With sustainability high on the global agenda, Flowers from the Farm are once again urging romantics to think local and seasonal when buying flowers this Valentine’s Day. Locally-grown flowers that flower in their natural season carry a fraction of the carbon footprint of hothoused imported blooms. They are quite simply the most sustainable flowers that money can buy.
Hannah Jackson of the Garden of Evie in South Yorkshire is offering fresh heart wreaths of seasonal foliage and fresh-cut flowers. Beth and Simon Hillyard of Cornish Blooms are bunching fresh, scented narcissi and fresh tulips for Valentine’s Day, whilst in Hampshire, Featherstone’s English Flower Company are offering fresh British tulip bouquets in pinks, soft reds, and pure whites from £30. In a departure from the classic hand-tie, Harriet Mullins of Sweetpeas and Sunflowers in Cornwall is creating intricate floral jewelry.
Debbie Scott of East Lothian Flower Farm voted in as Co-Chair of Flowers from the Farm
At the Flowers from the Farm AGM on 31 January 2022, Scottish flower farmer, Debbie Scott of East Lothian Flower Farm, was voted in as the new Co-Chair following 3 years as Scotland coordinator. Debbie will work alongside fellow Co-Chair, Meg Edmonds, and is taking up the reins from Carole Patilla of Tuckshop Flowers, who had completed her two years in the role.
The 2022 Flowers from the Farm online conference
Sustainability: from Soil to Sales was the theme of this week’s 2022 Flowers from the Farm Annual conference with over 400 members of the association participating online across the UK. Whilst Flowers from the Farm members are generally acknowledged as offering the most sustainable flowers on the market - local, seasonal and largely field-grown - growers are keen to learn what measures they can implement to further reduce their carbon footprint.
Informative, thought-provoking, entertaining, and inspiring in equal measure, the conference program included Professor Richard Bardgett of the University of Manchester on the Science of Soil Health, Professor Dave Goulson from the University of Sussex on Increasing Biodiversity and Beneficial Insects, and Jo Thompson of Wye Valley Flowers on Delivering Sustainable Practices on your Plot.
In conversation with Carol Siddorn of Carol’s Garden in Cheshire, flower farming pioneer, Rachel Siegfried of Green & Gorgeous in Oxfordshire, discussed how she has made the conscious decision to grow more perennials to make her flower business more sustainable. Becky Crowley explored the benefits of perennials as a cutting crop, talking about her experience of creating a 24-acre perennial cutting garden at Floret Flowers in the US and developing the renowned one-acre cutting garden at Chatsworth House.
Flowers from the Farm advocates sustainable floristry techniques and members reject the use of floral foam for its harmful environmental properties. In a beautiful film for the conference, Sarah Statham of Simply by Arrangement demonstrated how to create a Sustainable Floral arch of fresh and dried flowers without the use of floral foam.
Flowers from the Farm