member story
The Cornish Cottage Garden
Bryony Jones takes so much hope and joy in the cultivation of plants and is a small-scale flower farmer based in Cornwall, where she grows flowers from seeds, bulbs and tubers pesticide-free. She says “Quite frankly, I absolutely love my job! “.
Bryony’s story
My route in flower farming started when I was having counselling back in 2018. I wasn’t looking after myself, but my therapist suggested getting some houseplants. Perhaps I could get into a routine and look after them, they thought. It became an obsession: I filled my garden with plants in place of the former gravel and bramble mess. Before I knew it, I wanted an allotment badly.
A friend suggested I cultivate part of her farm, and I created the most beautiful cut flower patch. I knew this was the direction I wanted my life to go in, so I worked incredibly hard on my floriferous escape plan and plucked up the courage to quit my corporate job last summer.
I’ve been self-employed for over 6 months now and I absolutely love it. My time is my own and I’m finally getting back to the things that truly feed my soul. My plan is to make a living from my flower field and share my flower crafts and the wonder of nature with others through social media. I take so much hope and joy in the cultivation of plants and the beauty of working with so many colours and forms – it truly brings the most happiness I’ve ever felt.
My original plot of 300 square metres has now become the rose garden filled with 95 roses, a polytunnel and shed. Last autumn I took on another three quarters of an acre of land, which will be my main flower field going forward. Heading into my third season of growing flowers as a business, I love it just as much as that first year full of learning.
I grow a vast array of annuals, perennials, roses, ranunculus, tulips, narcissi. I guess you could say that our flower farm’s speciality is seasonal abundance! There may be a time in the future to work on a specialist niche, but for now I am enjoying the wonder of EVERYTHING.
I sell my flowers subscriptions and gift bouquets through my website and supply local independent retail businesses. Since flowering our first wedding last year, we now supply buckets of flowers to happy DIY wedding couples and simple wedding arrangements to those who wish their flowers to come table-ready. And I am really excited to be opening up the flower field this summer for Pick Your Own this summer. It’s great to share the serenity and beauty of the flower harvesting experience with others.
Flowers from the Farm is such a wonderful group to be a part of. It can be a lonely old field out there on your own making decisions and mistakes. Having floriferous colleagues across the country means I can share experiences, gain knowledge from those who have trodden paths before me and just generally be a part of a large support network.
