FIELD OF FLOWERS

A TALE OF FLOWERS… AND SCENT…

To capture the scent…the pure, ephemeral, intangible essence that seasonally imbues the garden air had long been a very personal dream...

It’s many years now since I first hatched a plan for a field of flowers here at Glenmore House. But as my skill set (especially back in those early days!) didn’t equate with being any kind of flower farmer, it was a dream that was shelved…put on hold time and time again: for it always seemed like a step too far, without purpose.

Until, that is…the idea cross-pollinated with the real emerging twin-dream of capturing the scent of the garden in Botanical Water.

And combined with the idea of a magical workshop filled with flowers and scent; all at once the concept of the field emerged from im..to possible!

Since first writing this page (at last I’ve got around to some edits!), the field has longsince gone from rocky outcrop to one containing a series of long, mounded, flower-filled rows. The beautiful earth (once thin atop the rocks) was re-arranged, smothered with compost and in the first instance covered with hessian (to keep it in place, allow it to reintegrate with its place and to help prevent weed growth). The bulk of the plants I wanted to grow were planted during the course of 2021 with a handful of bare-root roses missing the first season and making it into the ground in the spring of 2022 (but the waiting certainly didn’t hold back the burgeoning growth of those first-planted – especially the rose pelargonium and lavender, granting me plenty of experimental material for early distillations).

During the intervening years, the Field has nestled beautifully into its situation in the landscape. How I enjoy working in this hitherto little used paddock. Somehow the additon of the rows made the extent of the garden feel ‘complete’ and its position draws attention to what may once have been under-appreciated wider views to the landscape beyond. It’s also the closest I’ll ever get in this lifetime to having a market garden!

Since the initial planting, harvesting and distilling from the Field has become a spring/summer way of life with the introduction of Field of Flowers Workshops in the spring of 2022. What joy then, to share the abundance with like-minded souls wandering the rows, plunging their noses deep into gloriously cupped blooms; picking and putting them into linen bags slung across their bodies in the spring sunshine – days of pure immersion, when kindred spirits join me here to play…with FLOWERS…their colours, textures and intoxicating SCENT.

Please see the Field of Flowers Workshop booking page for 2026 here! Mx