Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival – a showcase of sustainable floristry
We’re proud to be supporting the acclaimed Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival from 22-24th September. Arguably the UK’s most sustainable floristry show, the festival celebrates the very best in UK grown cut flowers and foliage, foam-free floristry techniques and creative floral design.
Left to right: Hortus Poeticus, Layla Robinson Design, Joanna Game Flowers.
Now in its fifth year, the flower festival will showcase the work of 46 talented floral designers and farmer florists throughout the grounds and vividly decorated rooms of Horace Walpole’s Gothic manor house including work by 17 of our members who are small-scale growers of local, seasonal cut flowers.
Curated by florist Leigh Chappell and flower stylist and photographer, Janne Ford, both members of Flowers from the Farm, the festival is a must-see for flower-lovers and flower arrangers as well as for professional florists and floral designers keen to explore how to use more UK-grown flowers in their work. The characterful, imperfect beauty and a natural movement of flowers grown outdoors in their natural season as sustainably as possible are an inspiration to an increasing number of florists.
And now that 85% of the UK population is within 30 miles of one of our 1000 members, local, seasonal flowers are more accessible and more sought after than ever. Within the last 4 months, Flowers from the Farm growers have staged the RHS Flower School at RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival and at RHS Tatton Flower Show; worked with Shane Connolly to flower the Coronation; and even supplied the winner of the prestigious Interflora World Cup.
L to R: Leigh Chappell, Strawberry Hill House, Janne Ford
Our Co-Chair, Debbie Scott, says:
“Last year’s Festival was truly inspirational. This September more florists than ever will be exhibiting and I cannot wait to see what they produce.”
Visitors to the Festival are invited to book timed slots, attend curator-led tours, buy signed copies of the designers’ books or to attend floral demonstrations and workshops at Strawberry Hill House. Exhibiting in the grounds of the House and throughout its many splendid rooms our members and farmer-florists include: Alma Proust, Blooming Green, Char Johnston Floral, Clementine Moon, Compton Garden Flowers, Fig and Fern, Hedgerow & Bloom, Hortus Poeticus, Ivydene Flower Farm, Janne Ford, Joanna Game Flowers, Madge & Ivy Flowers, Layla Robinson Design, Leigh Chappell Flowers, Little Flower Farm, Lilian’s Flower Diary, The Chobham Flower Farm and Wilt. A further 29 florists including Henck Röling and Yann Skates (stars of the Big Flower Fight), Victoria Gaiger of Rakes Progress, Raphael Verrion of Soho House and florist and pressed flower artist Yeon Lee will be creating sustainable floral installations using UK grown cut flowers.
Hortus Poeticus will take to the stage on Friday evening to give a floral demonstration using beautiful flowers and foliages from their Hampshire plot. In the midday floral demonstration slot on Friday, Leigh Chappell will be creating hand-tied bouquets, whilst on Saturday, Sophie Powell of U.FL.O Unidentified Floral Object will demonstrate her signature flower crown techniques and on Stuart Fenwick of Bria Studio will share his take on the hand-tied bouquet.
Use the hashtag #strawberryflowerfestival to follow the event on social media.
The Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival is sponsored by Savills Teddington with all profits going to the Strawberry Hill Trust that maintains and runs the magnificent house and garden.
