Demonstration at Dullingham Flower Club

On the 11th November we packed up two vans and swept up the M11 on a wild and windy autumn night to Dullingham which is between Newmarket and Cambridge!
I don't usually have the time to do evening demonstrations for flower clubs but Lesley Bird who organises this club was very persuasive and managed to pack the hall with over a hundred guests. Itwas a fabulous evening and I was helped on stage by Anita and Hisako while my neice Katie efficiently organised the book sales!

Thanks to Lesley Bird and the flower enthusiasts of  Dullingham.
Grateful thanks also to  Waitrose for their sponsorship! - Next demo stop  - San Diego in April!

Anita, Hisako and Paula on stage!

White Amaryllis is a great favourite of mine for the festive season.

A typical Paula Pryke colour combo!
I adore pink and purple together as
any one who has visited our London
Studio will know!

Waxed mini apples in all the colours are inspiring our
Christmas Decorations.

This new luminous wire by
the Smithers Oasis company is
fabulous for corporate flowers!

Festive white and green topiary

Multicoloured Xmas

Birch is such a wonderful and useful wood!

Conical Topiary

Favourite Decorations

Hanging decorations are my favourite at the moment!

Exotic hanging decorations!

Paula visits the Aalsmeer Show, Holland

 Always on the lookout for new pink rose varieties. "Taboo" is a new large pink rose with a large head and last for two weeks in a vase:

This red "Naomi" heart was  a show stopper!

Perfect new variety for the Autumn:

We had once worked with these 1 and a half metre roses at the Royal Opera House but I couldn't resist being photographed with this vase from the Nervada Farm in Ecuador!

So  many great bi-colours!

Downtown Abbey

It is great to have a good TV historical drama to watch on Sunday evenings in the Autumn and we love all the images of the beautiful Highclere Castle. This castle is one of our favourite venues to decorate and over the years we have designed some very different weddings there!

These lovely bright and colourful images were taken in the summer when we decorated the Castle for a surprise birthday weekend party!  The guests had a great summer weekend in the English country.

DK HOME Crystal candleabras with Morrocan tea lights

Colours inspired by the mid summer

Purple Vanda orchids are great in groups

Small Green apples and Celosia add texture

Any excuse to use Glorosia!

This party had an Alice in Wonderland theme!

The Library at Highclere Castle

Rich grouped colour

Trends for Auntumn/Winter 2010/11

Roses with Hazel and Grasses.

The Green Eye Roses

Textured pots and heavy ceramics are a 2011 trend.

This green eye rose is a favourite of ours.

Getting ready for Halloween

Happy Trick or Treating!

Halloween Grotto

Autumn Wedding at The Royal Geographical Society

We did a lovely autumnal wedding using all the best flowers of the autumn harvest. Our Bride flew into London from Singapore with the most gorgeous selection of singapore orchids which we worked into her wedding bouquet and bridal flowers. The Bride was a great flower lover and ha sent us a list of all the flowers she liked. She came down to the studio to put together the collection for her bridal flowers and so we had a really personal and unusual collection. That is the best thing about being a florist working with a continually changing palette and each event becomes totally unique as we interpret the wishes of the Bride on her special day!

Wedding Bouquet - The Singapore orchid were

brought over from Singapore as hand luggage

Hips, Dahlias, Tom Peace Xmum

and Physalis. Perfect for an autumn wedding.

Love this effect! 

Glass Urns for Pedestals

I love using crabapples and hips in vases

at this time of the year. The long Italian 

hips look great in metre tall vases on the centre

of dining tables.

Bridesmaids Bouquet - Our Bride loves

white Scabious and we managed to find a grower

in The Netherlands who still had enough flowers

to fill a bucket for us!

Dark Wow roses, Mango Callas and orange 

Euphorbia fulgens with rose hips.

October Autumn Flower School

We had a lot of fun at our Autumn flower school! We had six visitors from Sao Paulo in Brazil and three lots of family groups of three all starting their own flower business! With visitors as well from Romania and Korea. We had the usual eclectic mix of ladies and a great exchange of ideas and thoughts.





Autumn is a great season for textural flower arrangements with all the berries and fruits and fluffy sunflowers and spiky Dahlias. We are using lots of hips submerged in water in glass vases for our events and flower contracts.
Good luck everyone! Happy Arranging!

Silver Wedding Anniversary Party

We had the pleasure of working in Somerset this weekend at the stately Halswell House. This is a great venue if you are looking for a weekend country house venue.  Our client who was celebrating 25 years of marriage chose a black and white theme and we decorated the house with white and green flowers with accents of black in the flowers and foliages. We found some fabulous English grown Arabian Chincirinchee at Covent Garden market which were perfect with the seasonal black Ligustrum and Viburnum berries.