The Great British Florist

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British flowers, Mother's Day, The Great British Florist, Wiggly Wigglers

Great British Flowers

I love growing my own flowers but there is one downside – there’s no need for anyone to send them to me now. My mum does still ask if I’d like a bouquet for our wedding anniversary or my birthday but when nearly every room is filled with flowers throughout the summer it just doesn’t make any sense. I know, I know, as downsides go it hardly even registers on a ‘woe is me’ scale, so I’m by no means wanting any sympathy. However, when the lovely team at The Great British Florist asked if I would like to review one of the bouquets they are putting together for Mother’s Day I jumped at the chance.

I used to do yoga before I moved over to Wales. One day, mid-way through a class, the yoga teacher said she really missed going to yoga classes herself and she really must fit in a session sometime. It was a comment that stuck in my head because at the time it struck me as being quite odd. Initially, I didn’t understand what she meant; she taught yoga classes all week, how much more yoga did she want to do. It took a while for the penny to drop (it does sometimes). What she meant was that teaching yoga was very much different to being able to experience the full benefits of the class as a student and that even once you’re a teacher you still need to carry on learning. I know, you’re wondering why I’ve gone off on this tangent, I will be getting back to the flowers. It’s just that I think the yoga story is relevant to so much in life. It’s very easy to get quite fixed in our thoughts and habits with pretty much everything we do. Perhaps modern life makes this more likely, everything is done at such a pace so we can cram so much into our days that maybe we don’t have the time to stop and think and look at things in a different way. And this is where the beautiful bouquet which turned up yesterday comes in. Not only was it a really special treat for me, it’s good for the creative juices to see what other British flower growers are growing and how they put their arrangements together.

Stunning ranunculus

Anyway enough of me rambling, let’s get to the flowers. I’m aware when I talk and write about British flowers that not everyone has the space to grow them themselves or is lucky enough to have a flower grower local to them. But there is another alternative – mail-order. I’ve been a bit worried about mail order flowers in the past and whether they will survive being transported. Well I had no complaints about this bouquet. The substantial, sturdy box had clearly done its job as the flowers emerged looking beautiful. Rather than being packed in water, a water-soluble gel is used instead. This keeps the flowers fresh and contains plant nutrients and it won’t leak if the box is tipped over. I had chosen the vibrant Mother’s Day bouquet which came packed with scented narcissi, irises, lilies, freesias, ranunculus and alstroemeria. It was lovely to catch the intoxicating scent of the blooms as I lifted the bouquet out of its box. And the real joy – they’re all grown here in Britain. 

The two busiest times of the year for flower sales – Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day come early in the growing season. I’m sure a lot of people are completely unaware that it is possible to buy such a varied choice of flowers grown in this country at this time of year, even I was impressed with the selection. There was plenty of foliage too, a mixture of eucalyptus and bay. The £50 bouquet is huge and was enough to fill two good-sized vases. If I hadn’t been having one of those days I would have divided the material up into lots of smaller vases and put them all around the house. I’m pretty sure I could have had a posy in every room. There’s also a smaller £35 bouquet, the choice of a pastel-coloured arrangement and other selections throughout the year, if they are more to your taste and pocket.

The only tiny problem I had with the bouquet was the one sheet of plastic sheeting that was wrapped around the base of the flowers – all the other packaging is recyclable. There is, of course the necessary practicality of needing a watertight material in which to keep the flowers fresh while keeping the cost of packaging to a minimum. As Heidi from The Great British Florist explained, it is a balance trying to keep the flowers in tip-top condition whilst keeping the costs of packaging to a minimum, maximising the amount of flowers they can include in a bouquet and maintaining their environmental ethos. Considering all of this, it’s remarkable that the flowers come with so little non-recyclable packaging. I arranged a bouquet for a friend recently that was purchased from a high street florist and it came with a mountain of unnecessary and non-recyclable packaging.

The Great British Florist is part of Wiggly Wigglers, the company which became known for its worm composting products. Based at Lower Blakemere Farm in Herefordshire they grow some of their own flowers and the rest are bought in from specialist British growers across the country. The farm is run with caring for the environment and wildlife at its core. If you’d like to find out more about this idyllic place take a look at The Great British Florist. And, if you would like to order from them for Mother’s Day or throughout the year then here’s a link direct to the floristry section.

Thank you to the team at The Great British Florist for their gorgeous bouquet.

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Muck and Magic

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hops, mulching, sheds

Heavenly hellebore

Who’d have thought that several weeks ago when we were being deluged with rain we would end up being treated to such a beautiful start to March; the clearest of blue skies and a gentle warmth to the sun. I’d be happy enough with this sort of weather in the height of summer let alone at the beginning of spring. Of course, spring can have a sting in its tail. Few of us need reminding of last year’s weather with a surprise cold snap dragging on well into June. Lets hope for growers and farmers alike that spring eases gently into summer this time around.

The prolonged period of dry weather has been perfect to get out and tackle all those jobs which were starting to mount up. I know this will sound a bit odd but one of the jobs I most look forward to is emptying the shed. After spending all winter barely being able to get into the place it’s a relief to free it of its winter clutter. There tends to be a point around mid-February where I’ve given up all hope or pretence of being able to keep the shed tidy. Visits to the shed involve little more than standing at the door and shoving in whatever needs storing in there as best I can. Wellyman might occasionally be wandering around looking for something and say, ‘I think that might be in the shed’. There’s a hopeful look on his face as he contemplates going to look for whatever it is until he realises the folly of this idea and its rediscovery will have to wait until spring. It’s all been made worse this winter because of the torrents of rain. When we had the brick path in the garden put in for some unknown reason the builder sloped the path down towards the shed. It’s not a steep slope, in fact it’s barely perceptible. The result though is even just an average amount of rain simply washes down the bricks and settles on the concrete floor of the shed where it refuses to drain away. This winter the floor of the shed was one large puddle from December until the middle of last week. Still considering the impact the storms had on so many we have got off incredibly lightly.

My spring garden

It makes such a difference having a run of several dry days making it possible to get sooooo much done. Seeds have been sown and are germinating nicely, roses have been pruned, the garden and allotment weeded. Grass paths at the plot have been edged and green manure cut back and dug in. The autumn raspberries were pruned, although it was a mistake to forget my gloves. Once I was at the plot though I couldn’t be bothered to walk back home to get them, I knew I’d probably end up making a cup of tea and not coming back. So I went ahead with the pruning anyway … gingerly. I was grateful for the stretchy long sleeves of my old jumper which provided a degree of protection but not enough if my scratched hands the following day were anything to go by.

My spruced up allotment

Then there was the mulching. I still find it hard to believe when we live in an area surrounded by farmers and stables that the allotments can’t get hold of a good source of manure. A lack of tow bars and trailers on our part and an unwillingness to deliver by the those with the muck have led to a stalemate and an empty manure patch. Last year, I finally found a source of rich, dark, crumbly green waste soil conditioner – it’s just a pity that it’s in the next county and a 40 minute round trip but I’ll take what I can get. We collected and distributed on to the allotment beds nearly 2 tonnes of the stuff. It’s surprising how much of it we needed. Another trip would have been ideal but with the green manure and some of our own compost looking like it’s ready to be used we should have enough muck, for now at least.

As winter fades there’s always a part of me that wonders if some of my plants will reappear. And when they do it is quite magical. It’s new plants I’m most worried about. I planted two hop plants at the allotment last year and did think the incessant rain might have seen them off. It’s hard to beat the feeling when you spot some shoots appearing from the ground or big fat buds swelling on a plant you were worried might be dead. I’m pleased to report the hops have survived as have quite a few plants I grew on the plot for the book which I completely forgot about. I like surprises like that.

At Last – It’s Publication Day

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Cinead McTernan, Jason Ingram, Kitchen Garden Experts, seed sowing, The Cut Flower Patch

So today is the day when my book is published. It feels like an age since I put the idea together and emailed it to a handful of publishers. I guess that’s because it is. It takes a relatively long time to put together a book with all its different stages. From idea to publication The Cut Flower Patch has taken 3 months short of 2 years, so to say I’m pleased the day has finally arrived is an understatement.

Tulips make stunning cut flowers

I have read some very lovely reviews and I’m over the moon that people seem to love the book. It really does make the hard work, sleepless nights and tearing my hair out at the weather worthwhile.

If you’d like a peek at some of the gorgeous images from the book to whet your appetite here’s a link to photographer Jason Ingram’s website. Whilst you’re there take a look at his own book Kitchen Garden Experts, created with his wife Cinead McTernan, which will be out on May 1st. Whilst Jason was working on my book he was also travelling the length and breadth of the country visiting the kitchen gardens of some of Britain’s best chefs and their head gardeners. Their book is a brilliant combination of growing tips and delicious recipes direct from the experts.

So if you love flowers, fancy filling you home with flowery gorgeousness and want to embrace the seasons rather than relying on imported blooms then hopefully my book will provide some inspiration.

Right, enough self-publicity, I’m off to sow some seeds. x

To order The Cut Flower Patch at the discounted price of £16.00 including p&p* (RRP: £20.00), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG101. 

 

*UK ONLY – Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.

If you’re in North America you can find The Cut Flower Patch at Amazon.com

Inspiring a new generation

Tags

British flowers, Growing Cut Flowers, National Trust, Our Flower Patch, school gardening

You might have gathered by now I’m passionate about flowers and particularly British grown cut flowers. The overwhelming majority of cut flowers available in the UK are imported. It’s a little odd then to think that we used to supply all of our cut flower needs up until the mid-twentieth century. The advent of motorways and air travel brought the flower industry in Britain almost to its knees. But, over the last few years, I have discovered that there is an inspiring group of small scale flower farmers out there who are trying and succeeding in turning the tide away from imported blooms. They are embracing social media to get the message across that British flowers are the best, whether it’s via forums, Facebook, Instagram or the hugely popular hour-long Twitter chat on Monday evenings from 8-9pm with the #Britishflowers. They are a delightful group eager to share and help and it’s how I came to meet Sara. She came to my rescue last spring when I put out a request on Twitter for some seedlings. We ended up meeting in the car park of a hotel and swapping plants from the boots of our cars and a friendship was forged.

Sara is addicted to flowers and her enthusiasm is contagious. So it was no surprise when I heard that she wanted to use her love of all things flowery to inspire a new generation of gardeners. With her friend, Cally (you might know Cally from her blog Countrygate) they have devised Our Flower Patch. Both Cally and Sara were teachers before life took them in different directions. Cally now designs and delivers outdoor education projects for bodies such as the National Trust and Sara grows and sells cut flowers from her field on the edge of Salisbury Plain. The idea behind Our Flower Patch is to combine their knowledge of education and their passion for flowers.

Our Flower Patch

When you think about it, growing plants is a perfect way to teach children so many different skills, whether it’s using maths to measure out flower beds, using science to understand what a plant needs to grow, improving communication and team working skills as they garden together or learning about geography by finding out where plants originated. So Sara and Cally have put together an online resource for schools, community gardens or youth groups such as the Scouts. The hope is that they will develop their own cut flower patches using this as an opportunity to teach aspects of the National Curriculum and, at the same time, it will offer those who take part the chance to make some money by selling the cut flowers they produce.

Both Sara and Cally understand the importance of being introduced to growing at an early age. ‘Growing a few flowers is an easy introduction into gardening for children of all ages. It’s very visual which is important to children. Even the most random patch can look beautiful. You don’t need lots of space. Flowers can be grown in old buckets and I haven’t yet met a child who wasn’t overjoyed to pick a bunch of flowers they’d grown and take them home whereas they can be less than enthusiastic about salad or carrots, perhaps fearing that they might actually have to eat their handiwork’, says Cally. Sara’s young son has already been bitten by the bug. ‘He likes sniffing the flowers, and watching the many butterflies and bees that come and join us there. There are usually a few friendly birds that come and join us too. At his age it is enough to pick a single flower and present it to someone, you can see the joy it gives both him and the recipient.’

Our Flower Patch

Cally has fond memories of the childhood garden she grew up in. ‘My mother never grew flowers in borders. They were a crop for the house and church. Dahlias, sweet peas and sweet Williams were favourites along with lots of bulbs in spring. My granny grew herbs in old Belfast sinks near the back door and had a large lavender hedge. She used to spread her linen on top to dry it.’

One of Sara’s earliest garden memories involves flowers too. ‘I used to pick lots of different flower petals and mash them all up to make “perfume” in its loosest sense of the word!! I’m sure it would have smelt absolutely disgusting and would probably have been more use as a plant food than a perfume. I used to have more success with drying petals to make potpourri, not the terrible artificially scented dyed stuff that is sold in some shops, but the lovely really delicate beautiful smell of garden rose petals, other petals and herb leaves dried & mixed together. I guess I started rather early with drying flowers & (many) years later even dried all my own flower petal confetti for my wedding day.’

Our Flower Patch – seed sowing

For Our Flower Patch, Sara and Cally have joined forces with Higgledy Garden and specially selected a collection of flowers which will appeal to children and suit the needs of a school cut flower patch. For Sara, her must-have flower is Nigella ‘Persian Jewels’ for its excellent mix of colours and its fantastic seed pods. Calendula is Cally’s favourite. As she says, ‘It’s easy to grow, self seeds enthusiastically and is the perfect plant to get children to understand about collecting seed’. They have also devised a series of projects from learning about compost and the water cycle to creating art using nature and the importance of providing food for pollinating insects. Cally and Sara will provide members with regular blog updates, activities and advice. The site will also encourage adults and children alike to share their experiences with the hope that an online community of flower growers will blossom.

I know how passionate both Sara and Cally are, so I’m sure Our Flower Patch will be a huge success. If you are involved in education or youth work, are a parent or you know someone who might be interested in setting up a school flower patch then you can find more information about how to subscribe at http://www.ourflowerpatch.co.uk, Facebook Our Flower Patch and Twitter @ourflowerpatch. You can also contact Sara and Cally direct.