Gardens and flowers have always played a huge part in my life. I was very lucky to grow up in a house in Yorkshire with a very large garden, and parents who loved plants. Some of my earliest memories are of that garden: collecting leaves in Autumn, remembering the names of flowers, learning how to make compost (still something of an obsession!). Whenever I smell a ‘Doris’ garden pink, I am instantly transported back to that wonderful time.

My grandad too was a fabulous gardener. His garden was typical for the time: a block of roses, another of gladioli, a small patch of very well-tended lawn. Most memorably for me, he had a large dahlia patch. On every summer and autumn visit, we would walk through these seemingly giant plants and together we’d cut a large bunch to take to my mum.

All of these memories and feelings left their imprint on me. After college, and working as a fashion designer in London, I lived in a first floor flat with no garden. In spite of this, I made sure I had overflowing window boxes filled with colour and scent all year. Then, when I moved with my husband to Cambridge, our main priority was to have a garden. I quickly realized that I wanted to garden full time, and have spent fifteen years gardening and designing gardens for other people.

Slowly but inevitably, this has transitioned to flower growing. Starting on a small plot a few years ago, I started growing a wide variety of flowers to meet the emerging demand for locally grown and seasonal flowers.

I now sell flowers to several florists who share my appreciation for the locally grown, ecological beneficial, and uniquely beautiful seasonal flowers I grow. We shouldn’t need to have red roses in February, when instead we have access to all the bounty our true flower seasons offer. Flowers grown at the Midnight Garden Flower Farm are more likely to be fragrant and to last longer in the vase. Unlike mass produced, imported flowers, ours blooms are natural, local, and fresh.

With a fashion design background, and an eye for colour, texture and form, I’ve been able to develop my natural and intuitive floristry skills, creating arrangements that are at ease and harmonious.

The name The Midnight Garden Flower Farm comes from my childhood love of books about magical gardens. I’m still transported by magic of gardens as much as Tom is, and as this novel was written so close to where I now live, the name seemed wholly appropriate.

Our range of flowers varies with the season, and we keep records of all we grow. From ammi to zinnia, larkspur to snapdragon, we have colour, shape and texture to suit all customers who love seasonal and local.