Your Florist,
Nicola Partridge
A little bit about me and Thistlerose florals...
Hello!
I’m Nicola, I’m the grower-florist behind Thistlerose Florals and I am very much looking forward to working with you.
Half-Scottish (Thistle), half-Lancastrian (Rose), I love flowers, I love growing flowers, love creating with flowers, love how flowers make you feel when I share them with others.
I have been privileged to spend most of my working life in education and have many treasured memories of the schools and children I have worked in and with over the years. My intention was to take some time out of education and to find a new path...it found me! – It was right under my nose: my garden and ever-expanding cutting patch. So...I went back to school myself to learn some new skills and techniques and now I get to share my passion with you!
My mum died unexpectedly in 2018 and I took an allotment – mainly as a distraction, and I guess therapy, and also to learn how to grow flowers on a large scale (well, largeish!) and to grow my Christmas lunch (minus the Turkey!). I had never grown veg or flowers from seed before...I was hooked!
Sowing, growing, carefully cutting and creating with flowers brings me real joy
More importantly, the grief that had consumed me somewhat, was so much easier to bear by being outdoors and working with the earth. Call it connection; it was certainly a calling. My Mum loved flowers and plants – always rescuing poorly plants (something I’ve inherited when I visit a garden centre!) and my Dad was once a farmer and later in life had an allotment – if I close my eyes I can still smell the tomatoes! He also loved roses and gardening; I guess you could say its in the genes!
...and is such a mindful and fulfilling thing to do. There are also many well-known mental health benefits from working with the soil and, of course, being outside in the fresh air. When people visit the cutting patch they tend to stay a while….it’s what happens when you surround yourself with flowers.
My growing season is mainly between April and September/October and I prefer to pick to order so your flowers are at their best and perfectly conditioned when you receive them.
I can't wait to create flowers for you. My style is ‘natural’, ‘simple’, ‘wildly beautiful’, ‘English country garden’….if this sounds just what you had in mind then please get in touch.
Nicola x
