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Oct 9, 2025
Biznaga Atelier: Cultivating a Life Around Plants
- By
Blaire Dessent
Biznaga Atelier: Cultivating a Life Around Plants
Oct 9, 2025
by
Blaire Dessent
Biznaga Atelier: Cultivating a Life Around Plants
Oct 9, 2025
by
Blaire Dessent
Biznaga Atelier: Cultivating a Life Around Plants
Oct 9, 2025
- By
Blaire Dessent
Biznaga Atelier: Cultivating a Life Around Plants
Oct 9, 2025
- By
Blaire Dessent
sustainability
Biznaga Atelier: Cultivating a Life Around Plants
Oct 9, 2025
- By
Blaire Dessent
Opening photo courtesy theapartmentman
E

lena Zafón has always felt a strong connection to plant life and the natural world. Growing up in Valencia, she went on to study industrial design, working for different agencies in several cities - including Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Paris. Throughout this time, she kept a strong interest in the botanical world, feeling even more urgently the need to be surrounded by plants in a big city to keep a sense of grounding and inner-peace. Around five years ago, she was feeling the call to return to a more Mediterranean lifestyle and settled in Mallorca with the idea of developing her own project that would somehow mix her love of plants and her knowledge of design. 

Biznaga Atelier is located on a sunny corner in the old town of Palma. “I wanted to open a space that would be a meeting place with workshops and activities focused around local, sustainable and creative ideas, plants and projects,” she explains. The name "Biznaga" comes from the common name of the yellow-flowered Ferocactus wislizenii, a plant endemic to Mexico. Zafón describes having a strong connection to Mexico, and to the color yellow. It's also a floral composition from Málaga with jasmine flowers.

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n the five years since opening Biznaga Atelier and setting out on her own path, she has founded a distinctive business that merges design and plant life. Working with interior designers, architects and directly with private clients, she helps bring a sense of harmony and nature into interior spaces, giving them life and energy, while also working with the clients to ensure they understand how to maintain the plants as well. “I always insist on meeting with clients for the first month after the project is completed to be sure they are seeing how to best take care of the plants,” she says. “It would be upsetting if in a few months all of the plants had died.” She also regularly collaborates with local designers including Paparkone, Bal Ceramics and the historic glass factory, Gordola, to create distinctive objects that merge craft and nature in beautiful ways. 

In Mallorca, we are surrounded by nature, but it’s different when you try to bring a slice of that into your home – and it’s not always a natural skill to care for plants. Biznaga offers classes and workshops throughout the year, such as the ABCs of not killing your plant, learning how to create an Ikebana composition, or creating your own Kokedama. The space itself is one you want to stay in for hours, the light, plants and creative objects bring a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The studio is shared with two other artists – jewellery designer Mama Lula and Artisteo, both of whom offer their own workshops and classes. 

As we head deeper into the autumn season and maybe start spending more time indoors, Zafón offers us some important tips to maintain healthy and vibrant plants in the colder months. 

  1. Most plants have a growing season from spring/summer to early fall, and their dormant season runs from fall through winter. This is a time when the days are shorter, the angle of the sun changes, so they don't receive enough light, require less water or nutrients, and therefore require less irrigation. Avoid placing your plants near radiators; using radiators also dries out the air. If you have tropical plants, mist them to create a humid environment.

  1. An ideal plant to add to your collection now in autumn: Zamioculcas zamiifolia, better known as the ZZ plant, is a tropical perennial. It has smooth, glossy leaves that range from lime to emerald green when mature. It tolerates low light and requires the substrate to dry completely before watering, extending its watering even further in the fall and winter.

Should you want a bit more insight or feel inspired to create your own piece, check out the upcoming workshops being planned for the coming months. 

Biznaga Atelier

@biznagaatelier

Sep 8, 2025
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