 A good day... tired & happy after supporting fellow Members of the Farewell Flowers Directory at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025.
The stunning display of British-grown seasonal flowers & foliage, arranged plastic-free by @fieldhouseflowers, @gentleblooms, @tuckshopflowers & @commonfarmflowers deserved the GOLD MEDAL for every beautiful stem. Thank you for the skill demonstrated & your countless hours of behind-the-scenes work to get the display to Chelsea. It was the first time funeral flowers have been featured at the Show. The response from Show visitors was enthusiastic. I appreciated the (often moving) stories shared about flowers arranged for loved ones, personal funeral choices & the delight to see environmentally sensitive options at the Show. I spoke to Church Ministers, Hospice workers, Nurses, Florists & Floristry Students, Church Flower Arrangers, Flower Lovers & so many more over the day. All were keen to get rid of the tons of plastic currently going to landfill after funerals every year. There were so many good questions about the 'how', the practicalities of making arrangements another way, when plastic foam has been the norm for years. Before the show, there were 190 Members of the Farewell Flowers Directory in the UK. It's aim is to make it easier to find a florist to arrange flowers for funerals without foam or other single-use plastics. After the Show, more people know what's possible & know to ask their florist for environmentally sensitive options. So yes, it was a good day.
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 A 100% compostable Wreath made in early May.
Made from natural materials & zero plastic. All the flowers & foliage were grown here in Galloway, except the cheerful little Viola plugs. The Gentleman remembered was a passionate Scottish Country Dancer so as a nod to that, I included a touch of our Heather in the wreath too. No wire, no floral foam & no plastic is required to make a wreath like this. Yet it's estimated UK Crematoriums fill the equivalent of 6 Olympic swimming pools each year with floral foam & single use plastic. And that's just crematoriums, even more foam & plastic is left in churchyards & at other memorials. All that plastic currently goes to landfill. Isn't it time to consider alternative, sustainable methods? Next week, I'm excited to be supporting other Members of the Farewell Flowers Directory at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. There'll be an inspiring display of natural, compostable flowers for funerals. All will be made using sustainable methods without any floral foam & single use plastic. The flowers & foliage will be British-grown too. I'm looking forward to helping spread the word about natural flowers for funerals to a wider audience. The Farewell Flowers Directory Team are working hard at the showground over this weekend building the display in the Pavilion. I'm looking forward to seeing the result! The Farewell Flowers Directory is a valuable resource for anyone tasked with organising flowers for a funeral. It has details of 200 British Florists able to create arrangements without using plastic, making them much easier to find.  A handmade Heart Wreath made for the Funeral of a Lady who loved flowers. A keen gardener, she grew many herself & was very knowledgeable.
In her later years, I took a bunch of flowers to her every month. Always different, including whatever was coming in to bloom at that time here. So when the time came for her final flowers, a selection to reflect the Springtime & her interest was the natural choice. I make these Wreaths by hand from the Birch grown here & trim with seasonal flowers. No wire, no plastic or floral foam, & so fully compostable. Wreaths aren't always round - Farewell flowers can be just as unique as the loved one remembered!  Natural Farewell Flowers; an August Wreath Farewell flowers as individual as the person remembered...
I made this colourful wreath for an August Funeral. Asked to make it 'Gentlemanly', for a creator of a beautiful garden over many years. Knowing his garden was his passion, I chose foliage, late Summer flowers & seedheads all grown here in Galloway for the lowest possible carbon footprint. No plastic, no floral foam (it's made from oil & not compostable), just natural materials. When you need to find a florist in the UK who will make individual, natural & plastic-free farewell flowers for the special people you love, visit www.FarewellFlowers.co.uk  Natural Heart Wreath Natural Farewell Flowers... Close up detail of a handmade Heart Wreath made in early July from lichen-covered twigs. Simply trimmed with Lavender from a family garden, plus Thistles, Rambling Roses & foliage grown here in Galloway. As individual as the Gentleman remembered, a lover of the wildlife who shared his world. This design is suitable for natural burial sites as it's 100% compostable, without any plastic, floral foam or wire. Below are photo's of 2 small Posies made for other Family members to lay on the coffin. The cream Posy included the garden Lavender also. Both are completely compostable except for the small length of blue ribbon. After the Funeral, the Family sent this kind message; The arrangements and designs using the wicker frameworks, the posies with the hessian and simple, but so in keeping, luggage labels were just perfect and all reflected his personality of keeping things as natural and kind to the environment as possible. It was also so lovely to know the flowers were grown near where he used to live. I just wanted to say how very pleased we all were with them.  Natural Funeral Flowers; small Posy  Natural Funeral Flowers; small Posy  ‘Tell me about your Mum & her Garden – what did she like?’ was how the conversation started. Memories came tumbling out as her Daughter described growing up in a Cottage Garden filled with colourful flowers. She shared how her Mum loved the 'Flower Fairy' books by Cicely Mary Barker & reading them to her Children. Similar memories were gathered from other family members. So naturally I was asked to include some of the 'Flower Fairy' stars in season among her funeral flowers. ‘And we were wondering if we could give the flowers to my Mum’s friends after the funeral… As she was known for her lovely garden, this would be a nice memento.’ Of course you can – it’s a lovely idea. So taking these requests as inspiration, I chose April flowers for the Heather, Stitchwort, Bluebell, Daffodil, Lady's Smock, Heart's Ease, Cowslip, Snowdrop, Willow Catkin & Forget Me Not Flower Fairies. I used a little artistic licence by including several Garden rather than wild varieties, all growing here. For example, 6 types of mini Daffodil. A Leucojum Snowflake to represent the Snowdrop Fairy. A Spanish Bluebell as our native Bluebells weren’t in flower yet. It was still surprising how many 'Flower Fairies' could be found once I began to look around our flower field & garden in April. I filled this pretty willow basket with 8 jars, held in place with sphagnum moss. Each jar contained a Posy of Spring flowers. The Basket was positioned on the natural willow coffin for the service. After the Funeral, the flowers were easily divided for 8 Friends to take a Posy home to enjoy, I tucked tiny Viola plugs in the moss around the edge too. The Family planted these in their own gardens. A lovely way to remember & celebrate the life of a Lady who loved gardening & telling stories to her young children. All flowers & foliage were grown here in Dumfries & Galloway (including the moss). And of course, the basket could be reused, flowers composted, glass jars reused or recycled. No plastic, no cellophane & no floral foam was used to make the design.    'Lots of interesting textures please' was the request from the Family for this Funeral Casket Spray. And the June weather gave me an abundance to choose from. As well as plenty of foliage & the deliciously scented white Garden Pinks from our tunnel, I added seedheads from Allium, Lunaria & Rocket. Extra Eryngium from Lincolnshire plus Cornish-grown Ruscus & Veronica added to the mix (mine aren't ready yet). So all British-grown to keep the carbon footprint low.. And the arrangement is 100% compostable too for a sustainably-made tribute. Floral foam is commonly used to make funeral tributes, tonnes of it is disposed in landfill sites every week in the UK. Floral foam is banned by the Royal Horticultural Society at all it's flower shows. Floral foam is made from oil, a plastic breaking down into microplastic particles over time. It's a hazard to the marine environment & as this natural tribute shows, completely unnecessary too.   Spring Sheaf Bouquet We deserve a bit of a colour pop today, don't you think? Just so dreary. And to think on Monday it felt as if it just could be Spring soon. I recklessly cast aside one clothing layer while weeding - that's definitely back today!
This Sheaf bouquet was made for a mid-April Funeral - grown in Galloway, 100% compostable & Zero plastic or nasty floral foam. As sustainable as I could make it. March has been so cold that our Tulips are running a little behind. But they're on their way & worth the wait! Still plenty of British-grown beauties available this week & for Easter bouquets. Orders can be made via the website for local delivery & collection.  Looking at my recent posts, it looks a bit like all I grow are Dahlias... And of course, it's not true at all! I do grow a LOT of Dahlias, but it takes much more to make an interesting, botanically-inspired bouquet or arrangement. This Wreath made last week for a funeral contains several varieties of pale pink Dahlias plus Nerines, Sedum, Michaelmas Daisies, the last few stems of Astrantia, wisps of silvery Honesty seedheads. The flowers are slowing down, becoming less predictable from week to week. But still treasures can be found when I walk among the beds. The Wreath was made without any plastics or floral foam, as always here.   A Natural Funeral Wreath of freshly cut Summer flowers, made for a gentleman who loved his garden.
Flowers are gathered on a handmade willow hoop base & trimmed with natural hessian ribbon. All grown here at our Flower Farm, near Castle Douglas in Dumfries & Galloway. 100% compostable for the lowest possible carbon footprint. Definitely no floral foam or other plastics used to make this. It would be suitable for most Woodland Burial sites. When faced with choosing flowers for funeral or memorial services, it can be difficult to know what is available. Often a catalogue of standard designs (most using floral foam made from plastic) is presented at the Funeral Directors. We're encouraged to make a decision from the catalogue. But you can order flowers from any Florist you wish, or you could even arrange flowers yourself. You know better than anybody the right style for your loved one. If you prefer a natural, plastic-free alternative (such as the Wreath above), take a look at the website 'Flowers From The Farm'. You'll find listings of Flower Farmers thoughout the UK & many (like myself) arrange flowers in this way, locally to you. For natural Funeral Flowers in the Dumfries, Castle Douglas & Kirkcudbright area, there are examples on my website also Here. Flowers can be collected from the Flower Farm if you're further afield. Saying goodbye to a loved one doesn't need to cost the earth...  The flower we grow in greatest numbers is the Dahlia.
I adore their diversity & sheer flower power for months on end. Within one family of flowers there are so many shapes, so many colours & they just keep on giving masses of stems for cutting. Last year our total Dahlia plants topped 600. It was a pretty disastrous year for me as I broke my arm & 'only' about 400 were planted out in the field. But all the others were potted up & fed so the tubers kept on growing, ready for their moment this year. The Dahlias are sold in our Bouquets, bunches & even by the bucket (preordering essential). The large Funeral Spray arrangement above was made for a September Funeral, without floral foam. I dry Dahlias too & use them in dried bouquets & wreaths during the winter months. I eastimate we might just top the 800 plants - buckets & buckets of beautiful blooms to look forward to! To order Dahlias to arrange yourself, send an email. The Dahlia season is from mid-July to September (depending as always on the weather!)  The White Double 'Fancy Daffs' are capturing my attention this week - this one was included in a Natural Funeral Spray today. So full & frilly, like tissue paper. All the flowers & foliage included, except a few white Alstroemerias grown in Sussex, were grown by me here in Galloway. So 100% British-grown & minimal 'Flower Miles'. The Spray included our double Tulips, scented Narcissi, the double Narcissi, Alstroemeria, Hyacinth & white Heather. The spray was completely compostable too, & used no floral foam. Making the switch to natural funeral flowers avoids introducing damaging microplastics into the marine environment. That damage isn't the legacy I want to leave behind from my floristry, so prefer to work in this way. Many of the people I make arrangements for were passionate Gardeners, nature lovers or simply doing their best to make responsible environmental choices in life. It seems natural to me to recognise this commitment with natural flowers at their funeral. I don't often post funeral flowers here, I guess we prefer not to dwell on it too much. But if you need to arrange flowers for a loved one at some future time, it might be useful to know greener funeral options are available to you.  |
AuthorRosie Gray of Galloway Flowers. Cut Flower Grower & Florist near Castle Douglas, in South West Scotland. Using 100% Flowers & Foliage grown in British Isles, all year round. 
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Growing Gorgeous Seasonal Cut Flowers & Foliage in Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland
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Flower Farmer Florist Castle Douglas, Flower Farm Scotland, Wedding Flowers Castle Douglas, Florist Castle Douglas, Funeral Flowers Castle Douglas, Sympathy flowers Castle Douglas, wedding florist Dumfries & Galloway, Wedding florist Kirkcudbright, wedding florist Gatehouse of Fleet, natural funeral flowers Dumfries & Galloway, wild wedding flowers Dumfries & Galloway, wedding flowers Ayr, wedding flowers Ayrshire