Nature Unbound
The premise of the flower festival has always been about showcasing British grown flowers and sustainability in floral design. No single use plastics, floral foam or imported flowers are used in any of the exhibits. The designers are free to create within the confines of their chosen room with foraged, seasonal and locally grown flowers and foliage. This year Leigh Chappell and I came up with Nature Unbound as the theme for the sixth Strawberry Hill Flower Festival. Each designer interpreted the theme with their own personal connection to nature.
September is a beautiful month in the floral calendar. The summer is waining and Autumn is waiting in the wings. The in between season offers delicate drying seed heads, grasses and berries with a riot of colour from cosmos, dahlias, zinnias, sunflowers and rudbeckia. With the harvest moon low in the sky, this years flower festival was all set to be even more magical.
Strawberry Hill House is a backdrop of dreams
Horace Walpole’s mini gothic palace in Twickenham, set in grounds that would once have had unlimited views to the river is the most beautiful backdrop to create an installation. We let the 30 designers have free reign in the brief. There are the obvious historic house rules, but otherwise creative imaginations can run riot and they often do. We’ve had trees, water fountains, giant spiders and ghostly apparitions making their way up the stairs before.
Dried Flowers at the Festival
Dried flowers are a big part of the sustainability message. Everlasting, they prolong the life of the flower and can be reused over and over. Many of the precious rooms in the house need humidity levels kept to a minimum and can only have dried flowers on display. Yeon Hee wove pressed flowers in to exquisite sculptures in the library. Lucy Phillips and Kara of Floral Odyssey show that movement and magic can come from the humble dried buttercup. The ultra violet light streaming through the stained glass windows of the Blue Breakfast room magically transformed the display of teasels by Citrine.
Light and Shadow at Strawberry Hill House
After photographing the festival at Strawberry Hill House for six years I’ve learnt to appreciate the light and shadow in the house. Most rooms are darkly lit and many have stained glass windows casting uneven and unpredictable light. Some rooms are small and navigating furniture and historic portraits and mirrors is tricky. But the house casts its spell and the light lends itself to the whimsical nature of the exhibits. You can read about last years festival here.
The colour Blue
Blue is a running theme throughout the house. Many of the rooms are varying shades of blue, the stained glass casts violet rays in the early morning and Horace’s bedroom has the most beautiful wall paper. All this lends itself to a dreamscape and I love how each of the above designers interpreted the theme. Blue, the colour of spirituality and inspiration.
This year we had more outdoor exhibits than ever before, but I’ll save those for my next blogpost. Plans for next years festival are already underway. Thank you Char, Sarah and Lilian for supporting us this year and to the house for letting our imaginations run wild. And of course all the incredible designers who decorate this house every year for the sheer love of creativity. All the proceeds go the the upkeep of this unique house.
Here’s to a new season of inspiration, Autumn walks and cosy fireside chats.
Janne x
