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Andy Sturgeon’s Best in Show

May 27, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Andy Sturgeon took ‘Best in Show’ at the 2010 RHS Chelsea Flower show with his contemporary dry climate garden.

Daily Telegraph Garden at Chelsea 2010

The gold medal winning Daily Telegraph Garden by Andy Sturgeon has a tidy contemporary feel with pathways leading through different areas of shrubs, herbaceous plants, seated areas and architectural structure.

Although the garden has a modern feel, the pale gravel and sectioned areas provide a sense of space but this does not come at the cost of planting, as so many modern gardens do.

Richly planted areas feature perennials and shrubs which can easily provide arms full of cut flowers and foliage.

This idea can easily be scaled to suit the average garden and the architectural aspect can be kept by replacing the metal structures with tall cypress, like those found in Italian landscapes.

More information

RHS Chelsea - Video tour of Andy Sturgeon’s “best in show” garden.
Andy Sturgeon – Landscape and Garden Design

Filed Under: Design Tagged With: Architectural Structure, Chelsea Flower Show, Cut Flowers, Cypress, Daily Telegraph, Dry Climate, foliage, Garden Landscape, Gold Medal, Gravel, Italian Landscapes, Metal Structures, Pathways, Perennials, Plants, Rhs Chelsea Flower Show, Sense Of Space, Shrubs, Sturgeon, Video Tour

Peonies as cut flowers

May 27, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

The large blousy blooms of the Peony make wonderful cut flowers and if picked in bud can last for three or more weeks in a vase.

Delicate blooms the size of a small plate

Peonies are native to Europe, Asia and western north America but cope well with the British climate. Flowering around May and June, the small round buds unfurl to disclose delicate, extravagant blooms ranging from white, through cream and lemon and from palest pink to the deepest burgundy.

Strong stems provide good support in the vase and the flamboyant blooms are great for single display or mixing in a bouquet.

Most Peonies are herbaceous perennials, reaching about 1.5 metres tall. These totally die back to the ground in winter and regrow in the spring.

Tree Peonies which originated in Asia form a deciduous tree, around 3 metres tall, with some having a delicious fragrance.

Intersectional or Itoh Peonies are a recent development combining the features of the herbaceous and tree varieties.

Growing Peonies

Peonies prefer well drained soil and sunlight. The tuberous root should only be planted about 5cm below the soil surface.

Wet or windy weather can be a problem, so most peonies require staking to keep the plant looking tidy.

Peony Wilt can affect the plant during wet weather but as the plant dies down over the winter months, the new growth in the spring is often unaffected.

The strong dark leaves of the peony plant provide form and structure in the herbaceous border and they look effective planted alongside Roses, Aquilegia, Nepeta and Penstemon.

Chelsea flower show

Rosie Hardy form Hardy’s cottage garden plants explained to the BBC how to grow Peonies and other garden flowers for a bouquet and Top Mayfair florist Yan Skates won a gold medal for his arrangements featuring British grown garden flowers.

Peony specialists

Binny Plants – Specialist Peony nursery in the UK
Kelway’s – Gold medal winners at Chelsea Flower Show 2010
Claire Austin Hardy Plants – Specialise in Herbaceous, tree and intersectional Peonies.
Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants

More information

Telegraph article – focusing on Lord Falmouth’s Kent estate, where they grow fields of peonies to sell as cut flowers,

Chelsea flower show – BBC videos from the Chelsea Flower show 2010

The Peony Society - A focus for Peony enthusiasts all over the world.

How to grow Peonies – In depth information on how to get the best from your herbaceous, tree and intersectional Peonies from Claire Austin.

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: Bbc, Bouquet, British Climate, Bud, Chelsea Flower Show, Claire Austin, Cold Winters, Contrary To Popular Opinion, Cottage Garden Plants, Cut Flowers, Dark Leaves, Deciduous Tree, Delicate Blooms, Delicious Fragrance, Falmouth, Flower Show, Flowering Plant Family, foliage, Fragrant Flowers, Full Bloom, Garden Flowers, Genus Paeonia, Gold Medal Winners, Good Companions, Good Soil, Ground Stake, Growing Peonies, Handsome Foliage, Hardy Plants, Herbaceous Border, Herbaceous Perennial Plants, Intersectional Peonies, Kent Estate, Lobed Leaves, Metal Hoops, Nepeta, Paeony, Peonies, Peony, Peony Nursery, Peony Plant, Soil Surface, Spring Tree, Stems, Structure And Form, Telegraph Article, Tree Peonies, Tree Varieties, Tuberous Root, Tuberous Roots, Uk Gardening, Vase, Wet Summers, Wet Weather, Windy Weather, Winter Tree

New from Green & Gorgeous

April 5, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Green and Gorgeous are small-scale cut flower growers based on an organic farm in Oxfordshire, and offering a full on-site bridal consultation service.

Green & Gorgeous cutting garden

All the flowers are grown organically alongside vegetables, fruit and chickens!

After growing and selling organic vegetables for many years. they realised that the same could be done with flowers, as they accumulate just as many air miles and use even more chemicals.

A wide range of flowers and foliage is grown to ensure all the ingredients for a bouquet throughout the seasons. Growing this range of plants is good organic practice, promoting healthy soil and preventing pest and disease build up.

Green & Gorgeous, specialise in growing traditional, English country garden flowers which are selected for their colour, scent, vase life, novelty and nostalgic value. Flowers are picked early in the morning, conditioned and stored in a cold room for at least 24 hours prior to delivery.

Visit the Green & Gorgeous website for more information on availability, farmers markets, bridal consultations, vase hire and seasonal bouquets.

Filed Under: Features, Industry Focus Tagged With: Air Miles, Bouquet, Bouquets, Bridal Consultation, Chickens, Cold Room, Consultation Service, Cut Flower, Cutting Garden, Farmers Markets, Flower Growers, foliage, Garden Flowers, Gorgeous Website, Nostalgic Value, Organic Farm, Organic Vegetables, Oxfordshire, Vase Hire, Vase Life

Good News for British Flowers

February 28, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

For many years, the UK has been watching the decline of it’s flower farms, wholesalers and florists, as supermarkets source their flowers from abroad but the Wiggly Florist is bucking the trend.

San, Heather and Hannah with the three sizes of bouquet.

There is no doubt that consumers have become more aware and interested in where their flowers are coming from. Sometimes they are interested in supporting local farmers, sometimes they would like to reduce the amount of air miles.

The argument about carbon footprint and the importance of global trade will continue to be debated, but the last survey estimated that less than 10% of flower sales in the UK were actually grown here, so it’s good to see the consumer redressing the balance.

In the last year, Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Daglad reported that exports to the UK were down 20% and in times of recession, luxury products such as flowers are vulnerable. However, sales of Wiggly Flowers increased by 10% this year and were particularly strong at Christmas.

Wiggly Wigglers sources it’s flowers from their local wholesaler who is tasked with the challenge of buying British grown product. On top of this the Wiggly gardens at Blakemere produce their own crop of sunflowers, herbs and extras, whilst sourcing their foliage from less than 2Km away, alongside a network of British flower farmers.

Many UK customers are starting to appreciate traditional blooms such as stocks, phlox, delphiniums, sunflowers and pussy willow and florists are looking to Valentines Day, Mothering Sunday and Easter to sustain the upturn for the British grown flower market.

The Good Life Made Easy
From growing vegetables and planting wildflowers, to floristry that doesn’t cost the earth, plus a great range of composters and much more…..Wiggly Wigglers have all the goodies that any budding Tom or Barbara could ever need and even a few eco gifts to help convince Jerry and Margo too!

More information
Wiggly Wigglers website
Follow Wiggly Wigglers on facebook

Filed Under: Features, Industry Focus Tagged With: Air Miles, Blooms, Carbon Footprint, Composters, Eco Gifts, Flower Farms, Flower Market, Flower Sales, foliage, Global Trade, Growing Vegetables, Luxury Products, Margo, No Doubt, Pussy Willow, Recession, Sunflowers, Uk Customers, Upturn, Wiggly Wigglers, Wildflowers

Arranging Christmas

November 9, 2008 by admin Leave a Comment

Flower displays in public venues, churches and homes start to take on a seasonal Christmas theme.

With so much evergreen foliage, holy, berries and twigs around, we do not have to go far to find some of the basics needed for creating wonderful Christmas displays.

Flower arrangements are very popular at this time of year, often taking the place of a traditional Christmas tree. Lack of space, young children and pets make us think differently about how we decorate our homes.

The following video shows you how to create a simple but effective candle display.

If you are creating an arrangement with a seasonal theme using British grown or wild fauna, we would love to feature your display and give you a mention.

Use the contact us page to send your pictures and some information about yourself or organisation.

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: berries, branches, british flowers, christmas, christmas flowers, church displays, evergreen, flower arrangement, foliage, holy, ivy, seasonal displays, twigs

British Cut Flowers .com

Andy Sturgeon’s Best in Show

Peonies as cut flowers

New from Green & Gorgeous

Good News for British Flowers

Arranging Christmas

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Plant of the month – Crocosmia

Grow Your Own Cut Flowers

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