The windows of our Midhurst flower shop are full of freshly picked pumkins and seasonal posies this week. The carved pumkins have been a bit of an attraction and its been lovely to see the smiles on people's faces when they walk past.
My partner carved the pumkins and if you'd like to know how he did it look at the photos below...

The dahlia's are still flowering on our English farm but they are slowing down now. They are so beautiful in all their stages of growth don't you agree?

We've launched a pop up shop at the fabulous Anthropologie on the Kings Road in London.
We hope you'll pop in to see us - we'll be there until mid June!

We're thrilled to announce that our new shop opened today in West Street, Midhurst, West Sussex.

What a day it was! About 10 inches of snow fell in Midhurst overnight but it didn't stop us from opening. The fire was lit, the mulled wine warmed up and the scents and sounds of Christmas filled the air.
I live on a steep hill in Midhurst and, having ruled out skiing down to the shop, opted to take the fiat in its new snow socks (highly recommended!).

Thanks so much to all of the local people who came to see us today and for all your lovely comments. Here are some photos from day 1....

We've been making real fresh flower jewellery!
It looks amazing on simple evening dresses or for weddings - a welcome move on from the wrist corsage don't you think?

This is exciting news indeed!
We've been shortlisted as a finalist in the Sheerluxe online shopping awards. What's also lovely is that the finalists were voted for by the Sheerluxe customers.
If you'd like to vote for us please click the logo below and select The Real Flower Company in the drop down list of finalists. Thank you!

Closing date for voting is 20th September...

I am so delighted to have received an invitation to the private view of the artist Penny White's extraordinary flower paintings at the John Martin Gallery in Albermarle Street, London this evening.

Penny White has organised this exhibition herself in order to raise money for the wonderful Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres which are totally reliant on private funding.
John Martin has gifted his gallery space in Mayfair for the exhibition and Penny will be donating the first £5000 of sales and thereafter half of all sales directly to the charity.

The roses in her paintings were grown on our Hampshire farm so I have sent a large bouquet of our roses and herbs over to the gallery today to help dress the space for the press and private view this evening.

Of her own work Penny says

Curiously, I do not think of myself as a 'flower painter', I am only interested in representing the flower. I try to paint the ephemeral quality of the flower, its soul, its scent, its colour, its pattern, its eroticism, that transient quality that for me is the flower.

The exhibition runs between 30th March and 10th April 2010, although it's closed for Easter between 2nd and 5th April.

Truly inspirational and worthwhile.

Simply beautiful.
Photographing roses is a joy!

Beautiful isn't it? Scented roses cascading down the candleabra...

Farbridge is a fabulous, luxurious venue in the heart of the West Sussex countryside and, if you're looking for the perfect venue for a wedding or event, this is it.

Farbridge has been created from a complex of old barns on the West Dean estate (the West Dean Estate is facinating take a look at the website www.westdean.org.uk)

In the lea of the South Downs with beautiful views all around, Farbridge has a capacity for 60 to 150 guests and is licensed for civil ceremonies and partnerships. With ample parking and ten double en-suite rooms Farbridge is a very high quality blank canvas and with a list of recommended, (and excellent) caterers, vintners and florists (including our good selves!) only your imagination will stop you from creating a perfect event. Visit their website to find out more www.farbridge.org.uk

Well, it has been a long Winter hasn't it?

Spring is definately on it's way now though. The snowdrops are out in their beautiful drifts and the wonderful, colourful crocus's are starting to open.

It always amazes me that the slightly longer days that we've been enjoying can have such a dramatic effect on on our plant life and that snowdrops are waiting for the temperature to reach 6 to 7 degrees centigrade so that they can burst through the cold ground.

It won't be long now before we start to see the narcissi and hyacinths showing colour but until then here's a little jug of cheer..

Happy New Year to you all!

What a start to the new year we've had. The snow has been absolutely gorgeous down here on the Hampshire and West Sussex borders.

It has been hugely disruptive though so I can't say we'll be sorry to see it melt. Here are some real snow photos...

Preparing for Valentines Day.

Snowflakes on the window.

Snowy trees.

Snowy Landscape.

Well, I'm thoroughly delighted to announce that we are now the very proud winners of the award for 'Best Emerging British Luxury Brand'!

The Walpole 'Awards for Excellence' took place last night at The Banqueting House in London's Whitehall.

The Waplole Awards for Excellence are held to honour individuals and Companies who exemplify luxury and comittment to British excellence by their work across luxury, design and culture, both internationally and within Britain.

The venue was stunning and looked absolutely breathtaking with candles lining every surface and staircase. Laurent Perrier champagne flowed and assorted fabulous cocktails and canapes, courtesy of the fabulous Admirable Crichton caterers, were served to the guests.

The actor Tom Conti was a perfect choice of host for the ceremony and I was thrilled to accept the beautiful engraved award winners plaque (made by Asprey no less!)on behalf of The Real Flower Company.

Mario Testino won the prestigious Walpole 'Medal of Excellence' and, as long time admirer of his amazing work, I was honoured to have been invited to be in the winners group photo with him and the other category award winners.

Here is a full list of award winners:-
International Luxury Brand - Louis Vuitton
Corporate Social Responsibility - Estee lauder Companies
Luxury Brand Online - Astley Clarke
British Luxury Design Talent - Established & Sons
Luxury Craftsmanship - Savile Row Bespoke
Emerging Britsh Luxury Brand - The Real Flower Company
Britsh Luxury Service - Chewton Glen
British Luxury Overseas - Links of London
British Luxury Brand - Paul Smith
Medal of Excellance - Mario Testino

On my recent to trip to France I visited St Emilion and driving along through the acres of wonderful vineyards which surround the town I saw for myself an ancient method of companion planting; roses planted at the edges vineyards.

Not only do the roses look beautiful but they also perform a very important role. Roses are more sensitive to the fungal diseases powdery mildew and downy mildew and by planting roses at the edges of the vineyard they serve as an early warning system to the vineyard teams as the roses will fall victim before the vines. The disease can be treated if caught in the early stages.

The roses also create an important habitat for some beneficial insects.

The Romans used this early warning system for their vines and they are also thought to have dropped rose petals into their wine as it was thought it was a cure for drunkeness!

You can't fail but smile when looking at these big orange pumpkins can you?

We went for a little circuit around the farm where our workshop is located this afternoon and we came across the pumkin and squash field.

A magical sight on a dark, drizzly afternoon as we head into Autumn. They really light up the landscape, don't you agree?

..Talking of Bees, I'm currently reading the book 'A World Without Bees' by Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum which is a facinating account of why honeybees are dying. If you are interested in this subject then I would recommend that you read it.

There are also several people on Twitter who are worth following HelpSaveBees is one of them!

Our scented garden roses have recently starred in two fabulous productions at The Old Vic theatre in London.

The first play they were featured in was Alan Aykbourn's very funny trilogy 'The Norman Conquests' where they starred alongside an illustrious cast including Stephen Mangan, who played the hilarious Dr Guy Secretan in Green Wing on Channel 4.

The Norman conquests ran from October 6th to December 20th last year and the roses featured were English Miss, Ocean Song and Yves Piaget.

The play has now moved to New York and is receiving some great reviews. I'd love to know what the roses are like now - it was a little too far for ours to travel!

Our beautiful rose Margaret Merril has just completed her run in Brian Friel's 'Dancing at Lughnasa'. This play, which won an Olivier award for Best New Play in 1991, ran from 26th February to 9th May 2009 and starred Niamh Cusack and Andrea Corr in her stage debut.

With so many new flowers and foliage bursting into life everyday at this time of year it's hard to tear yourself away from the garden isn't it?

Although I'm surrounded by the most beautiful flowers every day owing to the nature of my work, I always have lots of little vases (eggs cups, teacups, jam jars you name it!) dotted around my house full of little sprigs of the latest flowers and foliage freshly picked from my garden.

Today's little vases are filled with bluebells, ferns, cow parsley and clemetis.

They bring a smile to my face whenever I look at them...here's my latest little flower specimen vase!

I remember reading this article, Right on the Button written by Alex Petridis, when it was published in The Guardian last July and I agree with him that it's about time that the floral buttonhole made a comeback outside of the wedding market.

In my previous life I worked as a Menswear Buying Director in the fashion industry and, in my experience, when tailoring and formality make a comeback, accessories such as shirts, ties, cufflinks, socks (no cartoon novelty ones please!) all have to work harder to help men assert their individuality.

The downturn has seen some menswear designers opting for a return to quiet quality and tradition. Grey tailoring, heritage fabrics and subtle detailing are all key trends, crying out for the addition of a stylish buttonhole don't you think?

We have had a couple of orders for buttonholes at our shop in Selfridges where they have definately not been for weddings so maybe they are about to take off as a fashion accessory...I hope so. I will certainly be working on a little collection for our website.

I'm an avid fan of black and white movies and a perenial favourite is the wonderful soap opera weepie Now Voyager. Like many 1940's movies it is beautifully shot, full of fabulous fashion and glamorous gowns.

The film charts Charlotte Vales's doomed relationship with her married lover and has the kind of poignant ending and soothing sound track that makes you cry but in an enjoyable way!

One of the metaphors in the film is the Camelia and Charlottes's lover, Gerad, often sends a corsage of Camelia's to Charlotte as a declaration of love.

We often make corsages and wrist corsages for customers who are attending special events as they work well as an alternative piece of scented jewellery. Although we don't supply Camelia's we do grow many scented roses that make wonderful corsage's and our herbs also make delightful aromatic corsages for daywear.

How fabulous it would be to receive a corsage in one of our little signature hat boxes as a little suprise before an important date.
While we're on this subject,let's not forget buttonholes for men, who say's these should only be worn for weddings?

Let's bring back 1940's glamour!

The weather has finally warmed up and our workshop is finally warmer than the fridge we keep our roses in!

Digging Boy and I (my husband the archaeologist) went for a walk on West Wittering beach on Sunday and the sunshine was glorious. If you've never visited West Wittering then I urge you to go. It's on the south coast in West Sussex, about 40 minutes from our workshop, and, in my opinion, the best beach on the south coast.

Well things have been rather busy since we opened our shop in Selfridges. Our new shopfit was finally installed a few weeks ago along with our 'tasting' wall of white bird boxes. The idea is that we have a different rose variety displayed in each box so that customers can choose their favourite scented roses by name. Although they look terribly cute in white the idea was always to paint them and the project is in work as you can see! Aiming to have them filter through to our shop in the next couple of weeks now....

Bird Boxes





Bird Box Jasmine