A gift of flowers - July 2022

I’m not sure how often you’ve interrogated the idea of gift giving, but this new venture, growing and selling flowers from my family farm in Yorkshire, has given me a whole lot to think about when it comes to gifting flowers. I have begun to appreciate more fully the joy of giving, both from myself and on behalf of others. As with so much in our world, I feel the real heart of gift giving has been lost in consumerism, but the past four months have put me back in touch with what it really means to give a gift. And in more ways than I can articulate, Flowers from the Farm is aligned with the deeper meaning of gift giving.

To give a gift bouquet, and to choose one grown with care for the earth, is an act of love. The beauty of a bouquet of flowers is a physical reminder that you are cared for. No matter what the occasion, whether it be celebration or commiseration, once people have left the room, and the words have stopped flowing, the flowers remain; they provide a loving presence for days.

I have seen this in action. I took a bouquet to my Dad’s Mum, my Granny Hall, who has very advanced Alzheimer’s. She doesn’t remember her experience from one minute to the next. She doesn’t remember her visitors if they are not there physically in the room with her. But on receiving those flowers she felt cared for. She said they made her feel ‘considered’, which is clear enough for me given her infrequent lucidity. When asked where they came from, moments after receiving them and whilst I was still in the room, she told us her family had brought them. And weren’t they beautiful?

Similarly, when my Grandad passed away only a few weeks ago, I sent flowers to my Mum’s Mum, my Granny Wilkinson, to show my love and support. In a newly empty home, without the love she’s depended on for over sixty years, flowers went some small way toward making her feel cared for. Both the flowers and the intention were deeply appreciated.

And after preparing my Grandad’s casket spray last week, a construction of moss and chicken wire and cardboard and jam jars, and an awful lot of Yorkshire grown flowers, at the end of the reception I deconstructed the arrangement and sent everyone home with a bouquet. It was so joyful to see the appreciation of my one-of-a-kind sustainable creation, and to think that everyone who came to celebrate my Grandad got to take a little bit of love away with them.

So far I’ve just mentioned gift flowers that have had a special significance for me, but the love and care I put into flowers for my customers are no less and no different. It feels like an honour, the greatest privilege, to be trusted with a role of such importance as conveying love. It is why my heart goes into every one-off bouquet. Whether it be flowers to convey care in a time of grief, or flowers to celebrate many years of marriage, my approach is always to give the best I can give.

The rewards are priceless. To be told that you have made someone’s day, that these are the most beautiful flowers they’ve ever received, and to see the smile on a recipient’s face. What a gift it is to be part of the gifting of flowers. A gift of Flowers from the Farm flowers especially is so much more than an empty gesture; it is a return to the real meaning of gift giving, grown and shared not with profit in mind, but from a place of unwavering care. It is a silent ‘I love you’, a remote hug, a tangible message of deep affection. Flowers represent beauty, wonder, natural harmony. They are a reminder of what is most deeply, truly important.