Sustainability and British Cut Flowers

Careful choices and buying mindfully is one of the best ways to help contribute to sustainability. Purchasing more intentionally and making more sustainable choices has been raised more and more in our culture of late. We know that being more planet -friendly is so important right now. It's taught to our children and becomes more prevalent in news feeds every day, from charities and individuals, all who are focused on raising awareness and also helping to find alternatives in our everyday life.

At Fusspots we're testing out British cut flowers from local grower and wholesaler, B.J Richards in Cornwall. It's most likely the flowers you find at your local supermarket have travelled in from another country adding to pollution. It's puzzling to think that there are plenty of experienced growers in this country that we automatically bypass for foreign supplies. Hannah even grows her own flowers from her small cut flower garden, which she admits, "is very much a learning curve!" She mentions of the trials and tribulations of growing your own flowers. It's not just about watering regularly, transferring seedlings from green houses to the outside at the right time, and the seedlings getting enough sunlight. There's also the cheeky mice that nibble the seeds, the birds that see your freshly sown flower bed as a platter, and the cats that find your lovingly freshly raked soil as the best toilet ever!

Harvesting a bunch of flowers from your own garden is one of life's pleasures. When you know you've carefully helped nurture a flower or plant from seed to flower the pleasure factor is ramped up and a sense of achievement can be grasped and held. Even if just one flower has popped out of the soil from dozens of seeds, it's still an amazing feat. It perhaps won't create a handful of blooms, but it starts a life long learning curve that will have highs and lows.

Going through the process of growing flowers from seed or even from plugs, and digging up bulbs to be stored in the green house over winter, begins this appreciation for the process. It's what makes a bunch of flowers that more special, knowing they've been raised and nurtured well before being picked and finally arranged to be appreciated as loving gesture.

You can find our 100% British bouquets in stock at Taw Garages, Barnstaple, so if you like, grab a bunch if you're passing. 

 Credits:

Grower and Wholesaler of British Flowers -  B.J Richards, Cornwall.