The Flower of Hope
Hello Dear Flower Friends!
Happy New Year! What a year 2025 was. Joy, sorrow, sunshine and rain and the most amazing year for flowers and fruit!
We were proud to have made over 350 bouquets of flowers for the staff and residents of Lawnfield House, Willesden, in Brent Mencap’s garden room, with the help of our excellent volunteers. One of our highlights was giving a special bouquet to resident Betty (below) on her 100th birthday. Apparently she still does the crossword!!
But it was with a heavy heart that we said goodbye to some of the dear residents of Lawnfield House, including Philomena (below). The staff made a little floral shrine with a picture taken of her, holding the special birthday bouquet we’d given to her in June. Philomena, we hope you’ll be forever surrounded by beautiful blooms, wherever you are.
The season ended with hedgerows packed full of bright hawthorn, rose hips, sloe and ivy berries and feathery Cupressus, brilliant for wreath making and winter food for the birds.
We said au revoir to the season with a delivery of vases to the residents and staff of Lawnfield House, filled with the flowers we’d grown, foraged and dried during the summer and autumn, sending a message of floral joy and love and that we are thinking of them.
On a personal note, I amused myself in the run up to Christmas by making wreaths for my family, not all of which got the stupendous admiration I deserved ;)! For some reason my offering of pastel urban chic didn’t go down well. Hey ho, young people eh! I’ll just stick to red and gold next year 😊
So now that winter is almost behind us and spring’s bright blossoms await, we’re busy planting bulbs and prepping the soil in anticipation of a glorious new season of growing and giving.
This year we are delighted to have been invited to host a special visitor from Taiwan in August, sponsored by the Taiwanese government. Her aim is to learn about the Flower Friends model and sustainable floristry in the UK, with a view to inspiring the establishment of a similar approach in their her own country. So exciting! Watch out for our report later in the year.
So on that happy note, I leave all you lovers of flowers with the hope of snowdrops and a song to lighten your hearts, leading the way to a magical spring. Not long now!
“The Snowdrop”, by Letitia Elizabeth Landon
Thou fairy gift from summer,
Why art thou blooming now?
When winds are cold and stormy,
And winter rules the year.
I know thee for a token
Of hope that cannot die;
A promise that the spring-time
Is waiting, calm and nigh.
‘ Before all flowers’ by Max Richter https://open.spotify.com/track/0v9LuPahZH8PHN86gxRHTU?si=8f9d5fe59d6e4233
PS Love and thanks to Charlie Jackson, one of our amazing volunteers, for his beautiful photo of snowdrops!