The church is decorated with flowers weekly at All Saints by a team of creative volunteers. The team decorate the whole church for the festivals of Easter, harvest and Christmas.  Eighteen months ago it was decided to stop using floristry foam and try to think about the provenance of the flowers we use.  We were proud that the flowers and foliage for the Harvest displays last year were all sourced from gardens and allotments, not a single flower was bought.

Floristry foam (known as oasis and used to hold flowers in place) is no longer used because harmful chemicals are used in its manufacture and when the foam is soaked in water micro plastics leach out and harm the eco-system of our waters and oceans.  Chicken wire is one method that is used instead, which can be reused.

We have been challenged to think about what food we buy in the supermarket,  ‘buying local’, seasonal foods and avoiding plastic packaging on fruit and vegetables.  There has been an awareness of the impact on communities that depend on agriculture for their livelihood; those that pick and prepare food in other countries often live in poverty.  The same applies to flowers.  90% of cut flowers currently sold in the UK are imported, often having travelled thousands of miles in refrigerated containers.  The single largest producer of cut flowers in the world is Colombia, which exported an estimated 660 million stems in 2020.  Kenya supplies one-third of all roses sold in the EU and it is thought that the drought-stricken Lake Naivasha, the centre of the industry in Kenya, has seen half of its water drawn off for use in flower greenhouses.

‘Flowers from the farm’ are a national organisation supporting UK flower growers and champion nearly 1000 independent, artisan growers of local, seasonal cut flowers across the UK.

These flowers are freshly picked, grown without pesticides, seasonal and scented, grown and not flown.  Many of these growers have ‘pick your own’ days or buckets of flowers can be bought on site.  Two local growers are Cate at Field Flowers, West End Farm and Claire at Plant Passion, East Clandon.  Claire and other UK growers supplied all the flowers for the Coronation. The Coronation marked a landmark moment for the global flower farming market.  It demonstrated that local seasonal flowers deserve to be seen at state occasions, just as they do in bridal bouquets, funeral tributes or vases in the home. ‘Sustainable church flowers’ are national organisation promoting and sharing these ideas.

Next time you consider adding flowers to your supermarket shop I would challenge you to think about the source of the flowers and if you are able to support a local business instead.

(Photo credit Field Flowers)