Fiona Porter is the woman behind Cotswold Country Flowers, based near Stroud. She supplies local businesses and individuals with wildflowers cut fresh from her garden. She shares a bit about her life and work and how France inspired her love affair with floristry.
After careers in civil engineering and then maths teaching, I had a calling to... flowers! As I write this, I am surrounded by over 10 different sorts of flowers. They are dangling from beams, curtain poles, and banisters - anywhere airy and warm where they will dry quickly and can be boxed up ready for use later in the year.
Memories of France
As I was hanging up today’s cuttings, I remembered a family holiday to France many years ago. The bustling markets, full of artisan produce, were the highlight of my week. I’m sure most girls that age would have spent their pocket money on a cute piece of jewellery or a trendy bikini, but not me! I came back to the tent armed with several wraps of dried flowers. I had no idea what varieties I had back then, but I enjoyed looking at them for months and remembering that gorgeous country.
Floristry through the seasons
Wind the clock forward 40 years, and here I am in the fifth year of running my own cottage business growing seasonal flowers. From April (ish) until October (ish), I use these flowers in all manner of ways. I provide fresh flowers for weddings, funerals, workshops and local bouquet deliveries. I also run cut flower growing courses and sometimes open my gardens for tours or 'pick your own' events.
For artisan growers like myself, the fresh flower season peters out at the end of October - if we're lucky. With this in mind, I spend the summer drying, storing and packing dried flowers which see a surge in popularity from November. I sell these as boxes of dried flowers, as wreath-making kits, or use them in workshops through the winter months.
Looking forwards
In the meantime, I love nothing more than just appreciating my beautiful blooms. Included in this week's pickings of over 1000 stems are dahlia, sweet peas, achillea, larkspur, sunflowers, snapdragons, and much more.
They’ll be included in local bouquet deliveries and used at a country wedding on Saturday for everything from marquee decoration to buttonholes.
On Sunday I’m looking forward to a hen party flower crown workshop. Somewhere in between all this I’ll be cutting flowers, weeding or clearing beds, potting up biennials, the list goes on…..
I never stop, but I love it!
See more of Fiona's beautiful work on the Cotswold Country Flowers website.