Local Flower Deliveries Midhurst

I hope you’re all doing okay?

It’s been a difficult year hasn’t it?

I just wanted to let you know that we are still delivering flowers locally within 15 miles of Midhurst, West Sussex on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays each week.

We deliver to doorsteps so its all very safe and hands free and the flowers will be delivered in a flower jar so there’s no wasteful packaging.

We can drop flowers each week, every 2 weeks or monthly and you’ll get a flower jar with the first delivery and then subsequent deliveries will arrive without packaging perfectly designed to drop straight into your chosen size flower jar.

We send an invoice with a link to pay by credit or debit card or Bags so that its easy for you.

Do call or email if you’d like to place an order. or you can book online here and just a gentle reminder that it’s Valentines Day on Sunday 14th Feb and Mothering Sunday on 14th March so we’re open for pre-orders now.

Best wishes

Karen

Autumn Dinner at Cowdray House

I really enjoyed creating the house and table flowers for this very special dinner at Cowdray House in October. It's an amazing time of year to be a florist as there is such wonderful material to work with and bringing the outside in as the days grow shorter is always appreciated by the guests.

I designed this dinner to come alive after dark when the candles were lit to create a real 'wow' factor. I used layers of candlelight that would illuminate the flowers, seedheads and grasses and although I didn't manage to photograph the table when the candles are lit I have seen photos that were taken that night; it really did look gorgeous and the feedback after the dinner was fabulous.

The dining table flowers

Birthday Banquet at Cowdray House

I realise I've got some serious catching up to do on my blog posts to get everything up to date!

Back in a June we worked with lovely Mauricio and his team at The Admirable Critchton on a fabulous birthday banquet for their clients who were staying at Cowdray House for the weekend.

The colour theme was rich reds and oranges with an abundance of candlelight and the tables were set in a horseshoe shape around a dance floor.

As we left Cowdray House a team of actors were rehearsing their steps for the murder mystery game that would be unfolding throughout the evening. The stage looked set for a really fun evening and I understand that the clients had a really fabulous time.

Flowers for Mothering Sunday at Cowdray Farm Shop

What a lovely, sunny weekend it's been for a Mothering Sunday.

I provide all of the flowers and plants for the award winning Cowdray Farm Shop on the beautiful Cowdray Estate in Easebourne, Midhurst, West Sussex and with Mothering Sunday and the exceptional weather this weekend it's been a very flowery and busy week,.

Here are a few photos of this weekend's bouquets, planters and plants.

Lilac, ranunculus, scented narcissi and anemones

Lilac, ranunculus, astrantia, forget-me-nots and clematis

Ranunculus, lilac, scented narcissi and forget-me-nots

Hellebore Heaven

Whether as a garden plant or a cut flower the hellebore is simply incredible.

From Dec to April these little plants brighten up our gardens with the most exquisite flowers often when few other plants are in flower.

Plant some today so that you'll have beautiful flowers next winter, you won't be dissapointed!

Happy New Floral Year 2017

Happy New Year to you!

Thank you to everyone I worked with this year, it was a really brilliant floral year and I enjoyed every minute of it.

It was a great year for my flowers and plants at The Cowdray Farm Shop and a very successful year for events and weddings too. My clients have all been, without exception, an absolute pleasure to work with.

Thank you and H appy New Year X

December Tablescape

Well, it's a floral time of year and the last few weeks have been incredibly busy for us at This Floral Life.

We've been making lots of wreaths, table decorations, planters and flowers for the Cowdray Farm shop and decorating trees, houses and shops for Christmas. It's been really hard work but so lovely and beautifully festive. It's a great time of year to be a florist!

We've worked on some gorgeous events recently and this weekend we set up gorgeous Christmas tablescape for a private dinner at Cowdray House, Midhurst.

The dinner was in the fabulous Buck Hall and with the huge Christmas tree, balcony fireplace garlands that we installed last week, the room looked amazing. With the fire lit and hundreds of candles around the room, the stage was set for a magical Christmas event.

A Country Wedding in July

It was another beautiful July day in West Sussex when Claire and Graham's wedding took place.

We used seasonal English flowers in pink, ivory and blue to create garden inspired table wreaths with candles ; candles being an essential component at all weddings, no matter what time of year.

Claire's gorgeous bridal bouquet was filled with garden roses, cafe au lait dahlias in blush pink, jasmine trails, pink oregano and pink garden anemones.

The Last Flowers of Early Spring

I love change, I love the next thing and I don't spend much time looking backwards.

Maybe years spent in the fashion business had that effect on me but I find change exciting and seasonal changes really thrilling!

So, May has been an amazing month for new flowers but, before we move onto that, its time to say goodbye to some of the flowers that have served us well in early spring.

I made some of these bottles a few weeks ago for a PR job and already the tulips have finished, the hellebores are now looking raggedy in the garden the forsythia is now in full leaf. The ranunculus are hanging on but it really is time to move on as there's so much more available in May and by the time we get to June? Well, just watch this space.....

Bottle vase of Aquilegea, Hellebores, Ranunculus, Spearmint, Fritillaries, Sweet Peas and Forsythia

Tatler 8 Best Farm Shops in the UK

It was fabulous to see that the Cowdray Farm Shop in Midhurst was recognised as one of the 8 Best Farm Shops in the UK by Tatler.

I provide all of the flowers and plants for the Cowdray Farm Shop. You can actually see them in the photo below, which is by the super talented Kerry from Whippet Snippets.

The Cowdray Farm Shop is an incredible farm shop and well worth a visit. It's located on the beautiful Cowdray Estate, Midhurst, which is in the centre of the South Downs National Park. It's easy to find as it's located just off the A272 at Easebourne, Midhurst, in the glorious Cowdray Park.

With a superb butcher selling estate reared meat, a fabulous bakery, amazing cheese counter that sells Neal's Yard cheese (try the Stichelton!) and the freshest, seasonal flowers and plants delivered daily by my own company, the farm shop is a great asset to the local area and an excellent place to shop.

The cafe is a great place to visit, the food is always really delicious, the team are always friendly and the service is always really good. On a sunny day the patio is the best spot in town and I often meet friends and clients there for a healthy salad and a fresh 'green' juice.

Aquilegia and Other Spring Flowers

It's Aquilegia week at the flower studio.

I'm selling lots of different varieties at the Cowdray Farm Shop both as plants and as cut flowers. I find them endlessly fascinating and love photographing their unique form.

They are fabulous garden plants as they self seed and pop up year after year. They've been present in every garden I've ever owned and yet I've never planted any until this year. It's been fun selecting new varieties for the cutting garden.

I've been making up posies with aquilegia, salmon parrot tulips, forsythia, fritillaries, ranunculus and hellebore. I love this palette of washed out lemons, peach and off white; fresh and uplifting!

My Spring Favourites

It's been an incredibly busy start to the year but I always make time to photograph my flowers. I love capturing flowers in season and have been documenting some of my favourite spring flowers. I've been using all of these in my bouquets at the Cowdray Farm shop.

The Parrot Tulip

I've been documenting some incredible tulips, recently.

I'm in awe of their beauty, colours and the parrot tulip in full flight are incredible.

Fritillaria Meleagris

One of my all time favourite Spring flowering bulbs is Fritillaria Meleagris.

You may have heard them referred to buy their common names of Snakes Head Fritillaries, Dropping Tulip, Chequerboard Daffodil or Chess Flower; all rather accurate descriptions of these gorgeous little nodding flowers.

Unlike most Spring flowering bulbs which like well drained soil, Fritillaria Meleagris like damp conditions and are happy to be planted at the edges of damp woodlands or in wild flower meadows and will flowers from March to May.

The exquisitely beautiful native wild flowers are members of the Lily family and their colours range from pink and white, purple and white to plain white. I love the purple and white chequerboard ones.

I've planted up some Fritillaria Meleagris in lovely zinc bowls to sell at The Cowdray Farm Shop, on The Cowdray Estate, here in Midhurst where I provide all of the cut flowers and plants. I'm also including the cut flowers in the bouquets I sell as I love to surprise and delight customers with something unusual and seasonal.

I have a little bunch of these glorious cut flowers on my own kitchen table as I like to test the vase life of all of the flowers I sell. I'm happy to report that they are looking fabulous on day 5 and they look set to continue for at least another 5 days!

It's a floral life!

Source: favorites://

Planting the Seed

I grew up with parents who adored gardening and growing their own fruit, vegetables and flowers. Our garden was small but really beautiful and full of delicious scents and textures and there was an allottment a short walk away which was a fun place to go on a Sunday afternoon. The shed had curtains and there was always a whistling kettle and kale-a-plenty. My grandparents had the 'plot' next door to ours and it really was a home from home.

My Mother always had flowers in the house and and I know that she, like me, found them fascinating and intoxicating. She trained herself to be a florist by reading library books on floristry techniques. She was a very creative person; a talented dressmaker, excellent cook, artist and writer.

They say the apple never falls far from the tree and my interests turned out to be very similar to hers; the seed was planted very early on.