Farm Shop Flowers

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!

 

Summer Garden in a Bouquet

 

I’m lucky to have the choice of several local flower growers to buy my flowers from, together with a wholesaler of British grown flowers in the West Country. I like to have plenty of different flowers in my bouquets and to this end I quite often order my flowers by the mixed  bucket. I might ask for particular colours or I may leave the choice up to the growers. For a florist this can be quite a challenge as you never know what you’re going to get! But that’s good!

 

 

As I took delivery of a bucket full of blooms recently it struck me that the bucket contained a beautiful mix of what was best in the garden at that moment. The bouquet I made was really a representation of “the summer garden in a bouquet”. I really like this idea as it means the bouquet is full of textures, different colours, shapes and scents.

 

 

Most British flower farmers use as few chemicals as possible in growing their flowers, so their fields are always buzzing with the sound of bees and other insects pollinating the flowers. Whilst I was photographing one bouquet recently a bee flew into the flowers to collect nectar. For me that’s what it’s all about, growing beautiful blooms whilst showing respect for nature.

 

 

As the seasons change, I’m going to continue making “Garden in a bouquet” bunches getting as many different varieties of flowers and foliages into each bouquet as possible, although of course there will naturally be fewer varieties in the winter months. I think the concept could be extended into funeral and bridal work too. These could also incorporate the client’s favourite flowers for a personal touch. Winter bouquets will be full of glossy foliages and berries whilst in spring, bulbs, hellebores and twigs will prevail.