Leading floral industry consultant Karen Barnes offers top tips on making floral installations successful and profitable.

Karen Barnes explains what continuous professional (and personal) development can do for you and your floristry career.

Karen Barnes shares her expert advice on delivering successful and profitable weddings and events.

Italian flowers are real eye-catchers; they are strong and colorful because they are carefully cultivated. But the real advantage lies in the climate. In this article, you'll learn why Italian flowers stay beautiful longer and how they strengthen your assortment. Quality Starts at the Source The Italian climate is ideal for growing flowers. With warm summers, more sun hours, and fresh nights, flowers can grow slowly and naturally. This ensures stronger stems, brighter colors,

April is one of the most inspiring months in the floristry calendar. This is my favourite season, so full of optimism and newness, gorgeous Spring bulbs, bright colours and flowers that shout sunshine. For florists, April flowers offer a powerful opportunity to inspire customers, celebrate seasonality, and bring the feeling of spring into homes. For florists, this is more than a seasonal shift; it’s an opportunity to help customers bring that sense of optimism indoors throug

The UK Government, via the Employment Rights Act 2025, has reformed Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) effective as of April 2026 by removing the Lower Earnings Limit. This makes Statutory Sick Pay available to all employees regardless of earnings and removes the three-day waiting period, so SSP is payable from the first full day of sickness absence, with the rate set at the lower of 80% of average weekly earnings or the flat rate (currently £123.25 per week). These changes, enforced b

If cabbages make you think of school dinners, think again! For this versatile vegetable,  otherwise known in floristry as the ornamental cabbage, has worked its way into becoming a seasonal floral fixture.   What Is Cabbage Crush Pinterest Trend 2026 Pinterest has released its latest annual Pinterest Predicts  report, which highlights 21 trends it expects to take off in 2026. The motto for 2026? Live, laugh, leaf! With Cabbage Crush Boomers and Gen X will say goodbye to their

Expert florist Viv Bradford shares her tips for getting the most from styled photoshoots.

In this online era, to buy successfully florists now need to learn skills that have previously belonged to wholesale flower buyers.

Small businesses have a significant role to play in building a more sustainable future, and using energy wisely is one of the most obvious places to start. By making a few smart changes, whether that’s upgrading to efficient equipment, changing everyday habits, or exploring renewable options, businesses can cut costs, reduce their carbon footprint, and contribute to a healthier planet. Sustainable energy use isn’t just good for the environment; it’s good for business, too.

Karen Barnes is an expert at identifying and interpreting key seasonal trends and translating them into commercial opportunities for florists. Jump to: Spring Trends Spring Hand-Tied Spring Vessel Arrangement Minimalist Spring Arrangement Watch how Karen brings popular spring  trends to life. Discussing colours, designs and packaging to inspire your spring range. Showcasing three designs that will be featured in future videos. Karen also offers insight into why it is importan

Break-even analysis helps you calculate how many units you need to sell to cover fixed and variable costs. Learn how it works and how to use it in your business planning. Every business, from start-up to established enterprise, needs to answer one essential question: when will we actually start making money? That’s where break-even analysis comes in. What is a break-even analysis? A break-even analysis is a financial planning tool that identifies the exact moment your total r

Cheshire based sustainable flower grower and floral artisan, Kathryn Cronin of Fierceblooms, is celebrating her tenth year anniversary this year. Passionate and dedicated, she is constantly looking for interesting uses of flowers and foliage and new innovations in sustainability, all of which are instrumental in advancing professional floristry.  ‘My aim is to be able to convey the incredible standard of professional floristry at places such as RHS shows to the members and w

When it comes to wedding florals, not everyone immediately thinks of wedding greenery. But it’s actually one of the most important parts of bringing your designs to life. Greenery is the background that adds depth and texture to your wedding florals. So, let’s start with the basics and talk about wedding greenery. Why Wedding Greenery Is Important There is something about greenery that makes floral arrangements feel fuller, fresher, and more organic. It is the base of your de

Last Tuesday I spent the morning in a compost heap, not necessarily on my bucket list for 2026 but fascinating nonetheless. Along with some of their first ever florist customers, I was invited by Com-post to tour one of their commercial composting sites. Com-post are Hannah (florist) and Fiona (business dynamo) and they were one of the five finalists at the inaugural Sustainable Floristry Innovation Awards at the 2023 Interflora Word Cup. They had a simple but brilliant ide