A year of cut flowers

This time last year I embarked on a new journey into the world of growing cut flowers.....prior to that I had been a florist for 9 years after switching career from the cut throat world of fashion buying to starting my own floristry business, Emma Sousa Flowers.  At first I created flowers for friends and family which eventually grew into where I am today....my love of what I do has always been there but I increasingly became aware of where all of these beautiful flowers came from, imported from around the world, it went against everything I ever believed in - I buy organic, locally grown food where possible, so why was I happy to use flowers that had flown thousands of miles, been sprayed with numerous chemicals in order that they survive their long journey before they actually arrived on my customers table. So I started to research where I could buy locally grown British flowers...the simple answer was that its not as easy as it sounds.  Yes there are an ever growing number of flower farmers appearing all over the UK, thanks to networks like Flowers From The Farm and The British Flower Collective, and yes there are a few that can deliver all the way from Cornwall to my studio door in North London, but I missed the feeling of visiting my local flower market, seeing whats in stock and buying there and then and being hands on in selecting my blooms.  So last year after much research I embarked on 'growing' my own on my little allotment.  Going into my second year its been a steep learning curve and one which I continue to learn as I take on a second overgrown patch of land.  I do not call myself a flower farmer/florist (yet) as for me it is a two or three year intensive 'teach yourself how to grow' period.  I am as we speak in search for a piece of land where by I can grow for my business and be able to offer my clients the ultimate experience of having locally and ethically grown flowers on their special day, knowing that come the following years they will have a constant reminder of their gorgeous flowers growing in the gardens and hedgerows around them because they are seasonal, local and British.  In October to celebrate my first year of growing flowers I teamed up with the wonderful Emma Davies Photography to shoot my beautiful flowers that were available at the cutting patch at that time and we also featured on the fabulous The English Wedding Blog....take a look and see what you think....