S P I N D L E

26/10/2024

From a distance I thought this was a berberis, but it turns out it’s a photinia. Just a plain old redtip. This is isn’t just the common ‘red robin’ but a particularly spectacular variety called photinia davidiana fructu luteo with yellow berries which contrast spectacularly with the red leaves.

I’m a bit in love.

At today, catching some sunshine on the grasses. I brought home a 1m tall fountain grass called pennisetum ‘black arrow’

There are so many beauuuuutiful trees and shrubs at Knoll including Quercus Phellos - an oak with slim leaves that look like willow, Gingko, and a lovely Sorbus Intermedia or Swedish Whitebeam, Berberis Gagnepainii, a pale pink spindle called Euonymus Hamiltoniana oooh, the list could be longer but I’ll spare you...

11/10/2024

The spindle is soooo good this year! 😃

29/09/2024

I was in beautiful Coventry Cathedral last week for a conference on Plastics, Packaging & Waste in Floriculture (PPW).

The PPW working group was set up with funding from IDH (the Sustainable Trade Initiative) and brought together by Angela Colton & Jill Timms & David Bek from Surrey & Coventry Universities.

They have just launched a brilliant guide for florists, to help us reduce our reliance on single-use plastics.

Link to the guide in bio ☝️

We are all positioned somewhere along the line on the long journey towards sustainability, so there are no ‘good’ and ‘bad’ players here.

Good job too, because there needs to be tolerance between us. There was a diverse range of attendees, from the BFA (British Florist Association), Interflora, and the international FSI (floriculture sustainability initiative), to small scale British flower growers.

At moments the tribal lines in the room felt palpable. Which is why it was such a big achievement bringing everyone together.

The organisers did a great job of keeping the conversation wide open, welcoming contributions from across the industry.

The sustainable floristry mechanics demos were really interesting, and I came away with raised awareness of innovative new ideas, collaborations, working groups, teaching styles, new products, services, and projects, all being led by passionate advocates for change.

In their concluding comments, David & Jill encouraged everyone to reflect. What do we need? What are our questions? We set the agenda together. We are all invited to join the Working Group. If you are interested, contact

26/09/2024

Link in bio ☝️ to my chat a few days ago with Georgie from …. with a correction that the funding is to research the potential, rather than roll it out nationally tomorrow! … 🤨

‘On the ‘tube today (link in stories) I’m talking to about the launch of the hub for and - do ping over and have a look, sign up, be inspired - how marvellous that our artisan industry has grown so much that we are inspiring distribution hubs for our crops x enjoy! x’

24/09/2024

04/09/2024

Ooh it’s started!

Preparation for the FiPL funded foliage planting of native trees and shrubs. Farming in Protected Landscapes is part of Dorset National Landscapes (previously AONB) and the support we’ve received from them has been amazing 🙏

This is an exciting time in the development of the British flower industry. More farms are looking to diversify into flowers and foliage, enterprise stacking & building biodiversity into their systems (although mowing back a wildflower strip just as the insects are laying eggs should disqualify for funding straight away!). More on this another day.

We are planting the trees in mid Jan. If you’re looking to find out more about this kind of project, why not come and join us on one or both of our planting days? Lunch will be on the Wyld Meadow Farm house 🍲🍞 Message me if you’d like to come along. If there’s time we will pop down the hill to see the Spindle plantings too, 10 years on.

Harvesting this site is going to be a joy! This is possibly one of the best views in the area, straight down the valley to the sea.

17/08/2024

Spindle from the air 🌿

Photo credit:
Eben Henderson-Hyde

01/08/2024

First week of the hub at with lots of interest from florists and growers💕🌸

21/07/2024

Posted • When a plant loves where it is , it just grows and grows. Lots of analogies to be had with people! Our collective’s goals are Collaboration, Community and Creativity, when you find yourself in the right place with the right people you can achieve more than you ever dreamed! Let’s Grow Together!

12/07/2024

Home sweet home. It was so great to get back to the field after nearly a month away.

I flew to Australia to visit my old Dad who has Parkinsons with related dementia and is now in a care home. It meant leaving the family, and the field too. In June 😢.

But it was 100% worth it. 2 weeks with Dad, every day, sometimes for 5 hours. We listened to music, looked at old photos, looked through his books. Sometimes he slept and I read. It was a precious, peaceful time together and I don’t regret it for a moment 💕.

But my twin teenagers were an inch taller when I got back, and the thistles at the field were off the scale!

Thank goodness for people at home holding the fort - Jonny, stalwart and steady papa, Lizzie cheerful hub backup, and Dan & Jake as well as the team who powered through June with huge success 🙌🏻 🌸

This post is by way of explaining my absence, expressing my gratitude, and my joy at returning home. 🏡


**ds
**ds

14/06/2024

Last November I hosted a seminar at Spindle, in collaboration with the Soil Association and funded by FiPL (Farming in Protected Landscapes) / Dorset National Landscape / AONB. We invited interested stakeholders including local landowners, flower farmers, and an agroforestry specialist aka my cousin . We looked at how agroforestry works in practice on a farm scale and why foliage growing might be a good idea from an agroforestry perspective. Our focus was on questions of design, stakeholders, business models and partnerships, funding and constraints.

I’m delighted to share this aerial photo of ‘milk stand’ at Wyld Meadow Farm owned by farming friends of ours just down the road with whom i applied for a FiPL grant to trial an acre of foliage growing.

Excitingly, we’ve just been awarded the grant to plant 1000 native trees & shrubs here.

💥🌿

It’s a long term project - it’ll be 5 yrs before the crop is ready to harvest.

This means that my usual autumn foliage growing courses will happen on-line on October 9th, 12th & 16th, with an additional option of two voluntary, hands-on tree-planting days in early to mid January 2025 (dates tbc). These volunteer days will include a site visit to see the established plantings at Spindle, and should be a rich source of information for anyone wishing to learn more about planting foliage. If you’re interested in learning more about establishing a foliage plantation, dm me for details or click on link in bio. There will also be a delicious lunch in exchange for the sweat of your brow.

THE ON-LINE COURSE will cover the nuts and bolts, in downloadable format, of the kinds of foliage florists want, what plants to grow, maintenance & pruning, conditioning, pricing, presenting foliage for sale, w**d control, optimum spacing for harvesting & ground cover.

31/05/2024

One of last week’s orders ready for delivery by The South West Flower Grower Collective.

We feel so proud and excited that it’s working, and that customers are buying, and that the feedback is so positive 🌿

It certainly feels like these sustainably grown British flower hubs are long overdue 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Lots of gorgeous flowers have already been snapped up for BRITISH FLOWERS WEEK next week, but there are many more beauties on the web shop 🌸

Link in bio ☝️

18/05/2024

Cutting hawthorn, up a ladder, face full of foliage, secateurs in hand. My happy place. ​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
I get to know my plants in a visceral kind of way, with scratches and dragged-through-a-hedge-backwards hair to show for it. ​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
But it smells and feels so good up in that tree. I can’t really find the words.

02/05/2024

Such feelings of satisfaction, after all this time, to be able to easily show florists the beautiful British flowers & foliage that are available :-) and for them to be able to easily buy from us 🌿

If you are a florist or a grower in West Dorset or near Bournemouth, we are newly established, looking for professional people to come along on this exciting journey of discovery.

Quality, sustainability, reliability, affordability and quantity is what we’re about.

Our prices are based on an average .72 median stem price equivalent to the Dutch markets, with 10% on top to cover admin. It’s a lot of clicking and peering at screens that we admins are doing, but sooo worth it!!

It’s our pilot year, with one South West and one Scotland hub. Next year it’ll be more hubs, once we’ve ironed out any kinks.

Do get in touch if you’re interested in finding out more. Click on link in bio ☝️to get the link to register on the Open Food Network, and we can take it from there :-)

Happy Beltane 😃🌱

19/04/2024

We’ve been working for many months now to get two pilot flower hubs up and running in Scotland and the South West.

Our aim is to make accessing the best seasonal cut flowers easier for florists, and the process of selling simpler for growers.

Our name is less clear... hence the anonymous logo... it’s still a work in progress.

However, we are super excited that we can finally announce that we will be starting our South West pilot hub in the first week of May. It’ll run throughout this growing season, based out of Springbourne in Bournemouth. There will also be an option to collect from the Spindle Flower Barn in West Dorset, with possible deliveries along the way.

*N.B. all of Spindle Flowers’ sales from Thursday 25th April will be through the hub.*

This year will be a trial to see how it works for all those involved, for both growers and florists and to iron out any problems and build on any successes. We have a wonderful group of Dorset and Hampshire based flower & foliage growers ready to go.

What people are saying about the hubs:

‘SO GOOD!!!!! Seriously, well done. People are going to be chewing your arm off for this. Exciting!’

‘This all is very exciting and wonderful- thank you!’

‘So much work has gone into this already and It’s so impressive, thank you. …..efficiency , ease of being able to order from multiple growers with just one collection.’

‘Fabulous! British flowers take another step forward. This is exciting… It’s easy using beautiful British flowers and foliage like yours and all other fantastic British flower growers – it’s quite simple, they are the most beautiful and the best.’

‘Hubs are the way ahead, I’ve thought that for years, but we’re all too busy, with not enough head space, time or support to fix it’.

‘This is so exciting! I’d definitely like to be involved in setting something similar up here…Are you thinking of expanding / how can I get involved?’

‘Pathbreakers.’

19/04/2024

And breathe…

Spring has finally arrived, and with it the most heady scent of all, the hawthorn blossom or ‘may’. One sniff and I’m straight back to being 20, waking up in an old split-screen horsebox parked up on a country lane with my crusty boyfriend (the least romantic part of this story!), stable doors wide open, and feeling the sap rising so strongly it took my breath away.

I feel more punk than hippy these days - I’d just like to make that clear at this point 🤣 but I’m proud that the joy in small things has never left me.

🌱

02/03/2024

Glimpses of the fresh mimosa wreath 🌿made this week for the Gaza Fundraiser auction, which closes tomorrow.

We are thrilled that the fundraiser has so far raised £6126 which is just amazing.

We will be closing the raffle at Midnight on Sunday so if we could have a final push to raise as much as we can over the weekend that would be fab.

Link in bio ☝️

Let’s see how much we can raise together for those who so desperately need it.

💛

05/11/2023

Remember the smell of moss and pine? Some love Christmas, some not so much. I’m a bit of both, but the parts that make the most sense to me are when I’m brought into the present, either by the smells or the feel of using plants to decorate the house, or being close to a warm fire, and laughing with family and friends.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I'm running two wreath and garland making workshops in some very special places this year.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Tiptoe Yoga is a yoga retreat centre with a beautiful studio and accommodation near New Milton, in the middle of the New Forest. On Saturday 2nd Dec I'll be teaching wreath making in the morning and garland making in the afternoon, with a delicious vegetarian lunch if you come to both. Go to to book.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Wernog Wood is a craft centre, also with accommodation (their gorgeous Red Shed was recently featured in The Times), in the heart of the Clwydian Range in North East Wales. On Saturday the 9th we'll be doing wreaths in the morning, garlands in the afternoon, or if you attend both sessions you get a lovely simple lunch. Go to to book.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Kind of goes without saying that walking in these areas is really amazing too.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I'll be bringing my usual crazy abundance of foliage, mostly from the field, plus a variety of lovely, sustainably sourced conifer for the Christmas vibe. There will be subtle dried flowers and grasses, seed heads, berries, feathers, texture and scent (the mossy smell.... remember?)
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Roughly speaking, it's £75 per session, with a discount if you come to both.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Both are booking up fast :-)
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

heads





⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
image