Christmas on the way...

One of the great things about decorating the store for Christmas is that we can put tree's together in different styles, shapes and colours unlike at home where you would normally stick to one!

Stokesay Court Flowers

Well worth keeping an eye out for is the upcoming open days at Stokesay Court, both the Azalea walk and the Walled garden will be open on select days through the summer. Of course you can buy Stokesay flowers all the time here at Abundant, but how about buying some freshly picked from the garden?

check out the new website www.stokesayflowersdandgarden.co.uk

Delighted that very soon you will be able to see our arrangements on a regular basis at Fishmore Hall, the beautiful country house hotel on the outskirts of Ludlow.

Wedding Season

Its wedding Season.. after a very successful day at a local wedding fair we are always surprised at the differences between the approach that some couples take toward planning their wedding. As we speak we are putting proposals to a bride who is getting married in about three weeks yet still hasn't engaged a florist; yesterday we had a couple who's wedding is in a couple of years time and I wonder which approach I prefer.

To leave something so important as wedding flowers, to what seems like the very last minute in planning terms, is a touch reckless - though we can usually pull something out of the hat at last minute, it does place everyone under a lot of stress but also - to set something in stone, years before the ceremony is a bit of a waste of time when your tastes can change so much. I would suggest 6 months or maybe a little more as a maximum, but three months as a minimum.

We are getting more and more requests for locally grown flowers (we are lucky enough to have them grown for us in the Victorian Walled Garden at Stokesay Court), the range of scented cottage garden flowers from now until the Autumn is amazing and can bring a just picked look to your bouquets and centrepieces. Its worth remembering though that we are dependant on the weather for what is in season at any particular moment, things come and go very quickly. We still have some stunning hellebore's cutting well at the moment, wallflowers too and the very first sweet pea's are just opening this week. Almost the entire stock of sweet pea's has been reserved for a wedding at the beginning of June, where literally thousands of blooms will fill Caynham Church and the Stokesay Court itself for the reception. Pictures to follow!