New Forest Heathland and resilience

Heather is a dainty, mauve flower, traditionally treasured for good luck, that we have included recently as a late summer filler in the posies.

The New Forest, where our flower plot is situated, is famous for its carpets of heather, and is one of the most important lowland heath habitats in Europe. This summer, along with the rest of the country, the New Forest had over two months with no significant rain. You may have read about the wildfire that took over 180 firefighters and nine days to get under control during the drought. As well as losing over 100 acres of Forest including ancient woodland that will take hundreds of years to regrow, the fire caused major travel disruption, with a section of road damaged by the fire and 1.5km of stock fencing needing replacement.

Controlled fire has long played a role in managing heathland, typically on a 25-year rotation, taking place between November and March. This deliberate quick burn removes only the above ground biomass to maintain the mosaic of habitats that heathland species depend on and restrict natural succession to keep heathland open. The wildfire this summer was a very different beast as it burned underground for weeks destroying ancient peatlands, eliminating the seed bank and destroying top soil structure so that this crucial layer largely blew away. Fires such as these are a painful insight into what our future summers could look like.

Growing and sourcing British flowers isn't just about what's seasonal and beautiful, it's also about doing the right thing for the environment. Around 85% of cut flowers sold in the UK are imported, most of them air-freighted from Kenya, Colombia and Ecuador to The Netherlands, before being trucked here on refrigerated lorries. Choosing British-grown flowers means a fraction of the 'flower' miles, a much lower carbon footprint, and support for growers who know and care for the land they work.

The late summer, early autumn palette includes flowers such as scented roselilies, chrysanthemums, sedum, zinnia, aster, achillea If you'd like to, please order a one-off posy or start a subscription - British-grown, hand-tied and delivered in a recycled-glass jar - and we'll hand-write a personal message if you're sending as a gift.