FLOWERS | FLÙRAICHEAN

Our flower business has formed the core of what Applecross Croft has provided customers over the last few years. While we are excited to launch our new designs for our silk scarves we will continue to grow and supply flowers locally.

We have always operated as a small-scale, part-time and community-focussed flower enterprise which serves the southern end of the Applecross Peninsula. This helps us to reduce our carbon emissions because we can minimise delivery journeys. Between May and late summer (usually the end of August or into September, depending on the weather) we cut flowers on the croft for local supply. It is an amazing time of year and a privilege for us to see how much our customers love what we do.

The wildlife we get on the croft also loves our flowers – insects, birds, mice and voles regularly chomp through stems, pluck off blooms and devour leaves. We are happy to see them there (maybe not so much when the slugs have done a number on our nasturtiums or levelled the lupins to the ground!) but it shows us that the organic principles we follow are attracting them. We can see, hear and feel that the biodiversity is increasing every season.

We work with nature and grow all of our flowers outdoors. We don’t use polytunnels, artificial fertilisers or electrical heating. This means that our supplies are seasonal, weather dependent and suit the ground and climate conditions that we have. We cannot guarantee that particular varieties or colours of flowers and foliage will be available for certain special events, so we no longer offer wedding flowers.

The rhythm of the flower season inspires our newly-launched silk scarves. The preparation of the tulip beds in winter, the tending of seeds and young plants in spring, the bursts of colour and the glorious concerts of insect noise in summer all find a place in our designs. You can also see traces of the gathering of seeds in the autumn and the beautiful melancholy of the fading light through October and November which leads to fresh hopes for the coming growing year. 

We are grateful to be doing this, and for the support of our friends and customers.

You can find out more about our flowers by clicking here.