Ethics and sustainability

The increasing demand we put on our planet and it's resources means that it's every person's responsibility to do their bit to help reduce their environmental impact. Shopping seasonally, locally and sustainably across all industries when possible is just one of the ways to help make a real difference, and this goes for buying cut flowers too.

According to Defra, only 14% of cut flowers sold in the UK are grown in Britain. The remaining 86% come from the Netherlands, or from warmer countries such as Ecuador, Kenya and Ethiopia. This is a sad fact and one that needs to change, however the British flower industry isn't perfect and quality and year round supply is an issue and in certain circumstances imported flowers are required. We will always use British (and preferably our own) flowers where possible, but as relatively small scale growers and florists offering services year-round, for larger scale, or out of season events we do occasionally need to source from further afield. We will always be transparent about where our flowers come from.

Flowers From The Farm - the not for profit organisation championing British growers - is a great network of members making it easier for customers to understand the provenance of flowers and make more sustainable choices. As a grower we'd like our customers to know that we grow all of my flowers in peat free compost (we use our own homemade compost where possible) as peat bogs are incredibly valuable, carbon-storing ecosystems and we certainly shouldn't be using them to create growing mediums.  We also don't use any chemicals or pesticides - even if they claim to be harmless - and generally aim to grow as organically as possible. We follow Charles Dowding's brilliantly simple 'no-dig' method to preserve the integrity of the earth and to feed the soil. We do buy imported bulbs when needed, however we try to save seed where possible and if buying in, we try to use other small scale, ethical British businesses as a preference.

In terms of growing utensils and floristry sundries, we also believe it's our duty not to add to the plastics problem and try to ensure everything used is free from single use plastic and is home compostable/recyclable where possible. We hope that by being clear on how we grow and arrange flowers, we can give customers the knowledge that they've supported a small, sustainable business as well as the larger British cut flower movement. 

The RHS recently released that buying home-grown bouquets of flowers opposed to those grown and shipped from overseas, provides a saving of 7.9kg of carbon per bunch. If you’re trying to reduce your carbon footprint, but still want beautiful flowers, then local and British is definitely the better choice.

*Sourced from Jez Fredenburgh's 'Made on Earth, The 4,000 mile flower delivery' via The BBC & From Defra