The Ledbury Flower Farmer

16/11/2025

I have picked and picked the limonium or statice this year.
It’s a very versatile filler flower as it’s perfect for drying and being used out of water but also gives a great vase life and can come in blue which can be a tricky colour but also the much sought after and very popular peach colour. I have used it in gift bouquets, button holes, dried flower workshops and it was a very popular choice in the pyo patch.

It’s not just the colours that are sought after by us as it is loved by so many different insects.

Statice won’t survive a frost so needs to be sown and planted a little later in spring than some flowers but keeps going until the end of the season- this year it has been storm Claudia that has knocked it over as it has finished flowering.

It will now be cleared and composted, the bed will be weeded and mulched ready for other flowers to be planted into the bed in the spring. I will definitely be growing lots of it again next year as it’s so popular over winter in the dried flower arrangements and workshops too.

09/11/2025

A little chrysanthemum post and a chance for you to see how beautiful they are - a whole world apart from supermarket, garage forecourt or more standard out of a catalogue funeral flowers.

The chrysanthemums that I grow have a variety of colours and just as many different forms so that even when the dahlias have gone and there are no other flowers my bouquets don’t look like a bunch of one flower type. There are open anemone flowered ones, some have lovely spikey looking petals or you can get the utterly gorgeous 2 tones where the front of the petal is a different colour to the back - my personal favourites.

I have a few hardy varieties of chrysanthemums and I will be continuing to increase the number of hardy varieties that I grow in the future. I take cuttings in the spring and grow my plants on from those until they flower. I usually grow them in the poly tunnel but this year my lovely student Elspeth (who is now successfully starting her own flower farm in Devon) suggested planting the stock plants outside instead of discarding them and so I have so many of these gorgeous blooms this year. If you swipe through the photos you will see that they are providing the only colour in the flower beds at this time of year. The lovely golden leaves are on my ginkgo tree, they will all be dropped at once with a hard frost.

Until the rain and frost ruin the blooms I have lots of chrysanthemum flowers if you would like to have a bunch just let me know.

07/11/2025

I had some more farewell flowers to create at the end of October and a beautiful dried wreath this week. The dried wreath also contained some fresh rosemary sprigs for remembrance and was accompanied by matching button holes for the coffin bearers and 4 posies to pop in by the handles. This wreath is going to be kept and displayed in the family home. Did you spot the beautiful dragonfly resting on some lavender?

The other farewell flowers were carefully chosen to contain the gentleman’s racing colours with no doubt memories of great and exciting days at the races but also to reflect autumn and the season.

Finally a favourite colour palette of peachy pink and easily divided into 3 hand tied sheafs that when on the coffin all looked like one long arrangement.

05/11/2025

Last week was wonderfully busy and productive.

I had the pleasure of meeting and demonstrating for the , luckily we still had plenty of fresh flowers but I did stick with my back up plan of some dried flower arrangments too which was well received.

In the flower field the dahlias were dug up and they were so big that I decided to let people come and dig up dahlias to take home- it was very popular and this Monday I didn’t have too many more to dig up to clear the beds (apart from a few that I am going to trial leaving in as the beds are new and I’m curious as to whether they will survive the winter).

I’m well in the swing of dried flower workshops and your creations are all so beautiful- I loved that after Halloween some of the witches broomsticks were going to be dismantled and would become arrangements in vases. Christmas wreath workshops are filling up quickly so if you would like to come and make one please do look at experiences on my website.

I was grateful for some help with weeding and mulching flower beds at the start of this week and treated everyone very gratefully with some delicious brownies and flapjacks - it all helps fuel us and the sunshine certainly helped too. We’ve had beautiful autumnal light towards the end of the month and now that November has arrived the tulip bulbs have too so planting them is a job for a day very soon.

30/10/2025

October has been busy month with a flurry of beautiful farewell flowers. I thought I would show you some from earlier in the month.

We started with a very personal tribute using the gentleman’s work boots and the family have very kindly shared a photo of the flowers in the hearse. The boots were accompanied by some posies on the sides of the coffin to then be placed into bud vases on tables at the celebration of like after the service.

I also created a tribute in a basket that was made up of pretty seasonal pinks in jam jars. These were welcomed into the hospice after the service for residents to enjoy.

A very autumnal colour palette was arranged into one large piece but could be taken apart into 6 smaller bunches with some loose stems too. This also had some posies to go around the coffin and were given to grandchildren after the service.

The final one I’m sharing today was provided with flowers in 3 favourite jugs to go onto tables after the service. The arrangement for the coffin was arranged in moss as a mound. It also contained some dried hops, pine cones and elements that had been much loved. 2 years previously I had arranged for this ladies husband and both funerals had the same pale blue Michaelmas daisy. Today we have dug up some of that daisy to be planted into the families gardens to be a kind reminder each year.

There are no set rules for farewells. They can be whatever colours, in any kind of style arrangment to be shared or left on the grave to compost. It’s whatever suits you as a family to help remember your loved family member.

27/10/2025

💐 dig up a dahlia💐
🌸Sunday 2 November 2-4pm 🌸

Would you like to come and dig up a dahlia tuber this coming Sunday 2-4 pm. Bring a fork or spade, a big bucket or study bag to take them home in £5 per tuber.
I will also have clumps of Michaelmas daisy in a lovely pale blue- it’s a vigorous grower! They will also be £5 as will a few hypericum plants that I have surplus to requirement.

You can drive up through the yard to the flower field and park on hard standing by the big cattle barn or outside the flower studio.

What 3 words is paddocks.bother.blossom to get into the flower farm yard and Google maps is also accurate to find me. (I would share the postcode if only it was accurate).

There will be a small selection of dried flowers to choose from too and a friendly smile and some advice on storing your dahlia too.

25/10/2025

October isn’t over yet but it’s been a busy month.

I’ve had some lovely florist orders heading out making the most of the autumnal colours and textures.

I’ve been busy clearing beds and preparing them for the winter and next season, there are still lots of flowers although we’ve had a couple of frost so the end of the season is rapidly approaching. In the flower beds I’ve been weeding around some self seeded plants and I’ve got the sweet peas planted out ready for early flowers next year.

I’ve been cutting to dry, made some more confetti ready for spring weddings and I’ve been having a sort through the dried flowers as I have floral workshops most weekends now- details are on my website in experiences. I’ve some great reds, whites and golds for your Christmas wreaths too.

I’ve also been very busy with farewell flowers, I’ll share those with you soon. They’ve been really beautiful.

24/10/2025

This is always a great day, jam packed with loads of information for everything g people need to know to start a cutting garden at home or to grow enough for the garden gate

There are a few places still if you would like to join us

Introduction to Growing Cut Flowers Day – Wye Valley Flowers, Fri 7 Nov 2025 - Join myself and Rozanne from The Ledbury Flower Farmer for a day of floral inspiration! Whether you are new to growing cut flowers and want to plan a cutting garden, an experienced gardener or you are thinking about gro...

05/10/2025

The flowers were battered by storm Amy at the weekend but they are still there and flowering at the moment. The birds were singing in the calm of the garden this morning and the trees are turning to autumnal colours.

Weddings for this year have finished for me, I still have some florist orders in the diary and a flurry of farewell flowers this month. I’m still offering gift bouquets at the moment too.

I’ve started clearing the late summer flowers today so that I can get cleared, weeded and mulched before the weather turns too wintery. This year there are so many volunteer flowers that have self seeded. I think partly because I grew more than normal and because the flowers did go over quicker this year due to the drought and heat.

Olly had a day off from the farm today so I’ve had some help this afternoon before he heads off next week on his travels to Argentina to work on some dairy farms.