Seasonal British Best

This week is British Flowers Week and to celebrate this I was asked by Four Walls to spend £50 on seasonal home grown blooms.  I didn’t hesitate to take up this challenge, I knew exactly where to go and was overwhelmed by the flower explosion in a bucket that arrived.

I simply can’t not have flowers in the house, they complete a room, I get a bit grumpy if I don’t have jug filled with colourful stems even if it’s just a jam jar with one stem cut from the garden.  I try very hard to buy seasonal flowers and foliage when I can but this can be tricky.  I most certainly buy British where ever possible and at this time of year forage the hedge rows.  This sadly is in serious decline today as much as 90% of our flowers are imported.

Things are changing if you choose to look, the flower revolution is gaining pace, small growers wanting to produce home grown in an eco friendly sustainable way.  Bringing old varieties back and creating stunning displays with flowers that are grown at the correct time of year.  Yes summer blooms may be fleeting but oh my they are beautiful.

I am a very lucky lady to call the family behind Manor Garden friends and knew that Clarey would come up trumps when I asked her to fill a bucket for me for this post.  The walled garden is situated in beautiful country side by the banks of the River Tees and is truly magical; their passion for home grown seasonal flowers is infectious.

To be honest when I came to arrange the flowers I didn’t know where to start, I’m no Simon Lycett!  The arrangement just as it was was so very beautiful, full of delphiniums, foxgloves, alliums, cat mint, aquilegia, astrantia, roses, peonies, thistles, daisies, snap dragons, scabious, corn flowers and the list goes on.  The heady scent was and still is intoxcating, I can honestly say I can’t remember the smell of flowers being so strong but so very right and just how it should be.  After sitting for a while a little bewildered I calmed down and decided on different colour ways and heights to go in chosen vessels so I could place them in various spaces and rooms of the house.  I also decided I needed to keep a big bucket full of wonder as I probably won’t see anything like this in my living room again for a long while.

British Flower week should be celebrated and shouted about from the roof tops not only for this week but all year round.  Do a bit of research and you’ll be amazed at who you will find tucked away down a country lane, people who are creating pockets of magic in the flower world.

I shall be back at Manor Garden in a few weeks helping with a wonderful gathering of like minded souls.  Spending a day in the walled garden creating our own flower arrangements from the cutting garden, having a go at making a skin care using botanical and herbal ingredients and generally enjoying being surrounded by nature, good food, friendship and laughter.

With thanks to Four Walls for the generous gift making these floral arrangements possible.