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.

Wiggly Wigglers Flowers – update

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compost heap, posy, Wiggly Wigglers

Just wanted to write a quick update to the post I wrote about the posy of flowers I received from Wiggly Wigglers. Today was their final day, they have just gone on the compost heap. That was exactly 2 weeks from receiving them, which I think is pretty impressive. I don’t normally get that long from florist flowers.

British Flowers from Wiggly Wigglers

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Alstromerias, British farmers, Sedum, sweet williams, Wiggly Wigglers

Flowers on arrival

I recently received a beautiful posy of flowers from Wiggly Wigglers. It was their luxury posy and it came with its own vase, a very pretty ‘Quattro Stagioni’ storage jar. The jar can be reused for storage or preserving once the flowers have died, which I think is a really nice touch.

The flowers arrived in a cardboard box. Inside the posy was held upright in a cardboard stand in a living vase which contains water and fits snugly around the stems.

I loved the colours of the posy with the dusky pink of the Sedum, the whites of the Alstromeria, the acid green of the Molucella and the silvery green foliage. It also included some Sweet Williams for a lovely fragrance.

I really appreciated the natural feel of the flowers. I often find bouquets from high street florists are a little too stylised. I think if you use beautiful fresh flowers you shouldn’t need to do too much to them. The simplicity of the glass jar as a vase also allowed the flowers to be the focal point.

I like the ethos behind the Wiggly Florist.  As I said in a previous post it’s sad that the production and transport of many flowers for the florist trade is damaging the environment. At Wiggly Wigglers all the flowers they use have been grown in the UK with some grown on the fields surrounding their HQ in Herefordshire. They also only use seasonal flowers and foliage so although it is not possible to specify a choice you know you are getting the freshest possible flowers.

Bouquets are available and it is also possible to buy a mix of flowers and foliage which you can arrange yourself.

After 8 days - still looking good

It is now 8 days since I received my posy and it is still looking fresh. The posy range varies in price from £25 for the smallest to £45 for the luxury posy. Initially I thought the flowers were a little pricey but I think the inclusion of the reusable jar and the excellent vase-life of the posy combined with the fact that the flowers are British grown and are supporting British farmers make Wiggly Flowers value for money.  To have a look at the Wiggly Florist click the link below.

Thank you to Heather and the team at Wiggly Wigglers.

Cut Flowers – Why are British flowers the bees knees?

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cut flowers, Sarah Raven, The Real Cut Flower Company, Wiggly Wigglers

I was inspired to grow my own cut flowers this year by the gardener, florist and TV presenter Sarah Raven. I’ve never really liked a lot of the flowers available from florists and the arrangements feel too stylised, I much prefer a more natural look and flowers that are in season. I know the red rose is the symbol of love but I would much prefer a bunch of Cornish sweetly scented Narcissi for Valentine’s Day.

My local supermarket had started to sell more traditional British flowers and I would look at the varieties on offer and think I could grow them. So I did.

I’ve had flowers to cut for the house since the end of May and I still have some going strong. I’ve grown sweetpeas, nigella, cosmos, sunflowers, didiscus, dahlias, cornflowers, calendula and antirrhinums. All, apart from the dahlias were raised from seed.

I’ve recently read about the impact cut flower production has in parts of Africa and South America where flowers are grown to supply the European flower industry. These are often countries where fertile land for food production and water are in short supply, regulations on chemicals usage are not as strict as in the EU and growing large scale monocultures is affecting biodiversity and all of this to produce a luxury purchase – a bunch of flowers. The Ecologist has an interesting article entitled Green Living- Behind the Brand – Cut Flowers if you are interested in reading more.

There are an increasing number of British cut flower growers such as Wiggly Wigglers and The Real Cut Flower Company and more supermarkets are stocking British grown cut flowers but if you’ve got a patch of garden or an allotment why not grow some of your own. Not only will you have the pleasure of picking your own flowers but there won’t be any airmiles, hopefully no chemicals and insects will love them too. I will post at a later date the tips I’ve learnt this year and varieties I would recommend.