British Flowers Week 2016 has sadly come to an end, but what an incredible week it was.
Thank you to everyone who has given their support to making this year’s campaign the best one yet!
British Flowers Week – The Headlines
British Flowers Week made Countryfile this year and Capel Manor students once again created a display of stunning British flowers for inside No 10 Downing Street with the support of the BFA.
We saw social media go bananas! The hashtag #BritishFlowersWeek smashed last year’s social media records, reaching over 8.7 m people on Twitter and over 3 m people on Instagram. Kicking off British Flowers Week on Monday, #BritishFlowersWeek was even trending in the UK on Twitter.
The media got behind British Flowers Week with coverage in regional, trade and national media. Homes and Gardens even came down to interview each of the five British Flowers Week florists on camera. See the interviews.
The Paper Studio was printing tags, charts and notepads as fast as it could! In total they ended up distributing 60,000 tags to hundreds of growers and florists across the country.
The Flower Market Photoshoot
Over the course of the week, the eye-catching designs specially commissioned from the five featured florists for British Flowers Week were revealed online, and they spread like wildfire through social media being retweeted and reposted.
See the designs Meet the florist Learn about the flower See gallery
Opening British Flowers Week 2016 on were the creative designs of Philip Hammond of The Dorchester (a Flower Market College Day alumnus) working with British Oriental Lilies.
See the designs Meet the florist Learn about the flower See gallery
On Day Two, Florence Kennedy of Petalon delighted us with her world of flowers and pedal power using British Orlaya grandiflora and even brought her dog Huxley along to model some designs.
See the designs Meet the florist Learn about the flower See gallery
Mid-week on Day Three, Amanda Austin of Amanda Austin Flowers embraced the British Astrantia in her star creations.
See the designs Meet the florist Learn about the flower See gallery
On Day Four, The Flower Appreciation Society hit Foliage Row and used British foliage in their beautiful designs, showing that greenery is the new black.
See the designs Meet the florist Learn about the flower See gallery
In the grand finale on Day Five, Rob Van Helden of Rob Van Helden Floral Designs used British Alstroemeria en masse to stunning effect.
The Events & Bouquets
There were over 50 events happening up and down the country with flower farmers flinging open their gates and florists imparting their skills in workshops or going into schools to educate the next generation.
Many florists created beautiful bouquets especially for British Flowers Week and sold them in their retail outlets, some even left lonely bouquets around the UK to spread some joy.
Your Photos – The Galleries
British Flowers Week HQ has been inundated with wonderful photos of your own British floral designs. We have had to create EIGHT galleries of your images!
And the winning photo was … a montage of photos by James Reader.
Normally we choose just one image to win the British Flowers Week photo competition, but James Reader of Simply By Arrangement sent us this selection of photos from the RHS Harlow Carr Flower Show in Yorkshire. We felt that together his photos showing young and old enjoying British flowers completely encompassed the spirit of British Flowers Week. So congratulations James!
One final happy note to end on.. You may remember the five puppies that the Dogs Trust named after British Flowers (below). Well we are happy to report that Thymus, Cosmos, Daisy, Verberna and Salvia have now all found happy new homes!
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!
