Business is booming for two Shropshire flower growers

Two Shropshire flower farmers have become part of a revolution in sustainable growing, with their businesses helping to put the county on the floral map of Britain.

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Lisa Holt and Beth Evans have both seen huge growth in their flower businesses, which they say are at the centre of a rapidly expanding artisan flower movement created by increasing demand for seasonal, locally grown flowers with lower environmental impact.

Beth’s business, Pheasant Field Flowers, provides bespoke floral designs for weddings and events, as well as growing artisan cut flowers for use in her own work, and for wholesale to fellow florists. Her floristry is based near Much Wenlock.

Lisa’s business, Gate House Florals, is based at Ryton near Shifnal, and creates bouquets and funeral flowers using flowers that hold special memories of people and places.

Both benefited from completing a start-up programme with Bridgnorth-based Good2Great after seeking new challenges during coronavirus lockdown, and are celebrating their fifth anniversaries this year.

British-grown flowers are at the centre of their work. Lisa said: “There is something incredibly special about in-season flowers that are grown locally. They have movement, scent, texture and character that really capture the English countryside at that moment in time.”

Beth added: “I feel unbelievably lucky to receive wonderful commissions from clients who put their faith in me, often on the biggest day of their lives.”

Their work has not gone un-noticed. Both Beth and Lisa’s displays were on show during the visit of Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, to Shropshire earlier this year. Beth’s flowers were used by Ironbridge Flower School for a commission presented to their Duchess.

Meanwhile, Lisa was invited by Albrighton Trust Flowers to make a posy to be presented to the Duchess. Her special funeral flowers featured on leaflets and displays at the RHS Chelsea gold medal winning Farewell Flowers display.

Beth said: “In 2020, following redundancy during the pandemic, Pheasant Field Flowers launched as a flower farm, offering flowers for sale to florists and DIY brides.

“However, I discovered a love and a talent for designing with the flowers I grew, and now the business focuses on delivering unforgettable wedding and event flowers across Shropshire, North Wales and the West Midlands.

“My customers are wedding-planning couples who value the aesthetic beauty of bespoke floral designs. Sustainability is also important to them – I use British flowers in my work and only employ sustainable floristry methods.”

“Good2Great really helped me to focus and define the business and my customers, and what my offer was. The business model has changed significantly, so the skills I gained helped me to recognise the need to evolve and focus the marketing efficiently to meet the requirements of a different group of customers.”

Lisa’s business was originally born out of frustration. She explained: “When I couldn't buy locally grown, seasonal flowers and had a poor experience with funeral flowers, I decided I would learn to grow and arrange them sell myself; being able to offer truly bespoke funeral flowers was a key motivator to me setting up my business.

“Once I started growing, I had so many flowers I started gifting them to friends and bunching them to sell in my local community shop on ‘Flower Friday”. My first three bunches sold – I was so thrilled!”

Now she spreads the word about British-grown flowers and sustainability and is helping to promote British Flowers Week, which runs from June 15-21.

This year’s event coincides with the UN’s International Year of the Woman Farmer and is themed ‘Flowers for the Future’, celebrating the entrepreneurial women leading the UK’s sustainable farming industry.

Across the UK local flower farmers, florists and farm shops are hosting events ranging from flower field tours and pop-up stalls to sustainable floristry workshops. Lisa is hosting one of her popular monthly Saturday Flower Clubs during the week too which includes a tour of the cutting garden and a floral demo – details are on the Gatehouse Florals website.

The digital world also has a place in the flower revolution. Lisa has also set up The Daisy Chain - a WhatsApp group linking flower farmers around Bridgnorth.

“Bridgnorth has a thriving number of flower farms and we all collaborate and co-operate to support each other. Sometimes we will even meet in a supermarket car park and it may look quite suspicious at first as we all arrive and raise our car boots and swap buckets - but they are buckets of fresh flowers!”