Golden Rose Flower Farm, Maple Cross

Woman picking flowers golden rose flower farm — Melanie picking out her best blooms

A brand new one – based at Woodoaks Farm in Herts – this is the first growing season for Golden Rose Flower Farm, with blooms available until October. They’re all about seasonal and artisanal flowers, grown with organic methods that don’t harm, but actually help, the natural environment. Run by Melanie, who developed a passion for flowers during her time working for Designer’s Guild. She’ll be offering bunches, bouquets and buckets with a focus on movement, texture and scent. Plus there’ll be twice weekly PYO sessions from June – you’ll get a bucket and some secateurs as well as Melanie’s expert guidance to help you choose (£20 per session). Go show your support for this growing (sorry!) business.

Flos Flower Farm, Hitchin

Champions of British grown flowers that are gentle on the planet, Flos offers mixed buckets (from £55), bouquets (from £25) and even edible flower punnets (they make gorgeous garnishes for salads, wedding cakes and cocktails!) when in season, for delivery in and around Herts, Beds, Cambs and London. Owner, Beth, also offers edible dried flower petal pouches and floral infusions to elevate your morning cuppa. You can also ask about visiting the plot, which is within the Walled Gardens of the St. Paul’s Waldenbury Estate, just outside Hitchin, about workshops and interactive sessions – there are some fab sounding events coming up in August, which include an energy-boosting morning yoga session, pick-your-own posey and coffee (£30).

The Walled Garden Flower Farm, Biggleswade

woman holding a chicken in a walled garden with dahlias — Rachel in her walled garden with a feathered friend

Rachel and Matthew’s bijou two acre garden is a real passion project. They grow English country garden flowers in a natural and sustainable way, working with nature and the seasons, to supply local florists, DIY weddings and pop-up events, as an alternative to imported blooms. Whether you want flowers all year round (£300 for a monthly delivery from spring tulips to Christmas wreaths), a spring bouquet (£30) or a meadow bunch (£20), you can have them delivered locally to Biggleswade and surrounding villages and towns, free of charge, or collect straight from the farm. Keep an eye on their upcoming events, too as they run some lovely workshops, retreats and open days.

Wilt Studio, Sandon

Floral designer and flower farmer Ellie, runs this British Flower Farm and Floristry Studio and is absolutely committed to sustainability, using no-dig methods, no plastic and leaving no waste (leftover blooms are dried for out of season bouquets). She’s all about embracing the natural look with bouquets loaded with wonky stems and foraged foliage as opposed to ‘perfect blooms’ and sources additional flowers from other local farms too. Ellie offers wedding and event flowers and installations plus everything from mini dried posies (by post, £12) to seasonal British gift bouquets and buckets (from £40), and weekly and fortnightly floral subscriptions (for local delivery).

Hay Lane Flowers, Stagsden

Woman with a bunch of flowers flower farm

Run by second and third generation flower farmers, Jane and Jack, this enterprise is all about working with nature and supporting the local environment. They partner with local florists to supply their freshly cut blooms, but you can pop into their Flower Shed (open daily during the growing season from 8am – 5pm) and pick up a hand-tied bouquet (£25) or an arrange-it-yourself bucket (£35). And PYO sessions and workshops will be open from July (if the weather plays ball!), with private sessions (minimum 6ppl) – ideal for hen dos or birthdays – available to book too. Pick your flowers before taking them to the shepherd’s hut to be beautifully arranged and wrapped for you. They’ll also be offering plants soon, too, so watch this space!

The Nurtured Garden, Stotfold

This micro flower farm in Stotfold, on the Beds/Herts border, was set up in 2021 by the green-fingered Nicola Hutchinson. The flowers are all grown naturally (no pesticides and no-dig), in season and by hand, with beautiful blooms available to order between April and the first frost. They also do dried flowers and wreaths for winter though… (note to self for next Christmas!) You can buy bunches of whatever is in bloom at the time, arranged in jars and vases that you can keep afterwards, ranging from just £12.50 for a jam jar posy to a £30 gift bouquet (with plastic-free wrap of course!), as well as a great-value mixed garden bunch for £15. Pre-order online.

Sweet Briar Flower Farm, Hertford

Based on Foxholes Farm, with a quarter of an acre to call their own, Sweet Briar specialise in traditional, scented English country garden flowers and uses no-dig, chemical-free methods. Owner, Nicola Stuart O’Brien, offers gift bouquets, floral subscriptions and DIY buckets for weddings and events, from April to October. And the PYO field (including scenty sweet peas when they’re ready) is open most Sundays up until 29 October. During the winter months the business changes tack to become a garden design consultancy. Nicola honed her green fingers at Capel Manor studying garden design, and can advise on making your outside space work for you – and even how to create your own cut flower garden!

Howbury Farm Flowers, Bedford

Dahlias growing in a walled garden with poly tunnels in background

This stunner of a walled garden in the grounds of Grade II-listed manor house, Howbury Hall, has been lovingly nurtured for around a decade by Jane Leech and Lucy Copeman. Their flowers are never forced and they use a fully organic, seed-to-stem approach to growing their wide selection of traditional, unusual and hard-to-find flowers. Visit the garden to select your own blooms or, if you live within Bedford you can sign up for weekly, fortnightly or monthly deliveries. Buckets (for home arrangement) start at £20 while a hand-tied bouquet is £25. They also offer a full floristry service for weddings and events, including a option to visit the farm and choose colours and varieties. Plus, you could learn the art yourself at one of their workshops with the School of Sustainable Floristry.

Jazzy Rose Flowers, Chipperfield

woman holding vase of flowers Jazzy Rose flowers Lisa

Lisa founded Jazzy Rose in 2022 following the pandemic, a divorce and burnout. Her first biz, Sew Over It, saw her creating and teaching others to make their own clothes. Now she’s coverted sewing to sowing, having studied at Capel Manor College, and offers flowers on subscription (by mail order and local delivery), PYO (watch this space for sweet peas and summer annuals) and workshops (from growing to arranging). Plus, I love the idea of her grow-along club, where, for a £7 monthly membership you can learn what to plant when, how to nurture it, tips on sourcing seeds and other supplies, and more.

Hitchin Lavender, Hitchin

Bring your secateurs, grab a paper bag and fill yer boots with fragrant stems of the purple stuff. Now’s the perfect time to visit as the lavender is in full bloom from 22 June until 21 August. There are 30 acres of lavender, sunflowers and wildflowers for you to frolick about in, as well as a lavender display field showcasing 60 varieties. Pop into the gift shop for plants and lavender-based goodies, from beauty products to food and drink. Kids love running up and down the rows, making a fab spot for those insta snaps. Plus there’s the lavender museum, kids’ play fort next to the Old Barn (free to visit), which serves homemade cakes, as well as a street food stall and wagon in the field for more refreshments. Top tip – advance tickets are cheaper than on the gate so book online before you go!

The Baldock Flower Farm, Baldock

This family run biz has been going since 2015, with self-confessed ‘flower-aholic’, Johanna Brown at the helm. Over 80 varieties are grown here and are cut-to-order, field fresh, every day. And, as a member of the Flowers from the Farm network of local growers, they have virtually no carbon footprint and zero air miles. Order ready-to-arrange flowers by subscription (from £20) and gift bouquets (£50) for collection or local delivery (£6) or DIY buckets for events such as weddings and parties, (£85), which contain 70 stems in your chosen colours, plus filler foliage, to arrange yourself – book a DIY wedding flowers workshop to get some tips. There are a number of field-to-vase workshops coming up from June – September – check the website for details.

The Pop-Up farm, near St Albans

Exactly what it says on the tin (or sign!), this place, just off the Junction 9 of the M1 near St Albans, is a sunflower field by summer and pumpkin patch come autumn, with sweetcorn inbetween!. Dates are yet to be confirmed for Sunflower picking but it’s usually late July/early August. Grab a wheelbarrow and go pick a bunch or two of sunshiney blooms to brighten up your life.

Bury Lane Farm, Royston

Not a flower farm exclusively, this farm shop, garden shop, café and kids’ play barn combo is worth a mention for its fab PYO offering, which covers (almost) all seasons in fruit and flower form. Currently they’re into the last few days for picking peonies (£6.50 for 5 stems – £24 for 30 stems), and they offer tulips in early spring, strawberries in June/July, then towards the end of the summer/early autumn you can fill yer boots with sunshiney dahlias and plump pumpkins.

Blooming gorgeous! 13 lovely local flower farms to visit this summer

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