The way that florists buy flowers is changing. With the advent of social media we all know a little more about growers, particularly the big growers. The gap between florist and grower is narrowing and I for one am grateful for that. Lots of us now buy from growers of all sizes and I thought it would be interesting to do a series of grower spotlight articles and this is the very first one. We will look at growers of all shapes and sizes from tiny micro growers to large multi nationals.
So, lets meet our first grower: Vanessa Brown of Barnyard Flowers, Southorpe on the Cambridgeshire-Lincolnshire border.
Tell us about yourself and your growing journey
My name is Vanessa Brown, and I’ve been gardening for my entire life; I definitely got my love of gardening from my mum. Every house I have ever lived in has had a garden, and gardening is my way of staying sane, definitely my “happy place”. There is no family history of floristry, but my brother in Ireland did run a herb nursery and gardening business for his entire working life.
In 2023, I decided to set up my new business Barnyard Flowers, which is a flower and foliage growing business. I am loving every minute of it, and am currently selling buckets of flowers to florists, event planners and people who want to arrange their own flowers at home. I am also selling bouquets to a local garden centre and to members of the public. We have an Instagram profile @barnyardflowers and that is bringing in some enquiries too. We love posting images of our flowers and arrangements!
What are your top three favourites to grow and why?
Dahlias. They are so strong, resilient, colourful, wonderful in every way!
Cosmos. Again, so colourful and the varieties are getting so good. They are the best ‘cut and come again’ flower in the garden, and flower for months on end.
Snap dragons. Don’t they just look fabulous in a bouquet – their tall and colourful spires provide wonderful form.
Tell us where you grow and a little bit about the area, soil type, weather conditions, what makes your patch great or not.
We have lived in our current property for 17 years. It is a converted barn with a 2 acre garden, and we have developed it with many different areas including big perennial borders, a Mediterranean garden, a beach garden, a large veg plot and a large cutting plot. We have opened our garden for the NGS charity (National Garden Scheme) a number of times over the years.
Soil type is chalky, with a lot of stones! The area has very low rainfall so many plants struggle in the summer, and obviously we are trying to grow as many drought tolerant plants as possible. I think our garden is just fantastic, because of the variety of plants and trees. Because I have been growing for many years I am experienced in how to look after each and every plant. The perennial borders provide many of my cut flowers, such as geum, persicaria, verbascum, grasses, feverfew, sedum, asters and rudbeckia. These are fabulous additions to the cutting plots, and can be very useful for florists as unusual fillers in arrangements.
Are there things you grew this year that you may not next year and are there things you would grow more of or maybe things you would like to try?
I will definitely grow more dahlias, especially the ones that are tried and tested to last well as cut flowers. I will also grow a greater variety and colours of cosmos, more colour varieties of snap dragons, more phlox, more achillea, more eucalyptus, mint and sanguisorba.
Explain how you sell to florists eg. can they choose their colours, do you have a minimum spend, how much notice you need?
I sell to florists in any way they want! I have sold mixed buckets, buckets with a specific colour theme, single variety buckets, single colour buckets, flowers only buckets. I don’t have a minimum spend. I usually don’t need much notice because I am at home a lot of the time, and my flowers are grown in my own huge garden so I can go out any time to pick. On occasions I have sent photos and video of the flowers and foliage that are available in a particular week, so if a florist would like that I am happy to do so.
How can florists buy flowers from you?
Instagram: @barnyardflowers
Website: barnyardflowers.com
Phone: 07958 877376
I love selling my flowers to florists! Please do get in touch to discuss anything at all!
Viv Bradford trained in West Germany in the late 1980s before returning to the UK, where she has pursued many roles in the industry from running retail premises, teaching floristry, working in wholesale, business coaching florists and running an award-winning studio florist specialising in weddings.
Viv also created and runs Facebook groups Flowerphiles for experienced florists and The Floristry Geek for students and those new to the industry which concentrates on educational content.
