Online programme and contributors list strawberry hill house flower festival 2024

Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival

Online Programme

13th – 15th September 2024

Curators’ Introduction

We are delighted to welcome you to the UK’s most sustainable flower festival. Now in its sixth year, the festival is a showcase of British grown flowers. A joyous celebration of seasonality and floral design, set within the house and garden of this unique Gothic Palace.

This year’s theme is ‘Nature Unbound’. We believe that floral design, where possible should reflect the natural world and every stage of the fleeting life of a flower be celebrated. As the climate changes, nature is less cyclical. The seasons are blurred and floral design is ever evolving. Many of the exhibits will showcase designs that will challenge perceptions of floristry design.

Every designer has adopted traditional methods to construct their exhibits and no floral foam or single use plastics have been used in the mechanics. At the end of the festival, everything can be reused or safely composted here in the garden. Many of the designs utilise dried flowers which can be saved and used again.

This year we are showcasing modern Ikebana designs at the festival. The word means “giving life to flowers” and the ancient principles align closely with the concept of sustainability. Each stem, leaf and flower is considered for its shape, line, and form, uniquely placed for aesthetic effect.

We warmly thank every exhibitor who has taken part in growing, designing and arranging this year to support the upkeep of this incredible building.

Curators, Leigh Chappell & Janne Ford @leigh.chappell.flowers & @jannelford

Supported by Char Johnston Floral – Charlotte Johnston @charjohnstonfloral | Myrtle & Smith Flowers – Sarah Lindsey @myrtleandsmith & Lilian’s Flowers – Lilian Highmoor @lilians_flower_diary

HOUSE

Hall and Staircase – Marzena Joseph. The installation on the staircase is a testament to Marzena’s extensive experience in Ikebana, underpinned by the philosophy of ‘less is more’. This concept, which is incredibly pertinent in today’s world, is beautifully reflected in her work. Marzena envisions the staircase not just as a means of ascent or descent, but as a unique vantage point that allows you to see the installation from a multitude of perspectives. @marzena_joseph

The Great Parlour Window – Joanne Truby Floral Design & Wildstone Floral.  Joanne Truby & Leanne Smith – ‘Natures Kaleidoscope’. To gaze through a Kaleidoscope is to change one’s perspective. Shapes and forms evolve with each turn of the lens, as do the seasons with each turn of the Earth. ‘Nature’s Kaleidoscope’ references Joanne’s beloved walks though the wild meadows of Kent, and Leanne’s personal connection to the dramatic North Suffolk coast.  We invite you to sit and enjoy a moment amongst our ‘Natures Kaleidoscope’. Wooden seat handmade by Leanne’s father.

The Great Parlour Fireplace – Inspired by their theme of changing perspectives, and the fairy-tale qualities of a garden at night; Joanne and Leanne have created an ethereal installation in this beautifully dramatic fireplace. Wispy star-lit clouds delicately waft down the chimney as if gently floating through the breeze. Evoking a dreamlike moment, before billowing into an otherworldly presence. @joannetrubyfloraldesign & @wildstonefloral

The Great Parlour – Box hedge, sourced from @chobhamflowerfarm & @leigh.chappell.flowers

The Blue Breakfast Room – Gabrielle Coulter / CITRINE. This installation has been inspired by teasles.  Teasles remind me of stately properties.  They are often left on beautiful precious pieces of furniture to deter would be users.  When foraging, they are for the brave.  Their prickly architectural exterior is worth the reward.  @gabrielle.c & @ctrinexstudio

The Green Closet – Design by Nature.  Emily Ayres. My work is experiential, rooted in the philosophy of Wabi Sabi- the Japanese appreciation for the transience and imperfections of the world around us. I take cues from both the natural world and modern art.  My work is infused with an instinctive flair, reflecting an engagement with nature, with dried flowers as my primary subject. Rather than resisting the twisted form of a flower or branch.  Dried and dead flowers are cherished, celebrated for their beauty. My display is inspired by nature’s untamed possibilities, where growth is wild and free.  @designbynatureflowers

The Blue Bedchamber – April Rose.  April Deering. Inspired by the liminal time between Summer and Autumn and the fleeting moments it creates, we will transform the space to showcase the beauty of the season. We want our design to feel as though Summer is softly lifting from the landscape with delicate dried florals floating above striking seedheads and the late sun ripened fauna of Autumn. @april_rose_Flowers

The Library – Yeon-Hee.  Inspired by this historical place, I’ve created a fairy tale imaginary flower sculpture. Using my collection of pressed flowers.  Fragile and plain, but still retaining their own characters. When they are linked to each other, they come back to life with unexpected movements, texture, and a magical shadow. The flowers are from my tiny balcony, recycled after events, and some additional from @greenandbloom_flowers & @sitopiafarm. @yeon.h_inlondon

The Library – Floral Odyssey & Lucy Phillips Flowers. Kara Johnson & Lucy Phillips.  “Be open to every form of beauty, be it a buttercup or a prize rose.” Constance Spry. @floral_odyssey & @lucyphillipsflowers

Horace Walpole’s Bedchamber – Gaia Eros Florals.  Our multi-sensory installation invites visitors to a dreamlike woodland party, rich with the plants, flowers, sounds and scents of the English countryside. Gaia’s frequent creative collaborators, Adam Parker @woodenzonedriftwoodart and Marina Ritschel @marinaritschel are both AuDHD and share the hyper-vivid experiences of how their neurodiverse brains respond to nature as part of our collaborative display. Garden waterfall by the entrance to the shop Adam Parker. Flowers grown by Hannah Bryce   @minnowandwolf @gaiaerosflorals

The Plaid Bedchamber – Wetherly. Olivia Wilson.  I have always been inspired and informed by what I can see in the fields, hedgerows and wild spaces around me. I like to work hyper seasonally, using just a few varieties and giving the materials space, taking creative direction from what is abundant in the fields or can be seen resplendent in nature. This way of working requires trust and spontaneity, but the aim is to create a design truly representative of the now, celebrating the ephemeral, fleeting beauty of the natural world in this moment, today. @_wetherly_

The Print Room – Rowan Spray. ‘Strawberry Hill Vignette’ takes inspiration from the architecture of Strawberry Hill, and from the theme of this year’s festival, ‘Nature Unbound’, I aimed to create a scene that could fancifully have been encountered by gazing through one of its beautiful windows. The distinctive silhouette provides an elaborate frame for the rambling flora. All of the flowers were grown locally by Treea Cracknell @thelondonflowerfarmer @rowanspray

The Star Chamber – Lily Matilda Flowers. Lily Fitch.  Inspired by childhood memories spent wandering between my home and that of my grandparents in the small village of Little Witley, Worcestershire.  This installation captures the essence of nature unbound.  I invite you to experience the same sense of freedom and connection to nature that has inspired me since my childhood through this foraged installation. @lily_fitch & @shaneconnollyandco

The Holbein Chamber – Joanna Game Flowers. Joanna Game is a floral artist inspired by the wildness she is surrounded by at home on Dartmoor.  Join her on Saturday, to hear her talk and demonstration in the making of a wild and seasonal urn arrangement, showing how the seasons, a connection to nature and colour informs her work. @joannagame_flowers

The Cabinet – The Chobham Flower Farm.  Andy Heslop.  ‘Nature Unbound’ is represented here in this simple jug containing aged and freshly dried stems of Coix lacryma-jobi or Job’s Tears.  These ancient and pearly grains age and colour in life; and their twists and turns take on a vitality of their own even when dried. Used as a food source in East Asia, they also hold spiritual and health qualities.  @thechobhamflowerfarm

The Gallery Entrance – Embrace the Space. Krystal Mead. Repurposed discarded gas canisters from the area around my London Studio, transformed into striking vessels, are paired with flowers from a grower in Oxfordshire.  My arrangement balances the industrial city with the tranquillity of the countryside, reflecting how I split my time between both places.  Each arrangement embodies resilience and rural grace, marrying the two worlds that inspire my floristry.  @a_beginners_and @greenandgorgeousflowers @embracethespace

Gallery Windows

Window 1 – Chatu Madhvani. “Unbinding bindweed”: Created from waste and excess, I enjoy untangling new life from the unloved and unwanted.  I wanted to capture the magic that emerges when nature is allowed to lead a conversation with the gardener – with natural forms coming alive from controlled structures. Special places, such as the River Lea, continually remind me that we are surrounded by beautiful things that want to grow unbound all by themselves. @chatu_madhvani

Window 2 – Vanessa Jayne Floral Design.  Vanessa Merwood. ‘An unbound wave’. As a floral designer based in Southsea, Portsmouth, an island city bound by the sea, it’s hard not to be influenced by the pull of the waves, so much so that it has inspired the form and spirit for this gallery window. @vanessa_jayne_design

Window 3 – Feature Florals and Freckled Petals. Shannon Clifford & Evie Salisbury.  Playing on this year’s theme ‘Nature Unbound’ our design represents Kent’s ‘Garden of England’. Our theme focuses on an apple orchard using colour, texture, and form to explore natures perfect harmonisation between new life, growth, and decay. Bearing ‘fruit’ throughout this cycle that we as humans benefit from and enjoy. @featureflorals & @freckledpetalflowers

Window 4 – Thistle by Nature.  Emma Thistlewaite. Harvesting is an observance and creative response to that which the land provides, from produce to fibres to building materials and of course, flowers.  Taking these materials out of their practical context and paring them with petals questions the purpose of cut flowers in a commercial sense, why has the flower industry grown to the scale that it has? @thistlebynature

Window 5 – Louise Langdon Florals.  Louise Langdon.  My floral display, which showcases both fresh and dried British flora, recalls my first impression of the house. So, once within its eccentric walls, the visitor can be reminded of the simple enchanting facade. @louisejlangdon

The Gallery – Leigh Chappell.  A contemporary arrangement of specialist dahlias grown from seed by Phillippa @justdahlias

The Round Red Room – Kamil Szczpaniak.  My work is a celebration of movement, contrast and balance captured in light, airy compositions.  I create art from using natural materials like sticks, grass, and leaves, emphasizing negative space to highlight the beauty of simplicity.  Since I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by nature, admiring its beauty and the amazing strategies that evolve into shapes of perfection.  Using the potential of specific stems, I bend them into unique shapes and compose them into three-dimensional objects.  @kamiletto

Great North Bedchamber – Hortus Poeticus.  Gillie and Fi. We have installed a wonderful long dining table which we have started to dress as if for a sumptuous dinner amongst friends who are naturalists and obsessed by the beauty, intricacy and opportunities for learning from the natural world. They are living at a time when science and observation of nature are intertwined and new discoveries in both fields are being made all the time. They are excited, curious polymaths who love discourse over dinner – and wine! However, the table has been abandoned and all the floral designs, fruits, vegetables, foliage and vines have started to reclaim the table and beyond. @hortuspoeticus Table cloth by @thedyeworks

Beauclerk Closet – Andy Monaghan. I was really drawn to the fact that Strawberry Hill is acknowledged as a Queer House and wanted to combine this idea with the theme of ‘Nature Unbound’, and frame it as releasing one’s inner self – unbinding one’s true nature. Whilst thinking through my personal experience and self-acceptance as a gay man, I felt the dichotomy between the perceived, expected, and celebrated parts of who I am, with the parts I’m less proud of or struggled to come to terms with. With this work, my aim is to celebrate it all, using flowers and plants I’ve grown and foraged in all stages of life and beauty. @andy.monaghan

OUTSIDE

Horseshoe Drive – Yan Skates. Yan is undertaking a further exploration of the Plant Being from last year and how it has evolved.  @yanskates

Henck Roling. Raised meadow. The British roadsides are diverse and colourful. And often overlooked. For the horseshoe drive at Strawberry Hill House, I decided to raise a meadow on bamboo that grows in my own garden (and needed cutting down). To lift the ordinary up so we can play close attention to the beauty and the diversity of wild flowers. Everything is sourced from within a mile radius of Strawberry Hill. @Henckroling

Little Parlour Door / Ticket office Entrance – Minnow and Wolf Flowers. Hannah Bryce. Floral Feast is a celebration of edible flowers, fruits and vegetables grown on our flower farm in Hampshire. From sunflowers, dahlias and nasturtiums to rainbow corn, heritage tomatoes and gourds, we want to showcase that flowers and edibles make the perfect partnership when designing seasonally. @minnowandwolf

Shop Doorway – Wild Back Yard. Anne Schwartz. Elements of a bowl deconstructed.  Scent, air, movement.  The beauty of imperfection. @thewildbackyard

Café & Café Entrance – Blooming Green. Bek & Jen. Our wild and overgrown arch of rosehips, berries and hedgerow-finds is intended to invoke a sense of faded grandeur, like the abandoned walled garden of a country house where nature if reclaiming its ground.  All of our flowers and foliage, as well as the foraged boughs and stems, are grown without chemicals on our farm in Kent.  The bud vases and larger display reflect the sentiments of the arch. It’s hard to improve on nature, so why try? We hope that café-goers will enjoy looking closely at the stems.  @bloominggreen

The Copse – Mirror and the Veil. Rachel Grimes. Haystacks with Fabric @themirrorandtheveil

Marquee – Janne Ford.  An urn design inspired by my North Yorkshire, September Garden. @jannelford

Allotment – Madge and Ivy Flowers. Julie Woodford. Overgrown and wild, once-neat rows of flowers are now obscured by climbing plants in the allotment.  A broken archway, discarded tools, rusted and forgotten, hint at past attempts to cultivate the plot. Rustic vessels housing pumpkins, herbs and nasturtiums surround a small greenhouse which offers shelter and protection for tender potted plants and seedlings. Despite the neglect there is still abundance and beauty, a final flourish before the garden rests for winter. An old bench offers a place of rest and contemplation before next year’s growing season begins. @madgeandivyflowers

Uncommon Wines – Lilian’s Flowers. Lilian Highmoor.  Uncommon Wines Unbound, Uncommon and Unconventional.  A design inspired by my unruly garden, which is a stone’s throw from Strawberry Hill House, and the way it weaves and twists to support nature. @lilians_flower_diary

With special thanks to the following contributors for their talks and demonstrations.

Bek Bibby @bloominggreen | Ashley Edwards @plantsforwellbeing | Joanne Truby @joannetrubyfloraldesign | Phillippa Stewart @justdahlias | Waisanze @ensohouse | Joanna Game @joannagame_flowers | Lucy Phillips @ lucyphillipsflowers | Christabel Lear @christabel.lear.art | Hannah Bryce @minnowandwolf | Andy Monaghan @andy.monaghan | Olivia Wilson @_wetherly_ | Charlotte Johnston @charjohnstonfloral | Andy Heslop @thechobhamflowerfarm

To find out more about our talks and workshops visit our event page.

We invite you to share your photographs on social media using the hashtag #strawberryflowerfestival and tagging @strawbhillhouse

The Flower Festival is proudly sponsored by Savills Teddington.