Roxy Kaczmarek sowed her first cut flower bed the day before her daughter was born
A printmaker and painter on growing poppies, snapdragons and sweet peas through Gauteng’s frosty winters and stormy summers.
Roxy Kaczmarek, Johannesburg, South Africa · Words by Flower Club International · 5 October 2026
Roxy Kaczmarek grows seasonal cut flowers in a cutting garden in the north of Johannesburg, South Africa. She works full time as a Fine Art Printmaker, and her paintings and prints are of plants and flowers. She sowed her first cut flower bed just over a year ago.
What do you grow, and where are you based?
I grow seasonal cut flowers in a modest cutting garden in the north of Johannesburg, South Africa
How did you first begin growing flowers?
I’ve always loved watching plants grow. My mom has very green fingers and I loved seeing her in garden thrive and eating things from the garden. We also did a lot of hiking growing up in the mountains of Cape Town and I gained a huge appreciation and love for Fynbos.
I guess I started growing succulents and indoor plants in pots as a student. When I moved to Johannesburg and into a house (just before the covid pandemic) we got to start our garden from scratch - it was a big empty backyard of dirt. I got huge amounts of pleasure from designing the bed layout and today it is a mix of ornamentals and veg, largely indigenous and some exotic. My paintings and prints are of plants and flowers and look at people and their proximity to and relationship with the natural plant world. So growing has become an extension of that practice.
Just over a year ago I craved an abundance of cut flowers and got cracking on some new beds. My sister and I direct sowed the first cut flower bed the day before I gave birth to my second daughter who is about to turn 1.
What is distinctive about growing flowers where you are?
The province of Gauteng has a subtropical highlands climate with crisp, dry, frosty winters and warm humid summers. Often with summer afternoon thunderstorms. I love the crispness and slowness of our short winters. And in contrast the summer is warm and lush with vigorous growth!
Which flowers or varieties are you most excited about at the moment?
I am obsessed with Poppies, Snapdragons and Sweet peas. I’m trialling as many different sweet pea varieties as are available to find my favourite. So far Sweet Pea Streamers is at the top
What does a typical day look like for you in the growing season?
Wake up and in between getting ready for work and sorting out the kids for the day I dead head/water/harvest. Then I go off to my full time jon as a Fine Art Printmaker. Getting home in the early evening I potter here and there with seedlings, watering, and supper for kids. After the kids are in bed I can then either work on more plant pottering/admin or get into my studio to work on paintings or prints. Weekends are for hardcore planting and weeding.
What is one thing florists or flower lovers often don’t realise about growing flowers?
I get incredible joy from watching the slow and steady growth of the full plant. From tiny seed-ling, to mature plants with seeds of their own. There is beauty in all phases.
What has been the hardest lesson you’ve learned as a grower?
Patience, the language of appropriate growing conditions and building soil. All I am still learning.
What do you hope people feel or understand when they work with locally grown flowers?
An appreciation for constant change of pace and rhythm. This change is a natural part of life and can beautifully reflect the phases of our own lives.
“There is beauty in all phases.”
Portrait: Sophie Smith Photography. All other photographs: Roxy Kaczmarek