. About Us .
. What we do .
Here at Carol’s Garden, we grow the flowers we sell and use in our floristry. Mainly garden and wild flowers rather than the usual florist imports - we'll try anything, see how it grows here, how it combines with other flowers, how it copes in a vase or a bouquet, what it feels like. That absolute intimacy informs how we work with flowers, handling and arranging them. That intimacy that you can only get from sowing a seed, watching it grow, and flower, deciding when to pick it, how to treat it. Imported flowers are like strangers to us - somehow starched, characterless. We are all about flowers. Respect for flowers.
Our location is beautiful and we embrace everything about it - the soil, the wildlife and the climate - so we grow plants which can thrive in these conditions. No hot-housing - they live in soil, and have to live in harmony with what is already here. We use unheated plastic tunnels to protect the most delicate spring flowers from the worst of the wind and rain, and to be sure we have flowers from March rather than May.
. Our Flowers .
Are our flowers right for you? Yes, if you love flowers and want a connection with how and where they have been grown, if you are happy to allow us to work with what flowers are available at the time you want them, and to trust us to put them together in a way which reflects you and the place they have grown. We work from the flowers themselves rather than a formula or a photograph - ideas are great, and help to show us what you like, but we won't be copying anyone else's work. We don't have a preferred palette of colours - we love the subtleties of colour and texture that grow here, as well as the inspiration that comes from the seasons, from unexpected or wild combinations.
. Who we Are .
We are Carol & Paul.
Born from local and farming roots, I have always grown stuff - from veg to gardens and now to flowers. It’s what makes me tick and I instinctively know the time to sow, plant and cut our flowers. As natural as we can make it.
I run the flower farm alongside Paul, with enthusiastic support from dog, Charlie.