Local Bouquet delivery from our Devon Flower Farm

 

 

We’re once again opening our studio to local bouquet deliveries from our Devon flower farm. When you order from us, you’re not only supporting a local business (thankyou thankyou thankyou), but you’re also supporting sustainability and ethical flower production- not to get too heavy, but flowers grown on an industrial scale and imported round the world aren’t doing too much in the way of saving the planet… Also, I know I’m biased, but we grow beautiful flowers that are truly special.

 

Seasonal flowers throughout the year

Now! Seasonality as a word gets used A LOT for marketing purposes. But in reality, seasonality is true of naturally grown flowers- or that what’s I feel most comfortable using the word for. You might think tulip season starts in January; that’s when supermarkets start to stock British tulips, but these are grown industrially, with extra heat and light. Here on our Devon patch of land, we like our flowers grown naturally. Our tulip season starts in March at the earliest. Other truly seasonal flowers currently are anemones, fritillaries, ranunculus, spirea, tulips, and current flower. Basically, when you buy bouquets through us we’re only using the freshest and most natural flower varieties that are grown locally.

 

 

Personal touches, making luxurious Bouquets

As Holly Bee is mainly run by just me (shoutouts to Bea, Colin and Barbara though) I can ensure each bouquet made is picked to order, selecting the best flowers in the field, and finishing with beautiful ribbons and handwritten notes. Personal touches are simple to do when you run a local business, and you’re also getting the freshest flowers possible, grown within miles of delivery.

 

 

 

Natural and Wild British Flowers delivered to your door

Our flower style is always natural, working with the ingredients we’re growing; British flowers at their best. I always think that if things are flowering together naturally, then they should work together when picked too. Add in some colour theory, and BOOM- beautiful, local flowers delivered straight to your door.

 

 

 

Local flower delivery Testimonials

As our flowers are a bit different from your usual online ordered bouquets, they already feel special. But here are some testimonials from local flower bouquet customers:

‘Thank you very much again, beautiful flowers with such nice touches to make it special’

‘They are perfect, thankyou’.

‘Thankyou so much for the gorgeous flowers. They really made the party feel special’.

‘They look so natural, and smell great too- stunning flowers’.

 

 

We love sharing our flowers with you and the joy it brings. If you’d like to order a bouquet then get in touch here. Something worth bearing in mind, is that flowers are picked to order, so we need 24hours notice (at least) before delivering. We can’t wait to hear from you,

Holly x

 

Ps. If looking for seasonal local flower deliveries, and you’re not near Totnes in Devon, then Flowers from the Farm is the website for nationwide flowers growers. You should find a local business with similar ethos that can help. Happy flower hunting!

 

 

Holly Bee Flower’s Top 5 Spring natural wedding flowers

 

 

Hello, from our Devon flower farm. It’s beautifully still and has finally stopped raining thank goodness. With spring on it’s way and a million garden jobs to do, but with a calendar that’s full of lovely weddings and flowery going’s on for the year it’s fun to get started. Because of the sudden sunshine I’ve been able to do my first weekend of flower bouquets celebrating Mother’s Day, and whilst my first wedding is still a little way of (thanks pandemic), I’ve been able to get creative and start making arrangements again. With that in mind, I thought I’d do a roundup of seasonal spring natural wedding flowers. ‘Seasonal’ is a word that gets banded about all too often, and normally used as a part of green-washing marketing. But here at Holly Bee I think it’s important to use it literally, describing what grows naturally at the time of year. So, for spring seasonality it changes week by week, but is always beautiful! I try not to get too fixated of flower type, and instead work with colour and movement. My ethos is that if it’s growing and flowering naturally at the same time, then it’ll fit with our floristry- natural and a little but undone (in the best possible way) …

 

1. Fritillary the most delicate and fleeting spring flower EVER

I could plant hundreds and hundreds of these beautifully delicate flowers. We grow a few different types here in our flower garden but tend to favour the smaller more nodding head varieties than the imperial ones (although I’ve got love for them too!) Perfect in just about anything, from bridal bouquets, to table decorations, there winding stems just work perfectly with pretty much everything. And so unusual, but oh so special. They’re a must for your wedding flowers, if you can get hold of (heads up- come and ask us!)

 

 

2. Tulips obviously- they’re dramatic scene stealers

I think tulips sometimes get a bad rap. They’re grown pretty industrially and are such a normal sight in supermarkets that they have a certain normalness to them. But our tulips are on another level. Leave your impressions behind and trust us- tulips, grown naturally are very special. Think more of a Dutch master painting, all vivid colours, various sizes, and winding stems. Sometimes you can mistake them for peonies- double varieties are blousy, soft and romantic. The bulbs come at a premium, and with only one flower per bulb they’re an expensive crop- but vital to our spring, seasonal flower arrangements adding so much drama.

 

 

 

 

3. Icelandic poppies- be still my beating heart.

Right, yes, they don’t have a great vase life, but they have such an impact. Whether it’s watching a bud unfurl and bloom, or whether it’s marvelling at their colour and paper- like petals. Icelandic poppies are wonderful and happily self-seed in our polytunnel (I know, lucky hey).

 

 

 

 

4.Anemones- my favourite spring seasonal natural wedding flower

I’ve banged on about anemones for a while now (please see the last few blog posts). It’s because we grow brilliant ones!! After a very expensive first year of growing these flowers (I killed every single corm I bought by over-watering), we now smash anemone growing. Sourcing super special varieties from France and Italy, including the much sort-after galilee pastel. They come in such sumptuous shades, and with their dark eyes really amp up drama and contrast. I love working with them in bridal bouquets, arrangements and installations. Big thumbs up, and a long-time love affair.

 

 

 

5. Spirea- the blossom I love the most

Blossom is wonderful, romantic, blousy and extraordinarily hard to work with. But spirea is my top pick out of all the various varieties. This holds up out of water, is small enough to work in bouquets and always grows in unusual shapes- prefect for our wilder- look flowers.

 

 

 

It’s hard to pick my 5 favourite spring seasonal flowers for natural weddings, I haven’t even started with hellebores, ranunculus, lilac but hey maybe that’s another post for another time.  I think spring is the most romantic season, maybe after getting through winter, and the slow unfurling of all the various flowers and foliage, like a patient waiting game of beauty and loveliness. If you’d like to enquire about your own spring wedding, then get in touch here. Always happy to chat flowers and inspiration anytime.

Seasonal flowers are sustainable and beautiful- something we at Holly Bee are passionate about. You can read more about ethical weddings and some further ideas here.

Offeringing a full guide to ethical wedding planning. There’s lots to think about. But from a flower/ florist point, it really starts with being seasonal, and using local flowers. Then we move onto the mechanics- no floral foam etc . But seasonality, and being open to this is where it starts!

Holly x

A Micro Wedding at Brickhouse Vineyard full of sustainable, natural wedding flowers

 

 

I thought for this post I’d give you some inspiration and look back at a BEAUTIFUL micro-wedding at Brickhouse Vineyard, full of sustainable, natural wedding flowers. All grown and arranged here at Holly Bee Flowers. This was an autumnal wedding, when the vines at Brickhouse Vineyard were laden with almost bursting grapes, and the sun had it’s hazy warmth. The palette was hinting at these purple tones, with hints of copper and gold.

Brickhouse Vineyard; a beautiful and special setting in the Devon Countryside

One of my favourite ever wedding venues, I remember visiting when it had just started it’s journey. It’s almost feels magical arriving there… Set in the rolling Devon hills, the driveway opens out into a peaceful vineyard, with a beautiful garden, and amazing round house with it’s thatched roof. With their new barn extension opening this year, I’m so excited to be working and creating there more!

 

Sustainable, Natural Wedding Flowers, grown locally to Brickhouse vineyard

We’re completely passionate about sustainability! It fits with our natural wedding flower style, but also, it’s just so, so important. Everything has a process and life cycle, and for us, being able to know where everything comes from and reduce our carbon footprint is important. Also we grow really cool flowers (I’m biased but still), and get to make beautiful natural wedding flowers from them, so win win. Our flower farm about a 20 minute drive from the vineyard, just over a few Devon hills.

 

 

A Delicate Bridal bouquet- full of intricate flowers and scented roses

I love making bouquets, it’s probably my favourite thing to make when it comes to wedding flowers. Growing our own flowers on our Devon flower farm means I can source unique blooms and hard to find flowers. Creating natural and romantic bouquets that look a little bit different (in a good way). Each one being as unique and special as the wedding itself.

 

 

Seasonal Flowers for a September wedding

What flowers did we use? Lots! The colour palette dictated, and as it was purple, but dusky, and quite unusual I had to get my thinking hat on. We used soft coloured dahlias, dusky roses, hydrangeas that had hints of this amazing electric purple. It ended up being one of my favourite wedding flower looks I’ve ever worked on.

 

 

A beautifully simple wedding, at a beautiful venue. Full of authentic touches and warmth, and of course sustainable flowers. Hopefully it’s provided some inspiration for you! If you need more, head to our seasons page, full of seasonal flower inspiration, and if you want to enquire about us being involved in creating your natural wedding flowers, then contact us here. Holly x

 

The amazing suppliers were:

Suppliers
Cake: Edible Essence Cake Co.
Florist: Holly-Bee Flowers
Hair Stylist: Brigitte Fisher
Location: Brickhouse Vineyard
Make Up Artist: Emma Roberts
Models: Katie @ Mosaic Models
Photographer: Emma Barrow
Photographer’s Assistant: Jennie Doble
Stationary: Knots and Kisses
Stylist: Knots and Kisses
Videographer: Daniel Grindrod Films
Wardrobe: The Wed Hub / The Wedding Company
Ribbon: Kate Cullen
Props:
Virginia’s Vintage Hire
Keeping It Vintage

 

Our Devon Flower Farm: The February edit of growing seasonal flowers from our garden at Holly Bee Flowers

Hello from Devon, and a flower farm that is mainly mud currently. Gosh what a tough start to the year for many reasons, but as the days start to get longer, it’s feeling so much more hopeful. There has even been a glimpse of sun this week… Sustainable, eco-friendly flowers take work and forward planning; lots of beautiful thing to grow and nurture! Here’s what’s going on this month.

1. Pruning Roses- be tough, and they’ll reward you with beautiful blooms all summer long

Now that it’s not really, really cold, or really wet, we’re starting the task of pruning our many, many (200+) rose bushes.Big shout out to top pruner Bea, who has been doing an amazing job so far. As we grow them for cutting, we grow slightly differently compared to growing them in a border. They’re planted quite close together, and we prune hard once a year. We also, once pruned, mulch around their bases with well-rotted manure. Roses are hungry workers, so the manure helps feed them. It also helps suppress weeds- win, win. They are my favourite flower, I just adore them so much.

 

 

 

2. Planting our Ranunculus (finally)

Our main bulk of ranunculus crop gets planted now (much later than other people do). It works better for us, growing them outside where they can get maximum ventilation. Our first crop flower is anemones; we concentrate on these as our first flower, then moving onto ranunculus a little later. Having pre- spouted in January, they are now growing healthy strong roots, and begin to shoot. It’s always lovely to see, and planting in the soil again feels good- we know in a couple of months’ time we’ll have a month or so of flowers and constant picking.

 

 

 

 

3. Planting new shrubs- changes are afoot…

I’m fickle, my taste changes. Also, a load of broom shrubs gave up on life, so now we’re digging up old, not healthy shrubs and looking to replace in the next week or so. Top of my list are some more spireas, hydrangea and Amelanchier.

 

 

 

4. Planting another (our last of the year) crop of sweet peas

With our early flowering spring sweet peas sown in September and planted out in the polytunnel in January… It’s now time to sow our Spencer sweet peas. These are for flowering in June. I know people succession sow sweet peas after this time too, but this never works for me. It’s too hot, and I find the later you sow/ get flowers, the more prone they are to pest and disease. So I do my two sowings, one for the polytunnel, and one for outside. Then I say farewell to sweet peas for another year.

 

 

5. Creating some new no dig beds- super exciting for a soil geek like me

NEW PLANTING SPACE. We’ve been busy creating 3 new beds for lots of annuals this year and opdcndlvcbdflhvbdflkvb!!!!!! No dig is our favourite method of growing. It’s easy, and kindest to the soil. First a layer of cardboard, then manure, then compost and hey presto- new beds. I have my eye on them for stocks, poppies and lots and lots of celosia.

 

 

February has seen a shift, and it’s been pretty positive. With the news of weddings this year it’s time to look ahead, and make sure we’re stocked and ready this year for beautiful and unusual natural flowers, for lots of Devon weddings. Until then we’re upping our bouquet game and doing local deliveries (which looks like it’s here to stay), and just generally nurturing our space, and making sure this year is great, whatever happens.

Holly x