In December I hosted a wreath workshop for family and friends with Fiona Ball from Juniper Hill (www.juniperhillflowers.co.uk).  We had great fun creating some beautiful wreaths under Fiona’s expert guidance.  I was able to continue providing The Chapter House in Salisbury with seasonal foliage thanks to the woodland on the farm.

In January I attended the Flowers from the Farm (www.flowersfromthefarm.co.uk) annual conference near Nottingham, an inspiring event for all growers.  The speakers were of a high quality - informative and entertaining.  They included David Bek who is co-lead of the Sustainable Flowers Research Project.  He raised some interesting questions about British flowers and the global floral industry.  The most worrying is that at present there is no chemical testing carried out on bouquets of imported flowers sold in UK shops.  Flowers sourced from Africa and Central America that are sold alongside organic, locally produced, highly regulated food products may have been regularly sprayed with chemicals that are illegal in the UK.  Other highlights were Ben Cross of Crossland’s Nursery ‘British Flowers Rock’ talk and Minette Batters our local farmer from Downton speaking about her role as ex president of the NFU and her new venture restoring the walled garden at Trafalgar House.

February has been dominated by The Flower Grower Collective, an initiative that was piloted in Edinburgh and Dorchester last year.  It is all about grower collaboration and revolves around growers delivering to a central hub and florists collecting the next day.  Products are listed on the Open Food Network online platform and florists order and pay via the site.  All flowers are then picked to order eliminating waste and saving both growers and florists many hours communicating with and collecting from individual growers.  I am spending this year contacting local growers and florists with a view to starting a hub at White Park Flowers in 2026. 

In the field we have been weeding, mulching, making more beds, laying paths and planting more shrubs to provide much sought after foliage in a few years time.  With the longer days and the purchase of a heat mat to aid germination sowing has begun in earnest.  Antirrhinum, Matthiola, Digitalis, Dianthus, Gypsophila and Ageratum are just some of the seedlings enjoying the warmth of the greenhouse.  The sweet peas are best kept as cool as possible so they are in the polytunnel and will be planted out first.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see some of you at Hale Market.  Look out for my Narcissi and Tulips at Woodgreen Shop, Swanny’s, Stable and Wick and Blueberry Den over the next month.