Episode 9: Garden gossip 1

On this month’s edition of garden gossip Sarah and Keeley tell you about the flowers they have been working with recently and what’s inspiring them.

You can find Flowers & Folklore on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, YouTube and lots of other places.

Hi, I'm Sarah. Hi, I'm Keely, and you're listening to Flowers and Folklore.

If you love flowers and folklore and odd floral facts, then you're in the right place. I'm really excited for this episode. It's going to be a new format that we're trying out. We're going to be talking about stuff that's inspiring us lately, like flowers we've worked with.

Still very flower related, but it's going to be a bit more relaxed and a bit more off the cuff. So, Keely, what flowers have you been working with recently?

So I've been working with viburnum, viburnum and more viburnum lately. The first week in the course I'm doing at the moment, we were making posies and the teacher said, order some foliage. And I ordered some foliage and I requested some soft foliage for making a posy. And they gave me this massive, huge viburnum green flower.

I mean, they're lovely, but also they kind of look inside out. I'm not the biggest fan. And so I still made it work. I just had to rip off a whole lot of leaves. And then the second week I ordered mint fern and they weren't able to get it in.

And then the third week I ordered some mock orange, which they couldn't get in. And so I was given viburnum and viburnum lace. Wow. Which is actually – the lace is really, really pretty. It's like blossoms, but it doesn't have the fragrance and it's not as fragile. So it looks stunning.

And I think in the right type of arrangement, it could be just magical. But trying to use it for what I was using it for, it was – It was not the vibe. I was not loving it. But so I'm really looking forward to not using viburnum next week.

I ended up going foraging in my lunchtime break and like finding some gorgeous like ornamental plum foliage from a nearby, like an obliging tree in a nearby street. And so I used that and that looked amazing, like just stunning, that purple. Yeah. Yeah, and Geraldton Wax is a new fan. I'm a new fan of.

That smells like lemongrass or something. It's just gorgeous. And I also got to work with Ranunculus, which was just the best fun ever.

So I've got lots of follow-up questions, so I hope that's okay.

Yeah, sorry. I probably just like rambled at you.

um i i am really jealous of like the abundance that you have access to and i mean i do think in scotland there's absolutely abundance when it comes to foliage but i just feel like you can forage stuff that's really pretty whereas the stuff i forage

It's usually like dead and crispy, which is like nice in itself and probably suits my work. But I know exactly what you mean about viburnum. I really like it. And it's funny.

It's so our thing where I go, I hate this.

And you go, I love it. But I will say I've only ever used it when it's had, so it's when you refer to lace, like viburnum lace, is that when it has like the blossom on it or like the floweriness?

This is viburnum lace here.

Ah, yes. Okay. I get you. So I don't know if that's... So it's like a wood.

It's essentially a wood stem with basically blossoms on it.

Because I don't think I've ever used it where it's just the foliage. And it's interesting how names really differ in terms of like whether it's got a common name or, you know, things like that. And the wholesaler that I order from is based in the Netherlands. And so I often get tripped up by that.

But I have a friend who is Dutch and so... She can sometimes help me out. And is that another type of viburnum that you're holding?

Yeah, so that's viburnum, the fold. And that's what they gave me to use in a posy.

Okay, so for listeners, it is, to me, it looks like laurel. Like, that's – yeah, and I don't think I've ever worked with it as just a foliage. It's very interesting, isn't it? Yeah, I can see that. It's a big leaf. That would be perfect for doing, like, structures.

Like, that in an archway, you'd get such good coverage.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

That would be beautiful.

And I think that's so what I'm learning at the moment as well, that it's so about – where you're putting the flower as much as it is about the flower itself. You can't just, yeah. So viburnum lace I might love in, like you say, like a big structure or an archway or something. It might be absolutely magical,

but trying to put it into a gorgeous arrangement, it just wasn't working. It was really nice.

Yeah, and I honestly think that is one of the biggest skills. And I was quite lucky when I used to work in flower shops that I did get a bit of an education into how to order things. Although when I started out, we ordered everything via fax machine and things have, well, yeah,

for some people- I do it by text message now.

Yeah, I do think the biggest hurdle is just knowing- how to order correctly and yeah, just getting the right materials. And then wax flower. I'd never heard of it as Geraldton wax. I always just knew it was wax flower.

I think it can be known as that here as well. So is this the one that you...

Yeah, and it does smell like lemongrass, yeah.

This one is, funnily enough, the pink one that I got. I don't love as much as the white, but it doesn't seem to have a stronger smell as the white either, which is interesting. Interesting. I don't know if that's just this particular one or if, in general, the colour one is not as fragrant.

But, yeah, I was absolutely obsessed with the white one. I just could not believe how gorgeous it was and how long I had lived without knowing it existed. Yeah.

Yeah, I would always pick that. I think it's a gorgeous filler flower. I would always pick that over something like jip because I just hate jip.

What's jip?

Is that? Baby's breath. Yeah, I really hate jip. Baby's breath gets a lot of hate. Because it smells like cat wee. Does it? It smells appalling. And when you see, I know it's really, really popular, although I think it is kind of like the peak is obviously coming down now.

But when I used to see, like, it would be quite traditional weddings. where they'd have like five bridesmaids in like sage dresses, and they'd be there holding their bunches of jip. And I'm like, I hope you've sprayed that with perfume, because that must be honking.

oh really wow I had no idea yeah I do have a very strong nose so maybe it is just that um but yeah I that was a tangent but yeah I'd never known it as Geraldton but I would know it's funny that I can like picture the proper name in my head but

because I never say it out loud so when I'm ordering it from the wholesaler it will be and I've looked it up and I still can't pronounce it Chamelusium I don't know how you pronounce it. But yeah, that's funny that in my head I can picture the name, but like I couldn't pronounce it.

So yeah, that's, I'm fascinated by that. I'm so pleased you also love waxflower. Yeah, it's beautiful. In buttonholes, it looks so gorgeous as well. Yeah.

I can't imagine that.

And ranunculus are one of my favourites as well. So I'm pleased we agree on that. Yeah, they were really gorgeous.

What about you? What flowers have you been working with this past month?

So I've had two, just like a massive finale to wedding season, basically. So I've had two really gorgeous events. I had a wedding that took place at Glasgow Botanics and it was absolutely stunning. And it was someone who really loved flowers. And you start to notice that some people get flowers because you're just meant to

have flowers and they look nice, whatever. And then you get some people who get flowers because they desperately love flowers and they always order the best things. And to be honest, most of my customers now fall into that second category because I've been quite intentional. Yeah. And I do feel very lucky for that.

And so, yeah, this bride was basically like, I'm four foot eleven. She was just like, I want it to almost be, I want it to be so big. I want it to almost be comical. And then she was just like, go wild. We kind of looked at some example bouquets that I'd done before.

We came up with a colour palette of blue, pink and orange. And she was like, just go for it. She had a heart set on blue hydrangea, which I was a bit apprehensive.

That's a no-no for weddings, isn't it? A bit of a...

Well, it's also just getting to the end of the season as well. And so it was very expensive. Like if she hadn't have requested it, I would have looked at it and been like, no, that's not happening. I mean, it did really make it. And she was absolutely thrilled with it. And then we really went OTT.

She had three orchids like trailing out the side, as well as amaranthus. So it was a stunner. an absolute stunner in just a real like it was a real privilege to do but like a real highlight for kind of like the end of wedding season and then the day straight

after i had a wedding anniversary where the couple had got married during lockdown so they'd not been able to celebrate like with all their loved ones so they were just like we're just gonna have a big party and I got to work with one of my favourite event planners and it was in a venue

that's quite nearby and it was just perfect. Very opposite to the wedding from the day before, which was like really colourful, really bold. This one was like spooky witch vibes. We kind of had like, Pastel goth. Oh, it was gorgeous. Like forest nymph. There was loads of green moss.

So I built all of the arrangements to look like they were coming out of the moss. And then it was really nice. And then the customer is a librarian and she had loads of old books that the library wanted to get rid of. And so I covered them in Spanish moss.

I don't know if you've come across that. Is that the grey one? Yes. Yeah, yeah. I can't think what its proper name would be, but I got a whole box of that and we were just draping it everywhere. So it looked like cobwebs. Oh, it was gorgeous. Yeah, it was really nice.

And we did big silver twigs in it. And then I got some asparagus fern, which had been painted like a lilac colour. And then they had the heating on like full blast. And so there was this kind of ferny stuff hanging over the sides of the windowsills and then the radiators was making it dance.

So it just looked incredible. The building that it was in had lots of stained glass as well and it was getting quite dark and there was little tea light candles on the, like next to all the arrangements. So it was just spooky and gorgeous and just like an absolute joy to do. So two very different vibes.

but both really, really special. Like it just felt like an absolute treat.

We need to see pictures. We need to put pictures on our Instagram and show that because the way you've described it, it just sounds so magical.

What flower related things have been inspiring you recently, Keely?

At the moment, we've just gone into, actually, we haven't just gone into spring. It feels like we've just gone into spring because Canberra does this thing where we start spring and everyone gets excited and then we have second winter. So we're coming out of our second winter. So it feels like spring is just starting.

And so my garden is really looking beautiful. I have the most amazing lavender in the front garden and it's stunning. It smells amazing. And also it has so many little happy bees in there and they're not like angry bees. So you can stand near them and I can go over and I can chop some little bits of

lavender off and they don't get cranky at you. I'm just loving it and every time I walk outside or I capture I just see a glimpse of it it just makes me happy and then we've also got this might surprise you but I noticed today we have a beautiful white rose appearing on one of the rose bushes

and it's stunning and it has a gorgeous fragrance and then we also have a pink rose bush which is just flowering so so beautifully and it just just gives cottage garden vibes and I'm just loving it it's the type of roses that I actually like. So it's not the posh, annoying ones.

So that's been making me really just feel really happy and really, really lucky. And to be honest, at the moment, I still feel a little bit like a kid in a candy store having started this course and pivoting my entire life, my entire career away from where I have been in the last decade or more into back

into floristry and back into this space of being around flowers and I just still can't get over the fact that I get to order flowers and I get to go and pick up flowers and I get to look after them and I still feel really just giddy about that and at the moment we're diving into like

elements and principles of design which you know as someone who's worked in other types of design it's just like you know my happy place and so getting to bring those things into the the flower world is just it's so cool it's so exciting and my teacher is just

honestly like I wonder if she'll adopt me because she's so like she's so beautiful and just she's this gorgeous she has a really strong thick Croatian accent and she's you know had a really you know she's had a really interesting story a really kind of tough story

life and she often talks about how flowers kind of you know they gave her hope and you know working with them kind of really changed her life and just the passion that she has for them is just oh it's just every week I just can't stop smiling as I listen to her speak it's just beautiful

And just the way she talks about how rewarding it is to work with them really makes me feel like I'm on a really good path. And I can see what she means because even each week after we've made something, I drive over to my grandmother's house and I drop off one of the arrangements or

one or two of the arrangements that I've made and I give them to her. And the first week I did it, she was so happy. She video called me and she was just so excited. And I just made my heart really happy. Like it was just, it just felt really lovely.

that is so beautiful keely that just i'm so pleased you shared that and i just it makes me think when i was back in floristry college when i like when i was 19 so such a long time ago and i would also go and take stuff

my grandma and she would be so over the moon and there's just something really special about things you've created that you really care about and then gifting them to someone else that's just really beautiful and we were talking before we started recording about how some people

like fall into floristry like they just want to make money which is absolutely valid totally fine and there's some people who do it because it's a like a calling and I definitely feel like for you Keely that it is just meant to be and I think

it's it's like really easy because I had a big gap where I spent 10 years working in marketing and not in floristry and there was a part of me that feels like oh no I wasted my time that similar to what you were saying all those skills that I

learned I now get to apply to floristry and my business and You obviously have, you've got such a creative eye that you've honed over the years with stuff outside of floristry that I think is just gonna really enrich all of your work. I think it's gonna, I think you're gonna create really special stuff.

Oh, thank you so much. I really, really appreciate hearing that, especially from you with your gorgeous floral prowess. And it's funny, I messaged my friend Crystal the other day. She's been a best friend of mine for so long now. And, you know, life gets in the way and you don't get to see each other very often.

And I messaged her, she'd been messaging me like, how are you? Where are you? You dropped off the planet. And I said, oh, I've just basically started a whole new life since I spoke to you last. I've started floristry. I've got back into floristry. And she's like, oh.

Yeah, I've always secretly wondered why you didn't keep going with the floristry. And I was like, oh, well, okay. I'm like, so it's, I guess it's obviously, you know, been there. It's just, it just was hidden and, you know, under other stuff. So yeah, it feels, feels really, really magical. And yeah, semi,

semi-related at the moment for dance, for ballet, we're doing the Nutcracker this year for our concert. Oh my gosh, amazing. Yeah, I'm so excited. And so I have a bunch of different scenes and I've got about five costume changes, but we're doing Waltz of the Snowflakes with snow falling down on the stage. It's going to be amazing.

I know, right? And then we're doing Waltz of the Flowers as well. So I wake up most mornings now with Waltz of the Flowers in my head, which is not a bad thing. It's just, yeah, so I'm going to be a sparkly flower in a few weeks' time, so that'll be fun. Yeah.

that seems like your destiny it's so fun it's so fun yeah and we've got the sugar plum fairy of course and her whole tutu is like basically made up of like petals upon petals upon petals like that's how it kind of falls down the like the skirt um

it's just unreal like it looks incredible and it's going to be super sparkly and yeah so like it could not be more perfect for a dream space to be in so yeah but that's that's my little ramble what flower

related things have been inspiring you lately well i i've got a couple of things i was really really lucky that i managed to squeeze in a day to go down south so i I'm originally from Derbyshire, which is in the middle of England. So it's the Midlands. That's in Pride and Prejudice. Yes, it is. Is it? Yes.

Yeah. And I hate Jane Austen. What? I know. I like the Brontes. I had to read. I didn't know we were only allowed once. we had to read emma at university all they do is go to the park and like sit around

yeah yeah fair but yeah so there's this isn't what i was going to say but i'm sure it's one of the films oh i bet there's people are gonna be really mad but there's a one of the films with pride and prejudice that they feature chats with house

which is one of my favorite places to go, which is in Derbyshire. And we used to go there a lot as kids. And I'm going this December because they always do the big like Christmas thing.

Oh, the Christmas.

Yeah.

I've watched it on telly.

Oh my gosh, it's stunning. So I've been the last couple of years and it's just special. And I usually, I'll usually do it on my own. I'm doing it on my own this year because by that point, I am so done with talking to people because I have like three solid weeks of wreath workshops.

And so then I go and do nice things on my own with my headphones on. So no one disturbs me. Anyway, that is not, that was not what I wanted to tell you about. I was going to tell you about a different house in the Midlands. So yeah, I wanted to tell you about Haddon Hall,

which I got to go and visit on the way down to the Midlands for a floristry course. So it was a mad two days, And I have an electric car as well. So when we do long distance, it's a really old electric car.

So when I do long distances, I have to factor in charging it on a very slow charger. And it can be a bit hectic. And so I had two days where I needed to get down to the Midlands. And I was just like, I'm going to try and squeeze in a trip to Haddon Hall.

And so they had this exhibition on called Magic. And it was... like magic it was genuinely magic so Haddon Hall is has been so well preserved it really feels like you are stepping back in time so for people who didn't grow up in Derbyshire Haddon Hall is a medieval manor house and one of the reasons it's so

special is because it basically has been owned by the same family for over 900 years and And for huge chunks of time, I think there was maybe like 200 years where no one lived there. So, so much of it is untouched. And then obviously like throughout the years, people have added bits on here and there.

really great as like a like a living historical monument I guess so it's beautiful there was an exhibition running called magic which was all about the charms rituals and superstition in Elizabethan England and it was just excellent so I was driving

to the speed limit but making sure I would get there on time and I had an hour to go around the whole exhibition and the second you step in it was just you feel like cloaked in magic and folklore and there was a little introduction from one of the

volunteers and then I was just immersed so I started in the kitchens and they had like a big display of apples like they'd kind of replicated like an apple tree in the in the kitchens and then there was things to look out for there was a little

exhibition like broomsticks but they kind of like tied it all in with which area you were in It was so well researched, but they'd had a florist come in and decorate the whole place. So the apple tree looked incredible. But just throughout, like around the doorways, there would be big arches made from dried materials.

Like I think there was oak leaves everywhere and they had suspended candles. And so it was like the exhibition was beautiful in terms of like learning so much about the importance of folklore and cunning folk and things like that. And things related to herbs and all gorgeous stuff like that.

But then from a florist point of view, being able to witness someone else's work. And I tried to have a look to see if I could find out what company had done it because I would just love to see more of I mean they probably wouldn't

share behind the scenes stuff but it would have just it would just be fascinating like it would be nice also to like just be able to like credit them for their work because it just blew me away and then I think the fact that Haddon were aware that

it would be like the whole exhibition would be lifted up by having like the craftsmanship of having a florist on site. So it was just beautiful. I'll share some clips on Instagram. But the whole point of going down to the Midlands was to do a floristry course. And it was just for one day.

It was called the Season of Abundance. It was working on large scale stuff. So I have done a week at McQueen's Flower School where we did installations. And so that was doing like big flower walls. And in fact, we built a tree as well. We built a tree using bark and then all of the blossoms

were wax flower i'll find you a picture because it was incredible yeah it was like seven foot maybe it was enormous so i have done installations at my queens and i've done like archways and things like that in my business but i've never learned how

to do humongous urns that was one of the things that i really wanted to do was like a massive urn and so we just got let loose essentially in this church and in like this quaint village in Melton Mowbray. The florist who led it, she was called Sophie.

And then she had her, like someone who she works with quite a lot. The two of them were there showing her stuff. And just being able to see like the mechanics was mind blowing. And they, Sophie had done Pixie Lott's wedding. So she'd done some, she's a singer. She's like, yeah.

So Sophie's been like in vogue and things like that and has just done really large scale weddings. just getting to see like the technical bits of how you make it happen and not just how you make it happen, but how you make it happen safely as well. So I could make a massive earn,

but if I've not secured it down, then I'm not going to be making more earns again. no or much of anything yeah so it was just incredible to do so we ended up having I think there was three urns in total the one we made I don't know maybe eight foot

like it was enormous wow absolutely enormous the amount of materials we needed was just mind-blowing and then there was huge pillars in the church and So they got wrapped in foliages and flowers as well. We did a big chandelier and we used bark of eucalyptus trees. It was really weird, but I loved it.

And then there was like a huge archway outside the church, but I don't even know if I could call it an archway because it was so big. Like just, it filled, there was like a pathway up to the church. And it just ran the length of the pathway.

And to be able to work on like just such a large scale thing, we took ownership of like certain bits and pieces. So it was me and two others who built one massive urn. So we did kind of get own those mini projects within the larger installation.

it was just incredible to see it all come together yeah it made me realize how much I value investing in my craft because I've just from a day I learned so much I took about two pages of A4 notes like it was just yeah just incredible I just left

feeling so light and then I had to drive back to Glasgow which was if I wasn't charging the car I'd be about five and a half hours And I think for the whole drive home, I just had like this big grin on my face. And it was, it was just like this intense. I love that. Yeah.

It was so good. Just like this day, getting to go to Haddon, doing this like one day with Sophie, it was just really special. And it got me proper into like the autumn vibes because, yeah. Yeah. It was a lot of like reds and like orangey foliages and things like that.

So beautiful. Absolutely stunning. Like, I mean, that just, it just sounds so incredible. And I was just looking at some pictures of the magic exhibition. Just, it literally just looks amazing. yeah so otherworldly yes incredible and how amazing as well to be working with other florists and learning from uh such an amazing florist learning how to do

things on such a big scale and working together and i mean you probably connected with people like that you'd stay in touch with as well because that kind of thing you know you want to kind of keep in touch after something like that you feel like you've bonded for life you know what an amazing opportunity yeah

hundred percent and what's funnier is there was another florist there who was also from Glasgow and we'd both traveled down and I'd never met her and we both just happened to be there at the same time and I was like what what are the chances

that's crazy yeah that's awesome it's good to know as well you've got a second person around it if you guys ever needed to team up yeah you know it's a good way

to that's awesome absolutely if anyone would like to see the photos from season of abundance I shared the other week maybe two weeks ago on my substack, which is called The Foibles of a Florist. I did a floral essay that was dedicated to this trip down to the Midlands.

So I'll put a link in the show notes if you want to go have a little nosy. As you can probably tell, me and Keely love to hear and share stories. Our listenership is actually like spread across the world. I find it fascinating that keely experiences seasons and flowers that are so different to what i experience

here in scotland and so if you regardless of where you are in the world would like to share about some local folklore or a connection you have with a flower please write in and we will read whatever you share with us on the podcast the best way to

get in touch is via email the we'll include it in the show notes but the address is flowers and folklore podcast at gmail.com. You can also find us on Substack as well. We'll put a link in the show notes, but just get in touch however you want and we would love, love, love, love,

love to hear from you.

And before we head off, Sarah, you are in wreath season or coming into wreath season, are you? You've got some workshops coming up, is that right?

Yeah, I am just on the cusp. So this week I had my final workshop of the autumn season and then in about three weeks time I think wreath season is going to kick off um so if you are in Glasgow or nearby you there's two dates left that have a couple of tickets left so

I can include a link in the show notes I'm also doing my first proper wedding fair and I'm properly committing to it so it's called the witchy wedding fair and by the time this episode's gone out I've probably already done it but I'm going to be offering 10% off on wedding bookings until the end of November.

So if you're in Scotland or near Scotland and you fancy an alternative wedding, then come and chat to me and we can make some flower magic happen. And I know Keely for you, this has been an exciting time because you have, well, you're starting a business.

Yes, it's actually super exciting because I've officially registered my business name, which is The Green Edit Studio. And I love that name. I feel like it ties into a couple of pieces of my background. The Green Edit reminds me of The Green Room, which is very much a theatre-related thing,

which feels really special that that's in there somewhere. And then... edit feels special because it's obviously sounds very literature based and I'm a writer as well. So it felt like it kind of managed to somehow combine those sort of huge pieces of my life, my background and into the one space.

And the fact that it's a studio, it's a floral creative studio, so it's not just going to be flowers eventually I see it kind of becoming something that I can explore creating in in lots of different ways so I'm really excited about it and so I've the

Instagram is there I've I'm working on the branding which is obviously another happy place of mine yeah just really thinking about what kind of floral work I want to make and be known for so it's a really exciting time I'm so excited for you

I think the thing I'm most excited about is being there at the beginning and then getting to watch your whole journey. Like, I think that's going to be magical. So I am like your biggest cheerleader. So I'm very excited.

Thank you so much. It means it means everything, actually, to have your support. It's yeah, it's been it's felt really wonderful to have you have you there.

Thank you so much for listening. Keely and I could chat to each other all day long. So I hope you... And we do something. We do, yes. As we mentioned earlier, we would love it if you got in touch so you can find all the details in the show notes. Come over to Instagram and find us.

We are Flowers and Folklore Podcast. We're also on Substack. If you enjoyed this episode, we would love it if you could share it with a friend, subscribe to the show, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Also, you don't have to do any of those things.

You can just listen and that still makes us very, very happy. So we will be back shortly with Keeley's first episode, which I can't wait for.

Yes, and it's going to be a really good episode, I think. I'm very excited about this particular flower. I'm very much enjoying my nerdy research, so I will see you all. I won't see you, but you'll hear me, and I will just feel your presence at the next episode.

So until then, goodbye.