Introducing Carole, from Tuckshop Flowers, a Birmingham based florist, who focuses on locally grown flowers, many of which are grown in her own garden, and her allotment in Bournville. She also works with other local flower farmers and UK producers so she can provide British grown flowers year-round.
Chemical use in the floristry sector worldwide is an issue – many flowers are treated with silver nitrates to give them longevity in the supply chain. By using locally grown flowers, Carole can guarantee that once the flowers are cut they go straight into nothing other than fresh, clean water and there’s no need to wrap them in plastic to protect them on an inter-continental journey. Instead, she uses paper and card to package and recycled containers (or even vintage vases and Victorian bottles) to hold water wherever possible.
Tuckshop Flowers is mainly a one-woman band, but Carole pays everyone who freelances or works for her above the living wage, and her business makes a monthly donation to support The South Birmingham Food Bank.
Carole also runs sustainable floristry workshops for flower lovers and florists, including a ‘Green Funeral Flowers’ online course. She has also been heavily involved with Flowers from the Farm, which is a great way to find locally grown flowers.
Carole creates wedding flowers, but is also passionate about sustainable funeral flowers. She creates wildflower inspired, natural funeral flowers, and also creates beautiful coffin arrangements that you can take apart into tied bouquets to share with family and friends.
Carole is the co-founder of The Farewell Flowers Directory, which is the first UK directory to list florists offering plastic-free, compostable funeral arrangements across the country. As part of this, the aim is to get floral foam (florists oasis) out of funeral flowers for good, as it isn’t biodegradable, and instead breaks down into microplastics, which can end up in landfill, soil and waterways.
We asked Carole some questions:
Why is sustainability important to you?
“We need to rethink the way we do things in order to improve the future for everyone. Large scale planning is important, but so are the small scale local actions that we all take daily. Everyone’s daily actions add up and collectively these make a huge difference. Sustainability is a journey and not a destination – there’s always scope for improvement and I think it’s good to constantly ask how you can do better and do differently. Taking the steps you can is important even if you can’t easily achieve perfection.”
What is your favourite thing about running your business?
“I love the autonomy and creativity that it brings – it’s never boring as you have to wear so many different hats from plantswoman and florist to website designer and accountant! There’s always something new to learn and a new floral challenge to meet.”
What do you love about Birmingham?
“I love the fact that Birmingham offers such a vibrant mix of cultures, outlooks and creativity – there are so many brilliant small businesses here and so much to do. I love that fact that there’s a strong sense of community in different local areas, but it’s combined with the bigger picture mentality of a large city. Birmingham gives me space to breathe and I’ve got both the city centre and beautiful countryside just 20 minutes from my door. I feel like I’ve got the best of both worlds and there’s nowhere I can think of that would suit me better. It’s one of the UK’s best kept secrets and I think that suits Brummies just fine!”
Find out more via the Tuckshop Flowers Website or Instagram page.