What an incredible, exciting, inspirational British Flowers Week!
The social media feeds for #BritishFlowersWeek were buzzing, the photos astonishing and www.britishflowersweek.com lit up with campaign events, news and floral designs.
Thank you to everyone who has given their support to making this year’s campaign the best one yet!
British Flowers Week – The Headlines
The Twitter stats are in, and they make exciting reading! We are thrilled to announce that #BritishFlowersWeek has smashed last year’s Twitter reach of 1.5 million and is up 260% at an incredible 5.4 million. There were 2200 posts on Instagram and countless posts on Facebook – including by Waitrose, GQ Magazine, The Ritz and even No 10 Downing Street!
Support for British Flowers Week in the media has broadened this year to reach over 3 million people with mentions and features in regional, trade and national media, including pieces in The Daily Telegraph, Gardens Illustrated, The Independent, RHS The Garden magazine, English Garden, Waitrose Weekend, The Daily Express, Country Living, Homes and Gardens, Yorkshire Life and on regional radio stations.
The Paper Studio ran out of British Flowers tags and had to quickly re-print, distributing a total of 20 000 tags to hundreds of growers and florists across the country.
There were British flowers inside No 10 Downing Street, and photographs of Michelle Obama clasping a beautiful bouquet of British summer flowers were beamed around the world!
The Flower Market Photoshoot for British Flowers Week
Over the course of the week, the fifteen grand designs specially commissioned from five Flower Market florists for British Flowers Week were revealed online, and spread like wildfire through social media.
Opening British Flowers Week 2015 on Day One were the exquisite designs of Zita Elze of Kew working with the British Larkspur.
See the designs Meet the florist Learn about the flower See gallery
On Day Two, Hattie Fox of That Flower Shop delighted us with her wild and free designs using British Foliage.
See the designs Meet the florist Learn about the flower See gallery
Mid-week on Day Three, Mark Welford and Stephen Wicks of Bloomsbury Flowers embraced the British Allium in their theatrical creations.
See the designs Meet the florist Learn about the flower See gallery
On Day Four, Jay Archer was rockin’ the British Lupin with her joyful, ebullient style of floristry.
See the designs Meet the florist Learn about the flower See gallery
In the Grand Finale on Day Five, Charlotte Slade of Jane Packer Flowers re-styled the humble British Snapdragon.
See the designs Meet the florist Learn about the flower See gallery
British Flowers Week – The Events & Bouquets
Throughout the week, the nation’s growers, wholesalers and florists have been enthusiastically spreading the word about British flowers.
Flower farmers have thrown open their gates for tours, talks and demonstrations and taken British flowers into schools, an RHS Garden, stately homes and into city centres.
Super-creative florists have designed exclusive British Flowers Week bouquets, dressed window-displays, held workshops and staged British flowers photoshoots.
Hundreds of residents at care homes across London have received British flower posies thanks to Floral Angels supported by students at Capel Manor College.
Your Photos – The Galleries
British Flowers Week HQ has been inundated with wonderful photos of your own British floral designs. Take a look at our four galleries of images and check out #BritishFlowersWeek on Instagram where there are over 1700 posts!
And the winning photo was … drum roll please …
Left to right: Susanne Loweth of Beamsley Blooms, Beamsley, Susan Dobson of The Yorkshire Dales Flower Company, Bradley, Rachel Slater of Owl House Flowers, Bingley and Jane Tucker of The Flower Fields at Field Head Farm, West Morton with their Union Jack floral design to mark British Flowers Week.
This photo shows four flower growers who got together to celebrate British Flowers Week. They created the fabulous red, white and blue floral feature from seasonal flowers including peonies, lilac and cornflowers.
We loved this photo as we thought it completely embodied the spirit of British Flowers Week with people getting together to celebrate British Flowers!
We also wanted to make a special mention to a photo by Firenza Floral Design, Simply by Arrangement and taken by Sarah Manson Photography which we also loved.
Behind the Lens
Julian Winslow is the brilliant, calm, creative photographic talent, who turned his lens and his artistic eye on the extraordinary beauty of British flowers and foliages for the Flower Market British Flowers Week Photoshoot.
We hope you have enjoyed the week and we look forward to seeing you again next year!
Don’t forget, folks: British flowers are for life, not just for British Flowers Week! Keep supporting British!
