Hi and welcome back to Fox House. The warm weather finally descended on our little part of Suffolk and all those seeds sown in the March and planted out in the May are starting to emerge. Our field has started to find some structure with plants of every shape and size appearing and sharing their beauty. Dahlia’s potted on in March were put in a new bed and I couldn't help thinking "I wish I had bought more or at least taken time to do some cuttings!!" Oh well, next year definitely! Our DIY buckets have been very popular this year and fit very well with my busy life. The use of milk urns at a forest wedding meant the structural plants grown fit very well to the brief. Roses have, as always, been in demand adding a lovely subtle softness to a brides bouquet. Most of my roses are David Austin varieties. This year the most spectacular ones have been Queen of Sweden, Clare Austin and Boscabel. My intention is to expand the roses and with a the plans set for a new poly tunnel, the new rose will be more protected from the elements. The main focus for the year has been on getting my name out there. Some great help came in the shape of West Suffolk council, mainly by way of the lovely Ros and Sharon. On a very windy Bank holiday in May I joined the Spring Fayre with my beautiful blooms. I also have a slot on the first Saturday of every month at the Hartest Farmers market. Such a beautiful village and a wonderful local community. More recently I was offered a spot at the Clare farmers market which was great and I met so many fantastic people. I hope to do more markets in the future to spread the word about my wonderful locally grown flowers. Anyway, I'm off to the field to carry on with the never ending dead heading and weeding!! Don't forget to pop back and see how we are doing and if you need any locally grown British flowers for whatever occasion, drop me a line. Thanks Paula

Hi everyone and thanks for stopping by. Very exciting week this week at Fox House Flowers as my order of 40 roses from David Austin arrived. I knew they were coming but not the exact day so it was a lovely surprise! I have more on order from other growers. 'Liliana' from Cants of Colchester and Jones of Cheshire. Why so many roses you may ask, well I am following the advice that I was given right at the beginning of my cut flower story which was "grow what you love". So roses first and foremost. Mainly old English scented and perfect. I could have chosen so many but had to reign it in! So I have chosen 'Boscobel', 'Tranquillity', 'Gertrude Jekyll' and 'Lichfield Angel'. The others to come are 'Koko loco'. ' We soaked them first , and prepped the beds with plenty of organic matter, then in they went

So finally got around to the advertising of my flower business and thinking ahead I created this stamp so I could use it on labels, cards and any merchandising. The amazing getstamped.co.uk got this to me really quick and it's a real clear design. Oh and by the way, I grew a few Dahlias too this one below is the beautiful Labyrinth from Sarah Raven.

So I think this year we had every extreme Mother nature could deal us. Suffolk wind which finally took one if not nearly both the Poly tunnels and the 32 degree hot days in July & August without any rain, gave most of the British flower growers reason for concern this year. It was a year for trying out what works and what lasts. On moving I bought a lot of my old roses which seemed to survive. Cosmos were immense, Dahlias are still going and I plan to have 2 x 60ft beds next year. So what's the plan now? Well I have 70 bare rooted Roses arriving in November, the beds are prepped and ready. Perennial and annual seeds that can be sown are in the ground and with the welcome rain and the Autumn sun have made a fantastic start. I have gone mad on seed, especially Cosmos, Cornflowers and Zinnia's which are the most giving of flowers. So properly excited for next year and hope to be welcoming customers and attending farmers markets in 2023.

So here we are finally. 15th March 2022 and we have moved into our new rural idyll in the heart of the Suffolk countryside. Who is 'we' I hear you ask. Well, we are Paula and Nick Joyner, formerly of Brentwood in Essex and Betty the cockerpoo. The move was originally due to Paula's work moving but after a long and frustrating hunt with little of the type of property available in the area we were looking, we broadened our search a little and up popped Fox House, a lovely 16th century thatched cottage in the village of Stanningfield, near Bury St Edmunds. It had everything we wanted, country views, period features and an acre of land for Paula to realise her dream of growing cut flowers to sell. The deal was done, the solicitors did there bit and we moved in. The first few months were spent getting to know the house, the area and the neighbours. We also got started on cutting some beds into the field to start growing. After some successes and some misfires we realised we needed to go bigger and enlisted the help of our neighbour and man with a digger, Barry. He kindly cut some beds into the rather stubborn grass for us and as of September we have started planning and planting for next year. We will of course keep you posted on the progress and try and update this blog as often as we can, work and planting permitting!! See you soon, Nick and Paula