Scented, spring cut flowers grown by members of Flowers from the Farm across the United Kingdom decorate Westminster Abbey for the Coronation of King Charles III
For the past few months, Flowers from the Farm has been working closely with floral designer Shane Connolly to bring a celebration of seasonal UK-grown blooms to this historic occasion.
In total, 88 career flower farmers representing all four nations of the UK, from Inverness and Norfolk to Snowdonia, Cornwall and Tobermore in Northern Ireland, have cut over 120 different varieties of spring-flowering bulbs, blossoms, perennials and flowering foliages for the celebrations. The flowers will decorate the Quire and the Grave of the Unknown Warrior within Westminster Abbey.
Florist Shane Connolly commented, “The honour of being asked to design and coordinate the flowers for the Coronation of Their Majesties The King and The Queen, is the highlight of my career. But I wanted the flowers to be centre stage, not the design. They had to reflect the sentiment of the day, and be from the soil of the United Kingdom; a natural tribute to a nature-loving King and Queen.”
Nestled amongst the arrangements will be hellebores and hazel harvested on a croft on the Isle of Skye, apple blossom, Solomon’s seal and euphorbia from Perthshire, crab apple from Aberdeenshire and aquilegia, tulips and honesty from the fields of Yorkshire.
There will be lilacs and wallflowers from Tobermore in Northern Ireland, ranunculus, Narcissus ‘Pheasant Eye’, lily-of-the-valley, forget-me-nots and bluebells from Somerset and historic tulips from Wiltshire.
Growers in Pembrokeshire and Snowdonia have selected tulips, ranunculus and rosemary for the historic occasion, and trailing stems of honeysuckle have been cut in Buckinghamshire and branches of ornamental cherry from Norfolk.
“It feels as though flower farming has come of age and I could not be prouder of Flowers from the Farm,” said Gill Hodgson, Founder and now Honorary President of Flowers from the Farm. “A decade ago, we were told that our flowers were just for bunting and jam jars, so to see them in Westminster Abbey designed by Shane Connolly, an internationally acclaimed floral designer, will be a very special moment.”
For more on Flower From The Farm
The Coronation and King Charles III
In pictures: King Charles III in gardens