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Gill Hodgson MBE

@fieldhouseflowers

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Double RHS Chelsea Gold medal winner learning to enjoy being simply a gardener once again. Founder of Flowers from the Farm and a proud Yorkshirewoman

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I’ve just left Harold and Alan-the-dog at their new home in Kent.
They’re seated on a grassy bank looking out over a beautiful garden with oast houses and vineyards in the distance.
It’s very, very peaceful. taken in Kent, United Kingdom by @fieldhouseflowers

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Thank you to absolutely everyone who entered the prize draw and raised an incredible £4340 for Pancreatic Cancer UK in memory of my fab friend Carole Patilla.
I watched the total whizz past my original £1000 target within three hours of the draw going live and it continued to rise and rise.
I know that Carole’s husband, Nick, has been checking the website several times every day to read the lovely messages you’ve left.
It helps. It really helps.
We drew the prizewinning entry this morning and Harold and his faithful dog, Alan, are excited to be going to start an new life in Kent.
I’ll chauffeur them down there in a couple of week’s time and I’ll be posting a few pics of our adventures on the way ..
Thank you again. You’re wonderful xx taken in Everingham by @fieldhouseflowers

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I’ve set up a prize draw on Crowdfunder to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK in memory of my wonderful friend Carole Patilla.
The link is in bio above ⬆️
The winner will receive the fabulous wire sculptures that sat peacefully on the @farewellflowers stand at Chelsea Flower Show and helped us win the gold medal. It’s a wonderfully serene piece, fit to grace any garden. The man and his dog have asked not to be separated so they stay together. Two pieces, one prize.
I’ll deliver them to any mainland Britain address free of charge. (The bench is not included.)
Entries are £10 – please feel free to enter as many times as you want.
The draw is only open for two weeks so please act NOW. by @fieldhouseflowers

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“Back before plastic floral foam put the brakes on creativity”
I’m delighted to have the last word in this month’s @gardens_illustrated writing about the way in which we celebrate a life that’s just ended has become, too often, empty theatre.
Can flowers provide a path to more personal remembrance and help with grieving? taken in Everingham by @fieldhouseflowers

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We’ve dedicated this display to Malcolm.
Malcolm died two weeks ago and his funeral is today.
He was Deb’s @periwinkle.barn Dad.
I’ve been here the past few days putting the display together with Megan and Vicky @greystoneflowers - but it was Debs who did so much of the work beforehand. She got a great team together and sourced the flowers from local growers while, at the same time, co-ordinating the decoration of the famous RHS letters with @flowersfromthefarm
Death doesn’t happen when we choose: it doesn’t wait until we’ve a bit of free time to fit it in.
I’m sure Malcolm knew that Debs would, one day, arrange the flowers on his coffin … we’ve just added a few extra for him here.
x taken in Wentworth Woodhouse by @fieldhouseflowers

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I did stand still, honest, and pose obediently for the official photos: the stilted type where the photographer with the thousands of pounds worth of kit keeps darting forward to tweak an angle here and smooth a crease there.
Then we were released and Rosie snapped this one on her phone.
No more words needed.
📷 @thenewyorkshirepudding taken in Buckingham Palace by @fieldhouseflowers

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I’ve just transcribed all 1,000 yellow tags from The Farewell Flowers Directory display at Chelsea Flower Show and can now categorically state that, if these are a fair representation of our wishes for our own funerals, very few of us get what we want.
The majority of messages began with the words ‘filled with’ or ‘full of’ showing that, whatever we’d like at our funeral, we want lots and lots of it.
And what we want, seems to be Joy.
Joy, Celebration, Fun, Family and Flowers just about sum it up.
Add in Colour, Champagne, Laughter and Music and we might be talking about a wedding.
How sad and disappointing that, what most of us actually get, is a stilted 20 minutes at the crematorium surrounded by black.
This is way beyond the remit of Carole and me @farewellflowers but where did it start to go wrong and how do we make it right? taken in Everingham by @fieldhouseflowers

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Delphiniums 💙💙💙
The most utterly wonderful flowers I grow and this year they’re taller than ever.
Here, they thrive on neglect. I’m on a very light sandy soil and I never water my perennials.
(I ought to mention that hundreds of other species treated in the same cavalier fashion all died … ) taken in Everingham by @fieldhouseflowers

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I’d like to thank @nafas_flowerarrangers for featuring me in their summer issue of @flowerarrmag amid pages of lovely seasonal flowers and a heartening number of foam-free designs.
I’ve never described myself as a florist nor as a flower arranger: I just grow lovely flowers and do what they tell me to do.
When you’ve planted the seed, pricked out the seedling, planted out the small plant, watched it grow and then picked it, you simply don’t need instruction.
Certain flowers, like children, insist on sitting next to their friends: others sulk if they’re not given pride of place and a shy few just like to hide at the back.
If you’ve ever been put off by some old-fashioned notions and rules about Flower Arranging .. try swapping the words around and simply arrange flowers instead. taken in Everingham by @fieldhouseflowers

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Wander around the field snipping bits here and there, choosing leaves and seeds with as much thought as the flowers.
Halt by a particular plant .. but decide it doesn’t fit the lady you’re thinking about, and carry on.
Chat with her while you fashion her funeral wreath like she’s a friend.
Stand back and nod, contented that Sheila - whom you never met - would have liked it.
Give time and a bit of yourself every time you make someone’s farewell flowers.
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#thefarewellflowersdirectory
#greenfuneralflowers
#yorkshirefuneralflowers taken in Everingham by @fieldhouseflowers

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Moments of pure joy at Chelsea Flower Show.
The Farewell Flowers Directory ground-breaking display was never going to be a sombre place and I love the laughter between the team and @alantitchmarshcbe caught by @angela_stubbs_photographer taken in RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Royal Hospital Grounds, Chelsea by @fieldhouseflowers

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