Rebecca Frere Flowers

En plus

2011-07-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

And there's more where that came from!

2011-07-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

Coming up roses

2011-07-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

Behind the times...

2011-07-07T06:10:00.001-07:00

SO behind on blog postings. I have many squillions of pictures to put up of this summer's weddings. Too busy doing the flowers to blog about it though, agh! Watch this space!

Sprung cleaning

2011-04-13T02:50:00.000-07:00

Oh and also the wonderous Kerry at Hello Monkey has sring sleaned my webiste and it now has lovely new gallery photos and all sorts

Blossom on the trees, you know how I feel

2011-04-13T02:39:00.001-07:00

And hello to you floral friends. HOW nice is it to have some sunshine!? Very nice. The garden is zooming along headlong to summer. My cutting patch is looking sadly bare because I am suffering from a horrendous bind weed and creeping buttercup situation, which must be DEALT WITH before I plant out any tender innocent seedlings.

Here are some pictures from the jaunty wedding fair I did at The Pines Calyx a few weekends ago. I was lucky enough (as I usually am) to be next to the amazing treats provided by Chives caterers. Now, I have eaten a lot of wedding food over the years and let me tell you these guys are GOOD. Anyway. This isn't a food blog, so on with the flowers.

So I had some amazing English stock in a sweetie jar which smelt of heaven, and a large arrangement of cherry blossom, delphiniums and green bells, narcissi, anemones, muscari, daffodils, lots of amazingly fragrant daphne (which isn't much to look at but is probably the best smell in the world) and some very seet tiny orchids which i thought might make great place card holders, or lovely favors?

change of dog and bone

2011-02-27T09:40:00.000-08:00

Please note that my phone number has changed to 07525438335. I'll update it on the website soonest.

Last year's fun

2011-02-27T09:34:00.000-08:00

Agghhh the bookings are coming in thick and fast for this summer's crop of weddings! And it is making me think back to LAST year's weddings, and then I realsied I HAD to post the link to the amazing photos that Phoebe Ling took of Chloe and Rob's wedding last year. I initially was snooping at them just to see how the flowers 'photographed', especially since it was the hottest day in, genuinely, the entire history of the world. Howevere when I got there the photos were just soooo amazing that I spent ages drooling over the entire thing. So hot foot it to Phoebe Ling if you're looking for an amazing photographer, and take a look at the flowers I did for Chloe and Rob, as I think they look rather lovely.

Independent Ladies....

2011-02-14T09:42:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to me telling you that on Saturday I was listed as one of the 50 best florists in the UK! Here is the link.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/romance-passion/the-50-best-florists-2212088.html?action=Gallery&ino=27

I know! It says love-sex/romance-passion! Things are hotting up round here...

Also, to all the gentlemen who, having read the article, called me today to order Valentines flowers: nice try boyos, but next year plan ahead.

I will put some more photos up as soon as the spirit moves me...

Lympne castle wedding.

2010-11-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

Summer and autumn

2010-11-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

Junebug

2010-09-15T05:54:00.000-07:00

Now that the nights are drawing in and the temperature is dropping I have FINALLY got round to posting these photos of a lovely wedding I did in June, on, without a doubt, the hottest day in the history of the world. Despite the scorching heat it all looks rather nice!

Better late than never

2010-08-15T09:47:00.001-07:00

Some very very long overdue photos and an update. Have been very bad about bopping about in the blogosphere, but never mind! Cast your eye over these.

Oh to be in England, Now that April's here.

2010-04-28T14:13:00.001-07:00

Some springtime pics from around the garden. I can't believe how late everything is this year. I've just been looking at last year's photos from April, and the house was swathed in wisteria. This year we have but two flowers out, and it's nearly May!

This year...

Last year...

Today I beetled up the M20 to visit the beautiful Jen at Blooming Green Flowers near Boughton Monchelsea. Their plot up there is really lovely, and will be even more amazing once summer is in full swing! I heartily recommend that you check out their webular site, and also, if you're oot and aboot in that part of the world, to pop in and buy a beautiful bunch. If not then you can order their stuff online, how brilliant is that!

More!

2010-04-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

They got married in the spring

2010-04-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from a lovely wedding at Pines Calyx.

Marching on

2010-03-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

More things

2010-01-12T13:31:00.000-08:00

Feel I must make up for not having posted anything in SO long by posting more things... I have deliberately not put up an ocean of Christmas images. You all know what a wreath looks like...

When I fall in love

2010-01-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

To Rochester, for a wonderful wedding at the Corn Exchange. The theme was sweeties! With 300 guests and a budget to stick to, this clever couple decided to put candy coloured flowers on every other table, and wonderful ice cream bowls full of sweeties in the other! What with mirrored tiles, silver candelabra, fairy lights and ivy trails, the whole thing was an amazing masterclass on how to dress a massive venue without spending a king's ransom. There were anemones, ranunculus and pretty pink tulips in sweet little jam jars, matching the home made chutney and Kentish apple juice which the guests took home as favours. Bare ledges were dressed with spring flowers in old kitchen storage jars, and the huge banisters were coiled around with ivy and twinkly lights. Magic!

This month you can find my ugly mug and one of my creations in the illustrious pages of none other than BBC Gardener's World Magazine! http://www.gardenersworld.com/magazine/ Mine is the green and purple bouquet. It's an article on growing your own cut flowers, and using them to make your own wedding bouquet, if you're feeling brave!

Wedding me!

2009-11-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

I have been unbelievably remiss about putting up some of the stunning photos which the fantastic Simon at Lockeyear Photography was kind enough to email me during the summer. It's so wonderful to get some professional photos of weddings, since my photography skills leave a lot to be desired. Simon and I got chatting whilst I set up the wedding flowers and he took photos of the build up to the ceremony. He really put everyone at their ease in the stressful last few moments while annoying florists buzzed about, waiters polished glasses, the band set up and the pressure was on! It's great to have a photographer who isn't intrusive, but instead subtly captures the great moments of your day. After all, it's your wedding day, not a photo shoot! Check out his lovely photos, and then check out his fab website http://www.wedding.me.uk/

Happy days are here again

2009-11-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

Greetings all. Just a little post with a lovely photo and some kind words from the wonderful Julie. Look at her amazing wedding dress! She had a sweet bouquet of garden flowers with lots of delicious scented herbs in, and she's just sent me this lovely note:

"I had the most wonderful wedding, the day was absolutely brilliant and I wanted to thank you for the beautiful bouquets that you created for Jessica and myself. They were just exquisite and complimented our dresses perfectly. Everybody commented on them and I have enclosed a photo of Terry and myself with my bouquet taking pride of place! Thankyou again, you are a star!"

Hooray!

Season of mists

2009-10-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

Apologies for being so turbo-lazy (if such a state is possible) about updating photos. Basically it's because I have so many to put up that I have been dreading the amount of time it's going to take. However, it's pouring with rain, and I've hurt my back, so that means there is no excuse but to sit down with a cuppa and have a super mega upload fest. It's either this or doing the laundry. Exactly...

Simple September Celebrations.

2009-09-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

Two weddings this weekend, and two very relaxed brides whose only demand was 'whatever you have in the garden'. Well, the garden is now a barren wasteland, but the weddings looked great!

Bridal bouquet

From the hedgerow!

An autumnal buttonhole for every guest

Simple, cheerful and chic.

Boxed up and ready to rumble.

Greeting guests at the entrance.

A corsage for the mother of the Groom

Boogaloo

2009-08-31T04:41:00.001-07:00

No photos today, just a suggestion that you try this at your wedding. It certainly beats 'here comes the bride'.

The sun will come out...tomorrow

2009-08-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but I'm feeling all autumnal. Maybe it's the changing light in the evenings, or the colours of the flowers, the hedgerows full of berries and rosehips, the slight chill to the evening breeze, or the TOTAL COMPLETE LACK OF ANY SORT OF SUMMER WHATSOEVER. Thanks Met office, for raising our hopes, and then dashing them on the...cruel shore of...fact? Anway. Just as I gave myself totally over to autumn, started making jam like a loon, bought some new wellies (totally awesome, there will be pictures) and generally started setting store for winter, the blistering sun has come out. Too late sun. Too late...

So here are some photos to show that the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is spilling over into the colour scheme of my flower arrangements. Some lovely little centrepieces for a late summer/early autumn wedding.

In other flowery news I got an absolutely lovely letter from the gorgeous Emma, whose wedding I did at the end of July (wow time has flown!) saying lots of nice thing about Rebecca Frere Flowers, so I thought I'd toot the auld horn and put it up here for all to see, toot toot:

Dear Rebecca,

I just wanted to say thank you for the flowers you provided for our wedding on Saturday 25th of July. The flowers were exactly what I wanted and the centrepieces were stunning. The guests were especially happy when we played a game with them that meant the winners would take home the vases; guests were fighting over them!

I was so pleased with the service I received, and it makes such a difference to have a friendly and helpful person such as you to assist the bride through such a hectic time!

Kind regards, Emma.

Hooray! She was really kind and enclosed a stunning photo of herself and her lovely bridesmaids with their flowers, which sadly I can't reproduce here, so I've put up a photo of the fab (though willful, as I believe I mentioned) gerberas she chose as her wedding flowers. Somehow a mass of ivory gerberas manage to be chic, simple and cool all at the same time, which is quite a feat for one flower. Emma's idea of giving the away the centrepieces as presents (or prizes, in her case, which sounds like fun!) is really great, because it means no wasted flowers, less money spent on thank you presents, and lots of people getting to enjoy the flowers for days and days, rather than just a few hours at a reception. Eco friendly, budget conscious. Brilliant.

1001 ways with a teapot

2009-08-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

The garden is literally groaning under the weight of all the lovely flowers at the moment, so much so that I'm actually running out of containers to put them in. Above you see the rather sweet results, since I have resorted to teapots and biscuit tins. I think this sort of thing looks great as a centrepiece for an informal, or sort of bohemian, wedding.

Pinky and Perky

2009-08-08T14:39:00.000-07:00

Some more photos of last weekend's wedding, since you can never have too much pink, or so they say. A mixture of pink wildflowers, waxflower, eucalyptus, Majolika spray roses and...I think the rose is called Heaven, I can't remember now! Agh how quickly the wedding season turns one's brain to porridge...

Similarly different

2009-08-03T11:13:00.001-07:00

My My My Dahlia

2009-08-03T05:10:00.000-07:00

Weddings ahoy. Feast your eyes on some bouquets, centrepieces and other dainty trifles.

Wedding fever

2009-07-25T13:52:00.001-07:00

Well there's only one way to describe the state of my garden after two weeks away and that is 'seven shades of mental'. To say things have 'shot up' is a bit like saying 'I suppose I quite like cake', i.e. a powerful understatement. If only someone would have a weed-themed wedding then my ship would have come in. Here's hoping. I spent all afternoon weeding, and once I'd finished I stepped back to admire my hard work.....it looked exactly the same. Blast! I think the weeds grow faster than I can take them out. Anyway, amongst the weeds are oodles of cornflowers, stock, sweet peas, amaranthus, zinnias, dianthus and other treats for the discerning weeder.

Show me a florist who says that, on the morning of a wedding, they get up at a respectable hour, have a proper breakfast and the calmly get into their pre-loaded van, having checked everything off their check list, and I will show you a liar. It doesn't matter how well prepared you are, wedding mornings involve: getting up at an hour previously undiscovered by humankind, finding that at least one arrangement/type of flower has drooped/fallen over/gone purple overnight, you've run out of ribbon even though it was RIGHT THERE!, all the stuff doesn't fit in the van, it fits but you can't find your keys, you realise you've lost the directions to the venue, you rush out without breakfast and eat an entire packet of choccie biscuits in the car on the way while you get stuck in a traffic jam the length of the Great Wall of China, whilst the maid of honour calls you every twenty minutes just to 'check on your progress'. And YET, at the end of the day, somehow, it all gets done, everything looks beautiful, the bride looks beautiful, and you can go home and worry about that packet of biscuits...

Here are some photos of today's wedding in Dartford. If I ever work with gerberas again I give you permission to kick me in the face. Wilful flowers, gerberas...

Non rosie posie

2009-07-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

OK I totally lied, THIS is the last post before I go on holidays. I just wanted to put up a piccy or two of a very sweet little bridal posie for a laid-back wedding, and also to say that Pines Calyx, the wonderful eco venue where I am sort of 'florist in residence' has redone its wedding pages, and they look smashing, so check them out.

It's apollen! (get it?)

2009-07-01T13:22:00.001-07:00

Blogeens, I am going on HOLIDAYS. Yes, that's right. But when I come back it is weddings a go-go so you can look forward to a flurry of bouquets, buttonholes, centrepieces, garlands, and lots more besides on my return.

Usually I forget to take photos because I am in such a flap about getting everything done, and loading up, and making sure I haven't forgotten anything, and I have the best man's mobile number, and I've got a spare bit of this that and the other in case suddenly 52 people who previously weren't coming arrive anyway and a new table needs to be set up (this has happened!). Then I have to work out how to drive to either some beautiful venue in a village named Obscure-under-Wherethehell, or, the opposite of that, some incredibly famous, trust owned, national treasure of a venue, where every brick has been sneezed on by Henry the VIII, every sink has been personally unplugged by Charles Darwin, and I am followed around by a staff member on the verge of a nervous breakdown, screaming "You can't park THERE! That's the tomb of Saint Francis of Asisi!!!" (this has not happened).
But I will try to not forget to get snap happy, even when I'm desecrating national monuments in the name of floristry. I shall leave you with some photos tooken round the garden this evening.

2009-06-26T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hello Blogettes! This month you can find Rebecca Frere Flowers featured in none other than that prestigious publication, Kent Life Magazine. RUN from your houses to buy a copy, or just click on the link! It's a lovely feature about growing cut flowers, featuring all sorts of like minded persons and great contacts for people looking for a more natural way to do things. I will overlook the fact that they have included large photos of everyone involved APART from me and only hide my head in a bag for a few days.

A lucky local lady down the road has a very romantic husband. He's had to go away on business for three whole months, and has arranged, every Friday, for a bouquet and a card to be left secretly on her doorstep, as if from the fairies. Luckily I live so close I can just pedal down there on my bike with the bouquet in the basket. Sadly my bike, whilst being an object of great antique beauty, is designed for Edwardian ladies wearing bloomers, petticoats and all manner of rustling skirts, and so, unfortunately, does not go uphill or round corners.

In other news, the lovely Fiona, a new Bride-on-the-Books, or 'Bob', as I have just this minute decided to call new clients, has introduced me to three AMAZING websites which, I think it's safe to say, I am now totally obsessed with. All three are beautiful, unique, inspirational, and American, which I think might say something about the somewhat staid, cookie-cutter nature of a lot of British weddings. Is it just me, or are so many weddings these days identical? Anyway, Style Me Pretty (ignore hideously twee name) Once Wed and Saipua are all amazing websites for inspiration on how to make a wedding beautiful, individual, and budget friendly!

Summer flowers

2009-06-12T11:05:00.001-07:00

On the windowsill

Rose-a-rama
Buckets of Delphiniums

Mock up of little centrepieces for wedding

A very special flower in the garden

The Secret Life of Flowers

2009-06-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

So this is what happens when you buy a bouquet on the interweb from "Cheep Bowket FlowErz"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3pzV4vunGo

And below is the lifecycle of a bouquet from ME!

Flowers from the garden get picked...

Turned into an attractive bouquet...

Once wilted, get collected...

And put on the compost pile...

Where they become lovely compost to dig into the soil to help new flowers grow...

Helped on with rain water collected in waterbutts...

So that new flowers can make new bouquets!

Now isn't that a nicer story?

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose

2009-06-04T06:47:00.000-07:00

Flotos

2009-06-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

Salad days

2009-06-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

The cutting garden is now completely re...well, I was going to say 'designed' but that sounds a bit too Chelsea flower show. I have no water features, just compost bins made out of pallets from a builders yard. No yew -edged walkways but I am half way through making a nice sort of herringbone path through the flowers (have run out of bricks). No pergolas but the greenhouse needs repainting. The door to the shed doesn't shut unless you wedge it in with an old chimney pot. The top to the slug pellet bottle fell off mid sprinkle so now there is a mound of blue pellets at the top of one bed. In short, I don't think Country Living is going to be featuring me any time soon. But the good thing about plants is that they don't mind. They'll grow in cracks in supermarket car parks. They flourish down dank alleys that people are too scared to walk down. So they are all very happy growing in my newly dug, well manured but 'sculptural focal point' free cutting patch. Hooray for them. Here are a few photos of the garden (will take some of the cutting garden once it is in full bloom and not looking quite so new and unsure of itself) and the back of my car as I trundle off to a wedding. Enjoy. Comment. Faint in disbelief and repulsion.

You May kiss the Bride

2009-05-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

Oh dear. Have been very remiss about updating The Blog. There's just too much else to do! Even now the sun is shining and the cuckoo is cuckooing and all my little seedling are out of the greenhouse and into the big bad world, so I feel a bit naughty sitting in front of a computer in a dark room... Anyway. Here are some photos from a wedding last weekend. Stunning calla lillies for a stylish London wedding. Callas are a great wedding flower, as they look amazing in photographs, last all day and can be used in all sorts of ways.

April Bridal Showers

2009-04-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

To Cambridge, for a wedding in none other than King's College Chapel and Great Hall. I could not BELIEVE I was lucy enough to do the flowers for these venues. The Chapel is so amazing that there was simply no sense in trying to compete, florally, so it was just buttonholes (18! that's 52 individually wired and taped leaves. Bear that in mind ushers, when you accidentally sit on your coats during the speeches...) and bouquets. The Great Hall, no less stunning, was decorated with masses of glowing candles in sparkling glass jars, and fresh fragrant greenery. Simple but stunning.

Floral and Hardy

2009-03-31T05:10:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to the wonderful Jo who has kindly given permission for some of her wedding photos to be put up here. I think you'll agree they're just gorgeous, as is she, and they were taken by the very talented Alex Whittle of Alex Whittle Weddings. Jo had a bouquet made entirely of herbs and autumn foliage for her September wedding at The Lost Village of Dode, yet another spectacularly beautiful and intimate wedding venue in Kent. It just goes to show that simple and seasonal always wins the day!

This is what the lovely Jo had to say about Rebecca Frere Flowers:

"I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the beautiful bouquet that you created for me. You were so helpful from the very beginning, I think you knew what I wanted even before I did! I didn't want a big, fancy bouquet and you managed to create something simple yet beautiful, exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much!" - Jo.

Heston's Rosy Roman Feast

2009-03-30T03:51:00.000-07:00

Those of you watching Heston's Roman Feast on Channel 4 last week may have been hiding behind the sofa whilst he made brain custard. However, if you were not, you will have noticed him plucking some particularly beautiful organic rose petals from a bunch, before grinding them into a paste with fermented fish guts. YES! Those beautiful roses came from Rebecca Frere Flowers! Here they are, in the kitchen, after Heston had had his wicked way with them. He only seemed to want the pink petals, although the end result was a delightful shade of grey. And yes I did taste the brain custard. And no I don't want to talk about it...

Oopsy Daisy

2009-03-30T03:44:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, apologies for the peculiar layout in the post below. It always looks OK in 'preview' and then when it actually gets published it goes all askew. Or is it asquew? No, spellcheck assures me it is not. Here are a few more photos.

Fair Enough

2009-03-30T03:29:00.000-07:00

Wow the week has flown by. The Pines Calyx wedding fair was a really wonderful day. Sunshine, music, cake, flowers, happy people wandering around in love... perfect. The fact that it took place at the same time as the rugby was a sure indicator that the few men who made it on the day were truly dedicated.

The Calyx really is amazing, from its incredible architecture to its own reed bed water filtration system, it really does define eco chic. Here are some piccies of some of the flowers I did. Love, and spring, were definitely in the air!

Wedding Belles

2009-03-20T03:12:00.000-07:00

Doing a lovely little wedding fair at the gorgeous Pines Calyx in St. Margaret's Bay this Saturday. Hopefully the weather will hold and it will be a sunny day in a wonderful eco venue. Entry is free so come along, enjoy the wonderful buildings, have a ramble through the stunning gardens and then a walk up to the spectacular cliffs and lighthouse, looking out towards France. Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers, and come and talk to me!

And so farewell

2009-02-20T10:32:00.000-08:00

For winter's rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,

And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.

- Algernon Charles Swinburne

Doing funeral flowers is always a tremendous honour. If ever there was a time to turn your back on sombre, formal flowers I really think a funeral is it. The flowers should be as natural, cheerful, scented and lovely as possible. Just breathing in the smell of all the narcissi above was enough to remind me that, no matter how bleak things are, Spring is just around the corner.

Thanks a bunch

2009-02-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to the lovely Lorrainne who was kind enough to send me some of the professional photos taken of the flowers I did for her wedding. My photographic skills are pretty minimal, so it's always lovely to have photos that are in focus and don't have half my finger over the lens...

There's snow business like snow business

2009-02-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhhhhh Valentine's day. What an excellent idea to have it in the middle of February. How thoughtful of St Valentine to have had his funeral on the 14th of February, when the joys of Christmas are over, the joys of Spring are still a long way off and the rigours of Lent are bearing down upon us. How convenient that we should have a day of love and chocolates and presents and flowers in the deep mid winter. And how nice for florists to have such a surge in customers at such a lean time! How jolly for florists who try to grow their own flowers to have such a massive selection of home grown delights to offer to the....oh no wait. I've got confused. I'm thinking of July. How terrifically un-jolly for those of us trying to grow things to have Valentine's Day thrust upon us when the snow is deep and crisp and even, and all I have to offer is a selection of sticks and twigs. My garden looks like Narnia, not a romantic Eden. Please see our our old roller below for proof...

I KNOW! It would be great if I made greetings cards and could whip out the old camera and take some lovely snowy photos before turning them into arty cards, but alas, flowers are my business, and apart from one lovely accidental pot of narcissus (I found them hiding at the back of the greenhouse, where the bulbs had been forgotten in an old plastic pot) and a few forced hyacinths, I aint got zip! I thought about doing pretty little pots of delicate bulbs, but the problem is you need to plant about 289473 to make sure you have at least some ready on the right date, and then there is no certainty that people will want them. It's not an excercise in low maintenance profit making.

Let's be honest, the majority of flower buyers on Valentine's day are men, and it's the only time of year when they Know What Flowers They Want, and they want them to be RED. It's red or nothing, so for me, it's nothing. Now of course I am a business woman as well as a gardener, so yes, I bought in some red roses. That's right, come get me eco-warriors, for truly I am one of THEM, I have gone over to the dark side, I...well, anyway, to cut a long story short sometimes in life you have to give people what they want, so that you have enough money to pay your bills, and there's no point in being a one trick pony. I added some scarlet anemones too, and wrapped them in black tissue, and you know what? They looked really sexy. If you're going to harm the environment, you might as well do it saucily, that's what I say.

I overheard two chaps outside a flower shop in town yesterday. One was looking into the florist's window, and his friend said "I wouldn't get her anything mate, she'll think you're up to something!" to which his friend replied, "That's true, and I don't like her that much anyway". I wish them every happiness.

Of course, the main problem with being a florist is that no one ever sends you flowers! "Oh but why would you want flowers?" they say. This is outrageous. Are postmen not allowed to receive post? Can milkmen not drink milk? Does Father Christmas not get any Christmas presents? Exactly.

Photees

2009-02-09T03:45:00.001-08:00

A Mass of stunning white delphiniums.

A lovely bouquet of early autumn foliage and herbs, not a flower in sight!

A bridesmaid's posy from the garden.

You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.

2009-01-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

At this time of year, when the garden is a barren wasteland, and the weather is hardly gardener-friendly, there's nothing nicer than pouring over an enticing seed catalogue, and dreaming of what's to come. The Sarah Raven catalogue came flitting through the door recently, and with it all the inflated hope that one day MY garden would be full to burtsing with every kind of gorgeous flower and succulent vegetable, just like hers is at Perch Hill (and now, of course, Sissinghurst. What, one amazing garden wasn't enough? Did she sell her soul to the gardening-God when she was young?). I like how there are a few carefully chosen photos of Sarah daintily collecting jewel coloured rhubarb, as she wanders through her enormous garden, swathed in rabbit fur. The whole excercise seems extremely easy, glamorous, and ultimately hugely virtuous:Yes we grown and eat all our own courgettes! Yes our Italian cook uses at least 39875lbs of home-grown heritage tomatoes to maker her famous passata - I didn't even know it was commercially available until I unwittingly wandered into a supermarket once when I only put one contact lens in by mistake!

If there were pictures of me in that catalogue, they would feature me knee-deep in compost fishing my mobile phone out of the compost heap (yes this actually happened), or using a few choice adjectives at high volume when I discovered that mice had eaten every single last one of my sweet-pea seeds, despite a fort-knox-crossed-with-the-kremlin style greenhouse security system, oh, and I would be swathed in...well...I don't think I own any clothes made out of swathable material... Maybe this year I'll catch the mice and turn them into a coat..... only joking, I'm rubbish at sewing. Despite the veneer of gardening ease which I know to be false, I have of course succumbed utterly to everything, and made gardening plans well beyond my capabilities and budget. It's a bit like watching a haute couture catwalk show when you can't even fit into your pyjamas, and your overdraft is roughly equivalent to America's national defecit.

What is ALWAYS fun is wandering around New Covent Garden Market. Talk about window shopping. Whenever I'm feeling a bit lacklustre in the auld creative department I just stroll around the 'sundries' suppliers with my mouth open, bumping into six-foot high faux Grecian urns made of lime coloured perspex, and meandering through oceans of every conceivable

bloom, plus some inconceivable ones (what is the deal with those xanths you get which have been dyed blue and purple? I remember doing that at primary school in science class, it didn't make me think, "Wouldn't this look nice in a bouquet?" it made me think, "what have I CREATED!!??"

You want£6000 worth of peonies? They have them...

You want 500 black glass candelabra? Your ship has come in...

Yes it's also a bit of a hide-me-from-reality fest, but when it's this cold and windy, and even thoughts of summer seem ludicrously far away, it's nice to know there's a sort of florist's sweet shop there to make your mouth water, and it doesn't involve any mud or hard work. Unless you count the 3am start to get there...

The Bucket residence, the lady of the house speaking

2009-01-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a handy tip. If you've got metal buckets full of water, and you hear that the temperature is going to drop to -10 degrees, then EMPTY THEM. Otherwise you get to play the super fun game of Icebucketpalooza, where no one is a winner.

Here are some jaunty photos of the wedding at Lympne Castle which I did just before Christmas. It was great to be a guest at the wedding, as it's quite sad doing wedding flowers, dropping them off, and never getting to see the finished effect, or the reaction it gets. Often you don't even get to see the bride when you drop bouquets off, although when you do see the bride, she bursts into tears - usually of joy....I think.

I had a strict wedding flower timetable, thrown into total chaos when I woke up on day 1 of the Strict Timetable to find I had been stricken by the mystery illness of ultimate doom. Thus, instead of the leisurely, consistant, no-detail-too-small approach I had envisaged, I instead had to do my best impression of a headless chicken. My degree in drama served me well for this, as I was once lucky enough to play the part of a chicken in a production about eggs...

Anyway, it all got done in the end, it looked lovely, everyone had a jolly time and love conquered all. At the wedding I mean, not in the egg play.

Christmas went by in a flash of greenery, food and new socks, and here we are in 2009. Naturally, having made approximately an infinte number of wreaths, I only got round to doing one for my front door on Christmas Eve...

I have a new diary for 2009, and as I leafed through it I noticed that it listed every single obscure international holiday (this year, Cheese Day, Clear Off Your Desk Day, and Presidential Inauguration Day all fall on January 20.) but NOT Valentines day. I was perturbed. Had I got the wrong date? Had I imagined the whole sorry debacle? I'm pretty sure it still exists. I think I'll join the crusade to say NO to red roses on Valentines day, and recommend beautiful posies of scented seasonal bulb like things this year. That's eco love. It seems absurdly early to start thinking about such things but us florists have to get a head start on things. Especially those of us who manage to freeze our own equipment by mistake...

Stall's well that ends well.

2008-12-10T10:23:00.000-08:00

Kablam! Another monster pun!

Well, come one come all and listen to my great tale of the Great Dixter Christmas Fair..... I arrived half an hour before it opened (having set up the day before) to find that hordes of super keen people had been let in early! And someone was already standing at my stall asking to buy things! "Amazing", I thought, "I shall be cleaned out before it's even time for elevenses". This proved not to be the case, but there was an excellent turn out, and it really was the most amazing location. I was in the Yeoman's Hall, next to an enormous raging fire (note to Great Dixter - surely you are plant savvy people, and know that flowers do not cope well next to leaping flames? Just saying is all...) with a jolly troupe of other stall holders, selling everything from beautiful handmade soaps to amazing jewellery. Hidden up the stairs past the tombola, some might say we were tucked away from view, in the manner of a slightly embarassing family member. I like to think we were the jewels in the crown of the fair, positioned cunningly next to the tea and cake section, a reward for the inquisitive shopper. Look at the stall of destiny, is not it lovely?

Bizarrely, all the things I thought would be snapped up instantly people didn't even look at, and the things I made last thing at night in front of the telly just to use up leftover material, were ohh and ahh-ed over, and bought straight away! Which just goes to show how much I know. Nuffink.

The most frustrating thing at these events is when people pour over you work, saying "oh it's all so beautiful, you're so clever, it's so wonderful, you have such talent" and then they walk away without buying anything! Still, a tremendous boost to the morale, if not to the coffers. That said, the whole thing was a delight, and I came away with a spring in my step and a cheque from none other than Christopher Lloyd! (great nephew of I believe...)

The most surprising moment was finding Yukka, one of the Great Dixter dachshunds, under my table trying to make off with my sandwich. Fat hund.

Now my attention turns to the big wedding next weekend. I've already worked out that there are not actually enough hours in the day to get everything collected, arranged and delivered, but I have every confidence that someone will invent some sort of time travel device by next Wednesday. Every confidence.

Of Moss and Men

2008-12-01T12:49:00.001-08:00

It's the 1st of December, the yule tide is here, and once again I have come to the realisation that truly, moss is the devil's work. I know I'm all 'green' and what have you, but even I get a fit of the screaming ab-dabs rummaging though great auld dirty bags of wreath moss. There are THINGS in there... More things than last year... Plus the bag I have looks all green and mossy and delectable on the outside, but inside it is full of brown, nasty, un-mossy stuff. Nevertheless I have continued, and am quite pleased with my little wreath-lets, even though at their heart lurks the dingy moss of doom...

I made some willow rings earlier last month for some dried wreathy delights, and, despite having got quite giddy on the fumes from my hot glue gun today, they are looking very nice too. And yes, I hear all you 'but you should wire everything on individually, glue is for losers' people out there, and to you I say....tthhbbbpppp.

All these wonderous things will be on sale at my stall at the Great Dixter Christmas Fair this weekend! Come one, come all, grab your maiden aunt, coerce your children, bribe your parents, blackmail your spouse and come get festive.

Also check out the lovely e-advent calender at Green Union. Behind every door is an eco-tip, and if you send in a good one you could win a highly valuable prize from me! Or, if you're lucky, one of the other lovely people involved...

Dahlia of the Triffids

2008-11-27T12:13:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's happening, we're going for a botanical-literary-cinematic pun for every post. Start the groaning now.

So I dug out my dahlia tubers yesterday. They truly were monsters. I wish I could tell you which varieties they were, but of course I have totally forgotten. I think I went wild and ordered them from Sarah Raven as a treat (for me, not for her, I doubt she was that thrilled). Anyway, there were two delicious dark burgundy kinds and a bright orange one. They all grew like topsy* once planted, although I have to say that the vase life of the orange ones was pretty disappointing, they went rather crispy and curly round the edges - like a sandwich left out in the sun. They did pretty well in floral foam, and I made some lovely table centres out of them, which you see pictured, in September, which I thought were an autumnal delight, if I do say so myself. Was just about to divide them when it started hailing in a thoroughly aggressive manner, and I had to take cover in the greenhouse, with a rather worried dog. After the icy deluge I have to say I rather lost the will to garden...

Have not made a SINGLE wreath today as direct consequence of eating the biggest Thanksgiving dinner ever in the history of the world (fact) and being simply too full to deal with moss and wires and spiky things.

* Factoid of the day. I was just about to wonder out loud what 'topsy' was, thinking maybe it was a sort of weed, but I looked it up and in fact it comes from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher-Stowe. The character Topsy is a wild ragamuffin, who says, "I s'pect I growed. Don't think nobody never made me." and it passed into common use. You see! Putting that English degree to good use, and maybe making up for horrendous puns? No.

Wreath Encounter

2008-11-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

Hello loyal readers!

Well it's day two for the Rebecca Frere Flowers Blog of Ultimate Destiny, and it's got two followers, so if it continues to grow in this rabid 'a-person-a-day' manner, then... well...you can work it out for yourselves, you mathematical whizz kids.

Today I took Christmas wreaths of all shapes and sizes (this is a lie - they were all round) to the Bonnington Christmas Coffee Morning. Whilst perhaps not being the world's most glamorous event, it was very jolly and in aid of a good cause, and the wreaths quite literally flew off the (makeshift) shelves. One over zealous would-be customer had to be prevented from buying one which was only half made! This means that either a) people are quite mad, or b) I should not bother finishing them off properly, as people clearly don't notice when they're a bit askew. I'm leaning towards A. It was an excellent dress-rehearsal for the Day of Days - the Great Dixter Christmas Fair.

Gearing up for a lovely wedding in Lympne Castle in December - a real christmas treat. I seem to have been talked into doing not only the flowers, but also running a creche in the castle during the reception... Not sure if I should diversify so soon, and in this direction, but we shall see!

Before I sign off, many MANY thanks to the multi-talented and tirelessly tasteful Kerry at www.dottydogdesigns.co.uk for creating my beautiful new website AND setting up this blog, enabling me to bore people with my incessant chatter even more often than in the past.

Pip pip.

December's News

2008-11-20T04:42:00.000-08:00

Rebecca has a lovely stall at the Great Dixter Christmas Fair, held on the 6th and 7th of December. Come along to this wonderful house and garden, support local small businesses and do some Christmas shopping.