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Flowers flowers flowers 

I’m lucky enough to live close to Common Farm Flowers in Somerset  and I’m even luckier to be able to say that I’m friends with Georgie Newberry. So I never miss an opportunity to go to the flower farm and help out when they are busy. Or to go to a workshop. Or two. Or three. 
Don’t get me wrong. Help out is a bit of a grand sweeping statement. I sweep the floor. I make the tea. I talk a lot. I might pop some flowers in buckets ready for the artistic bit to be done by others. But what I do get is to be around some of the most lovely British grown flowers that you can find. 

And to be with some lovely people and to eat cake. I always take cake. I think cake  is the answer. To any question. 

It also means I get to see Lorraine aka @lorraines_veg – queen of the jam jar posy  who is there too. Not just for the cake though that helps but to help as well. 

Getting to know Georgie, Sharon  and the flowery folk  has meant that I now look to see where the flowers I buy are grown. Drilled into me. Buy local. Grown not flown. These flowers are all British and dispels the myth that you can’t get British flowers except for the summer months. You can. 

By and large I always buy British. But like lots of things  sometimes you fall off the wagon. There is the odd occasion I don’t. Hands up. Guilty. Particularly when I am in London and I can’t source easily and I want flowers for the house. But more and more places do stock British. 

Our garden In london isn’t a garden. It’s a back yard. Great for pots. For tree ferns. . But no room really for a cutting patch. Well not at all. There are flowers but not enough to pick. There for show . . For colour.  Unlike Somerset where I can and do grow for cutting. ( I’d say picking rather than cutting!). 

I digress. It’s about the flowers. Not me. For once. 

So armed with thermals, vest.,Long johns and a Scarf. Oh. And cake I turned up for duty. You don’t heat up a flower studio – I learnt that bit very quickly!  The first thing that hits you is the colour.  Then the scent. Gorgeous sweet scents. 

I love spring flowers. Well actually. I love flowers full stop. The ranunculus were stunning. The tulips fresh. The anemones like little jewels. The daffodils and narcissi wafting their scent across the studio. The foliage complementing the flowers. Individually lovely but put  together in the bouquets – truly gorgeous. 

Anemone jewels 

I did manage to take some pictures. Well. A lot of pictures to be honest in between doing what ever I was told to do. 

There were bouquets to make. Pussy willow to cut. Hand ties to do. Boxes to pack.  Cake to eat. But there were flowers. Flowers everywhere. 

I just loved the ranunculus. Beautiful red. Bright orange. Gorgeous yellow. White. Strong upstanding. Majestic. I brought some back to london on Monday and they are still making me smile. 






A few of my other favourite pics 



A stunning hand tied bouquet. 


A selection of the lovely ribbon used to tie the posys and the bouquets. 

Who said I’d be bored when I retired. 

British flowers by post can be ordered  and workshops booked at http://www.commonfarmflowers.com

Posted on by happyretiredblog · 1 Comment

Snowdrops 

To be honest in the past  I was never  a big snowdrop fan. I don’t know why but I suspect it wasn’t something that my parents grew but as you get older ( and I am) things change. I garden more. I listen to proper gardners read their blogs. 

Last year I managed to go to the Chelsea Physic Garden for one of the snowdrop days. Interesting  but the snowdrops were a little late. I was a little early. But I was staggered at the range and the variety.  I missed the garden bloggers get together there this year which looked great fun. Thank you For inviting me – I will try to come to something! 

 Last years snowdrop theatre was interesting and I was tempted to buy some snowdrops.. but I’m always tempted. 

I had a wander last week along the Thames path and found a couple of clumps of snowdrops in a small park along the river. The King Edward memorial park is currently being dug up in places for a new sewerage to the dismay of the locals. I hope they leave these alone. Thames Water. Not the locals. 


I’m lucky though. The lanes near the cottage in Somerset seem to have burst into  life with snowdrops. There are little drifts along many of the lanes – I’m not sure I’ve really looked before.  The green lanes I know and have used for years are full of wild garlic  but somehow I’ve missed the snowdrops. Probably as I’m a bit of a wimp and don’t walk so much when it’s cold. The two pics here are of a clump as we drive out of the village on the hill. Just one of many dotted around. 

We have one clump in our garden. One measly clump. I think I need to order some in the green quickly.

We are also lucky enough to have a fab tea room 20 mins walk away from the village. Cole Manor Tea Rooms a gentle stroll across a field called Rye Ash along the river to Cole.  Most of the ash trees have now gone. Just like in the opposite field Alders – which once had alders lining the river bank. 

The tea room reopened  at the beginnning of February for the season to tie in with the snowdrops in their garden. This year they are awash with them. On the banks of the river. Under the trees. By paths. Great carpets of white which from a distance ( q Bette Midler song) looks like a blanket of snow. 

 I popped in yesterday for a cuppa tea and a cake (and a quiche and a cake) and thankfully had my camera with me. To be honest I’d probably need an operation to remove it these days. If I haven’t got it at least I have my phone. 


Great place for lunch or afternoon tea and for now with the added bonus of a great snowdrop display. You may see me there eating cake.