British cut flowers

LR, topbottom: The Real Flower Company; New Covent Garden Market / Julian Winslow; Green & Gorgeous / Clare West; FloraBritain / Lambs Flowers

Business is increasing for

British flower growers, such
as the Real Flower Company
(above). British cut flower
production takes place both
under glass (below) and
outdoors (below left). More
florists such as That Flower
Shop, London are using
seasonal blooms (above right).

backing I
n recent years there has been a huge resurgence in
support for growing and buying British flowers;
seasonal bunches of fresh blooms can now be found
from supermarkets to farmers markets. Everyone

british
seems to want to jump on the bandwagon, but what does
the future hold for British growers? The increase in
interest has not eased the difficulties that many growers
face. Moreover, what effect will the UKs growing
production have on overseas growers?
As someone who used to live in Guernsey, once a major
centre of UK flower production and who as a child in the
1960s was lugged around more Italian growers of carnations
British cut flowers are undergoing a return to in the Lee Valley than I care to remember British-grown
flowers are part of my floral heritage. That said, I cannot
popularity. Can suppliers of British-grown get too upset by the fact that only 10 percent of flowers
blooms keep up with the momentum? sold in the UK are home grown. It would be great if we
Author: Caroline Marshall-Foster, Editor of The Florist online magazine
www.theflorist.co.uk
could get it up to 50 percent, but that is unlikely to
happen and, dare I say it, probably should not.
April 2016 | The Garden 99
 British cut flowers

Challenges of climate The future for Britain

The UK, like most of northern Europe, does not have a British growers, however, should not just give up and
flower-growing climate that could ever commercially allow imported flowers to rule the market place. With
satisfy current market demand, nor should we try to production areas remaining relatively steady over the
match production of the Dutch or countries further afield. last few years, and numerous smaller growers coming
We are world experts at growing some cut flowers that are into the market, all being well we will soon enjoy an
suited to our climate, such as daffodils and sweet peas. increase in production.
Foliage is often overlooked when thinking about cut This is why I wholeheartedly support British Flower
flowers, but plants such as hebes, ivies and hostas are also Week (1319 June 2016) started by New Covent Garden
ideal in our changeable weather. Plus, there are fabulous Market in 2013. I love the way small artisan growers have
UK growers of dahlias, alstroemerias, lisianthus and got together to create networks such as Flowers from the

The Good FLower COmpany

peonies. Nothing beats first-of-the-season black widow Farm, The British Flower Collective and other small local

Alamy / Amer Ghazzal

irises (Iris tuberosa), and our pot plants are second to groups. I also like the larger growers that have tried to
none. While home-grown is a fabulous concept and make it easier for florists to buy British with the formation
needs to be promoted, there is neither enough space nor of FloraBritain a collection of 14 British flower farmers
resources to replace all imports. selling their blooms under one label.
In addition to the constraints caused by the climate, However, these initiatives are not enough. Like others
there was, and still is, a limit to what most consumers are I think there needs to be a much stronger and all-
Fiona Arnold New Covent
willing to pay for flowers. The pricing structure is led to a (above) of The Garden Market encompassing flower-industry body that would bring
great extent by supermarkets, which control the market Good Flower (above) founded all growers, wholesalers, distributors and florists together
and set price points ever downwards, it seems. With Company selling British Flower to have a year-round marketing strategy. Until that
flowers on Exeter Week in 2013.
overseas growers carrying lower overheads (not, however, High Street happens, individual British growers will need to make a
through subsidies or low wages as some would argue) and during British Packing daffodils decision as to where their place is in the flower supply
getting better quality and yields per hectare, UK-based Flower Week. (left) ready for chain in order to develop their share of the market.
dispatch to
growers have struggled to compete. So when property The start of spring florists and
developers came along in the late 1980s and bought and the British
cut-flower season
supermarkets. Growers great and small
much of the flower-production land, we cannot blame is signalled by The large growers are fairly safe. In the main they will
that generation of growers for taking the money. As a fresh daffodils always have the supermarkets to take their products;
Guernsey grower once told me, If I make a penny a stem (right). indeed, one must applaud supermarkets for being so
more I will survive, if I make a penny a stem less I am Flowers from the proBritish because logistically it would be hard for
bankrupt. Given the current market for flowers is trading Farm network anyone else to take and sell such quantity.
in fractions of pennies, margins are even tighter and created a cut- It is a bit more risky for the middle-sized businesses
flower display
pressure on growers even higher. (below right) at because, as the whole world of retailing knows, being

Alamy / Science Photo Library

Even if we could turn the clock back, upping the level last years RHS middle market doesnt cut the mustard these days.
Alamy / Mar Photographics

Flower Show
of production in the UK would not be good for the planet. However, it is not a lost cause, more a case of rethinking
Tatton Park.
We would need to find around 100sqkm (39sqmiles) of and reinventing the strategy be it mail order, farm shops
spare land to replace what is being cropped in the key or crop diversification.
non-UK growing regions, as well as thousands of workers, Making By contrast, the smaller, more bespoke artisan growers
millions of pounds for technical equipment, and a full the cover have a wonderful opportunity to cater for a niche but
from British
logistics system. Then, because the five top-selling flowers cut flowers highly lucrative subsection of flower buyers. Called
p64
Cut-flower facts & figures
are roses, chrysanthemums, carnations, gerberas and lilies, locavores by the local food movement, these are
we would also need good levels of light and heat, both people who consciously go out to buy local products,
of which are only achievable in northern Europe with from local vendors; provenance and seasonality is key.
expensive and not particularly eco-friendly glasshouses. The signs are good for this new generation of British

36
growers, particularly with regard to the rising number of
Overseas production
In South America and Kenya, many cut flowers can be the average 90% 2535 year olds who not only love flowers and all things
British, but spend more than their older counterparts. There

2 billion
grown in more natural conditions, which reduces the spend per of cut flowers is also an ever-increasing number of florists who are totally
carbon footprint, even if flown into Europe and the UK a person per year come from pro-British as long as the quality and vase life is good.
fact researched by Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, and on flowers and overseas As far as I can see, British flowers are here to stay maybe
the value of the
indoor plants
used throughout articles regarding emissions ever since. cutflower industry differently this time compared to the growers of my youth,
It is also important to remember just how much good but definitely with a future in which we should revel.
importing flowers does for local populations and Tulips are the
economies. On the basis of trade-not-aid strategy, Kenya most popular
6,800ha More from the RHS For cut-flower-related events,
RHS / Chris young

and Colombia would be far poorer places without their seasonal British
cut flowers sold
search Cut flowers at: www.rhs.org.uk/whatson
flower industries; both countries have world-recognised the total area of cut flowers grown in the open in For the first time, New Covent Garden Flower Market
in supermarkets,
and highly developed social programmes that have followed by daffodils
2015 in the UK, an increase of 16 percent on 2014 is exhibiting at RHS Chelsea Flower Show (2428 May);
transformed lives of flower-farm workers. and gladioli www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea

100 The Garden | April 2016 April 2016 | The Garden 101