Flower Power: Growing support for the MS Trust

Joanne Brook has been fundraising for the MS Trust since 2017, and has raised over £20,000! She sells her home grown flowers and donates the proceeds to support people affected by MS. In this article, she shares her passion, top tips and inspiration for others.

The visit that sparked a 30-year floristry journey

The day I walked in to Sandy Martin’s Branching Out in the west end of Glasgow was life changing for me.  I found the way they displayed their flowers to be stunning.  It took another 30 odd years to put the seed that was sown in my head in to fruition.  After working in various admin roles and latterly a business admin training role in Nottingham, my future husband and I moved to Scotland in the early 90’s where I retrained as a horticulturalist at a good old fashioned horticultural college called Woodburn House in Rutherglen.  We moved to West Yorkshire in 1999 and in the early 2000’s and with young children,  I set up a hanging basket business with my friend Liz. When our children were all at school I had the good fortune to be asked if I would provide containers for a decked area in a local 3 acre private garden.  I clearly fulfilled the brief as I ended up running the garden for about 15 years.  My lovely boss adored flowers and whenever she was home she asked that I fill the house with them (preferably home grown).  I was in heaven and it was a great opportunity to learn how to grow flowers well.

A growing passion and inspiration

I began because I was becoming more and more passionate about flowers/foliage and what could be achieved with them. The inescapable truth is that they generally make people feel happy and comforted. This, combined with a love of floristry lead me to decide to have a go myself from home. Thanks to the internet I have been hugely inspired by people like Sarah Raven, Phillipa Craddock, Lisa Mason Ziegler (US) and Erin Benzakein (US) all of whom are brilliant at what they do from growing to floristry. I eat up all the information they are generous enough to share.  I also took myself on a couple of fantastic courses.  The best being the Tallulah Rose Flower School in Cumbria

Overcoming challenges

2024 has not been without its challenges and each year I succumb to a slight panic that nothing will grow and it will all be a waste of time and effort!  Thankfully, each year it all  turns out to be fine and in my garden near Ilkley in West Yorkshire, perennials and shrubs begin to grow in April and carry on providing the goods until late autumn.  Annuals, with a little tlc at the beginning, come up trumps too and have provided me with all my cutting material for the home floristry that I have been running for about eight years now.  Among many flowers that I love to use are Scabious, clematis, roses, alstroemeria, various salvias, asters, helianthus (sunflowers and perennial types), penstemon anemone, digitalis, snapdragons, solidago, agapanthus, lots of different types of foliage and many more besides.

Top tips

Regarding tips for the beginner flower farmer……Soil!  As with everything in life preparation is key and in order to grow strong healthy stock, soil health is vital. There’s a huge wealth of information out there but it is possible to grow a large amount of flowers in a small area. I’m on just a third of an acre and I grow more than enough for my needs. Grow really good doers like Cosmos, Snap Dragons, Scabiosa Fata Morgana, think about Nepeta rather than lavender. Lots of different types available and they’re so much more robust and giving than lavender and the insects love it. Grow climbers as well. It makes excellent use of space. Clematis is an wonderful cut flower.

Why I do it

The reason I do this is because I’m in the lucky position that I don’t have to earn any more and I have a very supportive husband, Mike.  He recently built me a potting shed and has turned over quite a lot of lawn to flower growing border. He's a fantastic provider of refreshments during the summer months too. It is my passion and I find it totally fulfilling.  I advertise on my local village Facebook page and that, as well as a bit of ‘word of mouth’ drums up enough custom.  I have some fantastic customers! I have started to do more weddings too.  About six this year so far. People do seem to love home grown flowers. They tend to last longer and customers often comment that they’re bored with supermarket flowers.  It’s a nice feeling when you wrap up a bunch you’ve grown from scratch in kraft paper and use string knowing that it can all be composted. 

Most memorable experience

I think my most memorable experience was quite recently.  A friend’s daughter got married and they entrusted me with decorating the venue and doing her wedding flowers.  I have known Ella since she was about two so it felt very  special to be asked.  It was an early spring wedding so with the help of a friend I decorated with a beautiful array of daffodils and other types of narcissi and lots of pretty foliage.  The venue smelt beautiful and using the various types of yellows imbued an already happy occasion with a bit of extra joy.

Support of the MS Trust

My brother suffered from MS from the age of 27.  At the time relapsing and remitting and following the almost inevitable path to progressive in his 40’s.  By this time though he had married and had three children.  Mark passed away from a lung infection early last year at the age of 70.  We also have a friend Paul who has MS.  He is one of the most inspirational people I have ever met.  He is always the centre of conversation at any get together.  Laughing, chatting and encouraging. Just a hugely engaging person.   In an electric chair and with only partial use of one hand, he has negotiated train trips to Glasgow and London from his home in West Yorkshire to visit various universities and exhibitions with his daughter and two sons.  We have recently been on a long journey to France with Paul and his wife, Julia.  Never a word of complaint and unbelievably, he still takes a bus and a train to be able to work for The Samaritans.  It is truly humbling.

It goes without saying that it is vital that work carries on to attempt to help people with MS and that is why I do my bit.  And my customers also like that they are doing their bit too.  To me, a win-win-win. 

If you are interested in fundraising yourself, check out our website for some inspiration and get in touch with the fundraising team at fundraising@mstrust.org.uk