Shropshire confetti firm beats rain with late crop

Confetti might be in shortage across the UK due to the summer washout – but not in Shropshire.

Torrential rain has played havoc with farmers' crops and delphinium flowers, which are traditionally used to scatter over a bride and groom, have been hit particularly hard.

But natural petal company Shropshire Petals, of Newport, planned ahead of the bad weather – and now it is about to reap the benefits.

The right balance of rain and sun is crucial for a successful confetti harvest and record levels of rainfall over the past few months have completely washed out crops.

But Shropshire Petals, based at Lynn South Farm, says it has avoided the problem by sowing seeds later in the year.

This time last year Shropshire Petals had finished harvesting its petals. But this year, after keeping a watchful eye on weather forecasts, workers will start to harvest its crop in the next few weeks. Petals are delicately handpicked, naturally air-dried and carefully stored to ensure only those of the highest quality are selected.

Managing director Jim Bubb said: "We have heard a lot of our competitors have little or no stock from their 2012 crops.

"We are lucky that we decided to drill later. It has been a difficult season and we are a few weeks behind the usual schedule but we will have a full harvest."

The bright delphinium flowers create a striking display of colour in fields around Newport. Mr Bubb added: "With the success of this year's crop, we have even been inviting local photographers to come and take photos of the fields."

Shropshire Petals has had a busy month with orders from celebrities – and even royalty. It supplied the petals for the wedding of JLS star Marvin Humes and The Saturdays singer Rochelle Wiseman. It also provided confetti for the Queen's recent visit to Cosford.