May on the Farm

The sweet peas are finally here and oh my goodness! I have missed their scent so much.

This first succession of peas were sown into deep cell trays in September, overwintered in the polytunnel and planted out into the tunnel beds in January. It’s normally advised to pinch sweet peas by cutting off the top part of the stem to encourage strong side shoots to form but I don’t pinch autumn sown peas. The cool winter temperatures encourage the plant to branch naturally and if you remove the top growth, you reduce the amount of energy the plant is able to produce during the darkest part of the year. An autumn sown crop always produces the strongest stems and flowers for me and last year I was harvesting these from late May until mid September.

With a very warm start to the spring, and late frosts in early May, it’s been an odd and often stressful few months weather-wise. But walking through the pea tunnel, especially in the morning light, and noticing the slowly unfurling flowers and delicate tendrils quietly becoming stronger, my mind is instantly calmed. The first variety to open was Alison Louise, a beautiful lilac steel blue, with a stem length of 50cm.

The first few florist wedding orders were harvested this month and it felt so good to have buckets full of flowers again. Apart from those sold at the Rosemains Steading markets, all of our flowers are grown for retail and event florists in Edinburgh and the Lothians. It’s important to me that we supply only local florists as it ensures the flowers remain in top condition and arrive as fresh as possible, it minimises our carbon footprint and it means I form great working relationships, and friendships, with the florists I supply regularly.

The brief for the first wedding order of the year, for Celandine Floral Studio included ‘frothy May whites, palest periwinkle, chartreuse and gentle ochre’, for which I supplied butterfly ranunculus, anemone, delicate narcissus and the last of the ‘Catherina’ tulips.

A favourite palette of mine to harvest is a mix of juicy pinks, peaches and purples, which featured this month in a wedding at Thirlestane Castle by the wonderful event florist, Bryonia. The late spring tulip, Menton, came into flower at just the right time and its peachy-pink colour paired perfectly with ranunculus and lilac.

This year saw the first example of a miniature working flower farm at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Designed and installed by members of Flowers from the Farm, the 25ft by 15ft exhibit showcased crops that are growing on British farms in May, including ranunculus, peonies, foxgloves, lupins and orlaya. These were planted in the same way they would be on a typical British flower farm, as a polyculture, with multiple species sharing the same space to support each other, to reduce pests and improve soil health. It won a silver-gilt medal!

I am a very proud member of the Flowers from the Farm network, the leading association for independent British flower farmers. One of the main aims of FFtF is to promote the value of British grown flowers and to connect farmers with customers who are looking for high-value and sustainably produced local flowers.

The 2025 FFtF Economic Data Survey estimated flower farming to have a turnover of £30 million but until this month flower farming has not been recognised as its own industry. Income has always been filed under ‘farming’ or ‘floristry’ and has never be accurately measured by government data systems, received any investment or included in academic research. After years of campaigning, ‘Flower Farming’ has now officially been recognised as its own industry by HMRC. This is huge! We can now properly track the contribution flower farming has on the economy, in creating jobs, enhancing biodiversity and supporting sustainable land use and we will receive real support and opportunities to further grow the industry.