Why Buy British Flowers?
It's British Flowers Week from 12th - 19th June 2022! We
absolutely love that this week-long celebration unites British flower growers,
wholesalers, independent florists and flower lovers to show support for the country's
amazing flower industry. Together raising awareness within their own community, inspiring and encouraging
people to purchase the stunning home-grown flowers this glorious country has to
offer.
More than ever, we are seeing people starting to question provenance and locally
grown for flowers as well as food. It's also great to see that sustainability
and an eco-concious outlook is becoming even more prevalent too for our couples
when planning their big day. With more couples opting to work with suppliers on
their doorstep. It's certainly an ethical movement we can all get behind!
Image: Cornflowers growing in our Flower Field
Many are unaware of the environmental impact of importing vast quantities of flowers and confetti from other countries. Knowing where your flowers come from is key to sustainability and accountability, in buying British
you are cutting air miles, lowering emissions and most importantly supporting your
local economy. As British flower growers we're proud to shout about the
benefits of buying British.
Growing British Flowers for Over
30 Years
Here at Shropshire Petals we grow biodegradable confetti on our family run flower
farm, so you know where your confetti has
come from. We grow a variety of
different flowers during the summer time and once they're fully in bloom, our
harvest team pick them by hand, dry them onsite to make gorgeous sustainable
petal confetti.
Our British grown petals are commonly used for throwing over the newlyweds on
their wedding day, but we also grow and pick an array of pretty British dried
flowers bunches, which are available on to purchase online, and we use them in our our letterbox bouquets
and in our handmade dried flower arrangements.
High
Quality Flowers
There is a lot of love
and care that goes into British grown flowers, trust us we know! Did you
know that your local flower grower will be up at the crack of dawn to cut your
fresh British flowers so they are at their highest quality, when delivered to
you?
Like all British flower growers, we take the quality of our crops very
seriously. That's why we regularly check on the progress of the blooms, and pick each flower stem by hand when they are absolutely perfect. By following this meticulous process, we know our couples receive only the best wedding confetti on their big day, or dried flowers for the perfect home decor styling.
Image: Handful of Summer Nights Confetti
It's safe to say, it's quite a delight to be picking flowers on our flower farm during
the summer months (that's when the British weather is behaving!). This week our dedicated flower picking teams have
been harvesting our delightful blue cornflowers to make our biodegradable
Blue Bird petal confetti, and the weather
has been just glorious.
Image: Harvest team hand picking our cornflowers
Supporting Wildlife and
Biodiversity
By supporting your local flowers farmers you are not only helping to boost the UK
economy you're also providing a save havens to the bee, insect and wildlife populations of
your area.
During the summertime, our flower field provides a large metropolis for wildlife
including bees.â They
especially love our cornflowers, in fact, our cornflowers have a hum as the
bees gather to collect pollen. â
Image: A little bee enjoying our Burgundy Berry Cornflowers
Helping your local grower's business will in turn stimulate their growth and
expansion which will mean more flowers for the bees and other pollinators who
make a positive impact on our eco system, so it's win-win situation all around.
Reduced
Flower Miles
"The carbon footprint of imported flowers can be 10 times that of a
homegrown bouquet." – Becki Swim – Lancaster University
Buying British flowers means less air miles, and less of a carbon footprint on our
beautiful environment! The only air miles that are accumulated with local blooms, is when the pollinating
insects and wildlife are roaming the flower fields.
Image: Giant Bubble Bee made from British Flowers in our Flower Field
Use Less Resources
Our British grown petal confetti requires no way near
the same level of energy compared to other confetti options on the market like paper, metallic or synthetic materials, as
it only take a few months to grow and carries a very low carbon
footprint. Unlike Paper confetti which requires heavy processing and trees take years
to grow large enough for milling.
All our biodegradable petal confetti is 100% natural in colour, no dyes are ever added. The same can't be said for some of the dyes used for paper confetti
that can be extremely harmful to the environment.
Image: Confetti Basket with Forget Me Knot Confetti
British
Flowers Last Longer
Cutting out the air miles means your fresh British blooms
will be so much fresher when they arrive and last much longer.
One of the biggest trends which is continuing to boom, is the demand for dried flowers, and the shelf life that comes with dried flowers is even better, some lasting months and even years!
In the flower field this week we are also harvesting our Lagurus bunches. Our customers use these dried whimsical grasses in flower bouquets, as part of a fun DIY project or
even by itself as a neutral dried flower bunch to give a rustic charm. Our dried flower arrangements make the perfect gift too, especially for someone that loves
flowers, not only are they low maintenance but they're long-lasting and
eco-friendly.
Image: Lagurus growing in our flower field
Couples now a days don't want their flowers to 'cost the
earth' and that doesn't necessarily mean financially, we are either seeing
lots of lovely locally fresh flowers being used at weddings or dried flowers being used throughout. Our Sheaf arrangements are ideal as an alternative
natural bridal bouquet, which is great as it can be appreciated long after the big
day. Plus there's no need to water this type of bouquet and no drooping by the end of
the day too.
Image: Woodland Dried Flower Wheat Sheaf
Fairly
Paid Workers
Working on a British flower farm might sound pretty idylic, but it's tough work and takes dedication and a willingness to be outside even when it's raining cats and dogs! Our team work incredibly hard, especially so during the summer time, as it's our peak harvest time and also wedding season. We pay our workers very fairly and treat them with respect, after all we're one big family. Without our skilled flower pickers, we wouldn't have any petals for confetti or dried flowers for bunches or arrangements.
Bearing this in mind and all the points we have talked above about the wonders of the British flower industry we're hoping the next time you buy fresh/dried flowers or consider your wedding confetti it will be British grown flowers that you choose!
Get Involved in British Flowers Week
Here's our top 3 tips on how you can get involved in British Flowers Week:
- Create a beautiful display of British grown flowers and share it on social media using #BritishFlowersWeek to show support.
- Question where are your flowers grown, what is the impact on the environment, and are workers paid fairly.
- Visit Garden Museum's
annual British Flowers Week exhibition between 10th and 15th June, and be wowed with
the scents and colours of British blooms. One of this years florist's, Harriet Parry used a selection of our dried flowers
(along with other British grown blooms) to create a breath-taking installation
at the garden museum. We can't wait to share the end results with you.
Show Us Your Shropshire Petal Flowers
Whether it's your confetti moment photo, a handmade wreath on your door or a
DIY project where you have incorporated our British blooms, make sure to tag us
on social and use the hashtag #BritishFlowersWeek
P.S. To celebrate this incredible week we will be launching
a cracking giveaway on our Instagram and Facebook on Sunday 12th June – don't miss
out!
As always, Love SP Xx
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