Where on earth did all the flower shops go? There used to be a marvellous one in the middle of town, it’s been there since I was a child and my Dad knew the owner, Mr Barker. Oh I know he retired and the shop eventually closed but didn’t someone open another great flower shop? You know the one with all the ribbons and pots and pots of glorious blooms begging you to buy them, the one with the rustle of brown paper and raffia and the little shelves stacked with coloured ribbons of all colours and widths and an array of flower arranging paraphernalia in the back?
They used to make fabulous wreaths at Christmas and sells bundles of holly and greenery for the house, small table decorations and swathes of floral heaven to be festooned and draped about the house.
GONE.
Apparently Paula Pryke hasn’t made it this far north nor has Jane Packer – let me say their flowers are FAR better than their websites! So what is a person to do when they need a fantastic array of blooms and is faced with Sainsbury’s, Tesco or M&S as a florist? drive around madly looking for something resembling a proper flower shop, that’s what I say. After an hour of scouting, including the yellow pages, nada… scouring the web on my iPhone nada x2 I drove past a REAL flower shop, appalling location for parking but REAL flowers displayed in the windows no less. For Fleurette, I found a park and walked back to it.
Turns out the owner trained with Mr Barker all those years ago, then continued in London and has come back to rescue this town from floral purgatory! The shop abounds with ribbonry, oasis, arrangements and of course buckets and buckets and buckets of gorgeous floral blooms. The staff know about flowers, what they’re called (in Latin!) and how to care for them not to mention how to arrange them and entice customers to buy them!
I spent a ton, they were worth every single penny!
