The Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival returns for a fourth successive year on with a spectacular showcase of the very best of British-grown flowers, foam-free sustainable floristry and the design creativity of the UK’s leading floral designers.
With vividly decorated or gilded rooms, illuminated by beautifully shaped windows, complete with stained glass, Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham offers a breathtaking setting for the three-day Flower Festival. Shining a spotlight on the beauty, variety and versatility of the fresh and dried flowers and foliage cultivated by British flower farmers, the Flower Festival gives free creative rein to the invited florists to share their artistry, expertise and passion for sustainable floral design in design installations and floral demonstrations throughout the remarkable Gothic manor house.
THE BEST OF BRITISH FLORAL DESIGN-
The Flower Festival features designs by floral designers and farmer-florists including Electric Daisy Flower Company, Frances & Rose, Botanical Tales, Wild Bunch, Nettlewood Flowers, Bayntun Flowers, Aelisabet Flowers, Lunabloom, Queen of the Meadow, Smokebush Floral Design, Twisted Sisters, Viridis Flowers, Lunaria, Myrtle and Smith, The Divine Flower Company, Joanne Truby, and Xyris Botanicals. Every stem of cut flower material at the Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival has been grown for the designers by members of Flowers from the Farm.
Curated by Leigh Chappell and Janne Ford, the Flower Festival is produced for the first time this year in association with Flowers from the Farm, the award-winning membership organisation championing artisan growers of local, seasonal British cut flowers. Flowers from the Farm Co-Chair, Meg Edmonds, says: “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.”
LEARN TO GROW YOUR OWN GARDEN-
There will be sessions showing visitors how they too can adopt more sustainable methods of flower arranging, plus a chance to quiz Strawberry Hill’s own gardening team about your horticultural hiccups; from reluctant rhododendrons to drooping dahlias and glean advice on how to grow gorgeous geraniums or impressive Italian Asters. Throughout the Flower Festival, guided tours of the transformed House will be available, including an evening of tours and a much-anticipated floral demonstration on Friday, 23rd September by acclaimed florist and sustainable floristry advocate, Shane Connolly.
Shane holds Royal Warrants of appointment to HM The Queen and HRH The Prince of Wales and is possibly best known for decorating Westminster Abbey with an avenue of growing trees for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Shane says: “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.”
EXPLORE THE GROUNDS-
Visitors to the Flower Festival should make time to wander around the wonderful grounds. Created by renowned writer Horace Walpole (1717-1797), Strawberry Hill’s 18th-century garden is one of the earliest in the English naturalistic style. In recent years, Walpole’s five-acre garden has been faithfully restored to much of its original appearance with a variety of beds, borders, walks, groves, lawns and woodland that would be wholly familiar to him today. Even in the 21st-century his “land of beauties” continues to thrive as a haven for wildlife and visitors throughout the year.
23-25 September
Strawberry Hill House & Garden
268 Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, TW1 4ST
