Headley flower garden

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Headley flower garden

Flower grower and supplier
Local, seasonal flowers Hampshire/West Berks border
Supplying bouquets, DIY buckets, weddings and funeral flowers.

Workshops and pick your own days
Order online
By appointment only

21/11/2025

Last shout out for wreaths and wreath kits

FINAL orders being taken this weekend (last date Sunday 23rd November).

Please order via website
www.headleyflowergarden.co.uk

16/11/2025

Farm update 16th November

Lots of clearing this week. On Thursday I had lots of help in the field and we finally got thalspi, feverfew and orlaya planted out. Harry and Zeb cleared the hypericum which had unfortunately succumb to a fungal disease that is common in hypericum. In their place they planted more snowberries and cotinus. I planted another 20 peonies. It will be a few years before we can cut from these perennials but they are all plants that are tried and tested in the field and like our conditions, so worth investing in. We now have nearly 200 peony plants, when they are all finally in production they should give us hundreds of blooms.

With the cold snap due this week there was a race to get the low tunnels up. These are like a mini polytunnel. The sides can be lifted up to allow good air flow to prevent mould. I have used these over the outdoor ranunculus and campanula. Thanks to Suzy@fromgarden2vase, who has an excellent tutorial on instagram showing how to make them.

We have planted the first batch of bare root roses. These are all David Austin roses. The majority of our roses are used in our wedding work so the roses have been selected with this in mind.

Christmas orders

Wreath workshop
There is one space left on Sunday 30th 2-4pm. £65pp

Christmas Wreath and Wreath kits
Thank you to everyone who has ordered. I will be closing the order book for wreaths and kits on Sunday November 23rd. I will have a small number of willow wreaths for £15 for you to decorate yourself. Please message me if you would like to order one of these. Collection from Friday 28th November.

Rebekah

09/11/2025

Farm update 9th November

This week we have continued to clear beds in the field. We plant half hardy annuals over the daffodil beds in the summer so these all need to be cleared and weeded. There are already a few green shoots coming through the soil. The iris bulbs left in from last year already have shoots 20cm tall, I've added more iris bulbs this year. We've also been planting allium bulbs - many of our allium return every year but there are a few varieties that aren't reliable and we have to replant.

I have received my first order of bare root plants today - another 20 peony roots as well as symphoricarpus (snowberries) and continus (smoke tree), they will take a few years to be ready to cut from but I try to add a few more useful plants each year. I have also ordered a few more bare root roses. Not all roses types are good for cut flowers but I ordered a few more of the types that I know grow well in my field and produce quality stems for our wedding work. Bare root plants tend to be cheaper than ones in pots and, I think, they often find it easier to get established. Bare are root shrubs should be planted Nov-March, when they are dormant.

I have planted out another 30m of ranunculus, these are all going to be grown under low tunnels I do have a few spare sprouted corms of various colours if anyone would like to try growing them. They can be divas and need a bit of practice. These are corms I've saved from last year. They will need either potting up or planting out ASAP. Message me if you would like a few to try, they will need to be collected from the farm Thursday/Friday this week.

I started paperwhites last week and they are sprouting really well. They are supposed to be ready for Christmas, although given how warm it is at the moment, they may be ready well before that! I grew Muscari hydroponically last year for the first time and they were really useful so I am doing the same again this year.

I have a few orders this week but this is the last week I will be selling fresh flowers. Yesterday was the last day for fresh flowers on the farm gate stall. Thank you to everyone who has supported the stall. I am very grateful to everyone who has bought from us and who has told other people about our flowers.

Rebekah

02/11/2025

Farm update 2nd November 2025

What a week!

I was very grateful to Maddy, Sue and Zeb for helping me dig up all the dahlia on Thursday. We don't dig them up every year but I want to move them to the sunnier end of the field and I want to review the colours we grow. Fortunately the weather held and, all things considered, it wasn't too bad a job!

I've been busy getting some bulbs potted up for spring pots - the ones in the photo were going to grow whether I was ready or not. I've finally got my sweet peas in. I usually only grow autumn sown sweet peas but this is a bit later than most years (according to my records).

We've planted up one of the polytunnels - lots and lots of ranunculus. The first outside ranunculus have also been planted but we are still trying to decide the best way to build the low tunnels - lets hope the weather doesn't get too cold before we decide. Ranunculus are ok down to about -5C so there isn't too much to worry about, however they will grow much better with some protection.

The other poly still contains chrysanthemum so it will be a few weeks til we plant up that tunnel.

Thank you to everyone who attended my talk for the Friends of Hannington Church. It was lovely to see such a good turn out, hopefully people enjoyed it. I love growing flowers and am always happy to answer questions (if I can).

I think next weekend will probably be the last of the fresh flower bunches on the farm stall.

I am still taking order for Christmas Wreath kits and wreaths.

Rebekah
www.headleyflowergarden.co.uk

26/10/2025

Farm update 26/10/2025

Later this week I am giving a talk to Friends of Hannington church so I've been having a look through photos of the field. It is so surprising how quickly the foliage area of the field has grown. The first photo was spring 2023. The second photo was this week. The eucalyptus you can see towering in the background didn't get planted until summer 2023. We cut a small amount from them last autumn - mainly to stop them rocking too much in the wind (eucalyptus actually have quite shallow roots). This year there will be more to harvest.

Usually pruning of eucalyptus is done in the middle of March so by cutting for Christmas there is a chance of damaging the trees. In the really harsh winter we had a few years ago we did lose some of our established trees. Some of the others lost their main stem but started shooting at the base in the spring.

I've cut back and weeded the peony plants this week and we have finally got round to cutting the grass in the field, it was a bit of a struggle! We are planning on digging up all the dahlia later this week - I'm watching the weather report - I'm hoping it will be dry for the dig, its hard enough digging in our heavy clay without the additional challenge of rain. We haven't yet had a hard frost to take out the dahlia foliage but it becomes a race to get everything done at this time of year.

I have now uploaded Christmas wreaths and wreath kits on to the website - well done those eagle eyed people!

See you at the other side of the dahlia dig.
Rebekah
www.headleyflowergarden.co.uk

12/10/2025

Farm update 12th October

Monday we had a Flowers from the Farm meet up at Marlston Farm girl, a fellow grower based in Hermitage. It was great to get together with lots of other growers. There was 2 and a half hours of non-stop chatting. It is always so interesting to visit other farms and to hear what other people are doing. It was glorious sunshine. Flowers from the Farm is a trade organisation whose members are farmers from across the UK. Its a great source of knowledge and support.

This week I have been digging in all the white mustard green manure that I sowed outside and in the polytunnel a few weeks ago. This needs to have a few weeks to break down before I plant the ranunculus and poppies out. I've had a struggle to get the colibri poppy seeds to germinate this year, they are notorious for being tricky but I thought I had cracked it after so many years. All the other types of poppy I've sown are looking great but their flowers are usually much smaller than the colibri type.

On Saturday morning we held our dried flower wreath workshop. Everyone created beautiful, unique wreaths that if kept somewhere dry will last for several years.

We are still selling flowers. The dahlia, having survived the couple of light frosts, are still flowering albeit at a slower rate. The chrysanthemum are coming on nicely. I now picking some types of eucalyptus and rosehips. The stall will still be open on Fridays and Saturdays for the next few weeks (except on Friday 24th due to other commitments). Bouquets can still be ordered through the website.

Rebekah

05/10/2025

Farm update 05/10/2025

This week on the farm we have been splitting perennials, originally we started with 12 geum plants now we have 150! its taken a few years to get to this point but hopefully we will be better placed to keep up with demand for these lovely small orange flowers that provide a little pop of colour in spring.

Quick reminder to everyone who needs it - make sure your dahlia are labelled if you are going to lift them. When we have a hard frost they all look the same - a soggy mush. I've started attaching labels to the dahlia I want to keep, I'm trying something different this year and using coloured labels, in the hope it makes sorting them out next spring easier. I don't lift my dahlia every year but I have a few gaps in the beds and want to increase the colours I use most and get rid of the ones I don't. Its important the tubers are allowed to dry and stored somewhere frost proof. I'm aiming to dig them up at the end of October whether or not we've had a hard frost.

I've started off my ranunculus - soaking the claws ready to sprout them before planting in the poly and outdoors. They are quite hardy but benefit from some protection outside.

The field is still producing a reasonable amount of flowers. It was lovely to supply table decorations this weekend in bright jewel colours. Thank you to everyone who bought flowers from the stall, it was a busy weekend.

Next weekend we have the dried flower workshop, which is now fully booked.

Rebekah

28/09/2025

28th September

Over the next few weeks I have a long list of tasks that need to be done. I still have some hardy annuals to plant out, lots of beds to clear and cover, dahlia to dig, tulips and other bulbs to plant, perennials to be dug, split and replanted, new bare root roses and perennials to plant. I will also be sowing more hardy annuals and perennials - things that need day night variability like larkspur or cold stratification.

Sometime people comment that I must get a rest when the cutting season ends, but the truth is there is so much to do before the ground gets too wet and cold to work. I love this time of year, all the planning for the next year ahead and physically getting on with working in the field.

Our fancy chrysanthemum are very slowly starting to flower, these always mark the end of the year for fresh flowers These are very different to the chrysanthemum most people think of when they hear the word. The main flush of these will be in 2-3 weeks, so hopefully we will be able to keep the farm gate flower stall going through most of October. From this week I will only be supplying flowers on a Friday to the Swan street stores in Kingsclere.

We now grow lots of foliage including eucalyptus and rose hips, so there aren't many weeks when we aren't cutting and selling something. As we get towards Christmas we are hoping to sell foliage and rosehip bundles, for people to arrange at home.

Christmas marks another busy time of year for us on the farm. We use as much our own foliage and berries, as well as lots of dried flowers that I have been drying over the summer months.
The Christmas wreath workshops are filling up, thanks if you've already booked. If you want to join us I suggest booking soon. I do a number of private events, so if you want to get together with a group of friends or you are a business that would like to put on a wreathing event please get in touch.

Rebekah
[email protected]
www.headleyflowergarden.co.uk

21/09/2025

21st September

Its been a lovely, busy week. Lots of flowers and foliage have gone out to florists for weddings and events.

We are cutting the second succession of cosmos and rudbeckia. The rudbeckia are grown from seed collected last autumn. As the seeds are the result of open pollination there are lots of variations.

The perennial asters are flowering. I have introduced a few extra small flower types this year, they are gorgeous and a great addition to arrangements. I always struggle with mildew on the asters, some varieties are worse than others. Any tips on how to prevent this are gratefully received! I've tried spraying with milk, which someone suggested, but didn't find it made much difference.

It looks like its going to be a bit cold for the next couple of nights and as we still have a couple of events that I need dahlia for, we have fleeced the colours we need. We are in a frost pocket and the temperature is usually 3 degrees colder than the predictions. It does mean we should have some bright and clear days.

Dry days are great for cutting more flowers for drying and for collecting seed for next year.

I am considering growing extra plants (hardy annual, half hardies and perennials) for local sales next year. These would be types suitable for cut flowers. Is there any interest in this, and if so what would you be interested in?

Rebekah

14/09/2025

14th September farm update

Thank you to everyone who attended the pick your own yesterday. I was very grateful the rain held off for the morning.

The rain is very welcome helping to settle in the new plantings.

We have lots of orders this week so will be dodging between rain bursts.

Field work starts this week splitting and moving perennials. I will also be clearing the beds ready for planting new perennials that I have either grown from seed or have ordered as bare roots. There is lots of planning at this time of year, assessing what has done well, what hasn't been used and whether that space could be used more productively.

Thank you to everyone who has booked on wreath workshops.

There is one space left on the dried flower wreath workshop on Saturday 11th October.

Christmas wreath workshops are also booking up (thank you). I have a couple of slots left for private Christmas wreath workshops for at the end of November and start of December. Please get in touch if you are interested in booking a workshop with friends and family.

Rebekah

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