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Welcome to my journal of florist life.  I talk about the good and the bad, behind the scenes tales and my latest tips and advice on all things flowers and plants.

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Best Dried Flowers for Cakes and Styling

I've just launched a range of dried flowers which are perfect for stylists, stationers, cake makers and anyone looking to use these gorgeous guys.pl I've put together this blog post to go through some of them, give you some top tips on keeping them at their best...

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas for Plant Lovers 2021

Mother's Day in 2021 is 14th March, hailing the start of Spring with the joyful appearance of daffodils and crocuses in parks and verges all around the UK, I've put together a gift guide of the best gifts for Mother's Day, if your mum is an indoor plant lover. I've...

Valentines Dried Flower Bouquets

This is my first proper Valentines day as a full time Florist and if there is one thing I didn't want to do, it's spending hours trying to make a dozen red roses look like something special. That's no offence to roses, give me a good English garden rose all day...

natural bouquet dried flowers valentines close up

Brexit & COVID… What’s the impact on a Florist?

2020 was quite a year and it went out with a bit of a bang. Brexit was one of those things I had been dreading as a Florist as so much of our products come from or through, Europe. There were lots of scares through the industry during the various dates Brexit was...

How to Take Down Your Christmas Wreath

Your wreath has been the envy of all your neighbours for the festive season but all good things come to an end and it's finally time to take it down. The good news is, if you bought a wreath or wreath making kit from me (you've got great taste, big thanks!) it's...

close up of bird real Christmas wreath iris co

Caring for and Watering your Christmas Wreath

So you've made or bought your gorgeous Christmas wreath and you're wondering how to keep it looking fresh and gorgeous for the rest of the season? Well the good news is, you won't need to do too much. The types of foliage we use in wreaths is super hardy and will...

luxury real christmas wreath hanging on door

Protected: How to Decorate Your Seasonal Wreath

First things first, grab your pile of gorgeous seasonal greenery and your wreath base. As we only had a short time in the session, I've done the first part for you! This is just adding moss to a wire frame and then binding bundles of spruce onto the wreath. What...

HOW TO HANG A CHRISTMAS WREATH

So you've made your beautiful festive wreath or bought one from your fabulous local florist but now you're stumped as to how to hang it on your door? That's OK, I've got some top tips for you in this blog post! If you're still looking for the dream one, head over...

What you need to know when planning your wedding stationery

So, you’ve booked the perfect venue, you’ve bagged the florist of your dreams and maybe found the planner to complete the picture; now it’s time to think about your wedding stationery. Setting the scene Wedding planning is one of life’s great challenges. How are...

modern letterpress stationery with disco ball theme

How to propagate a spider plant by Splitting

Spider plants are super easy to propagate in 2 ways. Firstly by division if your plant has started growing another 'twin' plant and the other is by using the 'spiderettes' that grow from your plant. My plant was actually a gift from my mum a few months ago (aww)...

6 Ways to Keep Your Houseplants Happy in a Heatwave

The weather is glorious and the sun is shining but how are your houseplants feeling about all this? Have they started to crisp up, drop leaves or look a little upset? The first thing you'll need to consider is where your plant is from, so get Googling! If your...

How to Propagate Tradescantia House Plant

Tradescantia (sometimes known as Wandering Jew) is a lovely easy to care for plant and has tonnes of different varieties! They're really easy to propagate too! If you want to grow a new little one, add some new stems if you're looking to repot or they make an...

How to Propagate Pothos and Philodendron House Plants

Golden pothos, epipremnum (yes I always have to Google that spelling..), or Devi's Ivy - whatever you call this plant, it's a great beginner and super easy to propagate, meaning you can create lots of baby ones for around the house or as gifts to friends - my first...

iris-co-london-house-plants-how-to-propagate-pothos-philodendron-1

How to Propagate a Pilea (Chinese money plant)

OK guys, you asked, I delivered. I'll be bringing you propagation tips and tricks over the next coming weeks so that your plants can keep on giving. Small plants are particularly easy to propagate (usually) and it's so rewarding seeing them get roots and grow up!...

How to Arrange Flowers & Make Them Last

If you're anything like me, this lockdown is causing you to flit between states of desire to be productive and use this time 'wisely' and laying on the sofa like I've given up, watching re-runs of sitcoms I've seen a hundred times. If you're in the latter, embrace...

Gemma Hales lead florist from Femme Petale arranging a large vase of flowers and smiling

All Greenery Wedding Flowers in Surrey

Sam was absolutely clear about her vision from the moment we started chatting in the first consultation. She wanted just greenery - no flowers for their wedding at The Mill at Elstead in Surrey. A beautiful old water wheel still turns at this venue surrounded by...

ceremony setup with greenery garlands on the ceiling and on the floor with pillar candles

Autumnal Wedding Flowers in East Sussex

The tones of autumn are my absolute favourites to work with. For me, the rich tans and mustards of this time of year totally make up for the colder days and longer nights. Pippa & James got married on a lovely but rainy autumn day in the village of Alfriston....

autumnal bridal bouquet iwth oranges, reds and pinks with sage greenery poking through made by femme petale bristol florist

What Can I Do With My Flowers After My Wedding?

Your wedding flowers will be a big part of your day. You hold them as you walk down the aisle, you may get married surrounded by them and they will decorate your venue to make it look more beautiful than you even imagined. The big question on many couples minds...

Elegant Boho Wedding Flower Inspiration

As Alanis once sang, rain on your wedding day is pretty ironic, and on the morning of this beautiful shoot, it poured. We all put a lot of time and money into our photoshoots and a gloomy day or a grey looking forecast can sometimes make us feel the same. As you...

When Things Don’t Go To Plan

As always, I am totally honest in my blogs to give you an insight into the weddings and shoots that I create bespoke wedding flowers for.  This is a shoot which happened against all odds, it was almost cancelled twice, initially when we first lost our venue...

Elegant Wedding Flowers in Stunning Vineyard Photoshoot

Our blog is where I journal about the shoots and weddings I design wedding flowers for and I am always totally honest with my behind the scenes info about each event. So this one was *deep breath* my first ever shoot! Even though I've taken part in many since and...

Modern mid century wedding flowers with pampas grass cloud

When Laura came to me with her original concept of a modern twist on 1970’s style, I was very excited to be part of the collaboration. Since I was very little and staying with my wonderful grandparents, I loved the bold wallpapers and unique carpets they had in...

Surprise Wedding for Pizza Express Advert

We were very intrigued when Wedding Planner, Ann from Ann Nicholas Weddings got in touch with us on behalf of Pizza Express to ask if we would be able to supply wedding flowers for 2 surprise weddings they were holding as part of their national advertising...

Lake District elopement wedding flowers

The Blog is where I journal about the shoots and weddings I design wedding flowers. I am always totally honest about the behind the scenes from each event to share the joys and challenges with all of my wonderful readers. I had seen a request for a florist with the...

Modern meets Vintage Wedding Flowers

Seeing ourselves in print still gives us goosebumps, so we were very excited that You & Your Wedding chose to feature this beautiful shoot in their Valentines Day edition. The theme for this shoot was a 1920’s inspiration but with a modern twist which I totally...

Fireplace Flowers for Nancy Straughan meetup Event

We were delighted when the amazing stylist and blogger, Nancy Straughan asked Iris & Co to create some beautiful event flowers for her first Grounded Creative Networking event which invited female, creative entrepreneurs to a super cool venue in North London...

Wedding Flowers for Alex and James Marquee Wedding

We were absolutely delighted to be asked to bring Alex’s dream to life for her wedding flowers at her stunning wedding in Dorset. Alex was a super chilled bride and gave us a colour scheme of beautiful bold flowers and a pretty free reign!  We worked on some...

5 Top Tips for Choosing Your Wedding Flowers

Choosing your wedding flowers is a challenging but exciting part of your wedding preparation.  There’s lots to consider but this guide will break down the top 5 things to think about when you’re designing your wedding flowers. The Venue It’s really important...

Finding and Working with Your Wedding Florist

Finding a wedding Florist can be a challenge so I've written a blog post all about how to find a wedding Florist. I've also outlined how to get the most from your Florist and what to expect through the process. First things first, you’ve got to decide if you want...