FLOWER SHOP STORIES

A Year On

2012-01-19T19:53:00.005Z

He bought me flowers,

I think I will keep him for another year!

He knows the way to this girl's heart.

A Year Filled With Flowers

2011-12-29T14:24:00.038Z

The year started with a wedding.

Our wedding,

with a bouquet made up from flowers I collected from florist friends around the country, that Billy and I visited on our way north. We get married in Durham, 10 years after we met there.

The florist's year really gets under way with all the rush and romance that is Valentine's Day. Calling into Leentje's tiny, but exquisite shop in Cambridgeshire seemed like a very good place for me to start too.

Soon after cupid delivered his last rose, florists, like Kate in Sturminster Newton packed their shops with plants and posies for Mothers' Day.

In Arcade Flowers in Ringwood local primary school children hung blue hearts on a tree that the girls have planted in their window.

The warm spring rolled into a showery May and into the shops came the summery flowers and herbs; such as the delicate blue Scabious and daisy-like Fever Few.

This was a year for new ventures; Sprout & Flower in Mere in Wiltshire opened its doors selling an enticing mixture of vegetables, flowers and fresh bread,

and Rustic Rose launched its new website - complete with a heavenly day for me helping to photograph bouquets and blooms for it.

It is not only the flower shops that I love but the many flower stalls I visit on my travels, such as this fabulous display outside Bibendum on the Fulham Road.

New faces included Grace,

whose shop Bramble & Wild is a wonderful discovery, perched at the top of Catherine Hill in Frome.

But the year would not be the same without several trips to Ted Martin Flowers in Tisbury, the subject of my first two books about flower shops.

I can always rely on my flower shop friends to fill my life with colour!

From the first spring tulips to the late November chrysanthemum blooms.

It was a year for celebrating, with a party for a my daughter and my birthdays.

(I cannot believe she is twenty one - let alone how old I am!)

There were weddings to help with, including Gemma who did not have a huge budget - but as luck would have it, happened to know a friendly florist.

As a finishing touch I pick sweet peas for her from the pick your own flower fields at Hatch near Tisbury.

It was also a year of flower workshops - one of my favourites is based on the sort of flowers you can find in your garden.

The ladies attending it may be teachers and nurses and retired civil servants but they were born florists.

There were flowers to admire in the many flower festivals around the country - such as the magnificent displays at Salisbury cathedral.

And there were ways to create an atmospheric table display of flowers for yourself, even when you did not have masses of flowers to play with.

My flower filled year would not be complete without mentioning Tom from Tretter's cocktail bar in Prague. I do love a man who puts orchids in my cocktails. And I do love a best friend who takes me to Prague to celebrate my birthday. (Yes, I know, I have been celebrating since the summer!)

As the year drew to a close it is back to one of my favourite flower shops - Ted Martins. Christmas would not be Christmas without stopping by to say hello and to wish them all (and you) a very Happy New Year.

Christmas at Ted's

2011-12-11T16:05:00.016Z

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a few visits to Ted Martin Flowers - now with a new website so check it out - www.tedmartinflowers.co.uk

As we arrive Clare and Ted are loading up the van with holly and pine as Ted is off to decorate Santa's sleigh! He is visiting Tisbury this evening, along with many market stalls that are being set up for some late night Christmas shopping.

We have decided this year, rather than face the crush of Christmas shopping in Bath we are going to do all our shopping locally.

The funny thing is people would pay a lot of money for a weekend away to this part of the country with a bit of Christmas browsing thrown in and yet each year I seem to feel I need to rush off to a big town or city. Mad.

Oh and what a good present! To be honest there aren't many friends I would give one of my calendars to - I would feel a bit awkward that they might not really want one - but I know my Mum will definitely be keen to have one!

It is lovely to be back looking at Ted's dresser stacked with a mass of china. I spent a number of years working here (and dusting it) and I really miss it.

As always, there are beautiful ready to go posies ...

... and pottery jugs filled with flowers.

Plus Christmas decorations and a good supply of Flower Shop books!

A friend of mine got married at this time of year and her mother always gives her a new Christmas decoration for their tree as an anniversary present.

It is a bit of a flying visit but it certainly gets me into the Christmas spirit perfectly.

A Very Jolly Christmas Workshop

2011-12-02T15:34:00.011Z

I am at Stourhead making wreaths and arrangements in a Christmas workshop - we have carols and chocolate cake, and my phone has no reception here. What more could you want?!

For the first arrangements I demonstrate, I go for smokey hydrangeas, a pretty rose called Upper Secret and a splash of gold eucalyptus.

Then just a touch of something darker to set the colours off - burgundy skimia and tiny spray chrysanthemum heads.

There is enough left for a luscious hand-tie that is now sitting opposite me as I type this. Well, there have to be some perks for carrying all those flowers around!

Everyone then has a go at making a door wreath - it is interesting to see how different they all are.

I also show how to make a large white and silver table arrangement before we all have a go at some pudding basin arrangements.

I love these old fashioned bowls. Although I think our local hardware store think I am mad seeing the amount I order.

And if you didn't want to surround the candles with flowers you could always fill the edge with nuts or clementines.

Perfect

Thinking Christmas

2011-11-28T20:16:00.007Z

I am collecting some flowers for a workshop I have planned from Rustic Rose and looking around the shop you can see that Christmas is creeping in.

In amongst the conkers and bronze oak leaves you can glimpse a bit of Christmassy glitz.

So I am starting to think Christmas!

With a car laden down with wreaths and pine and pudding basins ...yes, pudding basins, I am ready for a Christmas flower workshop.

Watch this space ....

Rosemary for Remembrance

2011-11-13T10:33:00.010Z

As I am writing this I have the radio on in the background and I can hear the piped bands playing at the Ceremony of Remembrance from the Cenotaph. It is impossible not to be moved by the familiar and haunting music.

As florist we often include rosemary in funeral tributes as in the Victorian language of flowers it represents remembrance.

Yesterday I called in to see Sarah at Sprout & Flower and the CD of music she was playing took me back to another era...white cliffs...blue birds...

Music is a big part of Sarah's family life as her partner Bob sings in a local choir. Recently he organised for singers from a Vermont choir to visit Mere when on a UK tour. She was delighted to find one of the choir owns an organic fruit, vegetable and flower farm in New England, specialising in the growing of sunflowers, lisianthus and delphiniums.

As we move well into the month of November, Christmas is starting to creep into her shop.

There are lanterns and stars and jingle bells.

I am particularly taken by some festive letters and momentarily wish my girls were little again. Then I realise that I needed worry, they will like them anyway!

For those who would like to have a go at making some Christmas wreaths Sarah is running some workshops at National Trust's Stourhead.

www.sproutandflower.co.uk

The Ghostly Garden

2011-10-31T09:07:00.016Z

I am on my way to Pythouse walled garden and decide to call in at Sprout & Flower to see my friend Sarah and to buy some pumpkins.

Sarah - who I have always secretly thought was a white witch - has her broom parked outside the shop in between the pumpkins and the crate of heather.

She tells me business is good. And whilst I am there the shop is buzzing with customers looking for fruit and veg and fresh bread.

At Pythouse garden they are busy getting ready for a Halloween party.

Most of the pumpkins have now been decorated or Matt the chef has got his hands on them for a big batch of pumpkin soup.

There may not be many pumpkins left to buy but there are splashes of autumnal orange all around the garden.

And in the potting shed there are loops of Halloween streamers,

and ghoulish ghostly faces.

Perhaps my favourite though are the Halloween cup-cakes.

Not to be outdone we head home with our pumpkins,

although I have to admit I think 8 year old Elena, who is staying with us, makes a better job of it than I could have done!

Looking for Flowers in Prague

2011-10-17T20:29:00.012+01:00

My best friend Pip has taken me to Prague for the weekend. What a friend! She is in search of art galleries, I am naturally in search of flowers.

Early indications are good; a purple and blue skirt of salvia and yarrow around one of the many monuments that populate the city.

But flower shops? Not that I could find. So I make do with admiring the beautiful buildings,

... and spotting a rose carrying bride.

(What a dress!)

But far and away the best discovery of all is Tom the barman.

I do love a man who puts orchids in my cocktails!

So if you are ever in Prague, remember to call into Tretters Cocktail Bar and ask for Tom. (I can thoroughly recommend a 'Romance' which is a mixture of crushed blackberries and raspberries, with a splash of cassis, raspberry syrup and lemon juice, topped up with Champagne. Heaven.)

But do not make the mistake of asking a rather drunk Russian to take a photograph of you and your friend afterwards!

Mothers & Daughters

2011-10-02T17:28:00.021+01:00

I am running a workshop at Pythouse Walled Garden for mother and daughter - Ursula and Esther.

We are in the cool of the Potting Shed with a breeze coming in the open door, as the sun beats down on the garden outside.

It is time for autumnal colours. But with the weather this warm and wonderful, I have chosen bright seasonal shades - like this Cherry Brandy rose.

Esther is a natural!

On a day like today, everywhere you look the colours seem to sing out.

In the garden the parasols are bright buttons of colour.

With the piles of pumpkins adding an extra glow of glorious orange.When Ursula and Esther finish their workshop they sit in the sunshine with their family sampling Pythouse Garden cakes.

All around I can see mothers and daughters playing in the sunshine. And I do miss my daughters so.

Alex is currently in Australia, so is a long long way away. However I did get to lie in the sun with Libby in Hyde Park earlier in the week.

So I have to add some photos of her to make this mum feel better!

An Autumnal Palette

2011-09-26T17:40:00.011+01:00

Some people find the autumn depressing as they see it as a time of decay, with winter lurking just around the corner. I, on the other hand, love the autumn. I love the colours, the sense of change in the air and the memories it brings of conkers, new school shoes and the pale lined pages of fresh exercise books.

As I drive over to the National Trust garden at Stourhead the air is warm and fragrant, but with an enticing tang of autumnal bite in the breeze. The hydrangeas by the roadside look like they have been brushed with a smoky palette of new paints.

They are not the only flowers to have been painted. In the memorial hall near to the garden there is an exhibition of floral paintings.

How can I resist a look?!

Artists call by to demonstrate their craft for visitors to the exhibition.

Next door in the First-View Gallery there are more flowers spilling from the walls.

My favourite, this fabulous display of sunlit anemones.

In the Steps of Eliza Dolittle

2011-09-17T18:02:00.014+01:00

There is no doubt it is in London where you will find some of the finest flower stalls. So when I am in South Kensington on my way to a meeting I find I am very easily distracted by the wayside flowers.

One of the most beautiful stalls is in the entrance to the old Michelin Building on Fulham Road, home to the Conran shop and the light and airy, and very elegant Bibendum restaurant.

I am in for such a treat - I am being taken out for lunch here today. And what is more, I am being treated by one of the supporters of the children's charity I fundraise for. Anyone who has ever fundraised will know this is not the norm. The norm is you are the last one anyone ever wants to speak to and your emails will be bottom of the list to reply to! So today makes such a change and I am going to enjoy myself.

Wandering back to the tube station after lunch (happily full of saffron and haddock risotto and a glass of Sauvignon) I spend some time admiring the flowers at the flower stall on the concourse outside the station entrance.

The girls at Gilding the Lily are busy making up posies of roses, delphiniums and veronica.

It seems idyllic on a sunny day like today, but I can imagine in the rain and the cold it is another days work altogether.

I love the mix of varieties the girls have chosen - in this case amaryllis, celosia and anthuriums.

Plus the colour combinations would make anyone smile.

Especially a woman who loves flowers who has just been treated to a very nice lunch.

Thank you very much Mr & Mrs P.

Birthday Blooms

2011-09-11T15:13:00.013+01:00

It's my party and I'll flower arrange if I want to!

I call in to decorate the room we are having supper in at Hotel Grosvenor in the centre of Shaftesbury.

I was once told, a birthday without flowers is like a ship without a sail. And who am I to argue?

We are being joined by ten friends for a birthday supper. The Hotel Grosvenor is well known for its gorgeous food, but I also happen to know that many of the rooms have been decorated using Cecil Beaton inspired fabrics. These include the Beaton Bouquet design based on his hand drawn flowers.

Cecil Beaton used to live near to Shaftesbury in Ashcombe House - perhaps now better known as the country house of Guy Ritchie, and at one time, Madonna.

I never met Madonna but Guy once sat in the back of our very old Land Cruiser, in the pub carpark with my husband Billy Kelly listening to and arguing over Irish Music..... a very long story ...

There is also a wonderful tale of Guy taking Brad Pitt into one of our local pubs and asking the landlord if anyone famous ever came in. To which the publican replied firmly. "No. Never."

But back to the Grosvenor. I do like a hotel that takes its flowers seriously.

I am sure I am not the only one who feels better seeing these large displays of sunflowers and lilies.

Sprout & Flower - Open for Business

2011-09-05T16:07:00.012+01:00

The scene is set, the door is open and in the constant stream of customers it is difficult to get a quick photo of the proud proprietress.

There are ready to go bunches of flowers in a display on the street with further banks of flowers inside. A man driving past stops to call in to buy flowers for the friends he is visiting. As the shops is crowded I step in and am proud to say I make the first Sprout & Flower bouquet. Once a florist, always a florist!

I also make a posy for my florist friend Jennifer who is not very well. She, Sarah and I all used to work together at Ted Martin Flowers in nearby Tisbury. I know she will be keen to hear how Sarah's first day is going.

At the back of the shop near the garden are two larger pieces for sale.

A floral painting on silk by local artist Tamsin Guy, plus a hazel chair that Sarah made herself. Is there no end to her talents!

One Day to Go

2011-09-04T21:11:00.011+01:00

The new sign is up and so is the bunting. "Sprout & Flower" - a good name for a fruit, veg and flower shop.

Sarah and her friend Emma are putting the finishing touches, and deciding and re-deciding where everything should go.

"What do you think? ...there ...or maybe ...there?"

Some of the walls have been clad in new cedar wood which will soften to a smoky grey over time. This will go perfectly with the stone walls and new slate counter.

Some of the plants have arrived but the fruit and veg order and the flower delivery will arrive tomorrow.

But what does arrive today is a Dorset apple cake from neighbour, Deeanne. She stops for a quick chat but is soon off back home to bake a pear upside down cake to use up her windfalls.

Sarah tells me that all week people have been calling in with gifts, including a pizza for her partner Bob, when someone saw him working late in the shop one evening!

Sarah has a notice up in the window looking for local produce - but almonds is the last thing she expected. A gentleman brought them in telling her they were from their farm in Andalusia.

I am looking forward to visiting tomorrow when the doors open officially.

From This to That

2011-09-03T07:16:00.013+01:00

What a difference a few days, a lot of hard work and Peter the Painter makes! As I am admiring the new shop front, Peter is passing and introduces himself. He is clearly (and justifiably) proud of his work and stops to brush some dust from the gleaming paintwork.

I can't believe the difference - and what a great colour. A colour I would have never chosen from a colour chart, but it looks amazing.

A clue of things to come? I know Sarah is keen to stock locally grown fruit and veg, including the more specialist varieties. And I also know from working with Sarah the flowers she stocks are sure to be gorgeous.

People from the village peer inside as they pass to see how things are progressing.

So far, new woodwork, dustbins and bags for the rubbish ...and is that Granvil's bike?

Stourhead & Starting Up

2011-08-26T10:45:00.012+01:00

The first of my courses at National Trust's Stourhead is filled with a mix of ladies from far and wide. Some know me personally, some know me because of my books and some have come across me via the blog I write about Pythouse Walled Garden. But where ever they are from there is no doubt they are all most welcome.

We are making hand-tied bouquets and posies (and drinking coffee, talking and eating cake).

I am showing some of the easiest ways to make your flowers go a long way, including what I consider are the essential vases - that is, the ones that make your flowers and you look good!

We have lisianthus, dahlias, stock and phlox to play with - and one of my favourite roses 'sweet avalanche'.

If this sounds like your cup of tea (or coffee) my next workshop is on October 1st. Have a look at my website for more details www.sallypage.com

Just down the road from Stourhead is the village of Mere and the work going on there is a far cry from my Stourhead workshop.

My friend Sarah, who used to work with me at Ted Martin Flowers, has bought herself a business. It is a fruit, vegetable and flower shop. But before she opens the doors, she is making just a few changes!

There is an interior to gut and a garden to clear, and in amongst it all there are still her children to feed!

I leave Sarah to it but I shall back soon to see how she is getting on.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2011-08-19T12:49:00.015+01:00

All I can say is that Kate's staff must really love her - I don't think there are many people they would dress up as Umpa Lumpas for!

The competition is on. It is Carnival week in Sturminster Newton.

In recent years traders have become despondent as the same two shops have tended to win the shop window competition year after year.

This year Kate at Rustic Rose has other ideas - so she has gone to town and is fighting back.

Kate and her staff have turned her flower shop into The Chocolate Factory complete with huge swirly lollipops and multicoloured roses.

They are running a competition to find a golden ticket and have got local school children to take part in an art competition.

Children can win prizes of sweets or brightly coloured watering cans planted with cheery kalanchoe.

Well they certainly get my vote!

The Academy

2011-08-14T11:21:00.017+01:00

I am walking past the end of St Martin's Courtyard in Covent Garden, when I catch a glimpse of sunshine yellow and a splash of scarlet.

Time for a quick detour.

It turns out this elegant and pretty flower shop is also a flower school - I guess the name is a bit of a give-away!

It is run by a team who used to teach floral design at the London University of Arts. I imagine the thought of cuts and a desire to go it on their own spurred them on to start their own flower school.

Looking on their website there are a huge array of courses. The focus is on floral design rather than floristry and inevitably you will find they charge London prices (Day course 10am -4pm £190) However I imagine the tuition is going to be of a very high standard and it looks like you will get to play with some wonderful flowers.

If you are watching the pennies you might want to try an evening course, starting at 6pm, some of which I saw for £95.00.

Even if you are not inclined to attend the school I think the shop is well worth a browse. Apart from the flowers there are all sorts of gifts including a range of scented candles, with names and fragrances inspired by the ballets of nearby Covent Garden.

www.academyofflowers.com

Falling for Frome

2011-08-01T17:29:00.022+01:00

Well, as it always does, it starts with flowers. But soon I find myself falling in love with Frome.

This small Somerset town has a mixed reputation; some good, some bad. On the plus side it has a thriving art's scene, interesting places to eat and a number of pretty cobbled streets that meander up from the centre of town. But Frome also has much poorer areas of social deprivation.

However it seems, despite the recession, Frome is on the up. And I am also on the up. Up the top of St Catherine's Hill visiting Grace Haskin's new shop, Bramble & Wild.

Who could fail to fall in love with Grace's shop, with it's pale blue door and its cool stone coloured interior?

Grace has been open for two weeks and is starting to feel settled in.

As I chat to her about her new venture several customers call in looking for small gifts and posies.

When Grace started Bramble & Wild she decided to move into Frome so she would be close by for the early morning starts and late night flower emergencies..."I have forgotten our anniversary...!"

It turns out Grace is a fan of Frome and she says more and more people are discovering its delights and relocating here.

"It is a lot cheaper than Bath, yet some parts have much the same architecture."

Grace finds it interesting that many of the business that are opening up on St Catherine's Hill have come from London. "It seems that in Somerset people still look down a bit on Frome, but that elsewhere people are beginning to realise how much it has to offer."

Grace has me convinced, as does the experience of wandering down St Catherine's Hill.

I do love a good haberdashers!

I can't really sew or quilt but there is something incredibly soothing about bundles of fabric and bowls of buttons.

And what a great name for a shop ... Millie Moon.

I may even have to make some bunting!

As I loiter trying to think of something easy to make that I would actually use, the staff are having great fun helping a customer put together a mask of ribbons and feathers for a forthcoming dance.

One last covetous glance at the buttons and it is on down the hill,

past inspiring clothes shops,

vintage emporiums

and shops that now make me want to take up knitting!

I can see I am going to have to come back to Frome.

The Flower Shop in your Garden

2011-07-29T14:09:00.014+01:00

I am at Kate's shop, Rustic Rose, getting ready for my workshop. We are going to have a go at making arrangements and posies using flowers from the garden.

As it is a garden party theme, I think we need some bunting, some old china and a vintage mirror to set the scene.

Without actually doing much things are already looking up - Mother Nature is on our side, providing us with a wonderful combination of colours.

I make some hand-tied posies for jugs and jam jars, plus some arrangements in teacups and an old button box.

Then everyone else has a go. To the garden flowers we add some shop bought roses such as the deep red Grand Prix and a sugar-sweet pink and orange rose called Miss Piggy. The stronger stems of these roses provide support in the posies for the more delicate (but beautifully fragranced) roses we have cut from the garden.

One of the ladies, Gail is getting inspiration for her retirement. By the time we have chatted about flowers over cake and coffee I can see she is making plans for future days filled with wine and roses.

Another budding florist, Di, has never worked with flowers before - her days are too busy with her job as a teacher in a nursery for children with special needs.

She is a natural, and I can see she is secretly delighted with the posy she makes packed with sweetpeas and lavender.

In fact she is so pleased with the whole experience she suggests people should be prescribed flower workshops as therapy.

I couldn't agree more!

Gathering Flowers for Gemma

2011-07-22T17:34:00.023+01:00

It is an early start at Rustic Rose as I am running a workshop based on my Flower Shop in your Garden book (more of that another time). But very importantly I am also gathering flowers for Gemma's wedding.
Gemma, like me, fundraises for the children's charity Hope and Homes for Children, and this Sunday she is marrying her boyfriend Matt.
A few months ago we went out for lunch to talk flowers and after a glass of wine (the way to my heart) I volunteered to do them for her. I knew Kate would help me get some really lovely flowers, and as I arrive for the workshop, she and the girls are busy unpacking them.
So, Gemma, here are your flowers!

We have buckets of creamy and pale pink roses, white lisianthus with pink frilly edges. We have lavender and herbs and splashes of cerise roses and purple veronica.
I have also added the herb, feverfew as I think it will look so pretty in amongst the flowers in the buckets and jam jars on the tables. There is just one thing missing ... On my way to Hatch Pick your Own flower farm, I swerve to a halt to take a picture of the hall in the village of East Knoyle. Someone else is getting ready for a wedding.

And the flower that is missing? You have to have some gorgeously scented sweet peas when you get married. Then whenever you smell them you will be reminded of yours and Matt's day.

See you tomorrow Gemma!

A Tasty Bunch of Florists

2011-07-15T16:04:00.011+01:00

I will not hear a bad word said against Essex. I met such a nice bunch of florists there this week (and I do like florists who know how to put on a good lunch). I was invited to the very pretty village of Pleshey to give a talk to a group of women, who became friends when they all attended a floristry course at Writtle agricultural college.

The talk and demonstration took place in Jane's very beautiful barn and later on the flower conversation spread out into the garden.

What I particularly enjoyed was seeing how a passion for flowers could bring together a wide range of women in terms of age and careers to form such strong bonds of friendship. Even after the course ended they continue to meet once a week - now dubbing themselves 'the bunch of florists'.

It was also a lunch for confessions, as one lady explained how she had once nearly forgotten a wedding (but with the help of other florists pulled it out of the bag at the 11th hour). You could see the ladies around the table blanching in sympathy, myself included.

Later that day I was telling the story to my friend Anne who is a vicar. She told me how she once forgot a wedding rehearsal, only remembering as she was drinking wine with friends. She bolted to the church and rushed in late, shaking her head and sighing "so sad, so sad". No one ever asked her what had held her up!

I was particularly taken with Jane's splendid pink lilies, which she bought from Hampton Court Flower Show last year.

Well, actually she bought white lilies - and finding the same stall at the show this year, asked them about the colour change. Apparently (and not a lot of people know this!) lilies can get an embarrassed blush in years where there is not a lot of rain.

Get the Party Started

2011-07-09T08:19:00.014+01:00

The marquee is up and there is certainly plenty of bunting!

We are having a party to celebrate my daughter Alex and my birthday. We have a wonderful garden to have it in, thanks to friend's Martyn & Gay and a great tent, thanks to friend, Gill.

www.miltonmarquees.co.uk

I must have done something good in a previous life (!) as the sun is really shining.

The good thing about being a florist is that you are never short of vases, lanterns. hurricane lamps and baskets. For each table I fill a huge basket with picnic food ...well all the food I like to eat on a picnic!

I did think (for one brief minute) of the extravagant things I could do with the flowers, before I thought, I would just like to keep it simple - so all around the marquee were jugs, vases and flowerpots filled with deeply scented stock.

My daughter Libby and her french friend Juliette spent the day baking dozens and dozens of cupcakes.

I ended up taking very few photos as I was having such a good time - or crying when my daughters made a speech! But I will never forget the evening and especially seeing Alex so happy with all her newly graduated uni friends.

Country Kate

2011-07-05T21:19:00.008+01:00

Kate has been busy. The church at Child Okeford definitely has been 'Rustic Rosed'.

Libby tries out the pulpit for size. Some how I can't imagine her as a vicar!
The pew ends are a country mix of hydrangeas, peonies and sweetpeas.

And in the entrance Kate has also added scabious and white lisianthus that look like they have been brushed with a touch of pink paint.

Perfect!

A Festival of Flowers

2011-06-25T08:53:00.015+01:00

Salisbury Cathedral is bursting with blooms.

It is the weekend of the flower festival.

I wander around with my friends, Fiona and Sonya trying to take it all in.

There are a huge number of arrangements to fill the vast and majestic space.

They range from the bizarre to the beautiful -

I had no idea you could do such things with flowers!

I skip the more bizarre and decide to photograph those that I think look more natural or have (to my mind) a good combination of colours.

As we round the corner a pianist is sat amongst the flowers playing 'an English country garden'.

And my favourite?

Well, there are two arrangements that I particularly like.

It may be because they are beautiful and well balanced ...

or it may have a little to do with the fact they were made by my florist friend Jennifer!

One last walk to the back of the cathedral

I find some glorious hoops of roses and hydrangeas

plus a wicker wheel of gloriosa lilies.

Then off to phone Jennifer to tell her, hers were the best!

How much can you get in a Mini?

2011-06-18T09:43:00.008+01:00

A lot!

It is 7am and my friend Fiona and I (and Mini) are in the Tower of London. We are holding an event here this evening for the children's charity, Hope & Homes for Children. I have the job of organising the event - and so of course also volunteer to do the flowers.

By 8am we have the boxes unloaded and are having breakfast (including a glass of fizz ...well why not enjoy yourself) sat in front of the famous White Tower. It is a real treat to be here when there are no visitors and to have passes that mean we can wander around all day.

To start with there is not much wandering, just a lot of arranging. To the scabious, delphinium and campanula we are going to add lisianthus, spray roses and lavender.

Then it is quick look around and into our heels and dresses and the evening is about to start.

Cinderella

2011-06-12T16:57:00.004+01:00

I may not have received my £10,000 ticket to the ARK Gala Dinner - which was William & Kate's first official engagement since they married - but my friend Fiona did. However she didn't forget me (sat at home by the hearth) but got her phone out and took some photos of the flowers for me. Fiona was there representing Hope & Homes for Children, one of the children's charities that ARK's fundraising helps (Over £17m this year ...I hear the raffle tickets were £5,000 each. Not a night to say 'Oh I'll have a strip').

Arriving early she was the first onto the purple carpet and the bank of photographers called out could they take her picture. She smiled and shouted back 'Yes, but I'm not famous you know'. To which they replied 'We know dear, we just want some test shots'!

As it was Fiona made friends with the photographers, in particular the Sun's royal photographer who was one of the few people who got a shot of Colin Firth. He got the call on his phone to say he was arriving and told Fiona to stick with him. She tells me she was so excited she just started running, until he called her back to say 'You don't even know which way we are going yet!' Sadly when she got to see him (he looks even better in the flesh apparently) she was shaking so much she couldn't get her phone out!

So the flowers? Banks of glorious delphiniums and bowls bursting with peonies and roses.

Missing Chelsea

2011-05-28T14:15:00.011+01:00

I am in London. Down the road Chelsea Flower Show is in full bloom, but sadly I don't have tickets for Chelsea this year.

Of course, I could have done something about this, but with one thing and another I never got around to it.

So knowing I need a very English flower fix to cheer me up I head to Piccadilly and Fortnum & Mason.

Tucked in the basement is a secret garden made up of vases of peonies, lilac, snapdragons, rosemary and sweetpeas.

Displayed in English pottery jugs, and the distinctive Fortnum's blue bag, there are posies of lisianthus, astilbe, alstromeria and freesias.

I feel better already.

Welcome to Wyken Hall Garden

2011-05-21T17:58:00.031+01:00

Now that is what I call a welcome.

I once read that the more beautiful and intricate the birdsong, the plainer and dowdier the bird. Hence the disappointingly brown and boring nightingale that sang in Berkeley Square (although someone did tell me that the nightingale referred to in the song was actually a local prostitute) But I am getting side-tracked. It seems the birdsong, plumage equation works the other way around too. So whilst the peacock that welcomed us to Wyken Hall Garden was majestic in his iridescent loveliness, his song (morning, noon and night) might lead you to wonder what peacock pie tastes like.

Somehow I cannot imagine the cafe and restaurant serving this amongst their menu of tempting light lunches ...but you never know.

I have been brought to Wyken Hall Garden in Suffolk by my friend Liz, who knows how much I like beautiful gardens. She also had a pretty good idea I would fall in love with the shop, that fills the 400 year old barn next to the garden with lovely things that any sane woman would want to take home with her. You get the idea this has been brought together by someone with great taste - and a good sense of humour. I particularly like their sign by the till for customers which reads "Unattended children will be fed a double espresso and given a free puppy".

The garden and associated businesses (farm, vineyard, cafe, shop) are the life work of the Carlisle family who have lived here since the 1950s.

When Carla married Kenneth Carlisle in the 1980s she brought an additional dimension to the gardens with her strong sense of colour and design. She also brought her rocking chairs from her home in Mississippi.

The gardens wrap themselves around the Elizabethan farmhouse in a number of 'rooms'. Those closer to the house are more intimate and slightly formal. These then radiate out into looser wilder gardens that blend naturally into the surrounding farmland.

Everywhere you look you spot places that look perfect for sitting with a book and a glass of wine, and it is not long before Liz and I are imagining what it would be like to live here.

I think that is the joy of this type of garden - it is homely and welcoming rather than stately and impressive.

Visitors can spend a relaxing hour of so wandering around in a happy daydream imagining that they do in fact live here (without having to worry about the upkeep) - and yes, a party under the apple trees would be a great place for a long Sunday lunch ...

There is a great sense of family that permeates the gardens - and it seems this extends to the family pets too.

In this case I don't think you wouldn't actually mind saying 'I'm in the dog house'!

Well loved cats and dogs have their own quiet burial spot, so these family members remain an intrinsic part of the landscape.

One last turn around the garden and we must head home, but I am very grateful for Liz for bringing me here. She was quite right, I do love it.

www.wykenvineyards.co.uk

A Bird in the Hand

2011-05-14T10:01:00.018+01:00

As I approach Kate's shop I am greeted with; "No! Not in here!" It takes me a while to realise she is not talking to me but a visiting pigeon.

It doesn't take Kate long to capture her unwelcome guest. That's a farmer's daughter for you.

I am running a workshop in the room above Kate's shop, but first I have to have a good look around to see what she has in that is new.

I always know I am going to get a revitalizing blast of colour when I come to visit Rustic Rose, and today is no exception.

Kate is clearly getting ready for the wedding season and in the window, tiered on vintage teacups, is a cake made by Kate's aunt.

Outside there are pots of sunflowers and daisies

and bundles of glorious lupins.

Today we are going to be using pastel coloured campanula, roses and hypericum to make a wreath of flowers around a hurricane lamp.

It seems all my flower workshop ladies are keen gardeners and as we work we swap stories of different foliage and flowers that can be used in arrangements at different times of year.

All of us are fascinated to hear about one lady's plans to move to Australia later this summer - it seems she already has her eye on a flower shop she would like to buy.

It makes my plans for the summer seem rather tame!

Friendship not Flowers

2011-05-08T08:18:00.030+01:00

This time I am not writing about flowers, and I think when I explain where I have been this week you will understand why.

When my husband, Billy, decided to organise a marathon and half marathon in rural Rwanda to raise funds for his charity, Msaada - who was the first to sign up? My best friend Pip. Now that is what I call friendship!

I once read an article written by a woman whose bestfriend had died. She described how little people appeared to understand the depths of her grief as she was not a named relative of the woman who died. As I read this I felt a cold chill come over me - with a best friend like Pip, I understood how precious that relationship can be.

We met on our first night at university, and now, many, many years on she was standing on the starting line with 100 other runners (including the Rwandan national marathon team!). What a woman!

As the runners gathered for the first Msaada Marathon (it went so well and was so much fun - there will be others) there were 10 Brits taking part. Fathers ran with sons, friends with friends.

And Pip waved at every child she saw - which was quite an achivement in itself!

The course took runners off the tarmac roads on to the red dust roads that meander through the Rwandan countryside.

People came out of their houses to cheer the runners on,

and sometimes just to stare in disbelief!

Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills

and the course had quite a few examples in it.

Supporters had travelled over to help man the water stops and count the runners out and in.

The long steep climb to the finishing line.

I was anxiously waiting at the finishing line for Pip. When she came around the last bend she was surrounded by a gang of children who were cheering her on her way.

They had run the last 3 miles with her - bare foot or in flip flops.

She said she couldn't have done it without them.

Did I cry? Of course I did. I was just so very proud of her.

There are so many fantastic memories of the week - not only the run, but all the people who came from England to take part where able to visit the projects and people that Msaada supports.

Msaada's belief is in dignity through self sufficiency. Their projects help Rwandan's to be able to take care of their families, in the way we would want to ourselves. Sharing the experience of running together was just another way of demonstrating that we want to help, but we will do it together - with people who are fast becoming our friends.

www.msaada.org

www.justgiving.com/pippasbell

Colouring in with Flowers

2011-04-25T08:18:00.009+01:00

I know when ever I pop into Ted Martin Flowers I am going to be met with banks of colour and combinations of subtle shades that make me smile with pleasure. Today is no exception. I call in to drop off some more books for Ted and find her busy matching roses to a vintage wedding dress.

There are layers of pale lilac campanula set off by bold delpinium and strikingly white phlox.

And rows of ribbons and roses that make my heart glad.

Some people lose themselves in book shops, wine shops, cake shops, or even fishing tackle shops. For me nothing compares to a good flower shop.

Even the green pastel watering can has a chocolate gingham bow.

Perfect.

Tulips from Kilalloe

2011-04-17T20:50:00.013+01:00

Tulips are my favourite flower.

Or that is what I think when the season changes, the tulips march into view and I am bowled over by their plump brightness. Later on the peonies arrive and I feel myself swayed, this time by those delicate petals that look like layer upon layer of tissue.

But for now it is the time of the tulip.

Tulips from Amsterdam?

No, this weekend I am in Ireland and I am mesmerised by the tulips from Killaloe.

To be honest, I am just mesmerised by Killaloe - and I would recommend anyone visiting Limerick to drive up there - whether the tulips are marching through or not.

Billy and I are in Ireland for the weekend and we head up to Killaloe to see a cottage that his parents used to own. There are the green rolling hills of Ireland, the lake that runs past Killaloe, the pastel painted cottage AND the creamy Guinness. And people wonder why I married an Irishman?

To all of this add the sunshine and multicoloured tulips.

You would say that I have the luck of the Irish.

"It's an Anniversary Thing"

2011-04-10T07:03:00.012+01:00

It may not be the most romantic thing a man can say in a flower shop but at least we get the drift - and as my children say, 'you can stop snowing'. There are flowers to meet every occasion but it helps us so much when people tell us something of the person or the story behind why they are sending flowers. Then a florist can get to work; whether it is a teacup of flowers to cheer a granny who has had a fall ...

or some softly fragrant lily of the valley for a friend whose Dad has just died.

"My daughter has just got her MA in veterinary physiotherapy" - not a phrase you hear every day!

Spending an afternoon with Kate at Rustic Rose is like sitting in a window watching the life of the town pass by.

Flowers for birthdays and apologies and thank yous and how are yous.

And of course, flowers for an anniversary sort of thing.

Hearts & Flowers for Mothers' Day

2011-03-30T07:55:00.015+01:00

First stop is Rustic Rose in Shaftesbury to see what Kate is up to for Mothers' Day and then I am off to visit Emma and Jenny at Arcade Flowers in Ringwood

Here the florists have decided to help raise funds and awareness for the charity Hope and Homes for Children. They will be selling cakes and coffee in the shop and Emma and Jenny have decorated a tree in the window with blue hearts, on which children have written messages to their mums.

These local school children have clearly been moved by hearing about the children they are helping.

Hope and Homes believe children should grow up in families, not state institutions. They know how much harm this does to children so over the years they have become experts at reuniting babies and children with their families or if this is not possible ensuring they are brought up by loving foster families. They know just how important mums are.

When Hope and Homes reunites children living in institutions in some of the poorest parts of the world with their mums or endeavours to find them a new family, one of the first things they do is to understand what each child really wants. One of the ways they do this is to ask them to write their wishes on paper leaves that are then pinned to a ‘wish tree’

Most children wish for the kind of love that

these Dorset children will be thanking their mums for on Mothers’ Day.

Happy Mothers' Day

www.hopeandhomes.org

First Stop The Garden, Next Stop London

2011-03-20T09:59:00.016Z

NEW BLOG: www.sallyinthegarden.blogspot.com

Well, actually the first stop is really Ted Martin Flowers ... look at those tulips, don't you just want to pour them out and drink them in ... but I am getting side-tracked. I am in Ted's photographing some flowers that are going up to Pythouse Walled Garden for a wedding celebration. I have just started a new blog all about the garden.

Have a look on www.sallyinthegarden.blogspot.com

To make things more complicated, the next stop isn't really London! My next stop is Wild Paeony in Shaftesbury. But it is here that I learn the exciting news that the girls are taking their beautiful flowers to London, when they transform a stand at The Country Living Fair.

I have always thought it was rather odd that The Country Living Fair is held in down town Islington. It is what Mr French, my old English teacher, would have called an Oxymoron, Which when I come to think of it is rather like the pot calling the kettle black.

Anyway, whatever it is, owner, Anna is very excited.

Her only sadness is that her business partner Vicky won't be joining her there. She is in hospital recovering from an operation - so if you are reading this Vicky; Get Well Soon!

I tell Anna about my new blog; A Year in the Life of Pythouse Walled Garden - and like me she loves it there. In fact she is having one of her 40th birthday celebrations in the garden (I do like a woman who knows how to party).

I ask her what flowers she thinks she will have on the tables and she looks at me blankly. I am afraid it is a case of the cobbler's children going without shoes - she had forgotten about the flowers!

I leave her as she starts to scheme and plan how to decorate her birthday supper table.

If you would like to see the wonderful flowers from Wild Paeony - and by the way, that is how they spell their name, it is the old English spelling of peony - you will find them at The Country Living Fair, in London 23rd - 27th March.

A Question of Workshops

2011-03-12T20:13:00.010Z

I have some very exciting news. I have the chance to run a series of workshops at Stourhead, in the courtyard next door to the beautiful National Trust gardens. I am scheming and planning these at the moment, so if anyone fancies coming to a workshop, let me know what sort of things you would like to have a go at. There is a pub with a hotel and restaurant in the courtyard across from the room I will be using - so it could be an excuse for a couple of days away in this area... so many gardens and flower shops to visit ...

Let me know if you think this could be as much fun as I do.

I am busy with workshops this weekend. For some of my girlfriend's for Christmas, I suggested I would run a workshop for them. I would bring the flowers - they just have to bring themselves and a few bits for lunch. My friends arrive laden with food and wine (this is why they are my friends!) and I carry in buckets of beautiful spring flowers from Kate's flower shop.

The wine is open, Adele is on the CD and all is well with the world.

We are going to be making easy gifts - such as the teacups of flowers shown above and we will also be practicing hand-tied posies - one of the most useful, but tricky things to master.

Good hand-tie Jane!

This idea is so simple. Little box. Bit of cellophane and Oasis. Four roses. Ribbon to tie.

These buttery lemon roses are called Vanilla Sky.

One of my favourites.

No Flowers at The Flower House

2011-03-06T19:06:00.019Z

They must have had an especially busy time at The Flower House in Cambridge, because when I pop in to have a look around the shop, the buckets are bare. Which is a shame for me, if not for them, because it looks like it would be a lovely shop when it is bursting with blooms.

So I have to look elsewhere to get my daily dose of flowers.

A tulip a day keeps the doctor away.

I find them in abundance at the market in the centre of the city and I spot these fabulous cerise hydrangeas and equally fabulous dress in Bowns on Magdalene Street.

I even find the city is paved with flowers. This is a phenomenon I have never got to the bottom of. Casually scattered along the pavements of Cambridge are hundreds of brass flowers of varying shapes and sizes.

I spotted them first when I was photographing and writing 'Flower Shops & Friends' and at the time I rang the council to ask why they were there. The young man at the other end of the phone in the Highways Department, simply said 'What flowers?'!

On the banks of the river I spy a few shy daffodils and crocuses just starting to bloom.

And in the craft market I find painted pottery bursting with foxgloves and daisies.

In the window of one of Cambridge's art galleries I find one of my favourite offerings, this 3D paper posy of wild flowers and butterflies.

I even spot a flower on the rugby pitch when later in the day we turn up to watch the Cambridge Vs Oxford women's Varsity match.

Now normally I would always cheer for a flower, but I am afraid this time I just can't.

My daughter Alex is playing for Cambridge and Miss Flowers is playing for Oxford.

And the score?

22 - 0

"It's not every Flower Shop that has a Butler"

2011-02-26T04:29:00.020Z

This is what I overhear a customer saying as I call in to Arcade Flowers in Ringwood. Obviously this is a very superior sort of florist!

As it turns out the customers seem to love 'Butler' who greets the opening door with wagging tale and lolloping welcome.

All but the postman, that is, who is convinced Butler 'was trying to bite my bottom'.

Surely not. But just maybe Butler thought he had some biscuits in his pocket!

As it is I get the biscuits, the tea and a very warm welcome from owner Emma, her assistant Jenny (and Butler). They tell me there are three flower shops in Ringwood and it seems they work well together, borrowing bits and pieces from each other when stock runs short. Other shop owners are helpful too, and as I am chatting, a lady appears with a trolley load of plants that Emma left on the footpath by mistake when she closed up the previous evening.

To use or not to use fake flowers? That is the question. When they are as beautiful as this it is hard to resist them, especially if you mix them with the real thing.

Emma tries to stock as much local produce as she can. She has psychedelic boxes by Chococo, The Purbeck Chocolate Company, with tempting offerings such as, fizzy pudding chocolates.

She is also displaying some new toiletries by Amanda Connock whom she met as a local bride-to-be. Amanda was inspired by her late father, who travelled the world in search of exotic ingredients for perfumes. As a little girl she would use old samples to blend her own fragrances and 'sell' them to her Mum and Dad. Now she uses Kukui oil from Hawaii to create heavenly fragranced oils and balms.

When I am out visiting I often find flowers I haven't seen before, this is all part of the pleasure of Flower Shop Hunting. This gerbera is a dusky blend of pink and coffee. Emma, Jenny and I are not sure what it is called - it is similar to a gerbera called Grizzly (great name) but it has a lighter centre.

Emma is lucky enough to have a large shaded window for her shop. She is putting this to good use on Mothers' Day and is planning a 'Living Window', with mums sitting there having coffee and cakes. (I hope Butler approves - this was his favourite spot as a puppy). Emma wants to raise money for charity and I suggest Hope and Homes for Children. I fundraise for this fantastic charity. They are small and not particularly well known, but they are recognised experts at closing hideous State Institutions in places such as Romania and they ensure children grow up in loving families - a great cause to help on Mothers' Day.

www.hopeandhomes.org

Before I leave we also decide I should come back and do some talks and workshops with Emma. As I close the door, with its mini jam jar of ranunculus hung on the handle, I know I shall enjoy coming back.

www.arcadeflowers.co.uk

And the Winner is ....Ted Martin Flowers!

2011-02-12T16:35:00.019Z

After the votes had been counted and the secret shoppers had secretly shopped, Mary Portas and the Daily Telegraph announced that Ted Martin's beautiful flower shop was the overall winner in the gardening and floristry section of their Best Small Shops in Britain Award.

Well, I certainly wasn't going to argue with that! Having photographed and written two books about her shop, I think it is safe to say that mine has been a long love affair.

But it is lovely to hear others praising the fabulous flowers, the knowledgeable staff and the quietly elegant, country chic that makes the shop what it is.

Ted texted me the news first thing in the morning and it was not long before I was on the doorstep, camera in hand. It is a measure of how excited and thrilled I was, that I forgot to buy myself some flower when I left!

Ted and the girls were in mid Valentine Day's flow so the news hadn't really had a chance to sink in.

But the news was certainly spreading. As Ted and I chatted, customers popped their heads around the door to congratulate her, whilst others beeped their horns and waved as they drove through the village.

It seemed to be a weekend for calling into flower shops from my books. For we have just come from visiting the Flower Boutique near Cambridge which is the first flower shop I discovered on my journey around England in search of gorgeous flower shops.

We were in the area celebrating my daughter Alex's 21st birthday (where did all those years go?!) and had been out for a long lunch with the birthday girl and her sister Libby.

We had just dropped Libby at the station as she had to go back to London, but I wish she had had a chance to see the rosy pink heart wreath on Leen's door.

As many of you will know Libby loves pink - so much so she has written a book all about the colour. Yet despite adoring pink she recently confessed she rarely wears it. This prompted her to experiment with wearing head to toe pink for a week to see what effect it would have on her and others around her. To see how she is getting on with her pink challenge visit www.lovepinklibbypage.blogspot.com

Leen's shop was a delicious mix of pinks and reds with dashes of vanilla and peach.

It was lovely to see Leen again, to catch up with her news and to meet her new assistant, Emily. We gossiped about the florists we both know, swapped news and shared plans for the future.

And this time I did remember to get some flowers!

The Story of a Pea Spoon

2011-02-05T11:55:00.023Z

This is a good tale, but first you have to let me show you some of the gorgeous flowers that I found on a visit to Rustic Rose in Sturminster Newton.

Owner, Kate, is having a bumper photographic day, getting ready for her new website. So today the shop is bursting with blooms of every shade and colour.

I am not really the official photographer - but a flower shop packed with flowers and florist friends to play with (Jennifer is also in to help Kate) - how can I resist getting my camera out?

Kate is a girl who loves colour and who can blame her when you see what amazing combinations you can find in nature (and in ribbons!).

Fat parrot tulips that open rich citrus petals to reveal a splash of purple.

And people wonder why I spend so much time in flower shops!

With sugary colours good enough to eat we decide to add some sweets to the mix.

In between making up posies and photographing we chat to Kate's customers,

who good naturedly dodge tripods, stepladders and perched arrangements.

Kate has been kept busy since she opened her doors at Christmas, but she now wants to have some pictures of the types of arrangements she can offer brides and people planning summer parties.

Kate has just found a supplier for beeswax candles so is keen to add these to the shoot.

And I have to have a quick shot of a pheasant broach that sits alongside other vintage jewelery and china that Kate stocks.

As I photograph, drink coffee and eat sweets (who can resist a Love Heart) I get to know the official photographer, Hannah, who is not only preparing shots for Kate's website, but will also build the site for her. Clever girl.

And the pea spoon? When Hannah was racking her brains for a name for her new company she decided to talk it through with friends over supper. They started teasing her about forgetting a spoon for the peas (I think they were on the second bottle of wine by then).

So Hannah declared - in honour of the evening - she was going to call her company PeaSpoon Photography. They didn't believe her.

But I do.

To see some of the shots that Hannah took on the day have a look at her website

www.peaspoon.co.uk

"Here's One I Made Earlier"

2011-01-27T22:03:00.022Z

It must be in the genes. Both my daughter Libby and I grew up wanting to be Blue Peter presenters. And now when we are gathered together with friends, the day before my best friend Pip's birthday, she is one of the first to step up to have a go at making flower arrangements for the party. That's my girl!

Luckily, as we have quite a few to do, she is not the only one. We are staying with a crowd of friends in a hotel in Nothumberland. On the morning of the party some decided on a walk in the driving rain, whilst a few of us decide on some extreme flower arranging. Well, it is not really extreme; lots of coffee and gossip, as I run a very informal workshop.

If you are unsure of what colour scheme to go for (as I was, not having seen the venue) I think you cannot go wrong with white and cream flowers. These look particularly good in candlelight, as does waxy foliage as it reflects the light -as you can see from this glossy ivy leaf.

It is not long after this that I am back running another workshop, this time for some ladies in Solihull. On this occasion I decide to work with lots of vibrant colour. But again I get to see the effect of different light on flowers. As the afternoon stretches out the flowers are beautifully lit by slanting shafts of winter sunshine.

Such an easy idea. A small gift bag, lined with cellophane. Pop in a small bit of Oasis and add three roses and some foliage. In this case a rose called Sudoku and some Australian waxflower.

Perfect for a lunchtime thank you or as favour for a wedding party table.

For colourful hand-ties I chose cerise ranunculus, pale pink parrot tulips and plum anemones.

Even the jug I fill with left over stems makes me smile. This rose is called Upper Secret and reminds me of raspberry ripple ice cream.

Taking french-grey enamel buckets, the ladies of Solihull fill them with crimson spray roses and aubergine coloured astrantia.

By the end of the afternoon everyone seems pleased and proud of what they have made and decide we should all get together for a Christmas workshop. They ask if it is too soon to book me - but I am now used to being booked sometimes as much as 2 years ahead by gardening and flower clubs. At first I was startled into laughing when I was rung by a local club looking for a date in June 2013. I rather wondered whether I would still be here, let alone the rather wobbly elderly gardener on the end of the phone!

The Travels of a Wedding Bouquet

2011-01-18T20:56:00.029Z

With our wedding taking place in Durham, we had a long drive ahead. So it seemed like a good idea to break up the journey by calling into some of the florist friends I have made around the country on our road north. I particularly liked the idea of a wedding bouquet made up of a mixture of their flowers.

First stop Kate's new shop, Rustic Rose in Sturminster Newton.

Here I gathered hydrangeas, red spray roses, velvety black bacarra roses and plum ranunculus.

The journey would not have been complete without calling into Ted Martin Flowers in Tisbury.

Here I spotted some pale peach roses splashed with deeper pink.

These were added to the buckets in the car.

By the time we got to Miss Pickering's glorious floral emporium in Stamford we badly needed a break, so we whisked her off for a gin and tonic in the local pub.

As usual her shop was looking wonderful and she was full of news of her forthcoming book - which if her blog is anything to go by will be (like Miss Pickering herself) just fabulous!

From Miss Pickering I collected rosemary and myrtle, as well as Grand Prix and Memory Lane roses. The latter being particularly appropriate as Billy Kelly and I got together 10 years ago in Durham, so this really was a journey down memory lane.

A few hours later, the girls were collected from the station and we were happily ensconced in my best friend Pip's house having a noisy family supper.

As we chatted on, I started to make my wedding flowers.

I know it is not the norm to make your own bouquet with your husband to be by your side, but I thoroughly recommend it.

What is certainly not the norm is to see Billy Kelly with a cup of tea in his hand rather than a glass of red wine!

Now this is more like it - the next morning and bucksfizz.

I have always wanted to be Doris Day!

I loved my flowers so. They were a delicious mix of the blooms I had encountered the previous day and they made me smile every time I looked at them.

And I did not stop smiling. I had my girls by my side and my Irishman had married me.

Into the girls' flowers I added some tulips that had been delivered to me by my friend Julie from the Tynemouth flower group. She had arrived the previous afternoon bearing gifts and cards and I thought it would be rather special to have some of her flowers in the bouquets too. So thank you Julie.

17 New Year's Resolutions!

2011-01-02T10:54:00.032Z

1. MORE TULIPS (you can never have too many tulips)

2. MORE TIME WITH THE FRIENDS AND FAMILY I LOVE

(even if it can't always be on a beach at sunset)

3. MORE PLUMP PURPLE ANEMONES

4. PAINT THE BATHROOM

5. JUST KEEP ON PAINTING AND PHOTOGRAPHING

(makes me happy just thinking about it!)

6. PHOTOGRAPH CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW

(Each year the BBC pick a few photographers to record the show. ...Oh please, Oh please, let me have a go!)

7. DRINK MORE COCKTAILS

8. MORE RED ROSES

9. MORE CAKE

10. WEAR MORE RED DRESSES

11. DRINK MORE RED WINE AMONGST THE RED ROSES

12. AND MORE PINK WINE AMONGST THE PINK ROSES

13. WEAR MORE PINK DRESSES

14. AND MORE HATS

15. TAKE TIME TO LOOK UP MORE OFTEN

16. TAKE TIME TO SEE THE DETAIL

17. MARRY BILLY KELLY

(Oh, that one I think I will manage.

We are getting married in Durham on January 14th!)

Happy Christmas One and All!

2010-12-24T09:10:00.018Z

There is nothing like a trip to London at Christmas to get you in a festive mood.

So the girls and I decide on a day out for some shopping, a bit of chatting, some more shopping, a spot more chatting (you get the idea!) and then off to see a show. And in my opinion there is no better place to start than Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly.

Until recently I thought of Fortnum & Mason solely as a food shop.

How wrong I was!

If you are in London and want to spend a gloriously girly hour, I suggest taking the lift to the top floor in Fortnums and then wandering slowly down through the departments. There are heavenly fragranced toiletries, sumptuously silken lingerie, Doris Day hats and gloves and banks of exquisite stationery. This is a soft carpeted world of understated, undiscovered, luxury. On the way through the store there are enticing spots to stop for coffee - or in our case a brunch of mini pastries, muffins and smoked salmon and scrambled egg, served with freshly squeezed juice and fabulous coffee (all for a very reasonable price).

The ground floor is an Aladdin's cave of all things foody. But make sure you leave some time to sweep down the circular staircase to the basement, as this is where the flowers live.

Using as much home grown as they can, this is a deliciously English display of blooms and bouquets.

And what better place to be (with a very big smile on my face ....flowers ...Fortnums ...a day with my girls) to be wishing you all a VERY happy Christmas.

Now for Something Completely Different!

2010-12-20T15:08:00.006Z

Not a flower in sight. But instead lots of festive candy canes & sweets.

When I am not being a florist and photographer I fundraise for a children's charity, Hope and Homes for Children. At their head quarters (grand name for the converted pig farm that houses the charity!) there is a fierce competition being waged for which office can have the best Christmas decorations. I immediately emptied my garage of vases and baubles for the cause. But my daughters, when they heard about it, went one step further and decided to make the Fundraising Office a gingerbread house. How can we fail to win?!

The only problem I have is that we are currently snowed in so we may have to eat it before the judging!

www.hopeandhomes.org

Snowy Hedge Rose

2010-12-19T12:18:00.022Z

I have decided the best thing to do is to give into the snow and just enjoy it.

And it is SO Christmassy!

I have both my girls home. We have logs in and food in (and the odd bottle of wine) so I am one happy Mum.

As I drive (very slowly) on snow packed roads to Kate's new shop, Rustic Rose, to collect some flowers for a flower workshop I am running for some friends, my daughter Alex is out and about with a camera. These are some of her shots.

Further north in the town of Marlborough, another florist friend, Kate, is getting ready for Christmas.

Kate used to have a small shop in the potting shed of a local nursery, but earlier this year she took the plunge and moved into a shop near the centre of Marlborough.

I love Kate's idea of filling the base of a large vase with cones, cinnamon and oranges.

Kate's shop, Hedge Rose, looks beautiful, and oh so gorgeously festive.

Kate has been sourcing a lot of her foliage from Cornwall, including these plump swags, perfect for mantelpieces. The shop is scented with a delicious combination of pine, fresh flowers and the soaps and toiletries Kate stocks.

It is a snowy, frosty day here too, so we are both wrapped up against the cold. But the icy temperatures and sharp weather cannot put a dent in Kate's Christmas spirit or the obvious pride she takes in her new shop.

In between chatting to customers Kate and I makes some plans for the new year, when I hope to be back to conduct a talk called Paint Pots & Petals - which is all about how to use flowers to help decorate your home.

But that is for another year. For now I just enjoy Kate's shop and make a note of a few festive tips that I know I will be borrowing from her.

That, and pausing to enjoy the coffee and cake.

....some things never change!

www.hedgeroseflorist.co.uk

Snow was Falling, Snow on Snow

2010-12-11T16:59:00.015Z

To my mind, there are few more welcoming sights than a candlelit flower shop on a cold crisp winter's night.

I am back at Knighton Flowers in Leicester for a book signing. And my journey up here has been past frozen fields and white, shrouded hedges.

The shop is scented with a spicy mix of blooms, fragrant candles and mulled wine.

There are canapes from the local restaurant - and on my 'signing' table a huge plate of chocolates.

I met Natasha, Michelle and their assistant Stuart when they helped me with photographs for my most recent book. Many of the shots we took on that day found their way into the pages, and I was very grateful for their enthusiasm and skill with the styling.

And of course, the cake they had fed me during my visit!

Pretty in Pink

With snow still fairly thick on the ground, a flower shop can be a cold place to be. So Natasha is taking no chances.

Knighton Flowers is a festive mix of deep reds and bronze with juicy, citrusy highlights.

Even the bath bombs look good enough to eat.

We chat about some of the new flower varieties the girls have fallen in love with - one I particularly like the sound of is a rose the colour of old linen, called Quick Sand.

I also fall in love with some vintage bouquets a local friend has made out of old broaches, beads and buttons. Perfect for a sparkling wintry wedding.

Later as we leave to go to Michelle's house for supper, the snow starts to fall. In the distance I can see some customers wandering up the road clutching the flowers, books and lanterns they have bought.

Welcome to Rustic Rose

2010-12-07T22:23:00.017Z

The next morning it is still bitterly cold, but I eventually make it over to see Kate's new shop. The windows are steamy from the icy air but I can see flashes of colour through the gloom, and Kate's blonde head busily bent over an order. Encouragingly I can also see what looks remarkably like Bucks Fizz on the counter - so it seems I am not too late to celebrate.

I knew this would be a wonderfully cheerful shop. Everywhere you look you are welcomed by great splashes of colour.

What a difference a day makes! Not a broom or a duster in sight.

I am touched to see my books on prominent display and Kate tells me she will shortly be framing the £10 'Hansel' that my partner Billy gave her to hang on the wall.

In Ireland it is traditional to give a new business the gift of money, known as a Hansel. This money can never be spent and it means that your business will have luck because as long as you have your Hansel you will never be short of money.

This of course is delightfully Irish. It reminds me of the Whiskey that Billy once won in a rugby club raffle in Limerick. Later in the evening as he headed for the door with the bottle in his hand, someone reached out and twitched it out of his grasp. He was told 'The winner always gives the Whiskey back."

But I am getting side tracked. Back to the Shop. And back to those aprons. Kate was right, so much better than plain ones.

Oh, I seem to have finished my drink already.

It really is a lovely shop and Kate should be very proud. As should Holly and Jennifer who I know have been by her side for the past days preparing for the opening.

Everywhere you look there are great touches; like teacups planted with pansies, an old trunk filled with baskets and teapots filled with bulbs.

So if you are anywhere near Sturminster Newton I strongly recommend that you call in and say hello. Although you will probably find that when you arrive I have drunk all the Bucks Fizz.

Snow Sad

2010-12-05T15:11:00.009Z

It's the day of the launch of Rustic Rose. I call in first thing with some of my framed photos that Kate would like to sell and some extra vases and containers as she needs a few more for her flower order. Her best friend Holly is in helping, as is Jennifer who has been staying down in Sturminster since the snow started.

There are arrangements ready to be priced, parcels to unpack, surfaces to polish and floors to sweep. The doors are to open at 4pm with a launch for local people.

Kate's family will all be in attendance - including her Dad who found fame a year or so ago when he decided to train as a jockey having turned 40. He made his debut (and he decided, his final race) at Wincanton Races. None of his friends thought he stood a chance so were busy drinking in the bar. But as he rode past on his way to the winning line you can see him waving wildly to them and a great roar goes up from the bar. His televised victory was soon shown around the world and Kate's Dad found himself being interviewed by CBS News!

I am planning to return to the shop at around 6pm when I have finished my other work. But fate, or rather snow, takes a hand. As I am driving down the Dorset roads to Kate's shop later that day I can feel it is getting icier and icier. In the end I pull over to turn the car around and give Kate a call. In the background I can hear the sound of laughter and the clink of drinks.

A Flower Shop in the Making

2010-12-04T09:18:00.007Z

Kate is counting down. It is 3 days to go until her flower shop, Rustic Rose, opens in the Dorset market town of Sturminster Newton. Stock is starting to arrive and the carpenter has just finished fitting her shelves and counters.

I don't think I have ever seen anyone so excited.

Even in its bare state I can sense this is going to be a colourful, quirky, country flower shop. You only have to look at the lining of Kate's jacket and her bright pink jumper to know that this is a flower shop that will get noticed.

I first met Kate when she was working at Ted Martin Flowers. And I am not the only friend she made along the way, Jennifer is over helping Kate with much of the planning and preparation. As I am taking photos of the shop, Jennifer is busy making aprons. Kate says she did think about having plain aprons but once she got into Hansons (a fantastic Aladdin's cave of a fabric warehouse in town) she saw so many colourful materials she decided to mix them all together for her aprons. I can't wait to see them.

Where possible Kate is buying products locally (such as these twisted willow baskets, heart and flowers), and as her family have farmed in this area for many years there are not many people she does not know.

Kate tells me that she was a little worried about telling the local greengrocer, who also sells flowers, about her shop. But when they stopped her in the street and asked her, 'Is that going to be your shop?' they appeared delighted and said, 'we are so glad it is you Kate.'

Kate also tracked down another friend, Donald, the funeral director to ask him if she could have a chat about flowers he might need. As Kate was having coffee with him it became obvious that she is not the only friend Donald has gathered in his life. First the district nurse appeared and joined in the coffee and chat, then the local ambulance driver arrived. By the end Kate tells me her 'business chat' turned into several friends and family around the kitchen table!

But for now, behind the shrouded windows, it is back to work.