Back in the spring I approached the local farm shop to see if they’d be interested in me doing a pop up flower shop for Mother’s Day. I made hand tied bouquets of lovely Cornish and locally grown spring flowers, all wrapped up beautifully in kraft paper and gift boxed. I used fragrant Cornish narcissi in cheerful shades of yellow, white and orange and lovely mixed tulips together with Cornish eucalyptus, osmanthus and willow twigs. In the chilly days of early spring they certainly made a splash of colour and a gorgeous scent.
Following on from this I made “pick up and go” bunches of local, seasonal flowers to have on sale every week from Thursday to Monday. At £7.50 a bunch they made a nice little gift to say “thank you”, well done” or “thinking of you” or maybe just as a treat for the purchaser. Each week’s selection of flowers was different from the last so regular buyers always got something different.
The images here are of some of the farm shop bunches I’ve sold throughout the year starting off with spring bulbs right through to the dahlias, zinnias and sunflowers which are blooming now in such profusion. As autumn arrives the varieties and volume of local flowers are gradually reducing. Soon most of the growers I buy from will be hunkering down for the winter, planning for Christmas and planting for next spring.
It’s still possible to get British flowers even in the winter months. Early Cornish narcissi, anemones and luscious foliages are already available and will be right through to the spring. These will be followed by tulips, indoor grown alstroemerias and sweet Williams. I hope to continue using British flowers and foliages throughout the year. I’m sure there will be times when it’ll be a challenge but I’m pretty sure it can be done!
I’m proud to be a part of the British flowers movement which has had plenty of national press this year, showing consumers how amazing British flowers and foliages are. For so long imported blooms have become the norm and although all flowers are beautiful no matter where they come from, I do feel passionately about using “home grown.” Less flower miles from field to market, less use of chemicals for growing, more unusual flowers and more fragrance in flowers can only be a good thing!
