Sustainable Floristry In Market Drayton: Flowers With a Lighter Footprint.
I love flowers, but I also love the environment they come from.
As florists, we know that flowers can travel a surprisingly long way before they reach your front door. So, at The Secret Garden Flower Shop in Market Drayton, I'm always looking for ways I can make my floristry a little kinder to the plant - without compromising on the beautiful, natural flowers my customers love.
I don't believe sustainability has to mean perfection. It's about making better choices wherever we can, and continuing to improve as we grow.
Growing More Of My Own
One of my passions is growing my own flowers and I am working towards growing more of my own flowers and foliage.
I'm not going to pretend it's realistic to grow all my own flowers - or that doing so would necessarily be the most sustainable option. Floristry is a year- round business, while gardens have seasons, and growing enough flowers to supply everything I need to create would require a huge amount of time, space and resources, something unfortunately most of us don't have. Weather can also have a mind of its own here in Britain, and no amount of careful planning can guarantee what will thrive from one year to the next.
For me, sustainability is about finding a sensible balance.
Growing flowers isn't simply about growing them to cut and put in a bouquet. For me, the most important thing is to create a haven for nature. Growing a wide variety of flowers, pants and foliage provides food and shelter for bees, butterflies and other wildlife. and creating a garden and flower allotment where nature can thrive is one of the most important parts of growing flowers to me.
So, if I can grow flowers that can eventually be enjoyed in my designs while also creating a little pocket of life and biodiversity, that feels like a win.
There is something particularly special about using flowers that have been grown at home. They don't need to travel hundreds of miles, and they bring a wonderfully natural, seasonal feel to my designs.
Growing my own also means being able to use flowers at their absolute freshest - but it also means accepting that not everything is grown for the vase. Some flowers are there simply because nature loves them.
And perhaps that's the most sustainable part of all.
It's not about doing everything perfectly. it's about growing more, wasting less, working with the seasons and creating space where flowers can benefit both people and nature.
Embracing the Seasons.
I love seasonal flowers!
Rather than trying to offer exactly the same flowers all year round, I enjoy working with what nature provides throughout the seasons.
British- grown and locally available flowers can have so much character. They might not always be perfectly uniform, but that's part of their charm - and it fits perfectly with the relaxed, natural style of The Secret Garden Flower Shop, Market Drayton.
Reducing Unnecessary Journeys.
Flowers and floristry involve deliveries, collections and trips to suppliers, so another area I am focusing on is reducing unnecessary mileage. Where possible I group deliveries together and plan routes carefully rather than making multiple individual journeys. It might seem like a small thing, but lots of small changes can add up.
Reducing Waste.
Floristry can unfortunately create waste, particularly when working with flowers that have a limited vase life.
I am continually looking at ways to reduce this.
That means making the most of every stem, drying flowers where possible, reusing materials, recycling appropriate packaging and composting green waste.
Sometimes a slightly wonky stem or a few smaller flowers can become one of the loveliest parts of a design - there is no reason beautiful flowers need to be wasted just because they do not look exactly like every other stem.
A Work In Progress
I am not going to pretend that floristry can be completely impact- free.
There will always be flowers that need to be transported, materials that need to be used and journeys that need to be made.
But I believe that sustainability is about the choices we make along the way.
Growing a little more, choosing seasonal flowers and supporting British flower growers. Reducing waste, mileage, reusing, recycling and making the most of every stem.
None of these things are about being perfect - they are about doing better. That is something that I will continue to work on at The Secret Garden Flower Shop, Market Drayton.
I believe flowers should bring a little more beauty into the world - while leaving as little as possible behind.
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