Morocco on our mind.
The Season for Summer Blooms.

Morocco—our founder Zineb’s native country, is absorbed with colour, design, sunshine and fragrant flavours.
The floral landscapes of Morocco have inspired chefs, film directors, gardeners’, photographers, writers, makers and artists across all creative genres.

Here at Raphia we love summertime reading days to help us relax and unwind and right now we’re enjoying Italian writer and horticulturalist Umberto Pasti’s reflections on how he created an idyllic Moroccan hillside garden. Twenty years ago Pasti was lured to the remote village of Rohuna in northern Morocco by a friend who promised a place where no nazrani (no foreigner) had ever set foot.

He was enchanted and began the transformative experience of building a home and expansive garden. After decades of painstaking work, Rohuna has become a living museum. Planted between two small houses is the Garden of Consolation—a series of rooms and terraces with lush vegetation, some rendering homage to the paintings of Rousseau le Douanier, others inspired by invented characters.

Surrounding the Garden of Consolation are the Wild Garden and a hillside devoted to the wild flowering bulbs of northern Morocco, where indigenous species of narcissus, iris, crocus, scilla, gladiolus, and others bloom. With its stunning vistas and verdant fields, Rohuna is a true arcadia, a garden of incomparable beauty with the mission to preserve the botanical richness of the region.

Also Read-  Collab with Renowned Moroccan Creator Ghizlan El Glaoui

Pasti recounts the transformative experience in his book Eden Revisited: A Garden in Northern Morocco. It’s our summer read recommendation for our wonderful Raphia family. Here’s an extract:

“Around here the winds themselves have identities. The sea wind is a giant with icy breath. Even the trees—every apricot tree has its states of mind, every plum tree its shifts of mood.”

In our own way, we say it with flowers too. You can share a piece of paradise with our Blooms Collection.
It’s a tribute to our lifetime adoration of the colours, flavours, and landscapes of our beloved country.

Also Read- It’s wedding season. Moroccan style.

Wishing you a bright and beautiful summertime.

With love,

Raphia team.