therapy Group: For connection and mindfulness.
- The Business Group: A weekly meetup where we study how to grow a profitable floristry brand.
Plus a host of different online courses for different floristry levels: (EDIT WITH LINKS)
- Flower Basics
- Career Change
- Bloom in Business
- Flower Therapy
Bloom College is working to continue growing our communities and online offerings, with the aim of recommencing some in-person training and workshops again in the future.
The Bloom College philosophy remains – as we grow, our business grows, and what sets Bloom College apart is the holistic approach. Not only teaching students how to run a business or how to wire a rose, but also how to bloom.
We believe that career success, artistry, and spirituality are interconnected. Our training includes a deep connection to nature, to others, and to oneself. We operate on the belief that the better people we become, the better we can be at work. Our businesses can only grow as much as we grow ourselves. Whether you are here to launch a career, start a business, or find your centre, we invite you to grow with us!
Meet Our Graduates
Corrie MacGregor
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Marielle Claire
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Adam The Flower Man
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