It has been a busy week at Garden Gate Flowers. I have been helping Bethany at her shop in Saxmundham with a woodland style wedding and then Valentine's Day is coming! Delivering my bouquets, flowers for holiday homes, making up bunches for Wow Vintage and at the start of the week joining 500 nationwide flower growers and artisan florists at our national conference in Birmingham. I love collaborating with others and so enjoy getting new ideas from all the other wonderful generous souls in Flowers from the Farm. 
So this weeks bunches at Wow include Smith and Munson Tulips from Spalding and little Narcissus ....some from Scilly and some Paperwhites grown by me. The subscription bunches also contain little green Iris from Cornwall. I hope you have saved your greenery from last week as this will fill out this weeks vase. This week I have taken two bunches and split them. Below you can see the tulips on the left simply as they come but on the right with five stems of additional garden foliage which makes a much bigger arrangement.

If you have kept your twigs in water they will gradually come into tiny leaf which is so pretty. I have cut the Narcissus short and added a few little twigs and an Anemone that is braving the cold in the garden! The twigs and green Iris look so unusual together. Then I cut the Narcissus short and with the Hellebore from last week and a little garden Viola I filled a shell vase I found this week. I am always on the look out for unusual containers.

Next week is Valentine's Day....I have some fresh Tulip bunches going to Wow and have a few imported Ranunculus and Magnolia to create some gorgeous Spring confections for those that have ordered bouquets for delivery.
​I am really really excited by the projects I have planned for this year. I am helping Flowers from the Farm with our display at The Chelsea Flower Show, our local branch are exhibiting at The Sandringham Flower Show again. I am running a series of workshops at Darsham Nurseries, talking at the annual East Anglian NAFAS conference...and that is without my florist workshops, and creative collaborations with a couple of fabulous photographers. The year is starting to take shape!

My bunches of seasonal flowers are available at WOW Vintage in the Market Place Southwold. I thought you might like a few thoughts about how to arrange these bunches of flowers. There are bunches for £8 and smaller shorter posies at £3.50. They are available all year and I usually deliver on a Friday so there are fresh flowers for the weekend.
The larger bunches fill a small/medium  vase and the posies fill a little jar or smaller vase.
They all contain some greenery. The number of stems varies depending on the types of flowers but this week they contain about 15 stems of flowers in the larger bunches and 10 stems in the posies.
​This week the bunches contain Narcissus from Scilly and in some my Paperwhite Narcissus, Tulips from Lincolnshire, Hellebores from some new plants I have bought and the posies contain Snowdrops from Cornwall.

It is good to condition your flowers before you arrange them. Firstly cut the bottom of the stems and give them a good drink in clean cold water. Narcissus should be conditioned separately so that the sap is washed off and not " drunk" by the other flowers as this may shorten the vase life of the other flowers. Once this has happened I find it is ok to put the Narcissus in the vase with the other flowers. 

The pictures above show the two bunch sizes in vases. It is important to consider the size of vase you use. It is not a good idea to use an over large vase with a small number of blooms as they can look lost. I always arrange the greenery first as this gives the arrangement shape. 
​The blooms will last longer if you re cut the stems every few days and refresh the water. You may even find the greenery lasts until the following week and you can use it to make a larger arrangement with next weeks flowers. Flowers last much longer if they are kept cool. They don't generally like hot centrally heated rooms.

 The pictures above shows a larger vase containing two of this weeks £8 bunches ( plus a picture of the bucket of bunches on their way to WOW!). You may have noticed I have reflexed the petals of one of the Tulips to create a different look. 
It is very important to act responsibly, keep the flowers away from children and pets...never eat any of the plant material supplied and always wash your hands after handling as plant material can be toxic/poisonous and or irritant.

As we move gently from summer to autumn, I thought you might like to see what we are cutting. All the Dahlias, leaves and Cosmos were picked today in our cutting garden. The hips are from Hampshire and the Scabious from Norfolk. I love the lush abundance that the season brings. 
We have come to the end of what I think of as the summer wedding season....which slips seamlessly into the winter wedding season. We have flowered some gorgeous weddings this year and got to know some special brides. Over the coming months I will gradually upload all the stunning pictures they have sent me. and write some more detailed blog posts.
We are the process of sorting Christmas...sorry!! More details to follow. 

This weekend I went to a very interesting exhibition at The Design Museum (Kensington High Street), called Breathing Colour by Hella Jongerius. A very thought provoking take on colour. Colour is a huge part of my work. Wedding work and flowers for photo shoots demand working to a customers colour brief. The best situation is when a client has identified a broad brush colour scheme and we can work with it. More challenging are situations where clients want to exact colour match colours of their flowers to fabrics or colour charts etc. 
Flowers are natural products and as such they are rarely single colours. If you look closely at flowers they often have different colours through the flower, sometimes in the centre or outer petals, sometimes the colour changes from base to tip of petal. This can be subtle changes of tints and tones and sometimes it is an altogether other colour. This is particularly true of garden or outdoor grown blooms. They are influenced by weather, water, soil minerals etc. and as such the flowers can vary in colour from bloom to bloom even from the same plant. I like to use flowers which I think of as transitional colours which move from one colour to another as they include more than one shade. These flowers are fabulous flowers which link blooms of different colours together.
If you look closely at the flowers below you can see examples of colour variations within the same flower head and within the same petals.

 Some flowers are more difficult to be certain of colours....white Roses and white flowers in particular are difficult. They are often white plus green, pale yellow/cream, white with a very faint hint of pink....pure white is almost impossible to find. Take a look at some of the "white" flowers below.

Hydrangeas are well known for colour variations dependant on soil acidity. The effect I understand is caused by the PH of the soil affecting aluminium availability. The Hydrangeas being blue in acid soil and pink in alkaline soil.

 In addition people not only see colours differently but also describe colours differently and in my experience this particularly applies to more subtle shades of colour e.g. blush, nude etc. How would you describe the colours of the flowers below?

Colours look very different in different lighting conditions. Morning, afternoon, evening, summer, winter, inside, outdoors etc. Photography, the internet and filters also alter things...Colours are not always what they seem on line. Take a look at the dark Dahlias below...photographed in different conditions.

Plants grown in less natural conditions...hydroponically and undercover can have less colour variation and therefore be more consistent from bloom to bloom. This is because there is less variation in their growing environment which is highly controlled. In my view this tends to make them look more solid in colour and have less subtlety. They may also have been bred for specific colours sometimes those less easy to achieve naturally e.g lilac coloured Roses. There are situations where this is useful. However from the artistic point of view there is nothing to compare to the gorgeous colours created by nature. 
Colour combinations are a whole other consideration....what looks good together and why. When I was training we were encouraged to work with very restricted colour palettes...e.g. Pinks, purples, creams...I love to work with unusual variations in colour palette and can honestly say that most of my work is never repeated on the colour front as each combination is unique.  Perhaps something for another blog post!!

It is high summer and I have noticed to my horror that I haven't written a post since March! That is how things have gone here at The Garden Gate. We have been cutting and cutting from the cutting garden Tulips and Narcissus have given way to Alliums, Iris, Sweet Peas, Scabious, Phlox, Fennel, Cornflowers, Ammi and more. The Dahlias are just starting to flower but it will be a couple of weeks before they really get going. Last year we cut in the region of 15,000 stems but I have to admit to losing count. This year there will be more. We also buy in from other British growers. We do this to increase the varieties available but also to keep up with the quantities we need. Due to our sandy soil I source Roses from The Real Flower Company as they don't grow well here. Then I source flowers from other East Anglian growers...mostly in Norfolk. Sarah grows Peonies and Julie any number of things, currently including some gorgeous Mallow. Then we go further a field to growers in Lincolnshire and the West Country where the larger growers tend to be. Currently we are sourcing Cornish Agapanthus and Scabious from Lincolnshire amongst other things. luckily we are able to access these flowers via some small scale British flower wholesalers who help us source different varieties from the growers they buy from. Finally we buy Freesias from a family farm on Guernsey. When I send out bouquets I add details of where the flowers have been sourced from but I have started to add a little posting on the website each month so if you buy bunches you can see what we are using. With weddings I also try to share with the couple where their flowers are sourced from and what we have used. Often we have used so many different types of flowers the list isn't exhaustive but I think it is nice to know some information about your flowers...varieties and where they have been grown etc. 
It is very important to me that our flowers are ethically sourced. I like to support other small scale artisan style growers, located as locally as possible. It is important to us to know where the flowers we use are grown and where possible by whom. We also use small scale British Flower Wholesalers that we trust to do like wise.

I specialise in making natural funeral flowers...these are popular with gardeners, people wanting old fashioned flowers, people wanting a more personal service, people wanting beautiful understated flowers....
I pick flowers and foliage from family gardens if wished and make sheaths of flowers from my garden and other British growers. Like my bouquets they are scented and contain old fashioned and less common varieties of flowers. Most commonly they are finished with raffia but sometimes ribbon. To extend my skills and ideas next week I am going on a natural funeral flower course. I am keen to make and dress willow shapes for funeral tributes....more information and pictures to follow.
This natural floral theme is extended to church flowers for the service either funeral, memorial or celebration of life. I make big urns of flowers and vases of flowers. One of the huge benefits of this type of approach is that the flowers can be taken home by all the guests or incorporated into the service e.g. thrown into the sea or river with thoughts. I have discovered that many floral foam type arrangements are simply placed in the bin at the crematorium. 
More recently I have arranged flowers for Mary Goodrich who makes gorgeous funeral teas. Many of you may know Mary when she worked in Nutters delicatessen in Southwold. 
​Do get in touch if you would like more information.
​I love this work...in many ways the most personal of all the work I do.

What have we been up to in the cutting garden? This week I am sowing the next batch of seeds...Scabious, Sweet Peas, Cornflowers, Marigolds. I try to sow three batches of these one in the autumn and then two further sowings in the spring. Also I am planting bulbs in the green....500 Snowdrops are due to arrive from Scotland this week. Snowdrops are definitely best planted in the green, after flowering but whilst they still have leaves, they tend to establish better this way.  
I am cutting....

• Peach blossom
• Narcissus
• Muscari
• Tulips (first picking)
• Hellebores
• Bergenia (Elephants ears)
• Flowering Currant
• Forsythia
• Hyacinths

Coming over the next few weeks will be all my Tulips and also Wallflowers which are budding up nicely. 
​I am collecting Ranunculus and Anemones from another local grower who has large glasshouses. She also has a small orchard and I buy arm fulls of blossom.
Spring is such an exciting time because the cutting garden begins to show all the promise of the year ahead.

I am getting organised for Mother's Day, which is a big day in the floral calendar. I have started picking my own blooms...Hellebores, Narcissus, Daffodils, Hyacinths....then I am collecting foliage from Julie along with her Anemones and if they are ready Ranunculus. Finally Tulips will arrive from Lincolnshire, Narcissus from Scilly Isles and Freesias from Guernsey. I have a limited number of bouquets available and deliver to people around the local area and post boxes of flowers to other areas in the UK mainland. If you would like to order one please contact me as soon as possible, so I can put you on my list.

Creating a seasonal bouquet....As you can see all my bouquets contain lots of seasonal foliage...which at this time of year includes, buds, blossom, catkins etc.  This is important in creating a truly seasonal look....using very standard imported mass produced foliage creates a look that is the same all year and tends to make all the bouquets look similar.  Sometimes I am asked for foliage only or green bouquets. Then I focus on flowers that are currently available, grown in the UK and as locally as possible. Other than flowers I have grown myself I prefer to buy from small artisan growers who grow flowers on a small scale. They usually grow less common flowers, out doors and naturally. I do buy from medium to larger British growers...my early season Tulips come from Lincolnshire and are grown undercover, hydroponically...in water and my summer Roses come from a grower in Hampshire. Both these growers only have their blooms available seasonally but their season is slightly longer than mine. The Roses are also a better quality than mine as I grow on sandy soil. However most of my flowers come from market garden style growers. This results in less standard flowers which are not available all year and so automatically my bouquets are completely seasonal. Finally I consider colour ....this is more customer specific but some colours are associated with different seasons. I use more red at Christmas and white generally through the winter. Spring favours pastel colours including a little yellow and Autumn is for warm burgundy's and oranges. 
As you can see my bouquets are rather different from things you can buy in supermarkets or from on line providers or even traditional florist's shop who buy imported flowers from the Dutch wholesale markets. Unfortunately big business has become involved and so many imported flowers are now available all year. My bouquets are scented, using many old fashioned British grown flowers as well as seasonal foliage and flowers but with contemporary styling. They are truly seasonal and each is unique in that no two are ever the same. 

Perhaps not surprisingly I am often asked to make bouquets for older people. This weekend a 98th Birthday...Many people retire to Southwold to enjoy the sea air and our slower pace of life. This set me thinking about what makes the ideal bouquet for a really elderly and in many cases housebound person. Flowers are a great gift for this situation, where the person needs nothing but immediate pleasure and an expression of love. 
Things I think about:-

• Colour- if eyesight is a problem vibrant colour can be helpful. 
• Scent is vital and very evocative for older people.
• Garden flowers are especially welcome for the housebound...they bring back memories and and a talking point.
• Health and Safety-If dementia is an issue, safety around poisonous plants can be an issue. There is a helpful list of poisonous plants on the RHS website.
• Heat-if the person is quite immobile or very elderly their home is often kept very warm. This is not helpful for flowers but some cope better than others. Alstroemeria is British grown and copes well along with tougher foliages. I use a mix of flowers often adding some Alstroemeria for longevity and heat tolerance once everything else has gone over.
• Favourites-People often have a special flower which has significance for them. Relatives are often aware of this and will tell you so you can include this in your bouquet....frequent requests include Freesias and Sweet Peas, which I think is to do with scent.
• Cottage Garden Flowers/Old Fashioned Garden Flowers-These are popular, bringing back memories of younger days....these include, Wallflowers, Sweet Peas (again!) and Dahlias.

, Today has been Valentine's Day...I don't use imported Red Roses but I do make lovely natural bouquets. This year I had Narcissus from the Scilly Isles, Tulips from Lincolnshire, lots of lovely foliages, my Amaryllis, Hyacinths, Hellebores and Paperwhites.  I have had to use a few imported Ranunculus this year as the grower I usually use in Cornwall has run out of supplies. 
The season seems to have started earlier than usual this year..three quieter weeks at the start of January and now we seem to be in full swing. Luckily we made good progress in the autumn with planting, mulching etc. although as we move into spring there will still be plenty to do.  

The real stars of the show currently are foliages with little scented flowers...Christmas Box, Winter Honeysuckle etc. I have planted more Christmas Box this year and also some White Forsythia which is new here. Hazel catkins, Dogwood, Pussy Willow....Using these natural lovelies makes for a really wild, naturally styled bouquet. This palette of materials continues into early March when my other gorgeous Narcissus start flowering. There are lots of buds and shoots in the garden, so I am really looking forward to things to come!