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From farm to Westminster

Flowers from the Farm worked closely with floral designer Shane Connolly to create flower displays bringing the joy, variety and beauty of seasonal UK-grown blooms to the heart of Westminster Abbey for the Coronation.

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Flowers fit for a coronation

Flowers from the Farm Co-Chair, Jo Wright and its founder, Gill Hodgson explain why this historic moment is a landmark for local, small-scale flower production.

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Watch the story behind the flowers.

A collection of flower await departure to the Coronation. Dark tulips, vibrant wallflowers, fragrant flowering rosemary and lilac are here shown in close up.
The coronation

A celebration of seasonal flowers from across the UK

In total, 88 flower farms representing all four nations cut over 120 different varieties of spring-flowering bulbs, blossom, perennials and foliages to decorate the Quire and the Grave of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.

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Inside Westminster Abbey

Shane Connolly’s floral designs used local, seasonal spring blooms for the coronation ceremony.

Hellebores growing in the flower field

The Quire

Two installations flanked the entrance to the Coronation Theatre, with colours echoing the rich golds, burgundies, purples, pinks and reds of the High Altar and the Cosmati Pavement, as well the Robes of State and Estate. Featuring hellebores (as worn by the King in his 2005 wedding buttonhole), honeysuckle, tulips, ranunculus, blossom, jasmine and aquilegia (an ancient symbol of the Holy Spirit), with foliage of rosemary, birch, bay and hazel, and wild broom grown on the Isle of Skye.

 

 

The Grave of the Unknown Warrior

Echoing the colourful wildflower meadow seen on the hand-painted coronation invitations, fresh spring flowers symbolising remembrance framed the Grave of the Unknown Warrior. These included sprigs of rosemary, bay for virtue, bluebells and forget me nots for constancy of love, daffodils for chivalry, cowslips, cornflowers for refinement, lilac for memories of youth, and lily of the valley and auriculas, which both appeared in the Queen Consort’s wedding bouquet in 2005.

Sensational spring flowers

What signifiers of spring will you see in the floral installations?

Hellebores

Harvested on a croft on the Isle of Skye, these nodding beauties emerge in late winter to reach their peak as cut flowers as they mature in late spring.

Apple and Crab Apple blossom

Freshly cut from plots in Perthshire and Aberdeenshire, the bursting pink buds of apple blossom bring promise of warmer days to come and autumn plenty.

Granny's Bonnets and Honesty

Grown in the fields of Yorkshire, aquilegia and hesperis bring their poetic common names and delicate charms to the coronation celebrations.

Lilac

Travelling from Tobermore in Northern Ireland, stems of sumptuous lilac contribute to the heady cocktail of late spring scents created by the displays.

Ranunculus

Growers in Pembrokeshire and Snowdownia have gifted choice stems of these ruffled star performers – must haves for any spring cutting patch.

Honeysuckle and Jasmine

Fragrant tendrils of these spring climbers have travelled from Buckinghamshire and Lincolnshire to add movement, wayward charm and perfume to the displays.

Scented Narcissi and Lily of the Valley

The late season ‘Pheasant Eye’ narcissi are exquisitely scented, as are the tiny pure white bells of Lily of the Valley.  Journeying to the coronation from Somerset, these beautifully simple flowers pack a real perfumed punch.

Cherry Blossom

Nothing says “Spring” like the ephemeral beauty of cherry blossom. Sculptural branches of this florists’ favourite were grown on a Norfolk flower farm and add scale to the displays.

Tulips

Wiltshire-grown historic tulip varieties combine in the arrangements with their more modern cousins, nurtured by small-scale growers in Wales. Their beauty makes you understand the origins of tulip mania which gripped the Netherlands in the 1600s!

Cornish Snowflakes

Like giant snowdrops, leucojeum’s white bell-shaped clusters of pendulous flowers dance in arrangements. They’ve made the journey from Cornwall to Westminster Abbey to add detail and delicacy to Shane Connolly’s installations.

Forget Me Nots and Bluebells

There are few blue shades to be found naturally in flowers, so these spring beauties are treasured for their colour. Quintessential flowers of the UK countryside, these special blooms were grown by flower farmers in Somerset.

Solomon's Seal

Grown in Perthshire, stems of Solomon’s Seal will provide architectural interest through their arching stems, gorgeously glaucous foliage and their small but subtle white flowers which hang like pendants beneath.

Delicate papery petals of white and yellow poppies contrast with the deep tones of golden wallflowers. Flowers for the 2023 Coronation donated by Flowers from the Farm.

Delicate poppies and glowing wallflowers

Lacy umbellifers for the coronation displays at Westminster Abbey by Shane Connolly,

Lacy umbellifers

Regal ranunculus are the queens of spring! Here are cream picotee varieity with a crimped deep purple edge was a perfect ingredient for the coroanation flower displays for King Charles III.

Regal ranunculus.