Fresh from the success of a seasonal pop up The Real Flower Company are now joining us in store. We love the hat box packaging and scented candles, huge posies wafting their blooms, vintage pots and an array of quirky vessels selling spring. Read more about The Real Flower Company here and hear what have to say below…
“We’ve been lucky enough to win some fabulous awards over the last couple of years which has really helped us to spread the word about the importance of scent and provenance in the world of cut flowers. Many journalists have championed our cause and over time we’ve built up an extremely loyal following of customers who, having received one of our scented rose bouquets from a friend or relative, have loved them and have been sending them regularly to their friends and family ever since. Our thanks to all of you!”
By now you’ll have discovered that we are not like most modern growers. We don’t have modern environmentally controlled glass houses or labs developing contrived versions of your favorite flowers.
We have knowledgeable people, willing hands and a passion for flowers as flowers should be; full of scent, vibrant with colour and laced with the most beautiful textures.
Everyone who works at The Real Flower Company is dedicated to ensuring that our product is of the highest quality, at every stage, from planting through to the beautifully finished bunches.
Prices start from £25. Call in store for more details on delivery and full range.
Fresh from filling the shop with heavenly Christmas trees we’re now heading in to Spring with the Real Flower Company and caught up with the team to ask them to share just a few of their floral fancies…
How did The Real Flower Company get started? What is your story?
The Real flower Company came about through a meeting of myself and my 2 business partners. One of my partners had started growing roses and herbs on her farm in England and selling them to some florists. I had left my job in the fashion industry (Buying Director at Harvey Nichols for 10 year) when my lifelong love of gardening and growing flowers had taken over and I had set up as a florist providing flowers for many clients in the fashion, music and publishing industries. Our other partner has a farm in Kenya (now fair trade certified) and was looking to grow flowers.
I was looking to open a shop specialising in scented garden roses when we all met and realised we shared the same passion; a love of scented, naturally grown flowers with character and transporting aromas. This was at a time when orchids and clean domes of perfectly white stark flowers dominated floristry and growing flowers in England was not a selling point in the flower industry as it is now. People expected flowers to last 2 weeks and were so used to intensively grown hot-house flowers that had had scent bred out of them in favour of long vase life. It was an education in the early days as people could simply not believe how we managed to get flowers with such scent and character – people often asked (still do) what we spray on our roses to get them to small the way they do!
What makes The Real Flower Company unique?
Scent and provenance!…and from selecting our plants from wonderful breeders to planting, nurturing, picking, and making into glorious bouquets and spectacular arrangements – our little team are there at every stage of the process; hard work but very rewarding and that’s where the provenance comes in as we are there at every stage. This is celebrated in the food industry but often overlooked in the flower industry where its equally important to know how flowers are grown and to understand the production process to ensure that it is ethical and fair. We specialise in what grows well and seasonally on our farms and grow as naturally as possible. We celebrate scent and character and like to try to work with nature as much as we can whether its lining our rose paddocks and foliage beds with nesting boxes to encourage insect eating birds or re-cycling waste water through reed beds.
How do you feel about being in The Shop at Bluebird? How did this collaboration come about?
I adore the shop at Bluebird and the collaboration came about when I popped in one day for a look round and met Paul – we had worked together at HN years ago and remembered each other. I love the way that collections are edited in the store and the creative way that they are brought together – it’s always a joy to walk around and be surprised and delighted by what’s in store. We talked about flowers and how they could fit into the shop – creating some theatre and a little oasis. We have lots of customers in Chelsea who are thrilled that we are now in the shop (we do the RHS Chelsea Flower Show each year)..I was collecting kitsch vintage animal vases at the time too and thought they’d fit in perfectly with the stores collection. They sold quickly…I’m currently replacing them with more!
