June At The Flower School
June seems to be flying by and what a wonderful month it has been so far. The flower fields at Pitfield Barn have got an abundance of summer blooms. Daily walks are a pure joy as I look for inspiration for our next workshops and pick fresh ingredients to create with.
Workshops & Courses
We have welcomed so many students to the flower school this month. Our Peony Masterclass was yet again the most beautiful workshop, filled with Gardenia, Sarah Bernhardt, Bridal Grace varieties of peonies, this class was an absolute joy to teach. We also welcomed a student all the way from Hong Kong. Did you know we have some wonderful accommodation in Hurstpierpoint that we can recommend to you if you are travelling from far away.
Our summer Introduction to Floristry sold out very quickly and students enjoyed creating two displays including; a ceramic vase and a foam free table runner display. Our next Introduction to Floristry is coming this autumn. It is the perfect class if you want to find out more about how to arrange flowers or if floristry is something you would like to explore more of.
British Flower Week
British Flower Week is almost upon us, 26th-30th June. This is the week where we celebrate all the hard working British growers out there. This year has been particularly challenging for growers. The lack of sunshine at the start of year made many flowers come out very late and now with very little rain, growers are facing new challenges of making sure their crops don't dry out.
The sun has bought so many wonderful blooms to the cutting gardens near the flower school. I picked up these wonderful irises grown at Pitfields the other day. Their ruffles and subtle tone of cream are such a treat for the eyes. Next week I will be sharing reels, photographs and interviews from some of my favourite flower farms including Pitfield Barn, Tangle and Wild, Sidnye Flowers and Big Field Flowers.
Summer Demonstration at Pitfield Barn
In July we are excited to be doing a joint open morning event with Pitfield Barn. I will be demonstrating two different displays including ; a bridal bouquet and a table centre suitable for a wedding.
Guests can enjoy a stroll around the wonderful gardens at Pitfield Barn, while Emma Martin gives talk about what it is like to be a British grower. There will be lots of opportunity to ask some questions while enjoying some lovely homemade cake. Tickets cost £15.00 per person. To reserve your place click on the link here.
Pressed Flowers
As we move into the summer months we will be taking our summer break from teaching, but I will be working on a collection of new artwork which will be launching in the autumn. All of our artwork will be created using beautiful pressed flowers and we will selling cards, canvas prints and framed artwork in the later part of the year. Theses pieces take a long time to create, the picture above shows stage one of this piece, but I am absolutely loving it and I am so excited about this next branch of the business.
Until July I wish you all well and as ever a big thank you for your continue support of the flower school. As a thank you please use the discount code below to get 15% off any half day or whole day workshops. (Please note this does not include career courses or Christmas wreaths classes).
Summerflowers23
Love Alicia xx
Peony Care, Tips & Tricks
Peony Love
Throughout the many years of running my wedding business there was one flower that everyone loved and yes that was the peony. With its beautiful shades and ruffles it certainly defines femininity and beauty.
But these cut flowers can sometimes be a little tricky to care for and work with. So in this blog I have created some information that will hopefully give you lots of tips and tricks so you can feel confident when you are designing with them.
Information about peonies
Peonies are beautiful flowers, which come in a variety of colours from whites, to dark reds and an array of pinks.
The growing season for them in Britain is relatively short, June is the peak month. Although peonies start showing up on the flower auctions in Holland as early as February, I always advise students who attend Flourish Sussex Flower School to never buy them this early. The cost is high and the condition is low.
Types of Peonies
There are three different types of peonies: herbaceous peonies, tree peonies and intersectional peonies. The main differences are that herbaceous peonies die back to the ground in winter and then regrow in the spring, while tree peonies have woody stems that remain throughout the year. Intersectional peonies are a hybrid between herbaceous and tree peonies.
Peony Types
There are lots of different types of peonies. Some have single heads, while others have double. Some of the most popular varieties come in shades of pink. One of the most popular varieties is Sarah Bernhardt, while a personal favourite of mine is Gardenia which is a very soft pink mixed with white.
The flowers can be very large and when in season you can manipulate them to suit your design.
Designing with peonies
Working out when to get your peonies is the first step when designing with these flowers. If you are creating a large archway you will probably want your peonies to be very open. Depending on the weather, if it is a cool week you may want to get them in as early as Tuesday before a Saturday wedding so they can be open and full. However if it is hot, the later the better.
If you are using them for a smaller arrangement or the couple want them to not be too open it is important to get them in as close to the wedding as possible, especially if you are working with them at peak season.
Monitor the weather. If it is going to be warm and you don’t want them to open too much get them in on the Thursday or even better on the Friday, condition them and then keep them somewhere dark and cool.
If you want them to open up more you can gently push back the petals, this will bring the petals out and will transform your peony into a large open flower.
Care Tips for Peonies
Once you have got your peonies in ensure that your buckets or vases are clean and add cold water to them.
If you are buying them directly from a florist or a supermarket go for the ones that are bud, not the ones that are in full flower, these will last longer.
Use clean, sharp floristry scissors or pruning shears to cut the stem at a 45 degree angle. This helps to prevent damage to the stem and allows the flower to drink more easily.
Remove lower leaves, so that the water can go directly to the flower.
If you are using a vase make sure it is a heavy duty one. Peonies are heavy flowers and you don’t want your display to tip over with their weight.
Ensure that you change the water every two to three days, this will help the peonies to live longer and some can survive up to two weeks.
Make sure you keep your display someone cool and away from direct sunlight.
Questions about peonies
I hope you have found this blog useful. If you have any questions or have any other tips that you have found useful when arranging with peonies please do comment below.
Peonies are a firm favourite here at Flourish Sussex Flower School, so during the summer months you will find them in our flower school a lot! If you are keen to find out more about how to flower arrange with us visit our workshop page by clicking here.
Alicia xx
Summer at The Flower School
SUMMER AT THE SCHOOL | LATEST WORKSHOPS & COURSES
SUMMER AT THE SCHOOL
As the sun finally starts to show its face we are fully embracing British flowers season here at Flourish Sussex Flower School. Before taking our annual break for the summer holidays we will be celebrating peonies in our ever so popular Peony Masterclass. Guests will arrive at Pitfields Cutting Garden, take a stroll around the cutting garden, learn how to look after these beautiful flowers. See a demonstration and get taught lots of tricks and tips to arrange flowers for the home, before getting creative and making their own display.
introduction to floristry
We will also be hosting our summer Introduction to Floristry Masterclass in June. This is a fantastic workshop to come on if you are thinking about possibly wanting to find out about floristry or simply want to spend a day surrounded by nature. Our summer class is sold out, but we are holding our next one in Autumn. For more details click here.
Our March Foundation Students
Community
As ever the sense of community at Flourish Sussex Flower School continues to be a crucial part of the business. Once students embark on one of our career changing courses they are instantly invited to become part of our Flourish community, where graduate florists and growers offer support, work experience and friendship.
Building a business can feel overwhelming at times and that is why we feel it is so important to offer a supportive network to help students on their floristry journey.
Archway made on our Wedding Career Course
Offering floristry courses in hampshire, surrey and kent
As our reputation continues to grow we are welcoming many students who are travelling from the surrounding counties to the flower school.
Our courses have been designed to bring the outside inside. Traditional rules of floristry are left at the door and instead we choose to embrace colour, nature, design, along with encouraging students to develop their own style of floral design early on.
We also teach with sustainable methods of floristry, so you will never work with floral foam, instead a combination of chicken wire, test tubes, moss and Agra wool will be provided. We are also based on a British flower farm, so when in season we will work with the ingredients that are growing just outside our studio.
Once you have come to us for our career course you are stuck with us! We offer ongoing business support, zoom support sessions and annual social events.
floristry courses in surrey and beyond
If you are looking for floristry courses in Surrey or in Kent, Hampshire or even further afield then look no further. Over the years we have welcomed many students from all over the country. With affordable accommodation right in the village centre and being positioned just twenty minutes outside Brighton and an hour from London, we offer an ideal location for those looking to train and get themselves into the industry.
Recommended Accommodation
For any information about any of our courses contact us here.
Alicia xx
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A new home for Flourish Sussex Flower School
Happy New Year to you all. When I started Flourish Sussex Flower School back in 2018 I didn’t have a long term plan, I just wanted to open a school that provided more of an up to date style of floristry. One that was inspired by art and creativity and not restricted by rules.I wanted a space where students could be immersed into a beautiful world of nature, colour and design.
Randolphs Farm in Hurstpierpoint has been our home for the last four years. Two studios later it has provided me with the space to grow the school and teach so many wonderful courses and workshops.
From March 2023 we will be moving to a new home at Pitfields Cutting Garden. This wonderful British cut flower garden is run by Emma Martin and Peter Bell. I met Emma back in 2019 and I take all our Foundation students for a talk and a tour at Pitfields. Our businesses have grown together , so it seemed like a natural step for Flourish to move to the converted barn at Pitfields where all courses and workshops will be run from.
As the school has developed sustainability has become a key cog in the mechanics of the schools teaching. No foam will be found here and now we moving towards using more and more of British flowers in our teachings.
When students come to the school they will see what it is like to be a grower and will get to use the flowers and foliages that they can see growing right in front of the school.
I am beyond excited for this next step in my flower journey, so if you are booked onto a course or workshop from March we will look forward to welcoming you to our new space at Pitfields Barn in Hurstpierpoint West Sussex.
5 Great Things About Running your own Floristry Business!
Maybe running your own floristry business has been a dream of yours for many years. Maybe you hate your current job and have decided it is time to do something for you. Whatever your reason for starting your business is it will be an adventure, with lots of challenges and hopefully lots of rewards. But a long the way you may have some self doubts (this is total normal) so here are my five things I believe are great about running your own floristry business.
1: Working with Nature
Don’t loose sight of the beauty that you get to work with. Whenever I feel stressed or overwhelmed by life I go for a walk, work in my garden and absorb myself into nature. As florists we get to work with the very best ingredients that mother nature grows and I feel super lucky to work with such beauty and natural elements everyday.
2: Follow your Passion
The saying ‘you only live once’ may be something that we think about but don’t act upon. Enjoying what you do is so important. Building a business is hard work, but if you have passion this will shine through what you do and will push you to keep going when times are tough. Showing others your passion will help you to build your business and will add to your happiness. Having passion for what you do is the foundation to any business. If you are passionate about it then you will work so hard to get others on board and that is the beauty of building a business based on passion.
3: Show Yourself What You Can Do
A business is a great way to push yourself to do things that you never thought you would do. The school has been open since 2018 and during that time what started as a few workshops has now turned into me teaching career courses, wedding workshops, seasonal classes, creating dried floral displays for shops and events. It has pushed me to be stronger, more confident in ways that I could have never imagine in early 2018.
Tackling social media has been one of my biggest challenges. It is an area that I have never been 100% comfortable with, but as the business has grown so has my following, and that is something I am very proud of. I totally believe that running a business can push you out of your comfort zone, which is such an important thing to do during your life. It shows us what we are capable of and even facing our fears can sometimes have the most wonderful results.
4: Working With The Seasons
Don’t underestimate how wonderful it could be to work with beautiful products and with the seasons. Floristry, or floral design is so much more than simply making bouquets. There are so many links with fashion, interior design, art work. As with fashion and interiors, colours and trends are often set within our industry. Whether you choose to follow these trends is up to you as the designer. But the beauty of working with the seasons is not just about focusing on the flower content, we can draw on the wonderful palettes that each season provides us, as well as looking at texture in nature throughout the year. Whatever challenges floristry throws at us, working seasonally will keep you inspired and always feeling creative.
5: Fitting it Around you Life
I am not suggesting that you will have loads of free time if you are running your business, you will probably get up early, work in the evenings and it might even sneak into your dreams. But it is possible to make it fit around your life, whether that is making sure you can go and see your kids in a play, or be there for sports day, or whether it’s going to run along side other work you do. Growing a business doesn’t mean that you need it to be the size of Amazon. Think about what turnover you want to get to, what fits around your life and make sure you can balance it with the other important aspects of your life.
If you have ever thought about floristry why not pop along to one of our open mornings. I might be bias but it is a wonderful industry to be part of and why not follow you dreams and begin your floral journey with Flourish Sussex Flower School today!
Alicia xx