Strawberry Hill House is hosting its fourth annual flower festival this weekend, promoting floristry sustainability.
Taking place from today until Sunday, the festival is set within Twickenham’s gothic Strawberry Hill House and showcases the best of British-grown flowers, foam-free sustainable floristry and the design creativity of the UK’s leading floral designers.
Sponsored by Savills Teddington, the flower festival will be produced for the first time in association with Flowers from the Farm, which is an organisation that champions artisan growers of seasonal locally grown British cut flowers.
The co-chair of Flowers from the Farm, Meg Edmonds said: “We see a perfect synergy between the creative vision of the Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival and Flowers from the Farm.
“The Flower Festival presents a unique opportunity to showcase the talents of our farmer-florists and the beauty of local, seasonal British cut flowers in creative floral design.”
Sustainability is central to the event, both for the organisers at Strawberry Hill House and those at Flowers from the Farm.
The organiser of the festival, Claire Leighton said: “The only waste that will be left after the festival is a compost heap and every single florist uses techniques, such as chicken wire that doesn’t involve using plastic.”
There will also be opportunities for visitors to have guided tours of the house, explore the grounds and attend workshops that will share sustainable methods of flower arranging.
Tonight, a floral demonstration is set to be hosted by acclaimed florist and sustainability advocate, Shane Connolly, who is best known for decorating Westminster Abbey for the wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Connolly said: “We floral designers owe a debt of gratitude to Nature and the planet; so we must
create designs that are beautiful without and within.
“Designing sustainably does not stop creativity and magic, so it’s time we stopped hiding behind the pretty flowers, acknowledge the huge environmental issues and show how it can be done with festivals like The Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival.”
Tickets for the flower festival, as well as further information about the tours and talks are available online at: https://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/flower-festival/
Photo credits: Courtesy of Strawberry Hill House.
