Floral Media flower growers from Caunton, near Newark, Nottinghamshire provided flowers for Coronation of King Charles III in Westminster Abbey as part of Flowers from the Farm scheme
A small, family run floristry business played a part on the national stage for the Coronation of King Charles III.
Floral Media are artisan flower growers based in Caunton, near Newark, and supplied seasonal British flowers to be displayed in Westminster Abbey during the Coronation service, in the Quire and around the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.
Business owner, Paula Routledge, said: "It's just surreal, reflecting back and thinking I was actually a part of that.
"We belong to Flowers from the Farm, which is a national scheme of UK growers and they gifted the flowers for the Coronation.
"There were about 80 of us that supplied two buckets each. We are all British flower growers and they were collected right from the Isle of Skye, then over to Inverness, down through Scotland, working their way down the country and ended up in the Abbey being sorted by the designer, Shane Connolly.
"We were selected because they are all British and sustainably sourced and it was lovely to see them when I got there, around the Grave of the Unknown Warrior."
Coronation organisers requested scented and spring cut flowers to display — Floral Media supplied ranunculus and tulips in bright, rich, jewel-like colours.
Two years ago Paula received a British Empire Medal for charitable services to Nottinghamshire and so was invited to the ceremony alongside other recent award winners.
"It was an honour and a privilege and I felt really humbled to be in Westminster Abbey and experiencing it first hand,” she said.
"I was in the nave, right by the door as everything came through. So the Crown Jewels would just stop right in front of me and I could have just reached out and touched them.
"Seeing those so close, not behind a glass screen, is a moment I will remember forever."
Paula runs the business alongside her husband, Steve. Together they have expanded the business over the past few decades into the success it is today.
“We started growing a lot more cut flowers during Covid,” said Paula.
“It gave us time to realise that there was actually a big gap in the market for British flowers, especially with imports becoming quite expensive.
“Local florists in Nottinghamshire were crying out for British grown stock, and in the last year we’ve doubled our expansion, offering a huge range of flowers and supplying florists and farm shops around the county.”
Paula says that the business is about more than just growing flowers as throughout the year they provide workshops in activities such as basket weaving and wreath making, hold pick your own flowers events and this July will open up the gardens and flower fields to the public as part of the National Open Garden Scheme.
There are also exciting times ahead for Paula. As a previous medalist, she is looking forward to competing at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in a few weeks time and most recently exhibited at the Nottinghamshire County Show.
