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Homestead Flowers

British grown flowers for bouquet delivery, flower arrangers and DIY weddings/events around Guildford

19/01/2025

A little carousel of selected funeral work over the last year...All fully compostable, no plastic or floral foam. Some of these designs contained living plants that could be planted afterwards, or bouquets that could be shared.

13/01/2025

If you're just starting out creating a then Cosmos is your ultimate friend!
🌸Sown between March and early April, it germinates in a blink and will provide you with endless blooms all summer as long. Take off the old flowers (dead heading) or keep snipping a few stems for the house.
🌸Slugs love it, so my advice would be to make sure you plant out strong, well sized plants and plant out double what you ideally need!
🌸It's my 'go to' flower for bridal bouquets, a few of these just add a touch of wild and look fabulous paired with dahlias or ammi.
🌸 If you're picking for the vase, for maximum life, you'll need to snip these just as the buds are 'cracking' or very early morning before the bees have pollinated them, otherwise they drop their petals pretty quick.
If you are looking for advice on specific varieties then drop a message in the comments and I'll do my best to answer!

04/01/2025

Over the next few weeks I'll post all about my favourite flowers for cutting and why they're a must have on my field.
First up are Cornflowers!!
🪻One of the earliest and easiest to grow flowers, they will flower prolifically with a range of colours from white, through to all the pinks, burgundy, and shades of blues.
🪻They are 'cut and come again' flowers, then more you pick/deadheading, the more they flower. They are generally pest free, although overwintered crops are prone to damping off.
🪻 My florists love them, as they last well.out of water and nothing says 'English country wedding' as a few artfully placed blue Cornflowers nodding in a bridal bouquet!
🪻They will be typically available between mid May (if you overwinter an Autumn grown crop) and end of June/beg July.
🪻For all their easy of growing, they can be a tricky crop to cut as they get tangled in the netting, so expect a few swear words on the field!!
🪻Wildlife friendly, a great crop for bees.
🪻Finding the right stage to cut can be tricky though, esp the blue ones. Best cut in 'fat bud' with a lot of colour showing and they will unfurl slowly in a vase. Vase life 3-10 days depending on stage of cutting.

20/12/2024

Great to have you guys here! You've achieved so much in just a small amiunt of time. Loving the results so far, and can't wait to see how the next stages progress 🥰

25/11/2024

Are you planning your wedding flowers next year and not sure where to start? Are you looking for beautiful bespoke flowers but with an affordable price tag? From bouquets to buttonholes, meadow boxes, urns, table arrangements and flower crowns, I've got your essentials covered. (Swipe to see! 👀) I offer DIY flowers too, if you or friends and relatives fancy getting creative and want to make some (or all!) of your wedding flowers. Buckets of freshly cut flowers grown here on my field, all ready for you to arrange!
My diary for 2025 is now filling up fast, so do get in touch if you want to chat further. Prices can be downloaded on my website and I'm only a phone call away if you want to chat anything through. Let's talk flowers!!

20/11/2024

When you want to mark Christmas but don't want a big shouty wreath, these understated half wreaths are perfect! They also look great on a table with a candle in the middle, so are really versatile. Order via the website or dm me, for pick up from 2nd Dec

17/11/2024

To dig or not to dig up the dahlias seems to be the question that new and experienced flower farmers and gardeners alike seem to be asking this time of year! There's no right or wrong answer to this question as it really does depend on so many factors.

🌱What's your soil like? If it's wet all winter, then dahlias really hate sitting in wet and could rot more easily.
🏛Do you have somewhere frost free and dry to store them? If you grow a few, this is easier, hundreds much harder.Do you have the space to pot them all up again in spring?
❄️How well protected is your plot? Do you even get many frosts?
⏱️Do you have the energy or the time to do it? Do you have time to dig them up and somewhere to dry them out before it gets too cold to store them?

So many variables, plus we have NO IDEA what kind of winter we will have (wet/dry/mild/arctic) which will impact all of the above!
What do I do? Im a one woman show, don't have a team to help lift and have hundreds to dig up in a limited time. I also have very little storage. Even though my soil is boggy, I find that mulching heavily with leaves and covering with breathable membrane has worked so far.🤞 I've worked out that the time it would take to dig, store and repot is more per hour than the cost of replacing any losses with rooted cuttings the next year. So for me, it makes financial sense. So for now, I cut them back, dig out the rubbish or diseased ones, mulch and keep my fingers very much crossed!!!! What do you do?

15/11/2024

It's that time of year, and I'm SO excited, it really is my most favourite time of year! Last year this was one of my most popular wreath colourways, with lots of accents in white and silver, using honesty, perennial statice and white strawflowers.
🌲 I'm only making a limited number this year (as i will be on a small vacation with Offspring no 1) so do get in touch if you'd like to order. Wreaths can be collected or delivered locally from 1st til 12th December.
🌟You can either email or message direct or order via my webshop where you'll find all my Christmas offerings!
❄️ Bespoke orders also taken, from table decorations to mantel displays. Want a HUGE wreath for your front gate? Watch this space, as I'm creating one very soon for mine!!

11/11/2024

Hello new followers!! 👋 Not the smiliest of photos, as I'd had a very challenging day, but my lack of smiles mask a genuine love for my job! From nurturing the tiniest seedling into the blousiest bloom, creating sustainable mechanics for my funeral work, to handing over a beautiful bridal bouquet to a slightly tearful bride.
For those that know me well though, my natural habitat is on the field, with twigs in my hair, dirty hands and muddy knees, tending my flowers and marvelling at the natural world around me as I work. I rarely look tidy, infact the only time I make an effort is when I deliver flowers (customer facing 'n all that!) rushing home afterwards to get back changed into my scruffs and then I'm out again! So this is a rare photo, slightly 'tamed' hair, clean clothes, a snatched photo before delivering a bouquet to a local customer!

30/10/2024

Fresh Autumn wreath. All my favourite bits...crab apples, spindle, sweet annie, aster, chrysanths, hydrangea, rose hips, miscanthus grasses, nandina and sedum. Details of dried marjoram, rudbeckia heads, Japanese anemone seed pods, solidago seed heads and a few fern fronds. All on a woven willow base from willow grown here on the field. If you fancy one just give me a shout!
Now off to deliver! A bit tricky parting with this one, think I might have to make myself another one later...

25/10/2024

I'm not doing the C word just yet, but I will do the W word! So here's an autumn wreath about to be packaged up and sent to its new home! Wreaths make fantastic presents, and despite their delicate look, they'll last for years. All these flowers were grown here over the summer months, carefully selected, dried with care, before being made into wreaths and other creations. No bleaches, dyes or chemicals. Orders for small, medium or large wreaths can be made via the website (please let me know a rough colourway) or for bespoke creations, please call me for a chat! Postage throughout the UK. 😊🍂

18/10/2024

Chrysanths incoming!!! Not your normal garage forecourt ones, oh no, these are sumptuous, funky, have scented foliage, and they last AGES in a vase! Better than dahlias?!! Would it be rude to say I think so?!

14/10/2024

All the pretty pastels a couple of weeks ago for Bethan and her flower girls! It was a tense few weeks leading up to these flowers being picked; battering rains, an early frost, gales, and yet more rain! 🙈All the flowers this year have been a few weeks ahead of themselves too, which didn't help! Luckily I have a fantastic network of local grower friends I can call upon if the gods aren't looking favourably, and in this instance it was Andy from who came to my rescue, supplying a bucket of extra dahlias to top up the ones from my field and some pretty Japanese anemone too.
Wishing you much happiness Bethan and a life full of love, laughter and many flowers! 💕🌸

12/10/2024

A lovely afternoon spent with the local ladies of Wood Street Village, decorating the church for Harvest Festival. Janet has organised the church flowers (as well as the May day flowers) in the village for years, her arrangements are foam free, and she buys buckets of flowers from me to decorate our local church St Albans, each month. Nicola makes the most beautiful hand tied arrangements (see photo 3) too, carefully spiralling before arranging in the vase. So it was lovely to join them in person for Harvest flower arranging this year, with various villagers dropping off vegetables and flowers for the displays, catching up on village gossip and most importantly creating a beautiful display for the community to enjoy at service the next day.

10/10/2024

All the pinks and purples going out today to say Happy Birthday to a lovely local resident! This might be the last of the dahlias as a frost is due tonight, (so early this year!) but there's Chrysanths in the polytunnel which will hopefully see me through a few more deliveries yet!

06/10/2024

Farewell flowers for a true gentleman. A man who loved Woking F.C (hence the red and white!) ice cream, and hanging out and helping his mum and dad in their garden. His parent's garden was Homestead and when he was younger he brought his own children there to play, surrounded by nature and all the animals his father raised, goats, a cow, chickens, ducks, rabbits, the fruit trees, flowers and many prize winning vegetables! After his parents passed away, we moved here, and John often popped by to say hello as his family still lived in the village. Such a character, he always brought the sunshine with him. He met my mum once and he kissed her hand, she was delighted! Last year he visited with his daughters and their families, and we showed them around the flower field, their love for a past family home matching our current love for it too. There were many shared memories, laughter, and a few tears shed as well. Creating the tribute flowers for him a few weeks ago just felt so right and fitting. Rest in peace lovely man xx
Additional blooms kindly sourced from and
# naturalfuneralflowers

22/09/2024

Dahlias strutting their stuff in a mixed pastel wedding bucket earlier this week. The colour choices are a little more limited this time of year as we come to the end of the season. I'll always do my best to give you the colours you ask for, but the reality is the unpredictable weather sometimes throws a curve-ball. So instead of 'all white and pink' this bride was happy to expand out the scheme to include pale peach and soft yellow with a small addition of baby blue in the aster. It meant I could access more varieties, include more unusual stems and ultimately provide better quality flowers. For the bride it meant that her request for truly seasonal local flowers was met, as I didn't have to source from growers further afield!

14/09/2024

Collaboration...These flowers were off to a celebration of life, safely tucked up and delivered by Mr Firth under strict instructions, as I had to be elsewhere that day. A close friend of the lady who had passed was organising the flowers, a keen gardener herself Sue had visited the field and we'd spent time talking plants and flowers. She was also arranging the table decorations in the barn where the service was being held, some flowers from Homestead, some from the gardens where she volunteered with the the head gardener Chris had kindly recommended me to provide flowers and the milk churns that these flowers were placed in were from a florist friend There's something uniquely collaborative among people who work with flowers and plants, its hugely supportive and somehow very fitting when it all comes together for a celebration of someones life.

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Cookie the cat, and I are taking a break from flowers over the festive period. 💫 Thank you for all your orders, interest, collaboration, support and friendship over the last year, it's all hugely appreciated and means my business grows and flourishes for another year. Have a restful, peaceful and joyful Christmas if you celebrate it. Video taken by my friend (and stalwart customer) Sarah @beltingblooms who Cookie totally adores 😻#britishflowers #guildford #surrey #weddingflowers #guildfordflorist #flowerfarming #flowerfarmer #seasonalflowers #takingabreak #familytime❤️

A little tour round the field last night. If you want to hear me wittering on, then put on audio. If not, turn me off and just enjoy the flowers! I'm hoping it puts on the whole video. Apologies if it cuts off half way. Dont have much time at the moment to fiddle with reels so it's just gone onto the grid 'as is' I did go through it once, just to check I didn't say something stupid and then issue a swear word afterwards 😆🌸 #britishflowers #weddingflowers #flowerfarming #flowerfarmer #seasonalflowers #juneflowers #fieldtour #midsummer #midsummerevening #summerevening #naughtydogs #cockerspaniel #brittanyspaniel #localflowers #howdoesyourgardengrow #freshflowers #surreyflowers #woodstreetvillage #Guildford #surrey

Button holes!! I LOVE making them, and experiment endlessly with ingredients and longevity. Not everyone likes a rose or a carnation (although both have their place) and there's a whole raft of flowers and foliage that can be used. These are my more 'discreet' buttonholes, as not everyone wants a big floral number adorning their lapel. But if you want to go large with your flowers, then I'll happily oblige! So what makes a good button hole? Well something that lasts well out of water as a starter, (this one lasted over 24 hours) Something that can withstand a bit of a crush (that's for all you over enthusiastic huggers out there, post covid) Nothing spikey, obviously, (for the same reason) and then finally it ideally should coordinate with the flowers and colours in the bridal bouquet to give a cohesive feel to all the wedding flowers! If you're ordering button holes as part of your wedding flowers from me, then I can also make fresh ones that you can dry and have as a keepsake afterwards. Hubby says that's a silly idea, he'd rather hug it to oblivion! 😆 What do you think?! #weddingflowers #bridalflowers #flowersforweddings #buttonholes #weddingparty #juneflowers #summerflowers #flowersforflorists #guildfodweddingflowers #alltheprettyflorals #minibouquet #groomsmen #lapelflowers #britishflowers #guildfordflorist #surreywedding #diywedding #diyweddngflowers #wedding2025

Sometimes, the only way to critique a bouquet is to take a video. Looking at this now, there needs to be another focal on the top left. The foliage needs a little snip in front of the rose and the thlaspi needs reigning in a tad. And possibly more colour further into the bouquet. But it doesn't matter as this is a practise one! I wanted to experiment a little with colours and had a few foxgloves that needed using. Each week brings different ingredients to play with, and that's what makes it fun. Next week, the foxgloves and the roses will be over and new flowers will take their place. If you're looking to create your own wedding flowers and want to have a practise, why not order a flower arrangers bucket from me? Drop me a message and I'll curate you a selection of flowers specially geared towards making a bridal bouquet ❤️ And in case anyone is wondering what that noise is, it's a very cross robin as I'm filming near her nest 🪺 #britishflowers #britishflowersweek2024 #weddingflowers #weddingflowers2024 #weddingbouquet #romanticweddingflowers #guildfordflorist #guildfordweddingflorist #affordablewedding #diyweddingflowers #igrewthese #seasonalflowers #seasonalweddingflowers #diywedding #naturalweddingflowers #bespokeweddingflowers #surreylocalbusiness #guildford #Surrey #practisemakesperfect

A day at Woodhill on friday! Lots of weeding, edging, seedsowing, and gravel raking, so not just all about pretty flowers! 😉 #estategardener #gardening #horticulture #myday #lovemyjob #springbulbs #muscari #tulips #mydog

Quite a few jobs this time of year. Our flowers may be seasonal but work carries on all year round here at Homestead Flowers 🌸 🏵 Indoors, I'm sorting out seeds for next year, checking I've got the right varieties and making a sowing plan for the season ahead. I'm updating Ts&Cs, looking at my pricing structures, creating a new marketing brochure and looking into using a new accounting system rather than my slightly muddled Xcel spreadsheet. (Advice here much welcome?!) Hopefully it will save me time next year. 🏵Outside I'm fleecing and unfleecing crops, checking for signs of mice, watering carefully, checking for damping off and removing slugs and snails that think my polytunnel is a nice warm haven over winter. There's still some beds to clear and I'm reorganising my potting space to make things a bit more efficient. We're also creating a hazel coppice in the far end of the field. I use Hazel loads as supports for the flowers and at certain times of the year it can be used in floral displays too. There's still some hornbeam hedging to cut (otherwise I'll never reach to cut it next year 😆) and the sweet peas to sow but apart from that I'm on track! Believe it or not, this is the 'lull before the storm' 🤣 #flowerfarmer #flowerfarmerflorist #flowerfarming #flowersfromthefarm #flowerfarm #britishflowers #jobsfortheweekend #January #winterjobs #seasonaltasks #hardyannuals #seasonalflowers #guildfordflowers

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