Where did it begin?

On sneaky flowers

Was it one flower that got you hooked?

Made you sigh

Stopped you in your tracks?

Or, like me, did they sneak up on you? 

Memories of flowers.

I don't think I can recall one moment. 

Flowers were celebrated everyday in the smallest of ways.

Always there when I grew up.

The greenhouse was a sacred place.

An escape and where beauty emerged.

There was always, always, a milk jug of flowers on the bureau.

A posy on the sideboard.

Some honeysuckle or sweet peas beside the bed for guests. 

Just a few stems.

Usually scented.

When we were the guests, we'd take a little bunch.

Carefully wrapped in wet tissue and held gently in a sandwich bag.

Flowers marking occasions.

Given with love. 

With little fuss.

Simply gathered during the week.

Often while waiting for something to boil.

Then I grew my first Nicotiana.

Tobacco flowers along the gravel, edging the path around my shared house.

They swayed in the evening, releasing heady scent.

I worked in an office all day. 

I didn't realise back then, that their heads were closed, until I returned home.

This year I fell back in love with Sweet Peas after becoming disenchanted with the efforts required.

They are worth it. 

I miss the Californian Poppies that usually self sow.

But didn't this year.

I've seen florists, used to thousands of uniform scentless stems,

hold the first flower they grew, with reverence.

Enraptured by what they have grown.

I was told today that to be back in these gardens, among flowers,

was so special that they were moved to tears.

It’s not just about the flowers.

But they are a constant.

Tell me; what flowers hooked you? 

Supplying flowers to Kettles Yard, and one day I had the privilege of arranging flowers for ‘Helen’s Bedroom’ the only room that we could use pink. I snuck in scented geranium leaves, a classic calming fragrance. I love how Jim revered flowers as much as the natural objects and priceless works of art. Balancing all within the spaces. The diminutive floral posies anchor visitors in the season. Like the light creating shadows, the rooms are never the same, on any day across the year.

Flower arrangements for interior campaigns for University Arms Hotel shot by Simon Brown Photography. Making discreet seasonal flower arrangements for rooms, bringing movement and life to each composition. Imagine the image without them.