I’ve been thinking about Instagram a lot lately.
When I first came on I absolutely loved it, the photos, the comments, getting new followers, making friends, keeping in touch with old friends.
It also pretty much got my business off to a flying start.
A friend, who I met through Instagram, said she thought no one was listening to her on her feed the other day. I have to say sometimes it does feel like that, everyone just sees the pretty picture and moves on.
I have been meaning to write this for some time. Then today on Instagram, a friend I met through Instagram did a lovely post about my flowers and I’ve already had enquiries from it. Thank you
So, I thought I’d mention all the people and businesses I’ve met through Instagram over the next few weeks. And if anyone is listening maybe they will get some extra followers or extra business or just feel nice! And maybe people will find new, creative, exciting businesses and content to follow.
My love for Instagram continues.
Thank you to whoever is listening!
14/07/2024
A year ago today, a beautiful bouquet for a simple registry office wedding.
It’s really interesting looking at what I had flowering last year compared to today. My cosmos and dahlias have only just started flowering but last year they were in full bloom.
Happy Anniversary!
10/07/2024
The wind and rain has caused a bit of damage on the plot so I won’t be able to get flowers to this weekend. But please message me if you want a posy and I can drop one into the farm shop for you.
☔️
08/07/2024
Decided to pull up the Calendula. It drives me mad, I’m not picking it and I need space for other things. I’m not sure about the smell.
Wondering if I should bother growing it anymore?
Put it in a vase and took some pictures. Admired its long stems, pretty colours, curling petals, nice buds and interesting branching shapes it creates in a vase.
Wondering if I should grow it again next year?!!
21/06/2024
At the beginning of June when the weather was all over the place, the sun came out for this beautiful wedding.
Georgina and James wedding@highden_estate was such a lovely setting for their relaxed wedding.
I made mini flower meadows and bud vases for the tables. The bouquets were natural, relaxed and showed off all my garden had to offer, including anemones, sweet peas, roses and poppies for Poppy!
Photos by
13/06/2024
All white today . I thought I’d challenge myself to all white and green posies this week.
07/06/2024
Thank you to everyone who has bought and hopefully enjoyed my flowers this week.
Having a weekend off flowers and the garden to celebrate my son’s 18th birthday.
Have a lovely weekend x
06/06/2024
Beautiful scented stocks in these posies heading to this morning.
03/06/2024
A beautiful wedding at the weekend. I so enjoyed doing the flowers for Georgina and James (and their little baby Poppy!)
Georgina’s bouquet included Iceland poppies, peonies, sweet peas and stocks.
30/05/2024
Snapdragons, larkspur and other prettiness heading to this morning.
03/05/2024
Slightly frustrating time at the moment on my plot.
Lots of buds ready to burst but not many actual flowers.
After the glorious tulips and ranunculus I get all excited but then we get a bit of a gap. This is the downside of seasonal flowers, we are always at the mercy of the weather.
It just makes me think a bit more, be a little more creative and plan next year’s flowers more carefully.
01/05/2024
I’ve had lots of new followers lately thanks to so I thought I should introduce myself and my business.
I’m Ellie, based in Ashurst near Steyning and have had my business Honeybridge Flowers for 6 years.
I’d say I am a micro flower farmer as everything is in my garden. I have a greenhouse and a small polytunnel.
I try to be as sustainable as possible with my growing and floristry methods. Everything is seasonal and pretty much dependent on the weather.
I love using as many interesting flowers and foliage varieties as possible in my posies and hope when people receive my flowers they are getting something unique and a bit different to what they are used to.
My business has grown and changed over the years and is changing now as I look into the future and how I want to use my flowers.
If you have contacted me recently I have replied but I am having some issues with my business email so please check your junk mail. Please feel free to text, phone or DM me on 07507735333.
It’s been a challenging spring so flowers are limited at the moment but hopefully some sunshine will start everything off.
I hope you enjoy my posts and my flowers x
25/04/2024
The last of my tulips and some beautiful ranunculus heading to today.
Limited bunches today as I’ve had to save some flowers for a wedding tomorrow.
08/04/2024
Just home after the most amazing trip to New York with added earthquake which we didn’t feel!
Trying to work out how I could forge a career in flowers out there now!
I’ve got to bring myself out of the NCY bubble and try to get myself back in the garden.
The tulips have gone crazy so I’d better get picking!
15/03/2024
Been inside all day as have been feeling a little off kilter lately. Had to go and get some fresh air so picked some hellebores and blossom to play around with.
Hope to be picking more bits and bobs in the next few weeks.
24/02/2024
I keep going outside to take a picture of my garden but quite frankly it’s all just muddy and a bit sad.
So I turned to my photo library and found this beautiful photograph taken by .
I’m busy behind the scenes sowing seeds and planting seedlings although clearing, pruning and mulching I’m really behind with as my garden is so wet. But I’ll get there in the end.
I really can’t wait to be picking flowers like these. I’m battling mice at the moment for the survival of my ranunculus crop and have had to give in and set traps. Decided not to post pictures of that battle!
25/01/2024
I’m a bit behind so these are to remind me to plant my ranunculus and anemones out so we have vases full.
12/01/2024
Hello, I’m Ellie and I run Honeybridge Flowers.
I thought I’d better show my face on here as I’m always hiding behind my flowers!
This is my 6th year being a flower farmer.
It has its ups and downs but essentially I do it because I love growing, nurturing and being creative with flowers.
It’s a wonderful feeling when people enjoy my flowers. I’ve been so lucky to work with some lovely people who support my business; gorgeous couples getting married, loyal customers and other small local businesses.
It’s very cold out on my plot at the moment but lots needs doing. I’m slowly getting back out there but it’s really a bit of a waiting game. All I ever want to do at this time of year is sow seeds but it’s too early so I’ll stay indoors for now and look through seed catalogues and try not to spend too much money.
08/01/2024
Searching for a nice thing to photograph in the garden today and this was all I could find!
It sits next to my flower beds so keeps a watchful eye on everything.
I forced myself into the poly tunnel and back the work today after a much needed break. Finding the energy and motivation in the cold isn’t easy but just starting to think about sowing, planting and planning gets the mind going again and things feel a little more easy and exciting.
I planted amaryllis for a wedding in March so looking forward to watching them flower at exactly the right time!!
03/01/2024
I’m trying to get back to work, starting with checking through my weddings in 2024. (And the dreaded tax!)
I have some lovely ones ahead and I’m really looking forward to them.
If you are planning a wedding this year I have a few dates left. Even if you are planning a small registry office or something simple I would be happy to
help.
Beautiful photograph by
31/12/2023
Thank you to everyone who bought my flowers, trusted me to make farewell, birthday, thank you, wedding flowers and of course treat yourself flowers.
I hope I can provide you with flowers in 2024 for whatever occasion.
Thank you x
30/12/2023
An image from Georgia and Ant’s wedding in August. I always feel flowers can’t compete too much with a church interior and I often wonder if the congregation look at anything else but the bride and groom. When I was asked to do flowers for the church we decided to keep it very simple and they worked so beautifully in this tiny church.
It’s that time of year when everyone is looking back at their year in flowers. I made a promise to myself to get back to my Instagram as I got slightly lazy for many reasons. I’ve always loved sharing my images and want to share my work in the most interesting and inspiring way I can. I’m not a fan of showing off but obviously that’s what Instagram is all about! Next year I hope to make my Instagram as unique and inspiring as possible as I share my flowers, floristry and gardening ups and downs. I hope you enjoy it.
13/12/2023
I’ve been trying to put the garden to bed for the winter but the weather has other ideas. However, leaving the skeletons of my flowers has its benefits.
22/11/2023
Last remnants
15/11/2023
Just dropped a few dried flower bouquets .
03/11/2023
Chrysanthemum posies available today . Grown in my poly tunnel so protected from the storms.
02/11/2023
It always makes me laugh how this ugly little thing produces the most beautiful flowers.
Anemones, one of my favourite spring flowers, are putting down their roots and will start flowering in April. They always seem to do better for me when they have overwintered outside surviving frosts and wet winter weather.
26/10/2023
Not much pretty about at the moment.
But busy making next year’s pretty things.
Next year’s anemones, flowering around April time.
14/10/2023
I have been quiet on Instagram lately as I’m not really enjoying it very much. I think everyone goes through this?!
I’ve also rewritten this post 3 times as I was being too negative!
I’m busy planning next year, meeting brides, sowing seeds, planting seedlings, bulb counting, summoning energy to clear up and making lots of lists.
I’ve been running this business for 6 years now. I feel a 7 year itch coming on and it’s time to focus on where I want it to go. It’s very easy to drift along, almost just following what is being asked of me rather than actually making my own decisions. No decisions yet though!
Approaching big birthdays in our family next year so that’s daunting and probably adding to my thought process.
Pictures:
1 - desperate for the chrysanthemums to properly start flowering so that I can make up some posies.
2 - lots of lovely healthy seedlings in the greenhouse.
3 - Larkspur germination success- smug. Not so happy with orlaya though!
4 - Sweet Williams in neat rows.
5 - Polytunnel in need of a tidy but things still flowering.
6 - Cleared poly tunnel bed ready for planting stocks.
7 - My loofah plant which I can’t wait to pick.
01/10/2023
Birthday party flowers yesterday.
Thank you to for the extra glamorous dahlias.
My flowers are slowing down now. A bit like my energy levels! There are still dahlias and chrysanthemums on their way but not the usual variety of flowers.
It’s been a long, busy and quite difficult season for us for various reasons and I’m really ready to tidy up and think about next year. I say this every year around this time, but this year more than ever I’m so tired!
I’m going to concentrate on tidying up after the busy summer. Look at what is and isn’t working and be very thoughtful about my next year of flowers. I feel it’s so important that I continue to enjoy growing flowers and not get bogged down in worrying about them, which can be hard when working alone.
More than anything this family of mine needs a holiday, which we haven’t managed this year. There are a few significant birthdays next year so we are planning a special holiday. Very excited about our destination!
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Videos
Excuse my wobbly filming!
Beautiful meadows for Kim and Ollie yesterday. I did their wedding flowers in October, 2 years ago when they had already cancelled due to lockdown and could only have a few guests. Yesterday they could have a proper celebration.
#locallygrownflowers #locallygrownweddingflowers #smallweddings #flowerfarmerflorist #aprilweddingflowers #flowermeadows
I’m loving my new open centre dahlias and so are the bees! #newdahlias #opencentredahlia #beefriendlyflowers
As a little girl I had my own patch in my mum’s vegetable patch where I grew peas and ate them straight from the plant. I used to love picking up all the petals that fell from a giant flowering cherry and make potions from them. I had an allotment when I lived in London where I had mixed success amongst the couch grass. Moving back to the countryside in Ashurst, to the same house where I grew up, I couldn’t wait to start growing. Flowers started taking over the vegetables and new beds started taking over the garden. I completed my RHS Principles of Horticulture last year. I was amazed at how much knowledge you amass from a lifetimes gardening but having gained the scientific knowledge to back this up has given me the confidence in my ability as a gardener.
So this year instead of having far too many flowers for myself I am going to become a Flower Farmer and grow my flowers to sell. What could be more beautiful than a bunch of homegrown, seasonal flowers? Commercial flowers grown on a large scale use precious resources; air miles, chemicals and cheap labour. My flowers are grown by my own cheap labour, no chemicals and cut at their most beautiful. They are all grown from seed, tuber and bulb in my garden.
I love making hand ties and posies. My favourite flowers include sweet peas, dahlias, larkspur and tulips. I love growing new varieties and experimenting with colour and texture adding unusual seed pods, buds, interesting foliage and grasses. When I go out into my garden I never quite know what will be at its best that day, so creating a posy is an exciting creative process. I never quite know what I will make but it always gives me a buzz when it all comes together.
I trained in Fashion and Textiles specialising in woven textiles and get the same sense of satisfaction from growing and creating a gorgeous bunch of flowers as I did when I used to dye my yarns and weave my fabric. I volunteer in the gardens at Parham house where their borders overflow with exquisite colours and textures. I am constantly trying to emulate a little patch of Parham in my own garden. I love that free flowering, relaxed and romantic style.
I can’t wait to get my seedlings in the ground and I can’t wait for the moment the first flowers emerge and I can start picking. I have narcissi, tulips, alliums, wallflowers, ranunculus and anemones all growing and can’t wait to see them flower. I never stop learning in my garden, every year I make mistakes and have great triumphs and every year I start with a list of rules that I usually end up breaking.
As this is my first year I am not sure exactly what I will be doing, I will probably say yes to a bit of everything and see what I am best at, but all I know at the moment is that I want others to love my flowers as much as I do. Right now I’m off to my greenhouse to see what’s popped up overnight and check how much frost damage there is.
