Plantpassion

04/09/2025

It's time for our Dahlias to shine...... This evening, Will and I will be setting up and showing off our cut flower Dahlias in the National Dahlia Society pavilion at the RHS Wisley flower show.
I'm also going to be talking Dahlias at the Hilltop Live sessions this afternoon - Thursday at 12.30 and on Saturday at 1.30 and 2.30.
If you are an RHS member, it's free entry to Wisley. - Just remember the parking is likely to be bad, and if you don't get there early you'll be walking up from Wisley village. - Do come and say Hi

09/08/2025

and breathe....... That's the last 2 wedding weekend of the year finished. 2 fantastic colour schemes, and plenty of scent and texture. If you know of anyone with a wedding or party next year, please do tell them about us, and get them to download our wedding brochure. We've had plenty of people enquire and save the date already, so please don't leave it too late. Our next Walk and Tour is on Saturday 16th August at 4pm, so come and see if we are the right place to get your fresh flowers from (please book online)
https://www.plantpassion.co.uk

10/06/2025

Today’s “swap” for the that we’ve made is Monoculture for Biodiversity.

My diverse flower field has over 300 varieties from Ammi to Zinnias on its one and a quarter acres. This is different to all the large fields around me, and those that cover the vast majority of our farming lands.

For my business Biodiversity means less stress that our crops will be wiped out by a weather event. Even devastation from one week of torrential rain or howling winds will only destroy a couple of beds. It means a succession of harvests all through the year, with the ability to pick flowers or foliage (and sell them to continue making money) as long as they aren’t frozen for probably 50 weeks of the year.

From an environmental point of view, that also means there is shelter, food and pollen available for insects, birds and bugs all season. This encourages a huge diversity of all types of mammals, invertebrates , and insects. If we have black fly or aphids, we have ladybirds and lacewings, If we have slugs and snails, we have toads, if we have rodents or rabbits, then the red kites start circling.

We leave our unplanted areas to grow grasses and “wildflowers” mowing round the edges just to provide access, this has resulted in a wide range of chalk grassland species including some orchids.

The bees love the pollen, and I hope you like this clip of them enjoying our poppies.

09/06/2025

This week is the Great big green week and the theme is “Let’s swap together for good” So , I’m going to let you know about the swaps we’ve made at Plantpassion and give you some suggestions for what you could do too.

First up is the core of who we are, in that we’ve swapped the Air miles that most of the cut flowers in the UK have for electric van miles. By only selling hyper locally to where we grow in East Clandon in Surrey, we’ve measured our carbon footprint (Well the lovely team at have) to be far less than those of imported blooms

Because we’re selling our flowers directly to our Surrey customers, there is no transportation, or refrigeration, so the flowers are fresher and more fragrant.

Why do I keep going on about Air Miles? - Don’t flowers come over the channel from Holland? - But the flower industry is global and the top importers to this country are all equatorial - Kenya and Ethiopia, Colombia and Ecuador.
You might not know that , because flowers are the only things in the supermarket that don’t need to be labelled with their origin….. - Yep, think about it, we know that our clothes are made in Bangladesh or India, and our electronics and plastic tat in China. We can tell if our Strawberries are grown in Kent, and if our French beans are really French or if they are from Kenya.

So to be able to make a swap to locally grown flowers, you need to ask where your flowers are sourced from, - or seek out your local grower like me…..

08/06/2025

The first week of June. - Totally full on here, and has included

1. The first Antirrhinums of the season! - never been this early before, - I love these Costa Silver and Apricot stems
2. Farewell flowers with pink roses
3. The last peonies, before I usually pick the first ones
4. Florists orders being left in the polytunnel, as I’m still without a van so thank you to everyone who has been understanding and moved collections and deliveries to when I can borrow Ashley’s car.
5. Beautiful buckets in the Pick your own, and the Sweet peas are flowering
6. The not so nice side of rural living - yet more fly tipping. - Have you ever sat on that sofa in a pub? It looks like a refurb that has been dumped - Let me know if you’ve got photos of you on a grey sofa in a Surrey establishment. I don’t have the money or will to get this lot moved yet,
7. The nicer wildlife, we’ve ground nesting bees, - so the stones are just a reminder to us not to disturb them
8. First Sunflower of the year. - Here’s hoping I’ve got my succession on these right this season.

18/05/2025

What a beautiful time of year for wedding flowers - last of the ranunculus with the first of the roses and sweet peas. Scented sweet rocket and stocks and with delicate touches from bleeding heart, aquilegia and polemonium. I loved working to this purple and green with touches of cream and pink theme.
The seasons are moving on fast and there are lots of new crops coming up over the next few weeks so watch out for photos of what’s flowering next.

15/05/2025

Yay, Carole has got on the BBC! - I'm really thrilled that I'll be at Chelsea Flower show on Saturday 24th representing the Farewell flowers directory. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdj9gyr8zmjo?at_medium=social&at_ptr_name=facebook_page&at_format=image&at_link_origin=BBC_Birmingham&at_link_id=70398230-309A-11F0-811F-9C73413C13BC&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_campaign_type=owned&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_link_type=web_link&fbclid=IwY2xjawKTILlleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETB2eWhQQmJEWkRsc0RMS0x1AR57YNURBpWPp9-7iwIsaPl48FD4BxaZ9Ce5Ib4kyWyjduyCm-OD_eVfcmxI9w_aem_xXubUg1UhmAP_fW5Usbygg

Co-created by Carole Patilla, the display is the first with the theme in the show's 112-year history.

12/05/2025

It's Flower club this Saturday 17th at 10am-12 noon - Want to join us? Flower club is your opportunity to learn about what's in season - how to grow it, how to pick it, and how to arrange with it. They are lovely informal sessions (including cake or flapjacks!) with a great group flower lovers. This month, we're talking about Alliums and other perennial bulbs, plus we'll be looking at biennials which are often overlooked ,but are so important for flowers early in the season. Each session is just £20, or £50 for 3 sessions - either 3 dates this season, or bring 2 friends with you.
https://www.plantpassion.co.uk/flower-club-x-3

08/05/2025

Tomorrow I'm creating flowers for a Funeral rehearsal, and you're welcome to come to the funeral too..

I know, not an offer you often get, but Simon Ferrar of Clandon Wood is hosting his own funeral tomorrow Friday 9th, and you are welcome to come along and see how it works from 11am

Helen Noble Celebrant of Surrey, will be leading his funeral rehearsal—and you’re warmly invited to join us.

🕚 11am–12 noon: A Safe Space to Talk
Before the ceremony, we’ll be on hand to talk openly about:

Dying matters

Ceremony planning

What it means to be Dead Ready

The choices you have around your end-of-life journey

🎭 A Living Funeral Experience
This is a unique and free event. Together, we’ll explore what a funeral can look like—not just in logistics, but in meaning. It’s an honest, human, and often transformative experience.

It’s also a chance to grieve a funeral you never had, or honour someone in your own way. Bring your curiosity and a whole heart—whether it’s full or heavy—and lighten its load through learning, sharing, and being part of a space where it’s safe to talk about death and dying.

03/05/2025

About last night….if you know me, or have been following this account for a while, you’ll know that i’m concerned about Climate change, I see the effects of it first hand on my exposed Surrey hill, and i’m doing all I can to change my habits and those of people around me. For years, since the wonderful team taught me how important it was, i’ve been emailing my MP at regular intervals to express my concerns as a small business and resident (well actually his assistant, there was no pretense that he even had an email address!) and receiving template letters in response about all the wonderful things his party (con)were doing for the environment. I never met him, and he didn’t come to any of the Climate talks that we’ve held over the last 3 years.
So last night I was thrilled to meet and hear from our New Guildford and Villages MP, about her first 10 months as our representative. She mentioned as her greatest concerns Energy rates/insulation and water quality, and the right kind of housing for the future, and she also said she’s like to come to the farm and hear about Floriculture - now she’s a politician so we’ll see, but it was lovely to at least hear that she had regustered those things as concerns. - oh and she liked her thank you flowers, all grown here with just a few electric van miles on them and no chemicals!