Pick your own flowers at The Cornish Flower Patch

The latest gift collection from Whistlefish is inspired by the Cornish Cutting Garden. Cutting gardens are created to prevent depleting beds and borders, allowing you to bring flowers indoors. The Cornish Cutting Garden Collection is made up of a a rich colour palette of glowing orange, illuminating pinks and natural greens offers a warm winter feeling, perfect for this changing season. 

Visiting The Cornish Flower Patch is like teleporting into an exotic garden, you wouldn't believe what they are able to grow out of the soil in our temperamental British climate. You truly feel in awe of the beauty of nature and could spend hours looking at the symmetry and perfection of each dahlia they have grown.

Catherine established The Cornish Flower Patch in 2016; "I started with just six raised beds on a small corner of a field where the sheep happily roamed! I started growing flowers for family and friends initially in my spare time, learning to sow, pot on, nurture from reading hundreds of books. Starting with dahlias (my first love!) moving into growing sweet rocket and annuals such as cosmos, zinnias, snap dragons, statice, ammi and larkspur. I started selling to friends, local shops and a few local florists."

Image features Cutting Garden Tote Bag Mixed Dahlia (£14.95)

Providing elegant, beautiful and Cornish grown sustainable flowers for local weddings and venues, The Cornish Flower Patch is a cutting garden situated in Chacewater, Cornwall (near Chiverton roundabout on the A30). They grow all kinds of beautiful British, seasonal flowers such as roses and dahlias from their micro farm. They recently decided to expand their business allowing people to visit and pick their own flowers and also get a master class in arranging their blooms.

Owner of The Cornish Flower Patch, Catherine and her close friend - turned business partner - Adele, are experts in their fields (quite literally) they offer garden consultancy for all kinds of businesses such as hotels and estates and even provided the floral arrangements for HRH Elizabeth II at the Eden Project in 2021. The Queen was even photographed holding a bouquet of their flowers - flowers not only fit for a queen, but for The Queen!

 Pictured: Adele- left and Catherine in the flower patch wearing Cutting Garden Aprons (£17.95 each)

Did you know that most, if not all flowers you buy in supermarkets are grown in other countries like Ethiopia and Holland. In fact, Holland is the largest exporter of flowers in the world! Most bouquets of flowers come over to the UK in refrigerated shipping containers, resulting in quite a large carbon footprint and they are also sprayed with chemicals to help them last longer.

But it never used to be this way. In the 1900's, narcissi and daffodils which grow in abundance in the Isles of Scilly and West Cornwall, were picked and despatched domestically. The flowers were sent on the 'Flower Train' to Covent Garden Flower market in London to sell. This would be the city's first inclination that spring had sprung.

Pictured: Adele pruning flowers in one of the large flower tunnels wearing Poppies & Peonies Apron (£17.95)

The history of growing flowers in the UK is truly fascinating, and The Cornish Flower Patch have a passion for bringing it back to a more sustainable and romantic sentiment to growing flowers from bulb or seedling to bloom and on to a gorgeous gift with very little to no negative environmental impact.

"Since 2018 the 'Locally Grown (Not Flown)' and 'The British Seasonal Flower Movement' has gained momentum and we are really being found by customers from all over the U.K. We are members of Flowers From The Farm - a national organisation which promotes British flower growers."

Depending on the time of year you visit you can pick the following:

Flowering Spring April - May

Anemones, Daffodils, Hellebore, Leucojum, Muscari, Narcissi, Ranunculus and Tulips.

Flowering Summer June - August

 Early – Allium, Antirrhinum, Cerinthe, Cornflowers, Delphinium, Forget me not, Gladioli, Gypsophila, Iris, Ixia, Lavender, Lilac, Poppy, Rose, Statice, Sweetpea, Sweet rocket, Sweet William.

Mid – Cosmos, Eryngium, Feverfew, Larkspur, Nigella, Phlox, Salvia, Scabious, Sunflowers, Veronica, Zinnia

Late – Achillea, Agapanthus, Ammi, Dahlia, Calendula, Hydrangea

Flowering Late Summer September - early Autumn October  

Chrysanthemum, Dahlia, Echinops, Helenium, Rudbeckia, Verbena.

Dahlia Season - classed as late summer - is the prime time of year for Dahlias. The Cornish Flower Patch are experts in growing dahlias to fit any colour pallet and they are absolutely perfect for an Autumn wedding flower arrangement.

This beautiful flower patch in Cornwall is now closed until April 2023 but Catherine and Adele can't wait to welcome people back in the new season to provide locals with roadside flowers, wedding florals and pick your own.

Follow them on @thecornishflowerpatch 

Visit their site thecornishflowerpatch.co.uk