Looking forward 2021
It’s been a very long time since I’ve written a blog but it feels like a good month to return to it and share some updates and my hopes for 2021. No longer will blogs take a back seat - they are so important and something I’d love to get back into. You’ll see them, and me :), once a month from now on.
Here we are, starting a new year once again. January can be a quiet month for florists, not much is growing, the festive season is over. But I viewed it as a positive month, and a time for reflection. I’m saying hello to an uncertain year ahead, yes, but also goodbye to a very sad and incredibly challenging year just gone.
It has been difficult to make plans and set proper goals for 2021 with things as they are, and the Covid pandemic still raging on. But I’ve decided to focus on what is possible. Rather than being sad and worried I've made a solemn promise to really hone in on the things I care about and those parts of floristry which drive my passion. Amongst the chaos of 2020, I strangely stumbled on new ideas, new avenues and learnt things I would not have otherwise. In the midst of the disruption, pain, lack of business and fear - the main thing I needed to find out was: how I can make things better for me and my business? A very small hope doesn’t always seem important, but for me this little hope was inspiring and propelled me a long way forward and it’s helped give me drive and energy for this year.
So what did I learn when pondering how to make things better for my business? Well, 2021 will be my 4th year as a professional florist and I finally feel like I know more than ever the things I care about, and what I want my business to become.
During the first lockdown in March 2020, I suddenly found myself unable to source flowers from flower markets. When these closed, and even when when they opened again, I had great difficulty sourcing what I needed due to my own personal circumstances. This left me with orders to fulfil but no flowers!
I had to start researching alternatives. In the back of my mind I knew that buying from local flower farmers could be an option, but I didn’t understand exactly how this works and I was often under real time pressure to get orders done. I hadn’t found nearby suppliers whom I could rated and could trust. One day scrolling on Instagram I found one, a local grower! So this is how I sourced flowers for the rest of 2020. I really enjoyed the process of contacting growers, hearing their passion and expertise. It was easy to understand how they go about their work and I built a great relationship with one in particular. If only I had found the time to discover them sooner.
For me, this was everything. I had never enjoyed working with flowers so much! Fresh, organic, fruits of the earth. Untangled and arranged, beautifully put together, and placed (from a distance) in people’s hands to make them smile. A great light during the darkest of times! I was agog. Each week I had to expect the unexpected, and would receive whatever was fresh and ready. This changed as the weeks and months turned from spring to summer to autumn. A surprise came each week, not knowing exactly what the seasons had to offer, wondering which flowers would arrive. It was breathtaking. It informed my bouquets and changed how I’d approach projects with customers. I could no longer guarantee every type of flower, those which may have been grown elsewhere in the world and shipped over to the UK on planes.
I have always had a deep love for nature, homegrown flowers and British styles but this took it to a new plateau. Seeing stems I had never worked with before, learning about them, the small colour differences, the distinct varieties. It was incredible. Learning about the seasons and working with the fruits of the earth that were on offer. I loved how the flowers mirrored nature. Once I started to realise these options were available, everything else came to a halt and I started to question how I’d been working over the past few years and perhaps how I hadn’t been as true to myself and my own ambitions as I would have liked.
From nowhere, unexpectedly, it all made sense. I had a different focus and a happier work life. Even though I wasn’t as busy as I would have hoped for in 2020, these flowers gave me a renewed drive and focus. My bouquets were improving stylistically and my work was gaining fresh impetus. And best of all, it felt like the right thing to do. I had started to research sustainable floristry and was alarmed at how bad some techniques could be for the environment so I have decided to make changes where I can and hope to make further improvements. I still have a lot of learning to do and I am really excited for it.
So what are my plans for this year? Well, they’re not complete yet, but have begun to be sketched out:
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- Make more sustainable decisions and use locally grown flowers, this means my bouquets will now only be available during the growing seasons: March-October
- Offer British dried flowers, especially during the fallow months
- Do my best to operate a zero plastic policy
- Weddings bookings will continue throughout the year but with a renewed commitment to be as sustainable as possible and advise customers and clients on greener ideas for their special days
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The ‘Looking forward’ blog will be a feature again next year. But for now, a date for your diary: my future blogs will reach you during the first week of each month.
All photograph in this blog are taken by me. Featured flowers are all locally grown by my wonderful supplier Beans and Blooms and myself.
If any of my readers have new green ideas to discuss, or things they are passionate about and would like to share, please comment below.
