more blogs
Browse more blogs or search for topics by category.
- Sustainable funeral flowers
Find out why I’m setting out to shake up the world of funeral flowers from my shed. Read more about the new Farewell Flowers florist directory which aims to connect people across the UK with more planet-friendly choices for funeral flowers. - 10 tips for choosing a wedding florist
Congratulations! You’re engaged! There’s so much to organise now you’re planning a wedding, so here are my top tips for choosing a wedding florist to suit you. - Seasonal flowers for every month: January
A monthly bouquet showcasing seasonal flowers starts today! Find out what’s flowering in the UK in Janauary and has the wow factor that is WIGGLE! - Why choose and use locally grown flowers?
Read why I love using my own and other local flowers and why and when I may choose to use flowers from further afield. - Sustainable floristry – what does it mean?
Carole looks at sustainable floristry techniques which are easy for any of us to use as we move away from plastic-based floral foam without compromising on the beauty of our arrangements. - Big flowery urns and lots of chat
Workshops at Tuckshop Flowers Wondering what’s it like to do a 1:1 floristry workshop here at Tuckshop Flowers? Read all about Chloe’s day spent with me practising statement arrangements, talking business and capturing her handiwork. Chloe contacted me early in the new year to ask about 1:1 floristry workshops and as soon as we chatted - Pic of the week February 2nd
First snowdrop spotted 30th January on a prowl around my garden…. It’s not the best photo I’ve taken this week, but it was a eureka moment! I’ve been envying the snowdrops populating the social media feeds of many flower folk across the UK, but now at last I have my own (well a single fully - Remembering summer wedding flowers
It cheered me along this week when a set of images of Steph and Ollie’s summer wedding flowers dropped into my inbox. I absolutely love this candid shot of flower girls and their bouquets by the talented Sara at Lincoln Pictures. For me, nothing beats subjects caught slightly off guard and I think this photo - Pic of the week January 17th
Inspired by the Canon photography blog I decided to go on a pre-dawn foray to the allotment, hoping for the Narnia world that greeted me last week as I wheelbarrowed leaves from the communal leaf dump to my flower beds. The forecast said ‘frost’, sunrise time said ‘8.09am’, and the blog said that the hour - Pic of the week – starts now!
Happy New Year! Here’s hoping that 2022 brings us a bit more fun that the last year did… As I’m trapped indoors by admin jobs, sleet and snow, I thought I’d resolve to try to be more regular with my blog this year and also try to capture more photos of flowers in order to - Why I love funeral flowers
I’ve just spent a truly joyful morning cutting early summer flowers for a funeral later this week. The flowers came from a real gardener’s garden – rambling, slightly wild and completely magical. I was caught in the act of exclaiming “Oooooh!” as I pulled into the flower fringed driveway on arrival at the 1970s house - Green Funeral Flowers go online
Anyone who knows me knows just how buzzy the bee in my bonnet is where green funeral flowers are concerned. They’re one of the things that pushed me off down the flowery path after seeing people’s responses to the wild garden flowers I arranged for my brother-in-law Steve, an ecologist, twitcher and conservationist, whilst I - Weird times and wedding flowers
Wedding flowers in the time of Coronavirus Coronavirus lockdowns had a huge effect on weddings and wedding floristry businesses throughout the UK. Here’s an account of what I did to adapt my business model during those tricky months when movements and social gatherings were severely limited. Photo right (pre-Covid): The Gribbons Tomorrow (4th July 2020) - Wedding cake flowers
Wedding cake flowers for makers of splendiferous cakes Find out why my own experience of wedding cake making has given me the utmost respect for the wedding cake pros and their amazing artistry and read more to get inspiration for your wedding cake flowers Photo right: Cake by Ben the Cake Man. Flowers and photo, - English garden wedding flowers – June
Wedding flowers to match a rose garden What better month to get married than in June, when the roses bloom and waft their perfume all around? Read more about Claire and Luke’s quintessentially English wedding flowers in a rosy Edgbaston garden. Photo: The Gribbons Claire and Luke chose to get married in a chapel at - Wedding flowers: Birch arch back stories
Life as a wedding florist When you choose a florist to do your wedding flowers, a large part of the service they offer is to absorb the stress involved in this task and to make your flowers appear effortless on the day. Here I share the frantic paddling which goes on below the waterline as - Growing flowers: getting the plot ready for 2019
An organised start to the New Year – read more about getting my flower plot onto the straight and narrow. - Being a florist – a dream or a nightmare?
From time to time I receive emails from people who remind me of myself. People who love gardening and/or flowers, who dream of being a florist, and of leaving their current jobs or careers behind. When I do farmers’ markets and customers coo over my stall and stay for a chat, the comment: “Ooh, how - Flower photography: painting with flowers
My most recent wedding has left me with a lasting legacy in the form of the photo above, which is possibly my favourite flower pic to date. It made all the shifting around of ‘stuff’ to clear the background all worthwhile – my cluttered life is something I always curse when it comes to flower - After the Beast’s departure: frozen spring flowers
The Beast from the East has blown its way across the British countryside, leaving thigh high snowdrifts barring paths and roads, and my workshop with iced buckets holding their few flowers in a cement-like grip. I’m normally crouched in my blocks, ready for the starter’s gun to fire on the first day of March – - Small business Saturday
Last week Steve McCabe, our local MP dropped into the Tuckshop as the national ‘Small Business Saturday’ initiative prompted him to find out what was going on in the world of small- and micro-businesses in his Selly Oak constituency. I was expecting a whistle-stop visit, but we actually ended up having quite a long chat about - Seasonal spring flowers: Ranunculove
I’ve got things sprouting in the porch. Little alien claws which swelled when soaked are now layered in a pot, hopefully doing their rooty thing – but I guess I’ll find out in ten days time when I tip them out to investigate how well they’ve managed to shoot their tentacles, prior to planting them - Fragrant kerb appeal
To complete this last stage of a recent house facelift, unfortunately I’ve had to dig out my established lavender hedge so that the railings could be removed from the thicket of their branches – leaving me with several fragrant trips to the recycling centre to dispose of the silvery remains. The men who took out - Flower growing season ends (and another begins)
When you get to the end of the flower growing season and the blooms are starting to flag in the face of murk and drizzle (and that was just August this year…), the time for much clearing and resolving draws nigh. So far, I’ve outed ammi, now crusty and brown, plucked the crispy brown seedheads - Scented July wedding flowers
Versatile lantern table centrepieces and stunning milk churns with scented garden roses added the wow factor to Sam and Rebecca’s Warwickshire wedding. - Wedding flowers workshop
“Now I’ve seen your flowers, I forgive you for the bits I have to clean up from the floor after your workshops” were the words, that greeted me (but said with a smile!) when I arrived at St Nicolas Place last Friday, armed with buckets full to bursting with roses, sweet williams, cornflowers, lady’s mantle - Permission to forage
I’ve been ogling grass verges on every semi rural journey I’ve made for the past few weeks. The froth of cow parsley waving its white umbellifers at me has been calling me relentlessly as wedding flower season begins and as I wait (impatiently) for ammi and orlaya (its cultivated counterparts) to come into bloom. Luckily, through farming contacts, I have - Bloomin’ lovely
Here’s a small snapshot of my corner of the world this week. The recent sunny weather has got all the tulips galloping at a hundred miles an hour, regardless of me wanting to rein them in for May weddings! Everything is busting out all over, and both the Tuckshop Garden and the plot have filled out - Weaving flowers into a life storyCaroline of Forbes Flowers, Aberdeenshire, came to Tuckshop Flowers last week to do a floral workshop on natural funeral flowers and it was such a pleasure to share ideas, experiences and techniques. The woven heart tribute above is just one of the pieces she made during our two days and I love it. When people
- Out with the old
My hands are battle scarred from DIY this week, having just about recovered from the wear and tear of wreath making over Christmas. Stem scratches are replaced by sanding grazes, and pine resin by the whiff of turps. I’m making the most of this tiny window of non-flowery time, by tackling long-neglected decorating jobs in - Carole at Christmas
December heralds my world becoming full of round things. Wreath making takes over in earnest, just around now, with orders from my local customers, and gathering supplies for my workshops. With the advent of my new workspace, the great thing is I no longer have all the workshop supplies invading my house for the preceding six weeks, - Wonderfully wild wedding flowers
I nearly laid an egg when Jess and Tony sent me the photos of their wedding at Wethele Manor in September. Frank Wood, their Birmingham-based photographer, had caught the vivacity of Jess’s wild bouquet, in a collection of stunning shots and my first sight of his work left me shrieking with delight. I suddenly understood - A romantically rosy July wedding
Getting the most out of your wedding flowers Find out how Caitlin and Ryan maximised the use of their wedding flowers throughout their classic English country summer wedding. I love getting photos of my flowers at work. This week, Caitlin and Ryan’s photographer, Dale Stephens sent through some gorgeous images of their July wedding. A big - BrumYODO: lifting the taboo about death
In June, I worked with BrumYODO (You Only Die Once), a local collective, as part of Dying Matters Awareness week. The aim of the week is to raise awareness, that just as in the gardening world, death and dying is a significant part of life – except in the case of humans, the way we approach - In with the creatives
I was very flattered, during British Flowers Week, to be featured in the Daily Telegraph’s list of the Top 20 Creative Florists – a list which contains many of my flowery heroes so I’m incredibly honoured to keep such esteemed company. It’s lovely to know that you can find local and seasonal flowers popping up all across the country, - Cataloguing containers
I’ve been having a bit of a photoshoot this morning, collecting together a selection of the containers I’ve amassed to date. Let’s face it, you can never have too many. And the weird thing is, no matter how many you have, you’ll always need one that is just a little bit taller/narrower/deeper/shallower…. To save my - Blue and white wedding flowers
Wedding flowers inspired by champions! When Janet and Michael approached me about wedding flowers on a blustery September day at Moseley Farmers’ Market, Spring and weddings seemed a long way off. We could never have guessed back then that this blue and white wedding, inspired by the colours of Michael’s beloved Leicester City, would see - Keeping flowers natural
This design pretty much sums up how I feel about flowers, and also encapsulates much of my business philosophy. (And there you were, thinking it was just a heart….) I completely understand that it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but those who like tidiness, order and standardisation are well catered for elsewhere with a near monopoly - Dreaming of dahlias
My house is about to be invaded. The first scouts have already gained a foothold in the living room, and reinforcements are mustering their forces in the porch. Yes, the dahlias have arrived. Those unprepossessing salami tubers in their dusty bags are my late summer and autumn divas, waiting to take centre stage. Not bad - Are we nearly there yet….?
Now that Valentine’s Day is over, my thoughts are really turning towards the growing season and Spring. A big box of dahlia tubers arrived yesterday and they’ve already populated my imagination with diva style blooms in a kaleidoscope of colours. Blush ballerina chrysanthemum plants are on order and my seed box is full to bursting - Winter beauty
I couldn’t resist these scented narcissi at the wholesale market today. The only tricky choice was which colours to go for – the cheeky, sunny yellows or elegant pale lemons and cream. As my own yellow trumpeters are starting to emerge from buds in the garden, I decided (for once) to play the restrained card, - Wedding season
I’m gearing up for Wedding Fair season: the dull winter months certainly drive to send brides-to-be towards thoughts of brighter things and to the flowers they want for their big day. And who can blame them! I spend many a winter hour drooling over flower arranging books, poring over last season’s photos, and compiling endless lists whilst perusing - Glancing back at 2015
As a gardener, I’m always looking forwards and anticipating the flowers, the jobs and the bunches which are yet to come. Ordering next season’s dahlia tubers is already top of my to do list, and my fridge is full of potential, in the form of carefully ordered seed packets, filed by sowing month in various - Winter hands
Wreath making season has started and it’s time to invest in super strong hand cream as hands get some hammer! Twisting, weaving, wiring and wiggling all take their toll but despite all that, I can’t wear gloves. Somehow, you just don’t get the same dexterity and connection with your materials when separated from them by - I dig no dig
For those of you who followed my old blog over at Tuckshop Gardener you may remember me describing a ‘no-dig’ experiment at a similar point in the season last year. This month, when I’m starting to clear flower beds and prepare for the onset of winter, I’m pleased to report that I’ve been absolutely delighted with these - Flowers that fit: getting it right
I got a lovely card in the post this morning – and, serendipitously it was one of the British Flowers Week cards inspired by my flowery link up with More By Design, back in June this year. It came along, out of the blue, from a lady who’d ordered flowers from me, having searched Google, - Why I’m not a shop
My business name confuses people – until I explain that my house used to be the sweetshop for the school a few doors down the road. The previous owners kindly left us this photo of ‘Brenda’s’ in all its sugary pomp, given to them in turn by the eponymous shop lady when they moved in. It’s - Inspired by nature
I’ve been asked to provide flowers for a green funeral this week – a hand-tied sheaf of seasonal flowers and foliage, with no stipulation other than it being natural and relaxed: exactly the brief which led me to set up Tuckshop Flowers, after witnessing the response to the flowers I created for my ecologically-minded brother in law, using his own wild, garden - Short and sweet: the life of annuals
The Tuckshop Garden is waiting for the tide of summer to turn and for the ever bushier perennials to launch into September’s firework display of shocking pink asters, bright yellow rudbeckias and the sunbursts of burnt orange chrysanthemums. This week in the garden, brown stems of faded alliums and glaucous poppy heads have been plucked