Fiona Haser Bizony impressed and entertained her audience by using her floristry skills to create a distinctive flower arrangement while explaining the issues she faced setting up an organic flower business in challenging times.

Over the five years since they bought the field they have coped with the pandemic and this year the drought and rising cost of living.

Their farm is an off-grid 2.5 acre field near Faulkland and they send fresh flowers to their shop in Hampstead, London two days a week. When there is a glut, the flowers are dried or sold to other florists. The challenge is to have flowers all the year round, while being sustainable and organic when modern horticulture involves the use of many chemicals and lots of plastic.

Fiona is working with the RHS to ween the creators of displays away from plastic oasis blocks. She used chicken wire for the foundation of her demonstration arrangement.

After a visit to the vast warehouse capital of international flower trade at Aalsmeer in Holland, she vowed to set up a very different operation that covered fewer air miles and was sustainable.

Flowers cannot have both long-life and fragrance, Fiona prioritises fragrance. They grow Perennials at the top of the slope and annuals at the bottom. Plants include Tuberoses, Roses, Dahlias, Geraniums. Vegetables like tomatoes and chard add foliage and colour. Aromatic plants like Teatree, Rosemary, Lemon Verbena, Basil can be used for herbal teas and in arrangements. Rose petals can be sprinkled in the bath or tea.

Fiona used her artistic skills to design the layout of the beds, paths and compost heaps. Cardboard and compost were laid on the beds to improve the clay soil and wood chips on the paths.

Perennial weeds like bindweed and docks are a major issue in a garden, with no herbicides the gardeners spend a lot of time weeding. For pests like slugs, the remedy is a wildlife pond that encourages toad and frog predators. The farm’s waste is composted and they have municipal waste from digestors to increase the soil organic content.

For more information see: www.electricdaisyflowerfarm.co.uk .

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, 12th October at 7.30pm in Kilmersdon Village Hall – Sally Morgan – ‘Climate Change Garden’ see website for further details – www.kilmersdongardeners.org. Trisha Jordan