The florists creating installations at this year’s RHS Tatton Park Flower Show were presented with a multi-faceted brief; to create a design inspired by the senses but also to embrace the RHS’s desire for truly sustainable pieces. Creatively, this gave the florists free rein to design and construct free-form installations representing one or more of the five senses - sight, sound, smell, touch and taste - in flower and plant material, whilst practically they had to work out how to engineer their installations sustainably.
Just like at RHS Chelsea in May, The RHS no longer allow floral foam to be used at any of their shows, so the florists were challenged to build their installations using environmentally friendly methods, mechanics and materials. Environmental sustainability also embraces the sourcing of flower and plant material, with all of the florists' installations predominantly using British-grown flowers, sourced from members of Flowers from the Farm.
We also took our Flower Lounge video series on the road again to RHS Tatton. Watch regular contributor Su Whale give insight into some of the sustainability tips and tricks the exhibitors used this year. A lot of what Su spoke about can be applied to bricks and mortar floristry businesses to improve their green credentials.
If the video above isn't working, you can watch the video on youtube here.
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Florists Sarah Flynn & Molly McGoff from Bloom & Gorgeous and Studio Flore embraced the concept of rewilding for their installation, using meadow and cottage-garden flowers and foliage, along with reclaimed and recycled furniture pieces to showcase a natural and ecological approach to floristry.
Emma McGeehan from Orchis Floral Design called her sensory piece “Soundwave”, creating a 2m-high floral soundwave representation with fragrant flowers graded by colour, from calming blue to shades of purple and pink.
“Sense and Sustainability” by Kathryn Cronin of Fierceblooms perfectly captured the twin themes, using local, seasonal flowers in a wild garden style, with hidden mechanics including bundled hay, copper wire and glass water vessels.
“Making Sense” by Anja Norris of Norris Floristry used contrasting textures in her installation to evoke a sense of stillness, calming the senses in an over-stimulated world.
Anja's sustainable construction methods included planting the meadow into trays holding water and chicken wire to create the “hill” effect with cultivated moss placed on top.
Sustainable, British-grown flowers were championed by Beth Straw in her “Market Flowers” installation, which also featured reclaimed and recycled crates and baskets to bring to life a vintage flower market stall, filled with British flowers and foliage with an emphasis on scented stems.
The textures and colours of the wild Scottish Highlands inspired Jill Winton from Plantology Floral Creations to create “Otherworldly”, where she demonstrated the skilfull use of eco-friendly mechanics using wire, twine and glass test tubes rather than foam and cable ties.
Stacey Hartley Florals “A Sense of Change” featured many flowers suitable for drying, and included a natural flower drying rack made from reclaimed wood and chicken wire.
While, Chloe Robinson’s installation chose to embrace all of the senses in a suspended installation featuring scented flowers, artfully-styled seasonal vegetables, tactile foliage and a small speaker plays audio for ‘sound’.
Scent also featured in “Flowers from the Garden: Away With the Fairies” by Alison Hayes, who embraced the sustainability brief with her use of branches, lichen, foliage and a dried flower crown, along with sustainable mechanics including wooden hoops, chicken wire and metal hose clips, all of which can be reused and recycled.
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