THE MODERN MINT BLOG

Jun28

Lonely Bouquet Day

National Lonely Bouquet Day is tomorrow (Sunday 29th June) – an initiative that seeks to put a smile on the face of a stranger!

Table arrangement, Woodpeckers, NGS Essex
Woodpeckers, NGS Essex

We love this idea. Having grown cut flowers in the past (and that really is a beautiful job) we applaud any idea that helps encourage people to get out and use flowers they might not have considered before. Flowers that are seasonal, smell great because they are fresh, are grown locally and, best of all, make a stranger happy.

If you want to take part in Lonely Bouquet Day, here is what you need to do…

1) Pick flowers fresh from the garden or forage straight from nature

2) Arrange the flowers in a small, recycled jar

3) Add a signature “take me!” tag

4) Leave the homegrown arrangement behind for a lucky local to take home. Voila! You have just delivered a handful of flowers that will surely put a smile on a stranger’s face.

Flowers from the Garden
Flowers from the Garden

We hope you support this wonderful project – go for it, cut some flowers and make someone smile!

(For a bouquet that seems to do the opposite of the aims of the Lonely Bouquet, take a look at this from our Chelsea Fringe project… that lonely bouquet is pretty sad by the end, right? That’s why we encourage you to spread the happiness tomorrow!)

If you are a complete novice with cut flowers, haven’t a clue where to begin, but are inspired enough to want to give it a go… you can always ask us for help. Other clients have… Cut Flower Garden.

Or these books below will give you a huge amount of information – we recommend you check them out!

The Cut Flower Patch: Grow your own cut flowers all year round

The Cutting Garden: Growing and Arranging Garden Flowers

(This one below is more about cut flower growing in the USA, but the lady who wrote it introduces great case studies from other growers – invaluable and inspiring tips about how to make your cutting patch work!)

The Flower Farmer

Grow Your Own Cut Flowers

And for those who have arranged flowers before and want something a little more exciting to work with… how funny are these florist snips…?

Oct29

The Amelia Project – Episode 88: Didius Julianus

Friends of mine write a sitcom podcast called The Amelia Project (I wrote about this years ago, when they started it….!) December 2024 I had some fun playing the tiny part of Fornio in episode 88 – Didius Julianus. I have not listened to the episode yet, as I am clearly not an actor… and the thought of listening to my dulcet tones for the few minutes I’m in it just… makes me feel ill. But the recording and being in the studio was great fun, the real actors were hilarious and the script is brilliant – not just funny, …

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Oct29

Waltham Place Topiary Workshop 2026

With the European Boxwood and Topiary Society, I run two workshops each year at Waltham Place, one of my favourite gardens. The next topiary workshop there will be on Friday September 4th 2026. Details and how to book yet to be announced, but get in touch with them now to get on the waiting list, as last year we had double the amount of people wanting a place than we had space for. The Waltham Place website is here – topiary workshop 2026. See the teaching page for how else I can help you with the topiary in your garden …

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Aug04

Box Hill – Novella by Adam Mars-Jones

I picked this book up back in 2020 because of the title – Box Hill – fabulous, I thought, a book about boxwood. I’ll peruse this for its respective thoughts on the plant I clip most when I make topiary. I didn’t read the blurb on the back. Didn’t know the author (although I knew the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, as I love many of the essays they have published… so trusted the author would be worth spending time with.) By page 2 I realised this novel wasn’t quite what I had expected. I started the book at 10pm, after getting …

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