A week in......

 ......and the seasons are changing ....for florists anyway!!

We find as soon as Christmas is packed away for another year nobody wants red...... for  a while anyway....it is whites and purples and spring....it as if we are all straining our eyes to see the first snowdrop.....a catkin...or a splash of winter jasmine......we have bulbs in every shape and size at the moment...bringing these lovelies into the house just makes you feel like we are only a whisper away from longer days and bright fresh breezes ..........


In the garden we are making plans.....our nights lately have been filled with a few anxious thoughts as the gales and rain has lashed our poly tunnel and newly planted shrubs...we have had our fingers and toes crossed that all will be OK ....we are busy planting seeds....and have just got the keys to our potting shed next to the garden.....lots to do here!!

This will be our new workshop and from now on our courses will run from here, giving us all a bit more space and allowing  us to de-clutter the shop......we can't wait!!

Thank You!!

 ..we are in the final countdown to Christmas....we are sorry that the posts have been pretty thin on the ground lately....the madness started on the 29th November and is still going.......we are so immensely grateful to all our fabulous customers who come into our little shop and tell us they love it....thank you for supporting your local independent florist, whether you are a regular, an occasional or a once while passing through visitor we want to wish you and all those you hold dear a most fabulous Christmas....and hope that all your dreams come true....
 With much love from Martin, Emma  & Kay....xxx

bouquets and jelly moulds

 our penultimate wedding of the year..... a gorgeous wild array of rannunculus, scented roses and heather 

rose  heart wreaths on the door before the spruce and berries take over......

 the winding down of our garden.....grapes left for the blackbirds.. and just another 80 roses to plant.....

 part of our store of vintage pots, jelly moulds and other eclectic containers......

 all waiting for the martin & the magpie magic......

and one we made earlier........

how are your Christmas preparations going?

To every season......

The seasons have moved on......
this is the last bouquet I picked from the walled garden.......

 We can't quite believe the bounty we have had this year while only really experimenting with 'growing our own'.....the first hard frost a week or so ago finished all that......

but here we are and the first of next years crop already sprouted and growing on....

 we are seeing the first of the spring flowers coming in....I know its November....but that is the flower industry..slightly ahead of ourselves...we are selling out of potted hyacinths every week so I guess everybody is ready for the change of season too!!

It is one of the humbling things about being a florist in a small town..you get to see all the milestones of peoples lives...the joys and the sorrows.......

'to everything there is a  season......

a time to sow.....

a time to reap.....

a time to dance.......

a time to mourn...........

a time of war...

a time of peace......

turn, turn, turn...............'

The 'C' word

I know it's a tad early...However I know how excited you all get about our Christmas (there I said it!) wreath course, so we are offering two dates this year.

Do you fancy making your door wreath? or a fabulous floral table wreath?

We will give you a tutorial on both and you can decide which you would like to have a go at. 

We hope you are able to join us and surround yourself with floral beauty & lots of festive cheer!

If you are interested please feel free to phone us on; 01488 681062

email us on; martinandthemagpie@hotmail.co.uk

or comment on here and we will get in touch

The days go by.......

 (baby pumpkins and vintage finds)

 (Dried leaf wreath..what a tongue twister!!)

(gorgeous rich autumn colours)

 (last blooms of summer from the garden)

(what more sunflowers!!)

.......so fast and we have been very lapse on the blogging front......facebook and instagram are taking over!!!...do follow us on both if you can, you will get a daily heads up on whats occuring in our floral and gardening lives.......
needless to say we are surrounded by the beauty of autumn..glorious colours of flowers.....stunning berries and foliage's not to mention our home grown pumpkins......
in the garden we are planting and sowing like mad things for next year..already rannunculus and anemones are in....seedlings of stocks and larkspur, cornflowers and scabious are waving their little leaves at us....the foxgloves, hollyhocks and delphiniums we planted this year for next years flowering are good strong plants now and we have our finger crossed they survive the winter.

Our heads are now turning to winter......our stock for Christmas is ordered..we are already wiring cinnamon and oranges for our wreaths in an attempt not to run out, which we did last year..we are wondering if anyone out there wants to attend a Christmas wreath making course?? .....
But first we have Halloween.....a window display to design......our 3rd Birthday!!.....a new website...........the list goes on....x

musette & more

 last week...vintage cut glass........musette roses........a wedding here.......

the surprise of the weekend.....

 the clearing of the old hot house revealed grapes....rather sour and with pips.....

today wonderful English garden (our garden!!) flowers in divine antique glass..

...finding foliage and seed heads in the autumnal hedgerows...

...keeping our fingers crossed the poly tunnel doesn't blow away.....

...playing with flowers for images to go on our new website....

.....pippins donuts......