Cotswold Flora’s Flower Patch
We are committed to growing as many of our own British flowers as possible.
Our flower beds are located in the orchard under the ancient perry pear and apple trees on the farm in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. Letting our rescue hens roam free in the orchard allows them to retire in style but it can be a challenge when they find the flower beds!
Trends come and go like dried flowers; their popularity has spiked again in recent times and we believe this time they’re here to stay! Why? Dried flowers are being given a whole new identity by florists and dried flower artists. At Cotswold Flora we focus on the design as a whole whilst paying attention to the details too. We spend a lot of time working out which colour, texture and size combinations work best in the floral arrangement.
In 2024 Cotswold Flora took the decision to focus less on fresh flower bouquets and paid more attention to growing the best flowers for drying. We grow Helichrysum Bracteatum very successfully, it is a fantastic dried flower if you harvest it at the right time. The flowers remain their deep vibrant colours for years if stored correctly. They are also known as Strawflowers because of their papery-straw like texture, they are a firm favourite for our designs.
We grow Poppies, Scabiosa Stellata and Nigella, these all have fantastic seed heads and bring such exquisite texture into dried flower arrangements. Our Blue globe thistles were grown from seed a couple of years ago and are now well established plants producing amazing globes which the bees love.