LADY of the FLOWERS

A day in the life of Delamere Flower Farm creator Alice Taylor, as she juggles family with growing British cottage garden blooms and creating artisan arrangements for weddings

- Bethan Andrews

06:30

BURSTING INTO LIFE

Unless it’s a Saturday morning, when I’m rushing out of the door to deliver wedding flowers, my morning starts early getting the kids, Rose, Ben, and Livvy, out of bed. It’s all hands on deck getting them dressed, teeth brushed, packed lunches made – but we always sit and have breakfast together. We live on the farm, so once that’s done, I can get straight out to work. If they’re not at school or pre-school, I can be with the flowers and they can be running around the field, so it has enabled me to work around my family.

07:30

WORKING AROUND FAMILY

Having worked as an immunologist for the NHS, I wanted to do something that allowed me to be at home more. I come from a farming background, so outside and gardening is in the blood and I’ve always had a passion for growing things. The flower business idea came from me seeing a gap in the market. We tried it and I found I was obsessed – I spend my entire time looking at flowers on Instagram and following other flower farms around the world. It’s a passion and it’s been about growing the business from that. I started doing bouquets for our village shop, and then six weddings became 20, and so on. We’re at a point, four years on, where I’ve got a couple of part-time staff. Just like the flowers, the business has grown organically since the beginning.

09:00

GARDEN RECCE