Velvet Brown - Home Accessories

We took part in the Wendover Church Flower Festival in early June, which had the theme of ‘Wendover In Flower’. Exhibits were either created by local Wendover groups, schools or organisations or individual arrangements could be themed around Wendover landmarks or history.  Wendover is a pretty Chiltern village in Buckinghamshire and holds great affection with us, especially as our late grandparents lived in the village and owned the village dairy for many years.

We chose to base our exhibit on Wendover Woods, a well-known area of woodland to the north of Wendover which is owned by the Forestry Commission.  Covering approx 800 acres Wendover Woods drawns visitors from all around for its walks, trails, mountain biking, superb views and a stunning display of bluebells in late Spring.

We were allocated the entrance porch of Wendover church for our display and set about creating a woodland-entrance to welcome the flower festival visitors.  The photos below show the results.  All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable event and the summer sunshine attracted hundreds of visitors.  With numerous stunning floral displays throughout the church, lunches and teas on the church lawn, an art exhibition and a church treasure-hunt it was a huge success.

The Forestry Commission logo in flowers:

Wendover Church porch themed as Wendover Woods:

Picnic time in Wendover Woods:

The Marquee

Last weekend saw the first Great Haseley Mad Hatters Plant Swap.  With the allotments in the village becoming so popular (I believe there is now a waiting list) the Horticultural society thought they would try a plant swap.  Kay gallantly took on the roll as chief organiser and put posters around the village and advertised the event in the local parish magazine.  She borrowed the “pumpkin auction” marquee and made delicious cakes and jam tarts and set about organising teas and signs to help the swap run smoothly.

    Roger setting up the teas.  Fairy Cakes for the Plant Swap

At 2pm and right on cue as the event started the heavens opened but in true British Style the thirsty gardeners and bystanders turned up with their plants to swap.  As villagers discussed gardening tips and secrets they happily munched on cakes and sipped tea whilst deciding which plants to take in place of what they had bought.  Great Haseley should have an excellent crop of tomatoes this year as they seemed the most popular plants whilst Dave Pickett made sure that everyone had a pumpkin plant to ensure their will be some good entries for this years Pumpkin auction.

 

    Not many plants left at the end of the day

It feels so good to get on top of the spring cleaning.  Last week I decided to attack the kitchen with great success.  I was fed up with all those packets falling out of the cupboard everytime I opened the door so I set about getting myself better organised.  I used these gorgeous new storage jars on my shelves and filled them all with the dry ingredients from all the packets in my cupboard.  They have a wipe off black board label so I can chop and change the contents on a whim if I choose. I just need to get a few more so I can fill up all the shelves and my cupboards will be almost empty!

Spring is a great time to watch the many garden birds which visit our gardens at this time of year.  We both have an array of bird feeders in our gardens and it’s amazing that we’re able to observe so many different species.  On occasions the birds are almost queuing up for their turns on the feeders!  (Hard to believe as one of us has two cats - but thankfully the cats are too slow to pounce.)

We both took part in the RSPB Birdwatch survey earlier this year and the results make interesting reading.  To participate in the survey you have to watch your garden for one hour - what a great way to spend a Sunday morning.  We were both surprised just how many birds drop in over the course of an hour. Click here if you’d like the read the results from the RSPB.�
We both recorded and regularly see groups of Goldfinches in our gardens - there were at least 15 in one feeding session!  If you want to encourage Goldfinches it’s worth having a Niger seed feeder - a special type of feeder with tiny holes to dispense the fine seed.  Another favourite are Sunflower Hearts seeds as these undoubtedly encourage many different finches, blue tits and robins. Bags of sunflower hearts are usually available from good pet food stores and they’re well worth trying.

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So many of our customers have asked how we make our Christmas Door Wreaths, so here’s a little insight. 

All our fresh wreaths are made in a time-honoured traditional floristry way.  This involves making a base of blue-pine foliage onto a wire frame with a fresh moss backing.  This ensures freshness throughout the festive season.  Some of today’s widely available wreaths are made either into a foam base or on a modern clip-frame, however nothing beats a moss base for ensuring freshness and providing a stable, firm base onto which fruits, cones, cinnamon can be added.  We also add extra foliage, including ivy, laurel, bay or skimmia.

We’ve been making door wreaths for many, many years - they’re a labour of love however we never tire of making them.  No two are identical and every one made includes a little bit of us too.

We love to receive photos of our wreaths hanging on doors, if you’ve taken a photo of your wreath do please email a copy to us for our collection.

To cope with our expanding range and growing stock we have just got keys to our new workshop and storage unit.  We’re well and truly ‘out in the sticks’ in rural countryside, down on the farm.   

With cows and sheep for neighbours, going to work could not be more pleasureable.  We’ll never tire from the view from the workshop window.

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The humble Hyacinth is often passed over as a cut flower as it’s not a particularly dramatic or tall flower, but all the best things come in small packages.  You only have to inhale the scent of  a Hyacinth, with its soft, soapy perfume, and you’ll instantly think ‘Spring’.   Traditionally and more commonly Hyacinths are grown as flowering bulbs, often planted late Autumn in bowls or pots, then hidden away in a dark cupboard or corner to bring out to flower for Christmas or early Spring.  However Hyacinths are becoming more widely available as cut flowers and even some of the large supermarket chains now stock cut Hyacinths in their flower sections.

Popular colours for cut hyacinths are blue/mauve, white or pink, however more recent cultivars include a pale yellow, apricot, deep purple and deep fuschia-pink.  When buying Hyacinths as cut flowers, always look for tight green buds (know as ‘nails’), tinged with colour, along with firm stems and leaves - a good sign of freshness.  To preserve the vase life of cut Hyacinths, it is best NOT to cut the base of the stem (one of the few cut flowers which do not require a re-cut).  If the stems are gritty from the soil or sand they have been grown in, simply rinse the stems under running water otherwise this will pollute the vase water.

Place the Hyacinth stems in tepid, clean water and enjoy their long vase life (around 10-14 days) as the buds (or ‘nails’) become plump and colourful and the perfume becomes more intense.  It is recommended to change the vase water every 2-3 days to extend the life of the flowers.

Read about the home of Velvet Brown in the March 2009 edition of Country Homes & Interiors magazine.  We were excited to be approached by a journalist several months ago about featuring Hazel’s home in Country Homes & Interiors.  Following a visit by a superb photographer and an excellent written article about the house, its interior and Velvet Brown, the finished article has been pubished in the March 2009 edition of Country Homes & Interiors and although we say it ourselves - it makes great reading!

With the Christmas and New Year festivities over and the decorations packed away for another year, January is the perfect time to fill the house with cut flowers as thoughts turn to imminent arrival of Spring.  With very little choice available in the garden to cut and only a few shoots from early flowering bulbs peeking through the ground, it’s worth paying a visit to your local florist to see that Spring is on its way.  Although cut flowers for the house are not abundant at this time of year, you should be able to find early narcissi, early tulips, anemones and hyacinths to name but a few.

 The Narcissi family is vast, ranging from the humble but adorable Daffodil, through to the deliciously fragrant pure white Paperwhite. Most Narcissi available to buy in January will have been grown under glass and forced, however with careful treatment they can last well in centrally heated homes. 

 If buying Daffodils, look for tight buds with crisp, straight leaves.  However when buying the fragrant varieties of Narcissi, such as Sol d’Or or Paperwhites, these flowers will not have been cut until they have started to flower so don’t be put off by their open florets, just ensure the stems are straight and rigid to ensure freshness.  All varieties of Narcissi are best on their own and not mixed with other varieties of cut flowers, due to a sap which can exude from the stem and which can be harmful to other flowers.  If you intend to mix Narcissi with other flowers, first cut the stem and place in a separate container with fresh water for about an hour.  This will dilute the sap exuded from the Narcissi stems.  Then take the Narcissi and arrange with the other flowers in a separate container with more fresh water.

To purchase Narcissi we recommend www.scillyflowers.co.uk and www.flowerfarm.co.uk for home-grown Daffodils.

Without doubt the cut flower for December has to be the Amaryllis - also known as Hippeastrum.  With it’s long, thick stem, large and bold flowers and superb lasting ability it really is the ‘king’ of the cut flower world.  It is also the perfect cut flower to have indoors in December as it has excellent long-lasting ability and will cope well in most centrally heated homes. 

The stems of Amaryllis are hollow and it is along this hollow channel that the flower takes up water.  As you take a cut Amaryllis stem out of a vase of water, you’ll hear the water trickling back down the stem.  For this reason, always place cut Amaryllis in deep clean water as they are thirsty flowers. 

Each Amaryllis flower has stamens similar to Lilies and it is worth removing the pollen on the stamens when the flowers open, to avoid staining furnishings - do this as soon as the flower opens and it will help to make the flower head last longer too.

To create a striking arrangement, place two or three stems of cut Amaryllis in a vase with long-stemmed foliage or twigs - no special flower arranging skills required, the Amaryllis with their stunning flowers and colours will do the work for you!